Thai Fried Rice - I'm Obsessed

I'm on a Thai food jag and am working on perfecting Thai Fried Rice and Vegetarian Spring Rolls.

You Know Those Nights

You're too tired to cook, nothing sounds good and you don't want to go out? Here's a delicious meal you can have on the table in 30 minutes easily. I don't know what's wrong with me, but when a recipe says 30 minutes to prepare, for me it usually means 1 hour. I'm slow for some reason, so when I say this is fast, I mean it! No more watery pasta with store bought sauce. Blech. This is MILES better and just as easy.

It comes from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures - an awesome cookbook by an amazing cookbook author.  Easy cheesy lemon squeezy.  Here's how you do it.

Ultimate Winter Comfort Food

Don't hesitate!  You know it's POT PIE!

It's also a great way to clean out the refrigerator.  It is super easy if you use Pillsbury pie crust (you have to ignore the fact that the ingredient list includes LARD, though).  Just saute whatever you want in plenty of olive oil or butter, add an amount of flour equal to the fat to create a roux, add a couple of cups of broth to boil into a gravy, plenty of salt, seasonings such as parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme ♪ ♫,  and a touch of cream to make the gravy,  put it together in a pie and bake it!

Caroli, Stromboli, Calzone, Pizza Turnover, Delicious By Any Name

Whatever the name, this may be the best meal you ever  had.  Every time you have it.  We call them Carolis in our family and they are an enduring favorite in our house.

Start with the dough, of course.

Let it rise about an hour in a warm place.

 

Roll it out into an oval/rectangle and fill it with your favorite stuff.

Fold it over like a turnover and poke a few holes or your initial into the top.  (Michael's the BEST at sealing the edges in an artistic manner - one of many reasons we miss him.)

Bake on a stone or cookie sheet at 450° until golden and...

Enjoy the best meal you ever ate!

Greek Salad is Easy!

Yesterday we walked around Town Lake and when we're downtown we love to go here:

Oh my.  They had dolmas.  And of course, hummus and pita and feta cheese.  We loaded up the cart, headed home and made this platter to eat while we watched District 9 on TV.

 

We had some greens that needed to be used up so we whipped up a greek salad to go with it.  I'd never made one, but it was sooo easy!  And it tasted almost as good as the last one I had in a greek restaurant.  Here's Andrew's salad.  It looks like it's about to fall off the counter!

Here's mine, looking like it's floating in space because it's sitting on a black table:

The Recipe

How Did I Ever Cook Anything...

without an island?