Recipes & Food-Related Ramblings
Yeah, yeah, I know. The blog has been a little sandwich-heavy lately. Well, I suppose that depends on whether you consider a burger a sandwich. I tend to consider anything consisting of two or more pieces of bread to be a sandwich, open-face or not. But regardless of your preferred definition of the word “sandwich”, today’s Green Goddess Sandwiches with Granny Smith Apples do occupy a similar burger-like space in the culinary universe… or at least my version of it.
I have a confession to make. I love veggie burgers and not in an ironic way or a “close enough” kind of way. No, I really do love them. Well, I love them as long as they stay true to their veggie patty roots. Start packing soy and seitan in there and you’re going to get a hard pass from me. I know people swear by that kind of thing. But I don’t want an imposture or a stand-in for the burger of the meat variety. I want an honest to god veggie burger, beans and all. And somewhere in all this rambling is, I’m sure, a compelling lesson about being yourself. But man, I don’t want to tease that out. These Chipotle Pinto Burgers are more frivolous and fun than all that. So, deep and compelling they may not be, but proper veggie burgers? Oh, that they certainly are.
These Green Curry Chicken Meatballs with Broad Rice Noodles maybe my new/old favorite. I say “New” because this dish as it exists in this post is fresh from my noggin. And I say “old” because I’ve been eating my weight in green curry ever since I tried it many moons ago. My hometown of Halifax was a little late to the Thai food game, so when it did show up, I made up for lost time. My go-to order was the same as any basic bitch out there: mango salad, pad thai, and green curry.
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume I am offending many Italians with today’s Antipasto Kale Salad. A dear friend of mine who works with a group of born and raised Italians was once ridiculed for adding chicken to her fettuccine. So, I’m sure my oxymoron of a dinner idea is going to raise a few disapproving eyebrows. I mean no disrespect. I know that antipasto roughly translates to “before food” and is in no way intended to be a main. Nor is a salad, kale or otherwise, ever considered an entree at any Italian’s table. So, I’m not making many friends here with this salad but if you have no strong feelings about Italian food other than “Holy geez! Do I love Italian food!” you and this salad will get along fine.