KISS: keeping it short & sweet

I feel like I am forever offering this excuse, but I have just been so busy both physically and mentally this week that I can barely process the steps of making dinner much less thinking of a witty way to share it.  I was doing alright earlier in the week, but the last couple of days have just been the worst.

Last night, my boss and I wrapped up early so he could go see Tommy James & The Shondells at the Keswick and I could do my best to say farewell to a special young man who should have had more time.  It was one of the most difficult experiences I've had in a long time and didn't exactly put me in the mood to be creative.  Fortunately, there was only one dinner left on my menu, so I didn't have to think much.  As always, in the most amazing way, making our dinner of Seitan Gyros and Crash Hot Potatoes brought me joy and I was able to enjoy dining with my dear husband.  Now for a brief photo essay:

Whole Foods miraculously came into some not-yet-expired Ray's Seitan and I happily deposited one tub into my basket.  I had forgotten how amazing this stuff is.  It smells incredible when it's cooking, and even managed to brown a little on the edges, despite being sauteed in a nonstick pan.  I sprinkled it with lemon juice, some dried dill, and sea salt and it was astonishingly moist and tender.  If I weren't about to embark on several days of exclusively eating other people's food, I would have insisted that Mister and I go to Horizons tonight.

These are the amazing Crash Hot Potatoes I found on VeganYumYum and knew it was my destiny to make.  "Lorraine, I am your destiny!"  Does anyone recognize that line?

A couple of weeks ago, while scanning the spice shelves at Superfresh and hoping against hope that my favorite Garam Masala would magically appear before my eyes, I found a different treasure: 

McCormick Gourmet Mediterranean Spiced Sea Salt.  It looked like fun and it was SO GOOD sprinkled [generously] over the potatoes.  They were actually far simpler to make than I thought they would be. 

Tonight I made Blessed Broccoli and Tofu Stirfry from La Dolce Vegan.  I hadn't made this previously so I decided to give it a whirl.  It was very tasty, but a little tofu-heavy for the Mister.  Actually, I think the problem wasn't as much the quantity of the tofu as it was the complete lack of flavor in the tofu.  Perhaps if I season/marinate the tofu next time I'll have better results.  Of course, I don't know how much better we could have done since we finished every last bite.

If I could just toot my own horn for a New-York-minute, I am extremely pleased with this picture.  I am not a photographer - when my father got me [and Mister] a digital camera as a wedding gift, he asked what features I wanted - my answer resulted in him getting what he called a "point and click."  At the time, I did not have any camera, and the last time I had a camera that wasn't a disposable, it was definitely one of those deals where you put film in and have to give that film to someone else in order to see what you took pictures of.  What I'm trying to say is this: my sister has a talent for photography and I'm art-retarded, so I'm really pleased with the perspective in this picture.  It looks like someone else took it, but I swear it was me!

Now, minus my artsy-fartsy horn-tooting, that's what dinner looked like.  We had fun salads with mixed greens, cubed jicama, diced tomatoes (leftover from the gyros), sliced orange pepper, and sliced kalamata olives.

We even had dessert!  Blondies a la mode (the mode was Chocolate Fudge Tempt).

So, obviously the Broccoli and Tofu stirfry was item #1 on this week's menu.  Here are tomorrow and Monday:

Broccoli Pasta with Savory Sauce - new recipe...I'll let you know how it goes.

Punjabi Peppers and Tofu also from La Dolce Vegan.  I wanted to do my best to avoid leftovers these next few days, since we'll be winging out to Arizona on Tuesday morning (shhh....don't tell Mister we're leaving in the single-digits part!) and we're good enough at cultivating science experiments when we're home.  Were you aware of the fascinating speed with which the peanuts in chunky peanut butter can grow hair when separated from the butter part, cooked, then left on the counter for a day or two? You learn something new every day.

By the way - the menu is short and sweet, not the post...obviously.