verbs vol. 70
last month's cooking activities
Thank you for your patience during my little one-month hiatus from this project. I was on vacation and then travelling for work for the last month - got to explore some pretty great places from L.A to the Yukon. This issue will be a recap of what I’ve been cooking, and a bonus issue to come later this week with a recap of my favourite eats on my travels!
Cooking
Nanny’s Cinnamon Streusel Rhubarb Muffins: (new recipe on the blog!) rhubarb season really is one of the most magical times of the year. These muffins are like coffee cake meets muffins - they are small, perfect in pairs. I hope you enjoy them!
Other things I cooked:
Baked Salmon with Mango Salsa: this is one of my fav Airbnb-friendly meals because it doesn’t require any spices, just salt n pepper + fresh ingredients.
Grossy’s Vodka Sawce: when I was in Victoria I visited my cousin and her family. I had been travelling, and therefore eating out, for 2 weeks at this point so I was craving to cook a meal - I made this pasta sauce (I adjust to do 1 small can of tomato paste, and 1 x 250 ml container of heavy cream so there aren’t tons of leftover ingredients) plus a simple green salad with lemon vinaigrette. Also a very travel-friendly meal!
Liz Moody’s Crispy Rice Sweetgreen Salad: when I got home from my third week of travelling all I wanted was a bunch of veggies. In L.A. I tried this crispy rice salad from Sweetgreen and Liz published a copycat version on her IG. It was SO GOOD. The dressing alone I could eat with a spoon, and the crispy rice cereal is such a fun salad topper. Definitely going to make this again.
Julia Turshen’s French Onion Meatloaf: this recipe is one of my favourite foods now - it’s so so good. Page 37 in Simply Julia, I am going to halve it next time because it was a lot of leftovers for one person, but oh so comforting!
Lemon Pepper Shrimp Orzo: this is always one of my go-tos, especially in the spring. Such an easy meal, and the leftovers make for great lunches.
Pork meatballs with pineapple sauce: I started making this recipe from NYT Cooking but then I realized I didn’t have peaches or basil haha, so I made pork meatballs with the seasonings (fresh ginger, garlic, ground cumin, dried basil), and then for the sauce did a can of crushed pineapple and seasoned with soy sauce until it tasted like a sweet and sour sauce. Delicious over rice!
Eden’s Chicken Shwarma and Easy Pita: one of my fav cookbooks I picked up last year was Eden’s book “Eating Out Loud”. This was my first time making pita from scratch - they were pretty great! I definitely over-proofed mine so next time I’ll start prepping the oven assembly line sooner. The chicken shwarama was so flavourful and all the toppings (pickled red onion, green zhug, tahini sauce) were so delish. A perfect summer meal!
Drinking:
Dominion Cider Co. Grapefuit Hopped Cider. I’ve had a lot of different drinks over the last month but this one stood out to me - I loved this cider from Summerland, BC.
Reading:
Why Do Tech Bros Have Such a Weird Relationship with Food? (spoiler alert: this article contains plot details of the HBO show ‘Made for Love’)
Following
@the.one.recipe is a podcast that interviews chefs about “the one” recipe they always go to. It’s quick episodes (~10 mins) and their IG page recaps the recipes. Great follow for new inspo!
Listening
Okay, Saint Laurent by October Tooth.
Using
The outdoors! I was slicing a red onion on Saturday and it was killing my eyes - burning so much I could barely open them. Since it’s nice out (finally!) I moved out to my balcony to finish chopping and the air circulation dissipates the spicy onion air (technical term). If you’re ever crying over onions moving outside will help!
Thinking
About farmer’s markets. I love going for a walk on the weekend to my neighborhood market - such a nice way to start a weekend morning and to check out the local produce. I’ve been grabbing lots of rhubarb and asparagus lately!
Laughing
Have a great week,
Kaleigh