apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Not really a big weekend behind the stove, more like regulars and favorites:
Friday night: Shrimp/scallion/bean thread spring rolls and thai beef/toasted rice/lime/herb salad.
Saturday night: Pesto, green salad.
Sunday night: Big Roast Chicken with lemons, squash,cranberry, asparagus.

One night last week I got home and was so tired I just fried two eggs, put a piece of frozen masala naan (Indian flatbread) under the broiler and made an open sandwich. I ate it with lime pickle, coriander chutney, and yogurt - which I always have around. Time: 5 minutes, maybe less.

What are everyone else's go-to dinners for the nights that they are utterly exhausted, hungry, and forgot to pick something up on the way home? Like, what do you eat when you're too tired to get takeout?

the boy was sick this weekend so i did mostly take away
last night, we had pies/pasties from myers of keswick (http://www.myersofkeswick.com/)
the curry lamb pie is TO.DIE.FOR!
seriously, it is astoundingly good!
made a nice little salad of blood oragnes, fennel and greens to go with

as for, what do i make when i'm too tired to make stuff?
pasta
with whatever's lying around
usually, one garlic clove, some rehydrated tomato powder and then possibly frozen peas, lemon juice, capers, olives, cheese, the dregs of last summer's pesto, etc, etc
basically, i just toss the goods in a bowl and when the pasta is cooked, toss that in a bowl too, and then mix together
its not revolutionary, but its yummy :-)

Friday night I made Ginger Pork Stir Fry. Yummy! Pic & recipe here: http://www.myaimistrue.com/archives/2006/01/ginger_pork_stir_fry.html

I love to mix rewarmed left-over rice with shredded carrot, peas, ground cumin and coriander, salt, pepper, and a healthy dollop of yogurt. My fiance eats it with roast chicken breast, and I add some baked tofu (ideally jerk-style). Sometimes, I'll add corn, cilantro, chopped tomato, cabbage, or other miscellaneous items... It's a flexible delight.

Hmm.. this weekend behind the stove.

Did a Wild Mahi Mahi filet stuffed with a mixture of crab, shiitake mushrooms, scallions, ginger, garlic, black vinegar. Patted some 5 spice poweder on the outside of the fish and wrapped the whole thing in rice paper before searing in a pan for kinda of a combination fry/steam. Glazed the whole package with a reduction of mirin and meyer lemon.

Ate a friend's chicken mole that was utterly brilliant stuff. Damn tasty, not very authentic, but who cares when it tastes good?

Then I did a simple stir fry of pork, ginger, chili paste, baby broccoli, shiitake mushrooms (I have like 2 lbs of the things dried, might as well use them!) with just the slightest amount of oyster sauce for binding.

Lastly, in my ongoing plan to fatten up my office, while I lose weight (you thought my question was about bringing joy to my co-workers? :) ): I baked up 4 different types of mini-muffins - Double Chocolate, Fresh Blueberry, Orange Cranberry and Gingerbread

I visited friends in PA and went to WEGMANS! I love that place . . . sure wish they would open up in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

Wegmans is sort of like Stew Leonards meets Whole Foods meets an Au Bon Pain, but one that makes good food.

Any other Wegmans's fans?

i made a lamb tagine with black olives, carrots, chickpeas, tomatoes, and apricots over couscous.

when i'm too tired to even deal with takeout, i make pasta in stock, mix it with some frozen spinach and toss with butter and cheese. i guess maybe the spinach makes it healthy, right? :)

hey mizliz:
would you mind posting yr tagine recipe? i am fixing a nice wintery meal for the girls sunday night and am always hunting for tagine recipes...
just spent 10 days in parka city for sundance where the food was bleary at best. my best bet was the wild game, actually, but i came barrelling back to nyc today chomping at the bit for a. good korean food and b. my own stove. huzzah!

I am a huge fan of Wegmans. I stop there on the way home from work every night. It's the way grocery stores should be.

My too tired to cook meal is a "throw everything in" scramble. I cook up whatever is lying around... onions, garlic, potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, tofu bacon in olive oil and then add in some scrambled eggs with a little half and half and salt and pepper. Then toward the end, I throw in a little gorgonzola. Simple, fast, tasty.

Oh, I forgot. I made a beautiful beet risotto from a recipe from this month's "Eating Well" magazine. Man, gotta wear gloves next time!

Was pressed for time last night so I doctored up some Trader Joe's Mushroom Risotto (in a box). Using the enclosed spice pouch, I added the juice of half a lemon and some lemon zest and used 4 cups of chicken stock instead of water. As the risotto was in its final stages of cooking in the pot, I mixed in some chopped up and blanched (3 mins) asparagus (picked up at the local farmer's market that morning) and more lemon zest. When I served it up, I drizzled some olive oil on top and ground up some lemon pepper spice mix on top. Yeah I took some shortcuts, but the freshness of the asparagus and addition of lemon made a big difference.

Yellow Split Pea soup - it's the easiest recipe and there is soup for the rest of the week. From VEGETARIAN PLANET by Didi Emmons.

Also made a veggie chili (red beans, black beans, and lentils) loosely based on a recipe in the same book.

