The past two days have been hot here in Chicago, and per the terms of our lease my husband and I couldn't install our air conditioner until this evening. It's in now, but I was making dinner while he was putting it in. In a 90+ degree kitchen, the last thing I wanted was a lot of heat, so the theme of tonight's dinner was pickles.
I served some of the leftover beet pickles (my husband hates these), and I made some carrot-lemon-vinegar pickles (he loved these). The recipe for the carrot lemon pickles was originally for turnips, but I thought it would work for carrots, and it did. I also made some okra pickled in soy, sake, and mirin. Finally, I actually cooked some peppers we had--just grilled them on our stove top grill and topped them with a soy-hot pepper-mayonnaise sauce. Our main dish was yellow tail, and it was very delicious. Overall, a colorful and mostly successful dinner.


The okra. This was a good way to do it, but if I make this again I'll blanch them first to get just a little bit of the bitterness out. But definitely a quick, easy, and delicious pickle.

Now... back to writing. With the air on, it's a bit easier to focus.

Tonight, we had leftovers from our anniversary dinner. We put out the leftovers, I made a quick black bean and avocado filling, and my husband had some meat and rice. We put together the ingredients however we liked in wraps with salsa, hot sauce, or fresh lime. Simple, and on such a hot day in Chicago, very refreshing!
The avocado and black bean filling. I thought we'd have quite a bit left over, but we ate almost all of it. I dressed it with lime juice, salt and pepper.
A salad wrap with cheese and salsa.

I don't usually photograph the lunches I make for Ko and I because they're usually very simple: some kind of sandwich or noodle. But lately I've been getting a bit more creative with my sandwiches, so I thought maybe I'd take a picture of lunch once in awhile.
I have mentioned my love of avocados here before. They may be my favorite food. I will eat them in any way, shape, or form, and in any amount. They are delicious. And they're so simple to eat, so I often make noodles, salad, or sandwiches with avocado.
This is an open-faced avocado sandwich, toast with a sliced avocado topped with melted cheddar and fresh ground pepper. Simple, yet stunningly delicious. I served it with a cucumber and tomato salad that could be eaten on the bread or the side. I also took out some grapes we shared.

Dinner tonight was also fairly simple. I made the edamame rice again because it's so delicious. I served bok choy with chicken and shiitake in a Chinese-flavored soup, mashed kabocha, and some beet pickles. Beets are a close second to avocados on my favorite food list, another item I could eat every day. I usually just blanch them and eat them plain, but lately I've been wanting to try something different with them. So today I tried pickled beets and onions. They were pretty good, but my husband didn't care for them. I liked them, though, and maybe they'll develop more flavor as they pickle longer. At any rate, I may make them again.

Tonight I made hamburger with renkon. The recipe called for ground sesame seeds, but I was out of sesame seeds so I used sesame paste. I think that messed the recipe up a bit, it looks really gross. The taste was all right, though. I served it with tomato slices, and sides of mashed kabocha (pumpkin) and okra (served simply, with soy sauce).


I did add garlic chips to the renkon and hamburger. My husband saw me making them, and I had to guard the pan from him until I served them. I had no idea he loved garlic chips so much. Live and learn, I suppose. I'll make them more often from now on.
For dessert: sugar-free purin again! This time, I used half the honey that I did before. The texture remains a bit more spongy than regular purin, but it was very good. And I can't get enough of the brandy-prune sauce. It is so good.

I have been so behind on my e-mails, my letters, and return calls, but most importantly I've been so behind on my dissertation. I'll try and catch up now that my allergies have cleared.
To that end, I wanted to share a meal from a few days ago. We had as the main dish pork belly with moyashi (bean sprouts), it was quite good although I added a bit too much spice. I served it with the carrot-daikon salad and the first okra of the season! I love okra. This was fresh and nice, topped with a miso-sesame sauce.

I've been wanting a bit of dessert even though I'm not eating sugar (although I failed at that this weekend, I'm back on the no-sugar wagon as of Wednesday). The other day I decided to make purin (flan) with honey. It worked very well, although the texture was a bit strange. The purin got so fluffy! It poofed up, and then when I spooned the sauce onto it collapsed. Which was OK, because I had the sauce on it.

It's a honey-brandy-prune sauce. I was a bit skeptical at first, but I love prunes and their density went perfectly with the brandy and the purin. I loved it. I could have eaten the brandy prunes mixed in yogurt, mixed in anything. I will definitely make this again.

Tonight, I made a dish that's always popular: nanban chicken. It's chicken, pan-fried, with a spicy vinegar sauce on a bed of onions. It's always a hit when I make it. Tonight, I paired it with the leftover rice and radish salad from last night, along with a chickpea-avocado dish.

I didn't think my husband would like this, so I was very happy when he did. It's chickpeas with avocados and a shallot (you could also use a red onion). The dressing is simple: salt, pepper, about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and the juice of half a lemon. We both liked this a lot, and I'm sure we'll have it again soon. Avocados are easily one of my favorite foods.


No dessert today, but I did eat a blood orange. The no-sugar thing is going all right.

My allergies are getting a little better, and my sense of taste is slowly returning. Yesterday, I decided I really wanted BBQ chicken, so I attempted to grill it on a fish grill. It turned out all right, but the grill was a pain to clean, so I don't think I'll be making it again. I served the pseudo-BBQ with butter corn saute, and a saute made of beet greens and broccoli stems. The broccoli-beet leaf thing was not so successful.
Tonight's dinner was so good, if I do say so myself!! I made a new kind of rice. I got the recipe from Andoh's Kansha book again. I used salted edamame, toasted sesame seeds, and some kodai black rice. It was so delicious. I loved it, as I do most of Andoh's recipes. On top of that, I made a delicious kohaku (red and white) namasu (vinegar pickles) with carrots and daikon, and we had the most delicious salt-grilled ao aji (blue fin). This dinner was so good, and so simple. I loved it, my husband loved it, it was just amazing.
Finally, for dessert, I made a healthy pie/tart. I am seriously trying to eat healthy and diet, and as part of that I've given up sugar. I've always eaten a lot of fruit, but I'm trying to replace my sugar cravings with fruit. And I'm trying to eliminate the late-night snack I would have as part of writing with a dessert after dinner. So tonight, I made a flax seed flour pie shell with honey, and filled it with a peach, basil and honey filling. A little fat, but no sugar, and very delicious. The flax meant it was very filling, as well.

Delicious! And these were the season's first peaches, so I'm sure we'll have this again. All in all, a good day on the diet and a great dinner.

Finished with a 10-day course of antibiotics, better than when I started but still not back at 100% where I can taste all my food. New things I've tried: a variety of herbal teas. More saline solutions. Sinusurf added to my neti pot. A non-addictive nasal spray featuring chili peppers. Breathe Right nose strips. These last three items seem to help the most, actually.
I am continuing with acupuncture, a variety of herbal, medicinal teas, and the homeopathic nasal sprays. I'm hoping it will all come together and work soon. I am better than I was, that's my only comfort.

Allergies

Neti pot with saline. Neti pot with several essential oils. Nettle tea. Acupuncture. Antibiotics. Air purifiers. Nasal spray and antihistamines. Yoga breathing techniques. Kombucha. Elimination of sugar and dairy from my diet. If there's anything else I can try to get my newly developed allergies under control, give me your ideas. As this list may demonstrate, I'm continually reaching new levels of desperation.