Lamb Loin Chops with Macaroni

I saw lamb chops at Trader Joe's. I used to hate lamb. I don't know why. Something about my being a Ram under the Chinese zodiac made me really paranoid about eating lamb when I was growing up. I felt like it was bad luck or something. Like I was somehow going to be damned for eternity. I highly regret that I felt that way. I love lamb. It is delicious. And I was getting awfully tired of microwave-meat. I like the taste of lamb by itself, so I didn't do much to them in terms of seasoning. I was more than satisfied.

Macaroni:

- Cook the macaroni in boiling water (about 7 minutes) until al dente.
- Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Drain macaroni. Put macaroni back in pot.
- Place pot on stove on medium high heat and add salt and pepper to taste as well as a little butter and cheese.
- Once it is heated through, take off the stove and add some mayonnaise to taste (you really do not need that much).
- Place to side (or in fridge if you prefer) until the lamb and vegetables are done cooking. I usually start it all at the same time, so my macaroni ends up a bit over room temperature if I toss it in the fridge for a little.

Easy Lamb Loin Chops:
- Pat lamb chops dry with a paper towel.
- Using a fork, GENTLY poke each side of the lamb chop a few times (I do ten quick pokes) to tenderize.
- Sprinkle salt and black pepper on both sides, and spread it evenly with the fork.
- Heat up oil in a pan. Once hot, place seasoned lamb chops in and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. I cook on medium high heat to achieve a chop that is medium to medium rare.
- After both sides are cooked, turn the loin onto its bone so the meat on the side of the bone can cook as well. (I like to make sure my meat is fully cooked). You do not need to cook it for too long, just until it is no longer pink (maybe a minute more or less).
- Let sit for five minutes to finish cooking.
- DO NOT TOSS THE FAT THAT WILL COOK OUT OF THE LAMB.

Vegetables:
- Chop some vegetables into bite-sized, somewhat uniform pieces.
- Toss into the pan that you used to cook the lamb and saute until cooked through. The lamb fat will somewhat infuse into the vegetables and make them extra yummy.
- Sprinkle some salt to taste.

Plate lamb, macaroni, and vegetables, grab a fork, and dig in!

Spaghetti Alfredo with Herb-Cheese Bread

I realize that I make a lot of pasta and rice. What can I say, I love carbs. So I decided to try something out of the ordinary today and try my hand at some Spaghetti Alfredo. I know, its so simple, but for some reason, my spaghetti always comes out sub-par. I was actually very pleased with the way this dish turned out though. I'm quite proud of myself.

Ingredients:
Spaghetti (as much as you want to eat)
Meat, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used leftover salami)
Vegetables, cut into similar bite-sized pieces (I used broccoli)
Alfredo Sauce
Black Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

- Bring a pot half full with water to a rolling boil.
- Add the spaghetti and let it cook until al dente (roughly 7 minutes for me on medium high heat).
- While waiting, saute the meat and vegetables in a small pan until cooked through.
- Butter a piece of bread and sprinkle Parmesan cheese and  herbs (I usually have left-over Parmesan herb mix from refrigerated pastas). Pop in toaster over (or conventional oven) for a few minutes. (Should be complete around the time the noodles are warming up)
- Drain the noodles and quickly rinse with cool water to stop noodles from cooking further.
- Place drained noodles to the side and heat up the alfredo sauce in the pan.
- Once sauce begins to warm, pour in the spaghetti and stir.
- Once noodles and sauce are warmed through, put it on a plate. Top with the vegetable and meat mixture. Add the bread.
- Enjoy!

Imitation Lobster Meatball Noodle Soup

I decided to bust out the lobster balls I had in my fridge to make a yummy noodle soup. It wasn't my favorite dish I made this week and in the future I'll probably use beef balls instead because I felt like the lobster balls had a weird flavor as well as texture. Other than that, the noodles filled me up and left me satisfied. I had originally cooked extra to bring to work the next day, but I downed the noodles down and didn't have any left for a second meal. This meal was simple to prepare.

Directions:
Bring medium sized pot filled with water to a boil. Toss in the noodles and meatballs. Cook until noodles are al dente, then rinse them with cold water to prevent sticking and stop the noodles from getting softer. Cook meatballs until they float to the top of the pot.
Cut the meatballs into smaller pieces if you feel they are too big.
Sautee vegetables of choice in a small pan.
Heat up some beef or chicken broth as a soup base.
Combine the rinsed noodles, meatballs, vegetables, and soup in a bowl. Stir and enjoy!

