Home Alone

Dinner at 9 is late (even for me) and by myself is really unusual. So it was fast food on Irving or a quick salad at home. I chose the salad - partly because the temperature is in the 80's and partly because I have been taking a good look at my midriff lately:

A bag of washed (flat) spinach always comes in handy so I pulled out a bit, made some croutons from a leftover baguette (bread in Chicago is disappointing but makes fine croutons). Slice a little of the frozen, grilled-many-months-ago flank steak that I pulled out this morning (thinking of a different evening) and Green Goddess In A Bottle. For a few seconds I thought of tearing up some fresh mint but decided that it was too late to make a second dinner. :) Still, I have to wonder...

The Green Goddess is from Kraft. I used to be a snob about store bought dressings but life is too short. I like Cardinis's Original Caesar, any of the Paul Newmans because most of the profits go to charity (they say) and the Safeway brands because they are cheap and good enough (especially Jalapeño Ranch).

Salmon

We haven't had salmon here for a while so I pulled out ye olde cauliflower puree trick. Cooked the salmon in a 425d oven for 15 minutes in a pool of lime juice and olive oil with (what else?) scallion / ginger sauce. Roasted green beans for about 45 minutes and served with (what else?) fish sauce! I'm in a rut with those two sauces but it is a really tasty rut.

Refrigerator Dinner

Poke around the inside and see what comes out:

Steak

Cannellini beans

Scallion / ginger sauce

Cauliflower, tomato and spinach

Not bad!

Leftovers

Slow cooked ribs heat up nicely, too. Just put them back in the oven at a low heat for an hour or so.

Cauliflower

My sister told me about this so I gave it a whirl - literally. Coarsely chop some cauliflower then "puree" it in the food processor. You don't want it to be a puree, actually, more like the size of rice.

Sautee with olive oil and salt. It wasn't the most delicious dish that I've ever made but what can be added to it is endless.

Cake

When a friend volunteers to come over on a Sunday afternoon bake a cake! No reason, just the cake (and he left 75% of it!).

Torching the meringue

Waiting for the soup to finish

Delicious!