Pandemic Cooking: Month 8

November 30, 2020

I recently had conversations with friends about cooking habits and it appears that most of my friends very rarely try out new recipes. This is quite the opposite of my cooking habits: I like to try new recipes all the time and then I forget to cook the ones I liked again because I keep cooking new recipes. Strange habit but it really expands my cooking repertoire. 

Highlights from Pandemic Cooking: Month 8

I've been on a chili kick lately since I've had a few outdoor hangs with friends that involved chili. It's probably been several years since I made some and this simple recipe from the Kitchn is easy peasy and delicious. 

With a pound of ground beef in my fridge coinciding with finding this recipe for cheeseburger meatballs (and having most of the other ingredients), I found myself making these cute meatballs for dinner one day. Totally taste like a tiny Big Mac (in a good way). 

My sista Melissa passed along this recipe and it was my first puff pastry savory tart, which wasn't quite successful in terms of beauty (I forgot to pierce the dough with a fork so it really puffed up). But I loved finding another vehicle for my farmers market delicata squash. 

These nachos were the main event during my Election Night stress eating. I loved that there were so many layers of flavors: a little tangy, sweet and spicy. These nachos were a fantastic distraction from the nail-biting night. 

I always turn to salmon when I feel like I need to eat something a little healthier and the addition of miso rice was interesting. 

Kimchi Fried Rice with Hot Dogs
My I-don't-know-what-to-cook meal is usually fried rice. And if you have a pretty old jar of kimchi, a good way to use it up is to make kimchi fried rice. This no recipe dish is so easy---throw some cooked rice into a frying pan, toss in kimchi, a splash of soy sauce and some sliced up hot dogs and voila, dinner is served! 

Thanksgiving for One: 
I chose not to spend the holiday with friends or family to continue with my good citizen pandemic behavior but found a way to cook up a few of my favorite dishes that are always at a Chung Thanksgiving: corn casserole, green bean casserole (my first time from scratch!) and stuffing with Italian sausage (but this year I bought frozen riced cauliflower stuffing from Trader Joe's and added in Italian sausage and didn't miss the bread, at all--I know, I'm shocked too). And as not a lover of turkey, roast chicken was a very welcomed bird to my Thanksgiving table. 

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