Lunchbox #2: Cauliflower Tart with salad

Not wanting to post a recipe copied directly from a the smitten kitchen's latest post, I thought I'd share this cauliflower tarte in lunchbox form.

The smitten kitchen recipe sounds and tastes wonderful, but I was truly inspired to make it because I had a huge head of cauliflower sitting around in my fridge. Store-bought pie crust worked well for me, and I don't even know what mascaropone cheese is. So I used ricotta. Ricotta and Parmesan.

This tart was the first time I caramelized onions. I should really make it a habit....

Lunchbox #1: Potato Salad Salad

After getting happy hour sushi for the second time in less than a week, I had no reason to cook a big meal tonight. However, I still had to think about lunch for Monday at work. I suppose it would have been easy enough to go out to eat tomorrow, but the closest places to my work are Chipotle (too intense) and Panera (too gross and expensive).

So I threw together a healthy potato salad and paired it with spinach and a small green pepper (pepperoncini). That's why its Potato Salad Salad. For the potato part, I basically just boiled about ten small red potatoes for ten minutes. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter and add that to the cut up, boiled potatoes. There were also sandwich sized packets of mayo and mustard in my fridge, so I threw them in. A cup of plain non-fat yogurt completed the sauce. Sliced scallions give it a nice zing, while 10 chopped olives and some parsley make it taste homey and familiar. Of course, I added one diced green chili as well.

I'll be having this for lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday too...

Chicken Curry

Another Sunday night special. I made chicken curry for myself and a friend. It's fantastic, and Tasha agrees. Last time I made this dish for her, it was part of a "spicy food eating contest" and was outrageously hot. Tonight, I made it more mild and more edible.

There are so many recipes for chicken curry, and I'll do my best to put this one in writing. It's really good, and it yielded a managable amount of food. It fed two people tonight, and I have leftovers (pictured above) to put in my lunchbox for the next two days.

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
1 small bell pepper of any color, sliced
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1/2 cup sliced carrots
4 green chillies, sliced
10 curry leaves
2 teaspoons red chili powder
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon ground garam masala
1 handful of garam masala, not ground
2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt to taste
Oil for saute
*You don't need to do this recipe in a pressure cooker, but this device is amazing. I recommend everyone buys one.

Mix a marinade for the chicken about two hours before you want to eat. The marinade should include the lemon juice, yogurt, turmeric, chili powder, ground garam masala, ginger garlic paste and a little bit of oil/water. Cut you're chicken breasts into 2 inch pieces and add them to the marinade. Let sit for an hour and a half.

Saute onion until translucent in a pressure cooker. Add green chillies and curry leaves, and saute for another two minutes. Add carrots and chicken mixture. Add whole garam masala. Saute until chicken is slightly brown. Add 1/4 cup water and cover the pressure cooker. Wait for the cooker to whistle 6-7 times (more if it needs it), and remove from heat. After pressure cooker has cooled, open the lid. Lightly saute you're bell pepper and mix that into the chicken curry.

Serve with rice and plain yogurt/yogurt sauce.