Cooking for DLS pt 3

Another week, another adventure cooking for DLS! This week, I went the easy route – I forget why, exactly, but I made chipotle lime crusted chicken – I believe because I really wanted to make an avocado salad on the side. Part of the fun of cooking just for me has always been that I get to make things to exactly my own tastes and never, ever think twice about what someone else might like or not like. Part of the fun of cooking for someone else has always been trying to balance what I like with what they like – which only works when they are vocal about these preferences, or when I already know them…

All this to say that I haven’t yet completely figured out DLS’s palate, and that sometimes, unlike with just about the rest of the world who will complain about anything and everything and then some, he does not express these preferences and I have to find out the hard way that something is not to his liking.

Which is why I didn’t discover he’s not a fan of cilantro – but doesn’t HATE it, thankfully – until after I’d already chopped up an entire bunch and added it to the avocado salad and had him taste it. Oops. I chided him, since I’d listed all of the ingredients for him the previous day, and he said “I didn’t think you’d use the whole bunch of cilantro!” – fine, in all fairness, I just really like cilantro. A LOT.

While the chicken was cooking, I glanced out the window and noticed these awesome views. It was hard to capture exactly as the moon was so bright that it was reflecting off the white walls in the apartment back out onto the interior of the glass windows, but… wow, right? This is at night. Look at the clouds!

And the following week, I used the leftovers for another “Reinventing the TV Dinner” meal! I used mostly leftovers from random meals pieced together: top left, avocado salad with chips; fresh pineapple from Stew Leonard’s; New England clam chowder from Stew Leonard’s; leftover green beans from Penang; and leftover ribs from Southern Hospitality (which was so horrible I picked at it then froze most of it, intending to chop it up for soup later).  Mmmmm, perfect for sitting in front of the TV and vegging out 🙂

(BTW – I realized I haven’t posted this particular tray in the past. It was a lovely gift from TT & CT! Thank you guys! I love it!)

Yep – that’s how old this post is, from around St. Patrick’s Day. I decided to go ahead and make corned beef with bacon-roasted cabbage and a baked potato, though I don’t think DLS had ever had it this way. I think he liked it… though unfortunately he wasn’t feeling too well.

And a salad to go with it.

And homemade honey mustard to go with all of that as well.

As I linked the recipe for the chipotle lime crusted chicken above, I’ll refrain from repeating it here.

Avocado salad (basically, deconstructed guacamole)

Two avocados, diced
Diced red onion
Diced tomato
cilantro (as much, as little, or none – as you like)
juice of 1 juicy lime or 2 meh limes
salt/pepper/ground chipotle
thawed and patted dry corn niblets
diced purple cabbage (slightly bitter, will offset the sweetness of the corn, and adds a ton of crunch to the avocado salad)

Toss together. Let sit in the refrigerator for a bit – while the chicken cooks, if you’re serving together – as you like. Eat up – serve with chips or not. Mmmm.

Corned beef, bacon-roasted cabbage & baked potato

I’ve posted this menu in the past because I like eating it (even when it’s not St. Patrick’s Day, though I find it easier to find corned beef to cook when it’s March than the rest of the year).

Homemade honey mustard is just a grainy mustard mixed with honey, to taste.  And the salad was simply cut tomatoes with Romaine lettuce cut into bite-sized pieces.  What could be easier? Honestly… yum!

Don’t you wish you were DLS? 😛