Today at Work I Made...

Sautéed Vegetables, Salmon, Quinoa and Lemon. It's a pretty simple, light meal. I cooked the vegetables with olive oil and covered it all with fresh lemon. Okay, so now for the good part!

So far, I've been posting meals that I make at work. I work at a small design company and making quick meals for lunch has been fun and necessary. But it's all over. I quit. In fact, today is my last day. I'll continue to post because my future is all about food and design! I'm excited ;)

Today at Work I Made...

Kale Smoothie and a Turkey Sandwich. Kale is one of the best vegetables to drink! It adds a crisp texture while the fruits take over the flavor. I added half a banana, frozen blueberries, frozen mango, papaya nectar, apple juice, and coconut milk drink. I squeezed in lime for tartness and sea-salted the top layer of the drink. It was a good side to a simple grilled turkey sandwich on millet bread with mustard and avocado. I could smell the lime on my fingers while eating the sandwich and I enjoyed that.

Today at Work I Made...

A Flank Steak Burrito. I used the electric grill press to grill steak, onions, peppers, and chayote. They were marinated with lime, cilantro, garlic, and tamari. I added some Colombian sofrito to the rice and topped it with my pickled beets. I'm trying really hard to feed people burritos now since they come is packs of 10 and I know I shouldn't have that much flour.

Today at Work I Made...

Halibut, Soft Boiled Egg, Sweet Potatoes, and Grilled Millet Bread. I have a pretty limited kitchen and cooking supplies at work which is why my certain foods and ingredients recur more often than others. I assembled this meal for lunch so I can go to the gym after work. I marinated the fish in a plastic bag with olive oil, dried cilantro, salt, pepper, basil, and garlic. I roasted the sweet potatoes with garlic, pepper, salt, "butter," and a little olive oil. I topped the fish with a very under-boiled soft boiled egg and added capers to add tartness to the bland egg and fish. The millet bread was hard and dry which was perfect for the mushy plate.

Today at Work I Made...

Thit Kho: Caramelized Braised Pork and Hard Boiled Eggs. This is a traditional Vietnamese dish that every family makes; it is a simple comfort food that you won't find in restaurants. My mom would make a large pot early in the morning for us to eat throughout the day as a quick meal with cucumber and pickles and it packs well for lunch.

Fish sauce and cane sugar are in almost every Vietnamese dish. The intense flavors are often balanced with fresh vegetables, pickles, and rice. I think I apply this logic to foods I make.

Today at Work I Made...

A salad. I brought red chard, spinach, a tomato and pickles to assemble a salad. I made a simple dressing with apple cider vinegar, olive oil, sea salt, and dijon mustard. I think a soft boiled egg is great when using a simple vinegar dressing. The vinegar  cuts the yolky lipids and makes a satisfying, creamy dressing. This is my first time using the pickles and they're perfectly sweet, crunchy, and tart.

Pickles #2

I ran out of pickles! I eat them often as a side dish to intensely potent dishes because they are cool, crisp and flavor neutralizing. For that reason I keep them simple. I soak them over night in salt to dry them out, rinse and squeeze out excess water, and then soak them in 5 parts vinegar/ 2 parts water/ 1 part sugar. I cut them in chunks and paper thin slices for some textural variety.

Today at Work I Made...

Sesame Beets, Salmon, and Black Rice. Beets have been all over lately. I keep a beet box in my refrigerator for snacks and sides and I will be pickling them soon to keep them alive. They taste like sweet dirt. I crave sugar so beets fill and satisfy me. I coated steamed beets with sesame seeds. I added sesame oil and soy sauce as seasoning. The colors were nice today; they were really deep and bloody.

Today at Work I Made...

I've had these 2 noodly Asian quickies (!!!) on reserve because I messed them up. Neither was what they were supposed to be but I guess that's no reason to hide them since they were both edible. I made egg noodles stir-fried with green beans, zucchini, bell peppers, chilies, and thai basil. I caramelized sugar and soy sauce to make a brown sauce. My big mistake here was trying to cook the noodles in a bowl of hot water. It became a large dumpling.

This is a salad I made which was supposed to be "summer rolls" but I forgot the wraps. The pork was poached in vinegar solution. I turned the peanut sauce (hoisen sauce, peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, and mung beans) into a dressing by adding more vinegar.

Today at Work I Made...

Sauteed Vegetables, Salmon, Quinoa, and Peanut Green Curry. I chopped the vegetables so they were proportionate to the green beans which are uncut. I think that (their relationship to one another) is the most important thing about chopping vegetables and probably often overlooked but I guess I really don't know how other people look at vegetables. The sauce is coconut milk, peanut butter, green curry paste, and fish sauce. I like making the sauce on the side so it functions as a dressing and quinoa is the perfect grain for saucing.

Today at Work I Made...

Roasted Garlic-ed Vegetables with Salmon "Candy" and Black Rice. Darker grains are generally a lot drier than processed grains so I make sure to pair them with creamier foods like cooked carrots and sweet potatoes. The zucchini were crisp and neutral, just lightly cooked which makes them even more refreshing to eat with the salty, sweet, and flavorful  smoked salmon.

Today at Work I Made...

Lightly Sauteed Vegetables, Salmon, and Quinoa. I chopped the vegetables chunky style and sauteed them with ginger and garlic in a little olive oil. I cooked them in stages because they all cook differently. I added a spoon of water when I was cooking the carrots and mushroom (because I wanted the mushrooms to be black and the carrots crunchy but still cooked), then added  zucchini, and finally the red pepper and green onions. I made a sauce to pour over the vegetables which is sesame oil, soy sauce, and ginger. The easiest way to peel ginger is with the tip of a spoon and scrape away the skin. It was really easy and quick to make and touching ginger is very pleasurable.

Today at Work I Made...

Chicken and Rice from last night. I made jerk-ish chicken last night but more Asian, obviously. It is seasoned with five-spice, ginger, honey, and garlic. I braised it in my cast iron skillet and added a little sake and then baked it. The rice is cooked sweet potato and coconut with roasted sesame seeds. I put a can of coconut milk, a diced sweet potato, and water with jasmine rice in my cooker. The chicken is spiced which goes well with creamy, sweet rice. Oh and fresh green onion and cilantro make reheated meals taste legit.

Today at Work I Made...

Chicken Tacos. I made tacos last night and brought what was left to work. The chicken is marinated with paprika, cumin, cayenne, garlic, soy sauce, honey, and parsley. After it was cooked I mixed it with fresh cilantro. The tortillas were cooked over the burner (I just learned how to do this!). I topped them with tahini and lemon sauce. This takes the place of sour cream or any other crema usually on tacos. It's cold, creamy, and dairy-free. It also makes this taco more of a gyro. The difference isn't very clear to me anymore.

Today at Work I Made...

This is from last week. Hopefully it was the end of 2 weeks of really awful food. It was leftovers and slop work-friend Kendall and I made.

Today at Work I Made...

All I have at work is Salmon! I forgot, it will change soon. I brought vegetables to make a vegetable egg scramble. Add ingredients in the order you want to cook them in. I did shallot, garlic, and onion first. Followed by mushroom, pause, then zucchini. Then brocoli (I soaked the brocoli in hot water to soften them so they don't burn while cooking in the frying pan) and tomatoes at the end so they remain intact. Interesting, right?

Today at Work I Made...

Salmon Sausage and Chili. I used the corn salsa I made the other day. There was a rice cooker filled with rice and an open can of black bean chili. I don't think I had a choice of what to make and I like it that way. Also, work friend Kendall is back with an intimidating serving of sour cream.