My Bread Adventures

Tonight's dinner is avocado themed - because really, who dislikes avocado*? We will had a cold avocado chipotle bisque and avocado mango rolls, made with rice paper. Both are from recent Vegetarian Times. We've made the soup before and it was so tasty.

But, I had about 1/4 of an avocado left over from the prep for the rolls. I couldn't let it go to waste so I made a sandwich with it. I am quite excited about lunch in 90 minutes! It is:

Avocado slices, red pepper slices, tofu (not marinated, but I kind of like raw tofu), whole grain mustard and the Bittman brown bread The Pedant made yesterday. The only downside is it was falling out of the bread when I made it but I can handle it. It might be the sandwich I'm looking forward to the most since I was in Scandinavia.

*TP's cousin is sadly allergic. I know she dislikes avocado. But that's ok. More in the world for me!

Mango Lassi!

Before our dinner making, but after a visit to the farmer's market, the Teet, and the pool, The Pedant and I made some mango lassis. We had a hankering for this tasty beverage since it was quite warm outside and they are quite refreshing.

The mixture:

1 Mango
2 Cups Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
1 Cup Skim Milk
3ish Tablespoons Splenda sugar blend

Put in blender, mix.

The outcome: Tasty. It wasn't quite as thick as a mango lassi at an Indian place but also about 1/3 of the calories. And it was fairly filling. And super refreshing. Plus, we have leftovers int he fridge!

TP and I think this might be a recurring project. Granted the Fage yogurt is a bit pricey but oh so worth it.

Times, Responses, and Other Excuses to Change the Subject

To play off the Sherbs's previous post: yes, Ikea in Woodbridge, VA has at its restaurant a meal special which pairs fifteen Swedish meatballs in cream sauce with a healthy portion of macaroni and cheese for $5.49. There is also the small dollop of lingonberry sauce (I originally thought it was cranberry, but no - it has to be Swedish, and it has to look like salmon roe) that suffices as the concession to the existence of vegetables in the meal. The Swedish meatballs are in a gravy that Ikea calls "cream sauce." It is delicious. It is food that will kill you.

Today we went to Mai Thai in DC, as the Sherbs had to work late and I believe that eating at Mai Thai gives me a trifecta on credit card points and various other loyalty reward programs. We each had our own soups, which were tasty, but it seems that everything but the tom ka soup uses the tom yam soup base with extra stuff in it. If you love spicy lemongrass soup, you'll love these.

A parenthetical before I continue with the main dishes - the Sherbs and I had a conversation just now about the fact that it was nigh-impossible to find the Thai soups I am blogging about using the Food Network recipe extension for Firefox. Looking on Food Network's programming, there's basically no non-white ethnic food on the channel. Ever. And excessively Caucasian food hosts like Paula "smear it with lard" Deen and Sandra "You Can Make Angel Food Cake Hawaiian by Adding Runts Candy" Lee get tons of airtime. Make no bones about it, I watch a lot of Food Network - but are they racist?

Getting back to our Thai dinner, the Sherbs and I shared a salad and an entree. The salad was made of shredded mango and chopped red onion in a dressing that tasted like lime juice, cane juice, and cilantro. Little bits of toasted coconut were added for texture. Once we get the mandoline blade sharp enough, we are going to try to make it ourselves.

The entree was drunken noodles with tofu. I don't know how authentic the spicy candied version of drunken noodles is, but it's tasty - how could pan frying chow fun noodles not be? We ate every last molecule of it.