1. Our HelloFresh box arrived today with two dinners. The thought of preparing either meal tonight invigorated me and I decided to prepare the Mediterranean/Middle East dish: Apricot, Almond, & Chickpea Tagine with Zucchini, Basmati Rice, and Chermoula.
I organized the ingredients and then chopped the zucchini, onion, Jalapeño pepper, and parsley, halved the lemon, and minced the garlic clove.
I drizzled olive oil in the bottom of a pot, heated it, and added about a quarter of the chopped onion. Once the onion was getting soft, I added the packet of basmati rice, stirred it, and then added water combined with vegetable stock. When the rice had cooked, I fluffed it and added a tablespoon of butter.
Meanwhile, I heated more olive oil in our cast iron skilled, heated it, and added the chopped zucchini and the rest of the onion. I cooked these until both were lightly browned and tender.
I took out two small bowls.
In one, I made the chermoula by combining the parsley, Jalapeño pepper, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
In the other small bowl, I combined sour cream, lemon juice, salt, and a little water to make lemon creama.
By now, the zucchini and onions were lightly browned and tender so I added a packet of Tunisian spice mix and minced garlic and cooked it until fragrant. To this mixture I added water and vegetable stock and chickpeas and cooked it for a short while until the liquid had slightly reduced and I added a chunk of butter. Now the tagine was ready.
Everything was ready to build our bowls.
First, I created a layer of rice. On top of that I added the tagine. I topped the tagine with dried apricots and almonds and, on top the fruit and nuts, I drizzled the lemon crema and the parsley-based chermoula. Both Debbie and I squeezed more lemon juice on our bowls and Debbie added some hot sauce.
This turned out to be one of my favorite HelloFresh dinners.
I loved this combination of ingredients and especially enjoyed the spice mix which was a symphony of caraway seed, coriander, smoked paprika, turmeric, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and cinnamon, a superb blend of so many of the spices that make Mediterranean/Middle East food pop with so much delicious flavor.
2. After dinner, we watched Monk work on a case involving a cruel bed-ridden man from his past. Monk had to figure out how this mammoth man (played by Adam Arkin) could have murdered a judge in her home when he was physically unable to get out of bed.
3. Earlier in the day, I blasted over to Beach Bum Bakery to purchase four sesame seed bagels and a sourdough maple doughnut.
Beach Bum Bakery had texted a message to its club members earlier in the morning asking that those of us buying bagels post a photograph on social media of how we ate our bagel with a chance to win a free drink from the bakery.
Even before knowing about this contest, I had a plan for one half of a sesame bagel today.
Sunday evening, I was checking out our flour supply in the basement freezer and I spotted a frozen jar of Strawberry Rhubarb jam that Mom had made back in 2014.
I brought it up to thaw and decided that this morning I'd smear half a bagel with cream cheese and top it with Mom's jam.
It struck me that almost surely this jam would be the last food I'd ever eat that Mom prepared.
I bought the bagels, returned home, and here's the picture I posted on social media of my half sesame bagel with cream cheese and Mary Idell West Woolum's 2014 Strawberry Rhubarb jam:
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