FOODZ

Been eating like a king this week, it's sort of amazing how easy it is and how cheap it is to have some world-class food if you put your mind to it. Since I never follow a recipe, it's always a bit of a gamble. But, it's that much more rewarding when things turn out delicious.

Tonight I put together my take on the classic quiche Lorraine. Some Gruyere and Emmenthaler cheese on the bottom, some cubed hamsteak, some herbs (oregano and basil, salt, pepper) make up the base of the quiche, and towards the end I throw some grated parmesian on top to form a nice brown crust.

Yesterday Dana and I did a grilled chicken salad inspired by a side dish Dana got over the weekend at Panera Bread. The chicken was marinated in apple cider, red wine vinegar and some spices. The salad had some baby field greens with green apple slices, gorgonzola crumbles, and candied wallnuts. The dressing was a quick vinagrette with apple cider, balasmic vinegar, and some good olive oil (plus the requisite seasonings).

Tuesday night Dana didn't come home because the lousy weather turned the roads icy. I made some chinese dumplings for myself with my signature home-made ginger dipping sauce. When the frozen ginger slipped, I hit my finger on the microplane and roughed the skin up pretty good. No worries though, it's not like I spend most days typing with that finger or anything.

Monday we had some nice cheese raviolis. The raviolis came frozen from Trader Joes, so I won't claim they were my doing. However, I did make the sundried tomato sauce that went over them.

Sunday, Dana and I whipped out our slow cooker and made a nice big serving of chili. We used a very lean ground beef (in the past I've also mixed in about 50% lean ground turkey, with good results), some onion, red pepper, and corn. Not the best chili I've ever made in my life, but it was warming comfort food on a cold day, and provided leftovers for lunch this week.

I'm hardly a creative person in most of the things that I do, so food is my artistic outlet. This is why I never follow a recipe, because it's hard to get as creative when you're reading instructions off the card.