Monday, February 12

RADISH HEARTS!

the center of a radish is probably called it's heart, right?
i mean, grocery stores sell palm hearts, artichoke hearts, celery hearts-
radishes must have 'em, too.
maybe not.
i don't actually think that matters, if i'm being completely honest,
especially if you're making hearts out of radishes.
any radish part should work, i'm thinking.
the watermelon radish i used got pinker and better, albeit much spicier,
as i sliced up towards the top half,
and it was just perfect for my dinner plans.
i am into that sort of thing.
yeah, i am.
i like all that february lovey-dovin' heart-attack sh!t,
even if it's just a cutesy accent to my hot hot hot fire noodle soup bowl..
uh-huh.
...and while i'm talking about that-
i also happen to really love noodles.
i don't know about you,
but for as much i'm into pasta pretty hard, and i am into pasta pretty flippin' hard-
i still seem to steer towards asian-inspired noodles far more often.
maybe it's because i like a combination of fresh veg crunch,
and sharp vinegar,
and sweet and salty and that ooooh-mommy umami for my face?
i dunno why exactly, i just know for sure that i got fresh as F*
on some mushroom mirchi broth, with dried red chilis,
and charred cabbage, carrot, celery, and onion,
plus a whole buttload of fresh minced ginger and garlic!
THAT'S what's poppin',
but that's only half of it.
some sam raimi noodles, some homemade seitan strips,
crisp veggies and sprouts, sprankles,
and totally rad radish hearts.
yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup.
check the teleport:

Y'BOI!!
there's serious excavation work to be performed
when you're munching up a big bowl of hottness like this.
i'm tellin' you.
AVO-F*ING-CADO with black pepper?
that's tight.
pea shoots and cilantro purple cabbage and purple carrots and mung sprouts?
woooooooooord up. that's crawnchy!
and those grilled brussies?
c'mon, bro. we call that expert around here.
the seitan was a good call. i had some left, and i seared it with GPOP,
and splashed it with soy, and called it ready.
it's an exxxtra step towards being awesome, and i loooooved it.
ramens are pretty straighhtforward.
y'boil 'em for three minutes. DAS IT.
the broth, though, was straight-up fire, and it had liquid lava and molten magma
ready to rock my socks right off.
-
*
MUSHROOM MIRCHI SOUP!
-
in a larger small saucepot (y'know the one), heat a tablespoon of sesame oil,
and toss in:
1 cup chopped cabbage;
1/2 diced small onion;
1 cut-up carrot;
2 stalks minced celery;
-
now, you could first cook a whole mess of mushrooms in the oil,
before you add the cabbage an' that,
but, then they get kinda bummery and gross, and that's not cool.
bite the bullet and dirty another pan
(i also grilled the brussies and seared the seitan in the same second pan)
and thoroughly brown a cup of quartered mushrooms.
i don't care what kind, you shouldn't either;
-
add those well-done caps, and a teaspoon of mirchi powder-
or make your own, it's a combo of all of this:
paprika, all the crushed dried chilis you've got around,
cumin, cardamom, anise, black peps, cinnamon, Garlic Powder Onion Powder,
dried ginger, and crushed red pepper.
damn.
or you could go get some- it doesn't make you a bad person, i'll allow it this once.
ha!
anyway,
2 cloves of sliced garlic, a tablespoon of skin-on organic ginger, macerated,
that mirchi, a dash of ground mustard, pink salt,
2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar;
2 tablespoons of soy sauce;
and 1 1/2 cups warm water.
boil it, reduce the heat, simmer it until it looks murky and smells magical,
and then get ready to exxxplode with flavors, dudes.
-
serve it up however you'd like.
i go for prettiness every time, but that's just me.
the cookie-cut radish hearts were actually not the mos delicious thing about this meal,
but they were far and away the most adorable.
that's a fair trade.
*
ANYway,
dinner tastes great, but it feels like a bummer when you're eating all alone.
it's funny in a not-ha-ha way that a year of almost always munching my meals by my lonesome
was no big deal,
but a week of going solo after months of good company and conversation seems like
an actual age of man has passed.
like, we're using bronze, and not hunting mammoths with flint spears anymore.
jeez.
valentine's day is coming right up.
i still love it so much,
even if this one wants to be a real mutherF* of a bummer.
i won't let it get me down, though.
nope.
i'll be wearing red,
and buying flowers,
and eating chocolates,
and i might even get crabtree a lil cupid arrow,
and shoot him right in his dumb face with it.
awwwwwwwww.
the times are tough around here this month,
the nights are implausibly long and the days re impossibly packed.
it's ALL really happening,
and it's starting to catch up with me.
that will NOT stop me from rocking out on the big day,
or doing little bits beforehand to get ready, either.
i'm choosing to keep a Positive Mental Attitude.
if i could get through the drunken garter tattoo i did yesterday,
i can mos likely get through almost anything.
damn.
hours of movie-check grinding had to happen,
and now,
movie-check spending can commence.
it's a trade. somewhat unfair, but the only free-market i'm welcome in.
time for time for dollars for sense, cents, and scents.
this is it,
and it's all leading up to cupcakes and lace and sh!t;
never quiet, never soft.....

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