bottom of a bottomless pit

I may have mentioned this before, but in my world, certain things simply exist infinitely, without any risk that they'll run out.  These things include dried herbs, spices, and various grains.  I know the frozen veggies run out, I know the oils run out, and believe me, I'm aware of coffee's continual escape from our cupboard. In my brain, however, there will always be cumin, marjoram, and bulgur, and in the needed quantities.

Well, there was... until tonight.

I had only one meal left on last week's menu: Curried Bulgur with Chickpeas and Vegetables from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.  It was only after I'd poured enough water to cook a cup and a half of bulgur that I realized I had barely one full cup...  I considered trying to draw out some of the water to make less bulgur, but then I realized the spice ratio would be off.  This resulted in a swap for brown rice that didn't suck but probably won't happen again.

First, though, check out how perfectly julienned these carrots are!

No, they did not come pre-cut from a bag.  Lest you think I'm bragging, though, I want to be clear that I was only able to pull off that level of perfection because of that still-super-awesome julienne peeler my mom gave me last winter.  That is truly one of my favorite prep toys.

Anyway, it all came out perfectly edible, but the rice blows up bigger than bulgur, resulting in a wider distribution of the curry spices, resulting in a slightly more bland dish.  I resisted the urge (several times) to add salt at table, instead resorting to stabbing an oil-cured olive and combining that with a mouthful of curried rice to take advantage of its almost painfully salty qualities.  Without a word, Mister was doing the same.

So with that, we'll move on to the new menu.  Welcome, new menu!

1. Vegetable Lentil Stew from Vegan on the Cheap because I saw one of my old posts highlighting this (when we'd just moved into our new home and I was sick as a dog) and I want to eat it again.  I picked up a huge corner of what must have been a monstrously large loaf of Irish soda bread at Whole Foods tonight, which I intend to cut into chunks for Mister's and my dipping pleasure.  Hopefully, he'll leave it alone until that happens.

2. Tofu Rancheros for the same reason (except for the part about bread).

3. Five-Spice Seitan and Noodles from my own twisted mind... I can't remember if I've shared the recipe previously, so I will likely include it on this making.

So, that's it - a short menu because I really wasn't all that into making a menu last night and I only need to get to Friday anyway.  And another "That's it," goes out to MoFo 2011!  If you found me this year, I'm so glad and I hope I've convinced you to stick around a bit longer.  Here's me and Angst, signing off for October and my third MoFo: