I love cooking, it's my life. I've worked in restaurants for 12 years and now, tack on a year of teaching culinary school. That must mean I whip up fancy gourmet snacks daily, right?
I NEVER get sick of that question...
Me and every other young (read: poor) chef I know, have a terrible habit- we rarely, if ever, cook for ourselves. When I was still working in restaurants, you be much more likely to find a box of Hot Pockets in my freezer than any kind of fresh veggies in my fridge. Maybe it's the cramped space of a NYC apartment kitchen, the absence of an endlessly stocked pantry or the absence of someone else to wash the dishes. But more than anything, once you're used to sharing a kitchen with 15 other people, it gets pretty lonely by yourself. And the excitement of cooking for someone else is what led us to being chefs in the first place.
So this weekend, with the missus out of town, I resloved to turn over a new leaf, to break old habits. You see, I can yammer on and on about chef this, chef that, but the truth is- I just don't like to cook when she's not around. There's something about sharing the kitchen with someone you love that just makes it seem more worthwhile. But, a guy's still gotta eat. And I've already reached my weekly Chipotle quota, so my day started with a trip to the market.
That was just a long winded way of saying I didn't really feel like cooking tonight, but needed to. So I want fast and easy. And since I knew I would be settling in for the night and watching the Olympics, I decided to throw a little Asian kick in my dinner. Think good ol', soaking through the to-go box Thai curry, now sub a roasting pan (time on the couch) for a wok. And that complex coconut milk/lemongrass/galangal/green chile sauce? Easy as picking it fresh off... the shelf at Trader Joe's.
Shopping List
Market:
Eggplant
Broccoli
Corn
Thai basil
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumbers
Trader Joe's:
ground chicken
Thai Green Curry Sauce
Method:
CHOP eggplant, corn and broccoli; toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
ROAST 450.
BROWN chicken in skillet, add curry sauce.
SIMMER.
SLICE cucumbers, tomatoes and Thai basil.
THROW it all on a plate.
