I've been sick the last week or so, but I've moved from the point where I'm not hungry and have no energy to cook to the point where I'm still feeling like crap, dont' really have energy, but am out of the anything effortless to make (including canned soup).

Did I mention that I really haven't done much grocery shopping in the last month, beyond one major meat restocking?

Anyway, I opened the fridge and saw that I still had some spinach in the freezer, a variety of poultry filets, and root veggies (carrots, onions, parsnips), and was suddenly, the flavors of my last stir fry exploded in my head - the sultry heat from the chiles, the silky bok choy... yum.

I admit that this was not the most exerting soup to make. It's really a non-recipe, but I'll share it anyway. Chop an onion, peel & dice a parsnip, and toss 'em in a pan to soften with just a little itty bit of oil. While it's cooking, run three cloves of garlic through the press over the pot, grab about a half teaspoon of minced ginger from the jar, and stir. Once it looks about right, pour in a 32oz box of chicken broth, about a tablespoon of soy, a teaspoon of chile garlic sauce, a half teaspoon of hoisin, a scant teaspoon of sesame oil, and dump in a frozen turkey filet (about 4-5oz in size). Let it simmer for some time. I really don't know how long it was there, I fell asleep on the couch and then the city inspector came, and the plumber. Anyway, once the turkey's cooked through, take it out, dice it up, and return with two servings worth of whole wheat pasta, and let it cook until the pasta's plumped up nicely. Then add about 2-3 oz of frozen spinach (oh yeah, still frozen because I still am not feeling well -- I use a cleaver to chunk my box into 3-4 smaller containers to freeze what I don't use for things like this), and once the spinach has thawed and warmed, serve.

It was much like stir fry, and filled my belly well (and helped drain my sinuses - always a bonus!). I don't feel like arse so much, either - between this and last night's onion soup, I think I may be on the mend.

Once upon a time, I went to a Chinese restaurant. I'm pretty sure it was P.F. Chang's, but since I adore Chinese food and move around a lot, it really could have been anywhere. But it was a nicer restaurant. And I ordered some appetizer (which I found to be ok-tasting, but not exceptional). This appetizer, however, came with a very delicious garnish/salad - of thinly sliced, slighty pickled, spicy cucumber with some shredded carrots (that somehow, weren't spicy).


Once upon a time, I went to a Mexican restaurant in San Diego's Ocean Beach neighborhood, and the food there was again not exceptional, but they had a refreshing alternative to the typical fried tortillas and salsa: carrots pickled in the same juice that they use to pickle jalapeños. It was the best part of the meal.


What's this have to do with the price of tea in China, you ask? I've been dying to have it again. So I looked for recipe after recipe for a spicy cucumber side dish that was just a little vinegary. Many of what I found, when I made it, were too salty or too vinegary and not enough spicy or refreshing.

This changed last Tuesday, when I ran into a recipe for a refrigerator pickle that was a little salty, a little sour/bitter (from the vinegar), and a little sweet. It looked like it would be perfect - and the sizes would be big enough that there should be a refreshing pop from the cucumber. And lo, to this recipe, I added some carrot, and it was not only good, it was great. I made a quarter recipe, because I wanted to try it out before committing 4 whole cucumbers to the cause, so your miles may vary.