#dice up a lil salad veg

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

ok so for the folks that work in back of house/kitchen: what's your go-to secret menu item?

aka the food NOT meant for customers and only the staff know how to order, sometimes from specific cooks

I work in a bar kitchen, we mainly serve fried appetizers, grilled snacks, bread n dips etc, right? But that means there's all the constituent ingredients to make a FULL chicken pita, it just takes more time and effort than is worth putting on the menu. but it also means you can really only order it if I'm working

the previous full-sized restaurant i worked at, it was something called a suicide gyro (like suicide wings) and you could only order it when Steve was working bc it was made with the small-batch hot sauce he made at home with the peppers he grew himself

[fishysfoodblog]

Oven Roasted Veggies & Salad (Vegan)

It was time to use up what was in the fridge before my shopping arrived, so what better than to cook up the left over veg and have it with a massive salad?

Roasted veggies are super easy. Here’s how i did these ones with what i had left:

INGREDIENTS

1 x sweet potato

half red onion

1 x clove garlic

2 x large flat mushrooms

1 x red pepper

mixed herbs

salt & pepper

olive oil

salad and dressing

optional rye bread

METHOD

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4/180c/350f

Dice the sweet potato into lil’ squares

Same with the pepper and the mushies

Add the oil, onion, garlic and seasoning to frying pan on a medium heat until just starting to brown

Add the sweet potato and fry off for about 10-15 minutes. You don’t want the outside to go do brown

Add the peppers and fry off for another 5ish minutes

Put the mushies on a baking tray

Add the rest of the pan fried veggies to the mushies on the baking tray

Shove in the oven (middle shelf) for 30-40 minutes

Make your salad. I used romaine lettue and Sacla’s Vegan caeser dressing

Take the veggies out the oven and serve

Enjoy!

[windcalling]

EASY COOKING TIPS!

 dear kaos, we are looking to Diversify Our Cooking Options here but have no idea where to begin. both of us are pretty good at one (1) recipe: garlic cheesy pasta, sometimes with chicken. we both usually need to be able to rest for long periods of time while things cook, and we both have big sensory issues, so things like chopping onions are right out. what ingredients are most versatile? what relatively easy recipes do you personally recommend as Staples?            

@ymirjotunn

the answer to this got VERY long, so i’m making it a proper post that can go under a cut!

TL;DR: rice and eggs and cheese. spices are great, leftovers are great. I usually get ingredients I can use in a bunch of ways, which makes for more variety and less work. recipes & details under the cut!

RICE! rice rice rice rice rice. rice is the Easiest Food, absolutely, and way way versatile; it also has bonus digestivity points for most people so is really good for bad stomach days (my mom’s IBS is why i grew up eating it so much!)

rice:

boil water, 2x as much as rice. so 2c water for 1c rice, which will make 2c rice -- that’s about right for 1 person.

add rice, give it a stir, put on a lid

my trick to keep it from boiling over: move pan to a different (& cool) burner, turn that burner to lowish (like, mine have scale of 1-7, i put it on 2 usually. low/simmer heat)

leave it be for 20min!

make extra, it reheats REALLY WELL with a sprinkle of water

THINGS TO DO WITH RICE:

you can find lists of things to add to rice! google ‘ways to spice up rice’ or ‘flavored rice’ or things like that.

RECIPE: in frypan on med-high, melt butter. add garlic, lil salt, pepper, whatever. start scrambling an egg (or 2 or 3 obvs; scale up as desired). when the egg is still wet but holding together, just straight-up dump however much rice you want in. add a bit of oil (rice cooks best in oil, eggs best in butter), spices/whatever

I usually make two variants, one with lots of curry powder and some chili powder and one with soy sauce and a splash of rice vinegar.

basically, throw a flavour set at the pan. mix until the rice is hot.

THAI SALAD SAUCE: 1 part soy sauce, 1 part vegetable oil, 2 parts lime juice. however much garlic and ginger you like, in equal parts, if you like -- best with fresh but if they’re too strong (esp the ginger) you can ditch one or both, i’ve also used garlic powder in this. easiest with a food processor if using fresh.

anyway. MIX THAT SHIT UP, whisk or fork since oil is involved. heat in a small pan or a microwave for best. pour over salad greens and rice.

I do a LOT of eggs. eggs are easy, eggs are quick (especially scrambled), eggs can be flavoured a bunch of ways, eggs digest easily.

I don’t know a lot about yall’s specific dietary needs/preferences, but for the sake of nutrients, I also tend to keep a cucumber on hand, or carrots, or fresh bell peppers. the point is to have vegetables that are quick and easy and good raw, so you don’t have to bother with them too much but also won’t die of vitamin deficiency.

cheese is so good. cheese is the best. it goes on rice or eggs or noodles, or eaten plain as a snack -- sometimes i cut up cheese cubes and carrots and cucumbers and just eat them.

on the subject of PASTA: sauces can be made in big batches & frozen! basically:

get a pretty big saucepan, a can of diced tomatoes, and a smaller can of crushed tomatoes.

put the saucepan on medium heat. add some olive oil (a few tsp? some.) and garlic and whatever else you want -- some people add veg, or hot peppers, or sausage. you may want to leave those out for sensory stuff, altho i’m a big fan of very spicy sauces mixed with yogurt before serving for creaminess.

add tomatoes! maybe also basil, oregano, lil balsamic vinegar. stir stir stir

when it simmers, turn it down to low, stick a lid on, and leave it for like 30min-1hr; check on it occasionally & taste.

freeze that shit in portion-sized containers

WHEN DEFROSTING: don’t do it in the microwave! it’ll stain the container. when you start pasta water stick the container in hot water, then scoop it out into a microwaveable non-plastic dish.

ALSO PASTA:

lazy person’s mac n cheese is so good. make macaroni or other small pasta, grate cheese, layer noodles and cheese+little bit of butter until bowl is filled. let it melt a few minutes, dig in. add a lil dijon or brown mustard, maybe!

honestly, i love just adding oil and spices to my noodles, often basil or oregano+garlic powder+pepper

I don’t do a lot of meat, apart from adding sausages or bacon to pastas, but those are pretty intensive & you can’t really sit down in the middle. HOWEVER my mom makes pork roast pretty regularly, and I’m getting the recipe from her when she gets on skype next. the general theory is you rub your seasoning all over the roast and then cook it for...you know, a while. and then get lots of leftovers. so that is TO COME.

GENERAL TIPS:

garlic goes with everything

soy sauce/vinegar/ginger/sesame

curry powder/chili

paprika is great on eggs, as are hot sauces and non-balsamic vinegars

oregano/basil/thyme/rosemary/bay: herbes de provence is COMBO POWER

make enough for leftovers when you can, especially of your basic starch (rice/noodles). it’s really easy to reheat those and add a different sauce or topping.

honestly...rice is the lifesaver

i Love talking about this stuff, so pls tell me commentary/questions/more info on what you can&can’t eat/stuff you like&don’t!