easy recipes for the down and out

mono, compounded by cat scratch fever, a playful kitten and an insatiable desire to leave my apartment without the capacity do so, would leave anyone too tired to cook.  and, aside from my one incident (yesterday, i tried to make myself some oatmeal, and i sat down on the couch, and three hours later i woke to the fire alarm... oops), this week with mono has found me more adventurous in the kitchen and although that's probably due to my less frequent trip to the grocery store, i'm happy for it.

please do remember, these are not meant to be eaten all at once, in fact, it took me a week to get through the three things listed below, but, i have been sleeping like 18 hours a day, so, you know...

when down and out, one needs to eat and eat well. 

the body heals best when its sleeping and sleeps best when its full... 

so, here's what i've come up with so far:

first, the garlic and jalapeno pork chops with cream-cheese'd rice
  
     a) here piggie piggie

• set the oven to 375/400
• finely chop a fresh jalapeno and garlic
• place half of the choppings in the middle of a cookie plate, douse with olive oil
• place a pork chop atop the pile of green and pale yellow
• rub the other half of the choppings on to the pork chop, adding olive oil, a dash of salt
• cook in the center of the oven for 6 minutes, pull out and flip for another 5 or so
• top with grated cheese 

  
     b) always add cheese

• in the final stages of making rice, when there is only a slight glisten of water left simmering and swimming, add a dollop of cream cheese, stir well
• after you've mixed in the cheese, turn the heat off and lay a towel across the top of the pot, securing it by laying the lid on top of the towel

     serve a) on top of b) with a side of green beans or some salad - enjoy!

second, the pesto steak with goat cheese and crispy broccoli (not Pilli's favorite)

     a) don't skirt the steak

• on low heat and in a skillet, saute some chopped garlic, salt and pepper with olive oil 
• smother your steak in pesto sauce
• turn the heat up slightly, lay the steak on the skillet 
• flip after about 5 minutes
• flip again after about 3 minutes 
• (i totally cheat here and slice a bit in the middle - i like my steaks to be medium and this usually does it)
• once its cooked to your liking, top it with a dollop of goat cheese and a dab of pesto 

      b) "um, excuse me, waiter, this broccoli is burnt"

• heat the oven to 400
• toss fresh broccoli in a dish with large garlic slices, olive oil, a dash of red wine (merlot) and pepper
• add a few cherry or sugar plum tomatoes, toss again
• ensuring that ever bit of broccoli is lightly bathed in the oil mixture, put in the oven
• about 10 minutes later, check to see if the leafy parts of the broccoli are browning - you want them to be brown before you pull them out

     serve a) with b) and drink lots of water with this salty and delicious meal

third, the roasted garbanzo snack

• drain and rinse (well!) a can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• set the oven to 375/400
• in a baking dish, toss them with sugar plum tomatoes, flax seeds, golden raisins, baby-pumpkin s seeds (aka: pepitas), salt, olive oil and a dash of balsamic vinegar
• bake/roast for about 15 minutes or until browned 
• this dish is meant to be crispy but if you over do your olive oil (like i always do) these go great on top of a salad, with just about any pasta dish, or on its own with a side of grilled veggies and some goat cheese

before

after!