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New blog.

Healthy pizza

Made the best dinner I made in a long time last night. Lamb and feta pita pizza, which I found on Self.com. I'm not a terribly big fan of lamb - there's something about the smell of it cooked that doesn't sit well with me but it recipe calls for various other mixed ingredients that made it fine for me.

The key I thought was the pita bread. I forgot how baked pita is but the the pizza makes it difficult to cut so use a sharp knife.

8 oz of lean ground lamb
1 small onion, chopped
3 medium plum tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
salt, pepper to taste
olive oil to brush over pita
crumbled feta

Preheat oven at 400 degrees.

Cook the lamb and onions over medium-high heat, using your spatula to break up the meat. It gets extremely greasy so transfer meat and onion lined with a paper towel to drain the fat. Wipe pan clean with paper towel and return the meat and onion back to the pan.

Add tomatoes and then stir in parsley until they soften.

Divide mixture over a pita bread brushed with olive oil and top it off with feta. Not a big feta fan either so I just sprinkled about two handfuls on top. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. I wanted mine a bit more crispy so I left it in the oven for another minute or so.

The recipe is good because nothing is overpowering. The tomatoes, onion, cheese and lamb all work well together. I didn't add any pepper or cinnamon like the original recipe calls for. I don't think I would like it with either of those but I might try that next time.

Another good thing for me is that there's enough leftovers for two more pizzas.

A little piece of home

One of my New Year's resolutions is to learn how to cook Korean food. When I'm away from home, I never eat it. Very occasionally will I even go to a restaurant to eat Korean food. It all just seemed too complicated for me, and I was positive that nothing would come out like home cookin' so I avoided it for about ... four years, since I stopped living in the dorms. (I don't even have a rice cooker).

I'm going to be realistic and start slow. When I was home for Christmas, I went to a Korean market and bought a vegetable pancake mix and made it the other day to much success. Tasted just like the ones we'd order at a restaurant. All it says is "vegetable pancake mix." It was only $1.99 - well worth the price.

1. Take 1 cup of the mix, 1 cup water and mix in a bowl until it's smooth.

2. Next step is the best part because it's so flexible: Chop bite-sized pieces of whatever meats or vegetables you'd like.

I didn't have much in the fridge the day I made this, so all I added were green onions and shrimp. Even though it's called "vegetable pancake mix," you can add whatever. I'm going to also try it with zucchini, and I even made it the other day with nothing added.

With frozen shrimp, you can quickly thaw it by running it under cold water for about 3 minutes.

(I think the shadow is me taking the photo with my iPhone ... )

3. Add the bite-sized pieces to your mix, stir a couple times and pour into an oiled pan.

4. Fry each side for about 2-3 minutes. I like mine a bit more crispy so I let it brown a little bit. After it's done, use the spatula to cut it into quarters.

In the restaurant, they serve it as an appetizer with soy sauce but I didn't have any. Eating it plain was just fine for me.

Smorgasboard

What happens when your first meal of the day, after a fun-filled New Year's Eve, isn't until 3 p.m. because of a two-hour wait for the valet at the hotel you were staying at?

Food everywhere. This photo does not include another plate of toast and an order of banana pancakes.