Has this topic been played out before elsewhere or here? I am prompted to post because right now, while my 21-month old cipollini naps, I am eating a bowl of sprouted brown+red rice with added forbidden rice and wild oat groats, all sprinkled with nutritional yeast (@Ttrockwood). And some decent bone-dry Italian vermentino. I am reminded of my youthful/carefree days, when I ate any weird combination of foods, with no one to judge me (actually my hubby doesn’t…he chalks up my eating habits to my Korean-ness) and no one who would require constant attention when not napping. At the moment, I am boiling up a huge vat of amaranth (bought from my local Hmong farmers)/miso/garlic/tofu soup for breakfast for the next few days to go with the pot of rice.
Edited to add: I scattered TJ’s freeze-dried-ish broccoli (that cipollini liked for a nano-second) atop my rice/yeast mixture and it is delicious. Or weird, depending on your perspective.
I tend not to cook so much as do major kitchen projects when I have the place to myself. For instance, DH has plans this evening so I am going to caramelize a few pounds of garlic for the freezer. When he goes away for the weekend, I often grind and blend hamburger, make and stuff sausage, sous vide some large tough cut, etc. I also sometimes try new recipes or techniques that seem to have a high possibility of failure, just so he doesn’t feel compelled to eat my mistakes! I generally just snack when I’m doing this sort of thing rather than make a full meal, but those snacks certainly qualify as odd. For instance, I love Jarlsberg cheese with butter on it. Yes, you read that right. Sometimes I nuke the cheese first so it gets a little melty and then put cold butter on top. Also, pork rinds with cream cheese and hot sauce. You get the picture.
Well, i live alone- some of my meals are certainly whatever is around plates of random, especially when i get home late. I have a tendency towards hippie health food store stuff like hemp seeds, tempeh, and nutritional yeast i’m thinking cold tofu with bbq sauce and carrots dipped in pb are a bit odd though (and also what i called dinner friday night)
Breakfast is when my improv act goes nuts. I seldom stray from the Magic Triad of eggs, meat and bread, adding whatever vegetables, herbs and cheeses seem most promising. This morning’s was almost tame, but also the most successful from both the goodness angle (including taste and nutrition) and the ever-elusive ease of consumption. It was yet another run at the breakfast sandwich, this time with a baseball sized lump of Jimmy Dean’s Sage sausage, well flattened, a slice of Jalapeño Jack, one over-and-broken egg and two slices of Trader Joe’s Flourless Sprouted Wheatberry bread, toasted. For once I managed to hit my size goals with each component, get nothing over- or under-cooked, and wind up with a well-trimmed and delicious sandwich.
The very fresh egg was a big help, as it did not sprawl all over the pan as my usual ones do. The sausage went first, in the steel skillet on a flame-tamer plate, and when almost done by my reckoning had its cheese slice laid on and removed to one lightly buttered slice of toast on the warming tray. The egg, fried gently in butter in the small iron skillet, was broken and turned to sit with the fire off while I spread some mayo on the other slice of toast. It all fit together very well, was cut down the middle into rectangles, and made me pretty happy for a while there. Doesn’t take much …
Other typical projects include making gravies, using potatoes or rice or even pasta, seeing how far I can push the frittata or omelet, stuff like that. This is also why I often find myself having brunch rather than breakfast. Being retired can do that.
I like to treat myself well when I have the place to myself. It’s a good time to remember what I like about cooking and eating and not feel like it’s a chore. Sometimes I’ll order in from a place off our usual list. Other times I’ll make an especially spicy dish (e.g. http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015131-gong-bao-chicken-with-peanuts) that my partner doesn’t like. Also, I’ll make something like cacio e pepe that SO will eat, but not really enjoy like I do. Or I’ll eat my weight in tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Basically I like to make exactly what I want, without caring about anybody else. Sometimes it’s fancy and sometimes it a childhood favorite, but I think it is important to take moments alone to care for myself and enjoy my own company.
No weird shit .
i’m thinking cold tofu with bbq sauce and carrots dipped in pb are a bit odd though (and also what i called dinner friday night)