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The Sweet and the Sour

sweet and sour chicken| dailywaffle As you drive north on the 5 through the Central Valley, the interstate is dotted with fast food joints and truck stops and the occasional restaurant advertising “Chinese-American” food.  In all the times I’ve done that drive, we have never stopped and I always sort of assumed that they were covering their bases, that Chinese-American food meant they served both chow mein and say, hamburgers. My first experiences with Chinese-American food were either in a strip mall or in a cramped restaurant with yellowing walls in downtown LA.  The order was always the same whether we were unpacking a brown sack of red and white take-out boxes or gathered around a big Lazy Susan for a post-funeral eat your feelings. As an only child you reach an age in life where it seems like there is a lot of Chinese food happening. I sometimes worry that the second round isn’t too many years away.

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Chicken Black Bean Quinoa Bake

 chicken black bean quinoa bake | dailywaffle

This week kicked my butt. I knew it was coming, but it still owned me. Knowing the days would be long, before work I was either making couscous and farro and prepping vegetables or getting my workout in. Two dinners this week were salads -- whipped together variations of chicken, spinach, some grain or other, and whatever citrus or dried fruit was in the pantry. One night I managed to sauté some chicken and roast cauliflower, but by Thursday, I had no ideas, so Wolf brought home a Costco pizza.  Then Friday, I was on my own.  With no grocery shopping happening either, a can of black beans saved me. I made Can You Stay for Dinner's black bean quinoa burgers.  It turned out to be the genesis of something bigger – a chicken, black bean and quinoa bake.

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Chicken Tikka Pasta Salad

September is about new beginnings, well, at least as far as the school year goes, so maybe that’s why OJ kicked off his new diet and exercise regimen now. Whatever it is, this new deal is already changing the way we eat (and I thought we were in a pretty good place to start with). The main challenge? Everything is weighed separately – 100 g protein, 80 grams carbs, however many grams fat. But when I start to look at how I cook, how do you calculate vegetable soup or pot pie or a casserole of any kind? Everything is mixed in. This first week there’s been a lot of grilling going on. Last night flank steak, over the weekend we grilled chicken. And it was that chicken that formed the basis for this chicken tikka pasta salad.

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Holy Mole — Oaxacan Black Mole with Chicken

  I think it was seeing Rick Bayless win Top Chef Masters season 1 with his Oaxacan Black Mole that pushed me over the edge. If we go to a Mexican restaurant and they have mole, I'm definitely ordering it. It's great sometimes, and others it's a flame out. But at home, unless you're going to make it from scratch, Dona Maria mole in a jar is usually your only option. But now that I've made Bayless' mole, there's no going back.

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