Bento at Sushi Ko

So a few people in one of my organizations and I decided to catch up since a few of our members had graduated and just made it back into town. We had intended to get ramen, only to find that the place was closed. With little dissent, we decided to go to Sushi Ko instead since it was nearby and a few people attested it was yummy.

I decided to get a bento. It came with two sides (I chose 6 pc CA rolls and BBQ Short Ribs), rice, 3 pc CA roll, salad, and miso soup. I think the total rang up to be about $15. It was pretty yummy too. I wouldn't give awards to the salad. I'm not too fond of the dressing they put on it because it had a strong ginger flavor to me which was a huge turn off. The rice was good, so were the short ribs. And the sushi, as expected from a sushi restaurant was fresh and yummy. The whole meal left me full with a little bit left to eat for lunch the next day.

I thought it was a bit pricey for a simple bento, but it did the job and filled me up adequately!

Shanghainese Fried Rice (Choy Fan)

This is a very odd take on a traditional Shanghainese dish. For example, due to my lack of meat on hand, I used Italian salami. Also, this is often made without any meat. I like this fried rice because it's not actually fried. It's pretty simple to make, and I don't end up with a bajillion dishes to wash at the end of the night.

Serves 1-2 people
 
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked rice
Water/broth
1 cup baby bok choy, coarsely chopped
1 cup additional vegetables (optional, type of vegetables are your choice)
1 cup meat (optional)

Directions:
- Put uncooked rice in rice cooker. Add adequate amount of water or broth and cook rice. I used a combination of beef broth and water to give the rice an extra kick.
- While rice is cooking, chop up vegetables and meat (if you choose) into small pieces. They don't have to be pretty, but 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide pieces are great. You also want them to be kind of square, so slice your baby bok choy lengthwise before chopping it into chunks.
- Toss chopped vegetables and meat into a small pan and add a little water. gently sautee until mixture is cooked through. The water will help keep it all moist (and rinses some of the saltiness off the salami)
- Add cooked mixture to cooked rice and add salt to taste.
- Mix together until vegetable-meat mixture is evenly distributed in the rice.

Super easy, right?

Wonton Noodle Soup

I will never turn down a good bowl of wonton soup. Good wonton can make any day better for me. So when I had the chance to meander to 99 Ranch and pick up some of the most amazing frozen wonton I've had to date, I couldn't resist making my own wonton noodle soup. Like most of my recipes, It's very straightforward and very intuitive.

Directions:
- Bring water to a boil. Add frozen wonton, stirring gently so they do not stick together in the pot. Gently boil until wonton float to the top are are 'plump'
- Scoop out wonton and toss in your dry noodles. Cook until just about al dente.
- Take noodles out of water, place to side, and toss your cooking water.
- Pour a liberal amount of chicken or beef broth into the pot. Once it begins to warm up, put noodles and wonton into the broth and wait for it all to come to a nice boil.
- Slowly pour the noodles, wonton, and broth into a bowl. Quickly cook vegetable of choice by boiling it in the broth. I used asparagus because since I only cook for myself, I need to eat my vegetables quickly before the spoil. Thus the excess of asparagus in my posts. I love asparagus, but not as much as witnessed in these posts.
- Stir gently and eat!

This meal left me stuffed and fully satisfied. Very happy camper.

Chicken Sausage Ravioli with Alfredo Sauce and Roasted Asparagus

Another simple pasta dish. Perfect thing for a "I've had a long day, I just want to eat and curl up in bed" kind of dinner. Pasta Prima has a plethora of delicious pasta flavors and I've made it my mission to try as many as I possibly can. I picked up the Chicken Sausage the last time I was at Safeway, and I'm so glad I did. This simple meal takes MAYBE 15 minutes from start to finish.

Directions
- Put pot of water on stove, bring to a boil.
- Plop each ravioli into the water one by one so they do not stick. Cook 4 minutes
- While pasta is cooking, rinse some asparagus (or vegetable of your choice), season with some salt and garlic to taste, and put in oven at 425 for roughly 8 minutes. (I used a toaster oven for convenience)
-  Pour Alfredo sauce into a pan and heat gently. Once ravioli are cooked through, gently place ravioli in the pan and heat through.
- Once vegetables are roasted through, your pasta should be ready as well
- Plate ravioli gently, place veggies to the side.
- Sprinkle enclosed Parmesan and herb packet over the pasta and vegetables. I added a bit of black pepper as well.
- Enjoy!

This was a ridiculously simple and fast meal for me to gulf down after a tiring day. And it really satisfied me!