My partner announced in early January that it was my turn to be chief cook.
Yikes!
We'd both been sous-chefs in our previous relationships. When we started cooking for each other, well...at first it was a pitiful adventure but soon she pulled ahead as the creative, competent and consistent one. So voila! She became chief cook and I've been sous-chef ever since. And so it went.
When she stated that things were changing, after all these many years, I agreed to her pronouncement -- partly because she's usually not a pronouncement kind of a partner, and partly because, well,
fair is fair. It helped that she explained herself. Her goal was to be more conscious at home in the evening after work, to enjoy our time together more. How could I have a beef with that program?
So we struck a deal. I'd be chief cook if she'd advise me, tell me what to put with what and how to cook and season it. You see, I just don't have an imagination for cooking, and not much imagination for food in general. (Well, I do like barbeque ribs....) I can't answer the basic question "What do you want to have for dinner?" unless I'm hungry. The thinking-creatively-about-food part of my brain is just deficient.
Or so I thought.
Last night, she called from work just before leaving and said, "What about dinner?"
Immediately, baked potatoes flashed into my head. Yes -- flashed! Weird, because I wasn't hungry yet, and even when hungry I
never think of baked potatoes.
So, she made a quick stop at the Piggly Wiggly and by the time she came home I had turkey bacon crisping in the frying pan (for the potatoes) and had pulled out of the fridge the following:
ginger
three heads of bok choy
four pieces of celery
one red bell pepper
snow peas
one apple
one lemon
Umi Plum Vinegar
I stuck the potatoes in the microwave for nine minutes, and then into the oven for 20 minutes, and started my...I don't think I can call it a stir-fry because I did it on a low heat and I think stir-fry is over high heat, but what do I know, really?
In any case, a little canola oil and minced ginger with chopped celery & pepper, snow peas, slices of apple and the juice of a whole lemon simmering in them, and finally, bok choy and a generous splash of Umi Plum vinegar added at the end...created a really yummy veggie dish to go with the potatoes. Each piece had a unique taste, and together they were a taste-bud medley. At first I thought I had put in too much lemon, but eventually I decided the lemon was
just right.
I'm gonna try that one again.
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