I have had a mixed barley type pilaf at Turkish restaurants lately that I liked, as well as occasionally a mixed rice at Korean restaurants.
I unfortunately don’t enjoy quinoa.
I do like freekeh.
I have had a mixed barley type pilaf at Turkish restaurants lately that I liked, as well as occasionally a mixed rice at Korean restaurants.
I unfortunately don’t enjoy quinoa.
I do like freekeh.
I was adding qiona before I read about resistant starch through refrigeration.
I skip quinoa when I want the flavor of only rice in something (eg biryani).
Parboiled rice is available for a number of varieties at Indian stores (now also marketed as “diabetic rice” for the higher resistant starch). I might buy that when I restock (other than for basmati, where I found the aroma missing in the parboiled version).
There are some grains available at Polish stores that I’ve enjoyed trying. Millet, different types of Kasha, stuff like that. My problem is that I don’t use it up quickly and some of them go rancid.
Mishmash of leftovers and store cupboard staples. Leftover stir-fry of choi sum, broccoli, green beans and mushrooms, tossed in a hot frying pan with leftover brown basmati rice, drained tinned mackerel fillets in spring water, Thai chilli crisp.
Some of those grains are better stored in the fridge (though I’ve not had an issue with any millets from an Indian store).
The only one that gets iffy in warmer weather is whole grain barley (my mom always stores that in the fridge, and buys only a tiny quantity at a time). This just reminded me I haven’t eaten barley in ages even though I restocked it.
I keep my brown rice and wild rice in the fridge. No room for the barley and Polish stuff LOL. I’ll take the financial loss every 6 months. LOL.
Lebanese dinner tonight.
Chicken thighs with a shish tawook marinade,
salad,
baked beans with tomato.
The healthier thing I’ve been doing lately is making sure I consume at least one serving of naturally fermented food a day, and also more fibre rich foods. After reading 10% Human I strongly believe that boosting our good gut bacteria provides a large, positive influence on health. I always knew it was good to eat a balanced diet. I now have a better understanding of why.
Re fermented, I’ve recently gotten back into the habit of setting fresh yogurt every day or two, for the same reason. So delicious too.
I found an excellent Bulgarian yogurt starter online. It makes a creamy, mild and firm setting yogurt every time. There’s always a pot of yogurt in the fridge. My last one is almost gone. Btw, homemade sour cream and cream cheese are just as easy with the right cultures.
I use whatever yogurt I was eating last, usually some plain organic from wherever.
I find the branding of starter type interesting. When I was growing up, if you ran out of yogurt or got back from a trip and hadn’t frozen a bit, you just got a tsp of starter from a neighbor
I’ve also successfully used the green chilli method (stem portion into milk, if you don’t have any starter).
A healthier step I started years ago is to weigh out pasta portions. So many recipes call for a full pound for four servings, around 4 ounces each. Dried pasta is about 100 kcal/oz. I’m perfectly happy with 1.5 or so ounces, about the calories in two slices of sandwich bread, and the digital scale makes it easy.
I love the simple, yet effective pasta measuring thingamajig I have, although it’s only made for long strand pasta.
I’ve figured out that a personal salad bowl about 2/3 full with dry short / small shaped pasta is usually enough for the two of us (and there’s nothing wrong with leftover pasta ).
I’ve been dieting since mid September, and the only thing that works consistently for me is portion control. Make everything a little bit smaller. And for certain things that are dense in calories like all of the starchy carbs, be very discerning about when I eat them and how much. I used to want an entire bowl of pasta and now I can be satisfied with about a cup of it so long as there’s plenty of vegetables and protein that are part of the dinner. I also try and snack on produce a lot rather than crackers and chips. Treats are moderately consumed when I’ve done a lot of exercise, like hikes on weekends. When I travel I eat like a normal person knowing that I’ll gain weight and have to work it off again. C’est la vie.
I cannot figure out how to cut that slab of feta. There was a Greek restaurant close by that I ordered (happily) from during the pandemic that provided very similar items to what you had. They’ve been “temporarily closed” for several months now. Sadly, one of Baltimore’s oldest Greek restaurants (I went there more than 50 years ago, at their “old” location) has closed, too.
https://a.co/d/fZVw4TF
Or a long thin knife.
Aha!
If we are eating something like that and the feta comes in a slab, we just break off what we want with our hands/fingers as we go. Usually we forgo utensils and just eat with pita.