Stir-Fry Goodness

QIR stayed at my place for a few evenings last week. She brought with her some boneless pork chops. Not wanting to broil or fry them, I put my head together with QIR's, and together we decided to stir-fry them. Adding some green onions, thinly-sliced radishes, and bean sprouts, I stir-fried the mixture with some shoyu, rice vinegar and Chinese five spices, then added some stir-fry vegetables QIR picked up at Trader Joe's, and served over rice.

YUM! It was delicious.

Pasties, Part II

I decided to have another go at the meat pastries today, but thought I'd try a different cuisine as inspiration. I used ground turkey, with cinnamon, cumin and paprika, plus golden raisins and almonds, for a North African feel. Added some ginger preserves, sealed it up in puff pastry, and baked the popover-like items for about 25 minutes. The result was pretty good - could have used a bit more of the spices I added, though.

Curry Pasties

I recently got it in my head to try to come up with a curried beef puff pastry-type item. I already had some curry powder, so I picked up some ground beef, onion, carrots, chutney, and pie crusts. Either tomorrow night or Saturday, I'll experiment with them. I'll post the results here, so watch this space.

I also came across a recipe for a Moroccan chicken pot pie, which calls for cinnamon, cumin and paprika, as well as golden raisins and green olives. But for the green olives, it sounds quite intriguing, so I think I'll try that one on Sunday. I thought I'd throw carrots and perhaps some almonds into that, and see how it goes. Anyone have any other suggestions on what would be good with the items I've already named? And for the record, I'm not going to put the olives in.

* 12/26/07 UPDATE * The beef pasties turned out very well! I ended up preparing the filling by using beef, onion, carrots, some frozen peas and chutney. I still have about half of the filling left, so I'm going to try making another batch using tamarind sauce.

Loneliness - It's What's For Dinner

QIR discussed in a recent blog post her lack of appetite. She said that she enjoys cooking, but can't be motivated to eat.

I have something of the opposite problem: I am fine with eating, I enjoy the sensations associated with food, but I hate cooking these days. I am alone most nights, and can't be motivated to fix dinner. I find it pretty depressing to spend lots of time in the kitchen preparing a meal when I have nobody to share it with.

Most nights, I end up taking a mostly-prepared Trader Joe's something out of either the fridge or the freezer, putting it in the microwave, and taking it out five to ten minutes later. The net result is that I am likely getting way more sugar, sodium and fat than I probably should, and not nearly enough complex carbohydrates (read: veggies).

What's the solution? How does a bachelor get motivated to fix and eat better, healthier food? Inquiring minds want to know.