Great winter food.

hi lisa, here's the tagine recipe, if you can call it that. i never measure or time anything, so please excuse the vagueness of it, and just keep tasting as you go. and no, i don't make it in a traditional clay pot. i actually make mine in a gigantic wok, so i guess it's really just a moroccan-flavored lamb stew. vive la difference, right? :)

ingredients:
salt
pepper
ras el hanout seasoning (i actually use freshdirect's moroccan spice rub)
1 lb. cubed lamb shoulder
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 zucchini or yellow crookneck squash, diced
.5 cup diced dried apricots
.5 cup diced kalamata or oil-cured black olives
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, not drained
3 tbsp. honey
1 cup couscous
1.75 cups chicken broth, plus extra

season lamb with salt and pepper, and saute in a big saucepan (or wok) in a little olive oil until brown. remove lamb, leaving fat. add more olive oil if pan is dry.

saute carrots, onions, and celery until onions become translucent.

return lamb to pot. add squash, chickpeas, apricots, and tomatoes (i don't drain them--the acid in the juice tenderizes the lamb). if there still isn't enough liquid to cover ingredients, add water or chicken stock.

add ras el hanout. start with two tablespoons and add more in pinches until you get the spicing you like. it should be hot and flavorful. add honey.

simmer at least 45 minutes, preferably longer, until it reaches that perfect stewy consistency. i usually keep the pot about half-covered, although i'm not really sure why i started doing this. :)

in the meantime, make couscous. it's very easy: bring 1.75 cups of chicken broth to a boil in a pot. add 1 cup of couscous. cover, remove from heat, and let steam for at least 10 minutes. fluff before serving.

serve tagine over couscous, with a very cold beer or mint iced tea.

let me know if this recipe is any good--if not, i promise to pay more attention next time and post a revision. :)

wow. all of your "too tired for takeout meals" seem much more intensive than dialing the local greasy chinese place around the corner. i simply go to the freezer and defrost something i made a while ago. leftovers truly are amazing-always make more than you need....

rainy weather makes me feel like stew so i'm making dave leiberman's red wine beef stew with some added touches... and i will certainly freeze the leftovers...

mizliz:
i shalt make your tagine sunday for sure--thanks so much for posting the recipe--and i'll be sure to report on the results.
here's to apricots!
lisa

my favorite comfort dinner and my favorite too tired to cook meal are the same.... Really herby Really soft scrambled eggs with a crispy salad (if I have ceasar dressing in the fridge -i make my own- that is a good choice) bread and a glass of rose.

MMMMM.
I actually made that saturday night after a long day of shopping with my guy...the only addition was that I sauteed up a big pan of tiny little porcini mushrooms to go with.

On Friday I made a great big dinner for friends: Leek and goat cheese Fratatta, lentil pate on barguette, spagetti with roasted tomatoes and mozz. and a raspberry pavlova for desert. It was my first Pavlova (thanx Nigella) and it was a amazing.

On Sunday it was cold so we ate a pot of curried lentil soup.

katie
i think (but am not sure) that what you're seeing in these "too tired to cook" meals is urban, and possibly more specifically, nyc living (but i have no clue where you are, so i might be barking up a dumb tree!)
personally, i know that i am in a CONSTANT battle with my freezer, that, even when it does not have a small glaciar growing inside it can hold at maximum three ice trays and maybe 4-6 tupperware containers
most fridges, and freezers especially, in new york city are just COMICALLY small

now, complete with glaciar, my itty bitty freezer has exactly 2 ice trays, one pint of gelato, 2 veeeeeery small thingys of pesto and thats all!
so, unfortunately freezing leftovers is not an option for some of us :-)
but, a girl can dream of a double wide, in cabinet GE profile freezer drawer!

oh, and one other thing, even if there wasn't a mini-glacier in my freezer, i have no room for a microwave in my itty bitty kitchen, so heating up frozen leftovers would be decidedly un-quick!

I've said before, but I've got the big love for Wegmans. I do not partake in the pre-made foods very often, but the selection is great and the prices are reasonable.

A lazy cooking weekend due to a cold, but I managed a homemade pizza (using Wegmans pre-made pizza dough that I had in the freezer) with Wegmans chicken/turkey sausage, cremini mushrooms, carmelized onions, and a quick homemade sauce.

Other than that, my "go to" meal of late...croque madame. Something about that egg on top just makes it great comfort food. A little salad to go with it and I'm set.

My "emergency" food is usually something whipped together with what I've got in the refrigerator and capellini (fast cooking time). If I'm out and about, picking up a roasted chicken from the supermarket is my fave...instant meal plus leftovers to make more dishes.

My "too tired for takeout" options:

1. Egg sandwich. Soft scrambled eggs on toast with cheese and salsa.

2. Frozen mixed vegetables with Annie Chun noodles and sauce.

3. Cereal or make oatmeal if it is cold outside. Hopefully I have some fruit on hand. Or I drink an "emergence-C" in an attempt to get more vitamins and minerals.

It's midweek but nevertheless I've just made a HUGE pot of posole. The posole hasn't opened yet but already the fragrance of the pork broth is divine. Sometimes spending time in the kitchen in the middle of the week is just what the doc ordered particularly when it's cold and rainy as it is today.

Producers and Exporters of Rice, Onions, Potatoes, Dry Red Chilies, Black Grem, Tuar Dal, Mysore Dal, Moong Dal, Tamarind, Turmeric, Pepper, Cardamom, Yellow Corn, Coriander Seeds, Groundnut, Cashew Nut.

Im obsessed with Wegmans! Greatest place ever. I have a question abotu one of their products. Im doing the south beach diet and i bought their poultry sausage- chicken and trurkey. I want to know if its considered "processed" poultry.