First, the news: Patrick is officially and gainfully employed by a local company called Free Geek. They are a non-profit organization that recycles and refurbishes old computers. There are some other functions that they perform, but those are the primary operations of the company. He had been interning there for a few months when a position opened up in the company and they asked him to apply. Friday was his first paid day and we decided we had to celebrate.
Some of you may know that we love Asian markets and Asian snack foods of all varieties. Patrick is immensely fond of bean cakes (sweet bean paste wrapped in mochi) and I find fish flavored crackers and dried seaweed to be more delightful than is sane. I bought these, because I had been intrigued by them since seeing something similar on the episode of Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson races Richard Hammond and James May across Japan.
Look carefully. Those are tiny crabs that have been dried whole, likely fried a bit, and coated in a lightly sweet sesame flavoring. If you find the smell of fish nauseating, I don't recommend that you attempt to eat them. Patrick puts up with my love of things like this for some odd reason. I haven't figured out why.
We bought some other odds and ends things at the market, and came home well pleased with our bounty.
This was on Saturday night, and while we still have plenty of Asian snacking delights left, we did choose to try and use up our CSA box contents for dinner last night. We didn't transition back into the world of CSA right away upon returning from the holidays - as evidenced by the current state of our fruit bowl.
It has been a struggle to sit down and plan meals based entirely on the produce in our refrigerator. On Saturday, I finally broke down and emptied every last item from the fridge, cataloged our produce selection in my meal planning document, and washed out the crisper drawer which was in severe need. I roasted beets which I really need to pickle today, and made a plan of attack for the rest of the items in our stock pile.
One such recipe that would use one head of red cabbage was a recipe called Penne with Cabbage and Cumin. I was intrigued by the recipe even if a little wary. So we made it. I initially found the recipe here, but have altered it to be gluten free. A fairly simple feat in this case. My altered recipe is below.
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Gluten Free Penne with Cabbage and Cumin adapted from Almost Vegetarian by Diana Shaw
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled, thinly sliced (any color carrot will do fine)
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 medium potato, peeled and sliced paper thin
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 oz. fontina or taleggio cheese, thinly sliced
3 cups gluten free pasta (macaroni or penne is best)
Heat the oil in a large non stick skillet (or use more oil if using a regular skillet) over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, carrot, cabbage, potato, and cumin, and saute until the onion is soft and limp, about 8 minutes. Cover and let steam until the cabbage is very tender and the potato has cooked through, about 12 minutes. Turn off the heat. (NOTE: This took a bit more time in my case, and probably a cup of water added periotically, but I have cast iron and it doesn't function the same as non-stick)
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, then quickly toss it into the skillet, along with the cabbage mixture and the cheese. Toss briskly with two wooden spoons and serve at once, in warmed bowls.
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Clearly it was delicious.
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