What’s For Dinner?

Figuring it out can be uninspiring, exhausting and ultimately disappointing. But we have ideas! You can explore Ethan Chebowski’s websites, all of which focus on different aspects of cooking. One of the keystones of Ethan’s cooking is FLAVOR! You won’t find bland, insipid offerings here! You may be unfamiliar with some of Ethan’s spice and aromatic choices but that’s where a lot of the flavor comes from. I encourage you to open your mind, don’t worry, and take your cooking from humdrum to packed with flavor! Cook Well w/ Ethan, includes many tasty, healthy recipes, Cook Well w/ Ethan Chlebowski also offers a variety of recipes but in YouTube format, and finally, my favorite, @EthanChebowski which has tons of great recipes but also a lot of great how to and why does this work sciencey info. If you can’t be bothered going down that rabbit hole (sorry it’s what I do for fun) we’ll give you just one thing to do and several recipes to go with it. On Sunday, cook a bunch of rice. About 3 times what you would normally make for one family meal. Any kind, whatever you like, but preferably not the instant kind. If you’re a newbie, try basmati. OMG! don’t know how to cook rice? Don’t let that stop you! Look here 3 cooking tips to instantly COOK BETTER RICE from Ethan and here This method has changed the Way I Make rice from Charlie Anderson The goal here is to make enough rice for your family to enjoy several for meals throughout the week. If life gets crazy and you know you won’t be home to cook, just freeze the rice in batches of the correct size for your family.  You’ve rocked the rice and that’s the most time consuming part. Now here are three recipes to try from Ethan Chebowski: Lower Calorie Shrimp Fried Rice Tasty and easy – you can use frozen shrimp (it will thaw out quickly – get the already peeled kind) and veg – and you can substitute whatever veg you already have. How could it be easier than that?

Dirty Rice Even easier! use your favorite store-bought cajun spice mix and maybe add a can of drained black beans for a bit more fiber and added protein

35 Min Chicken Biryani This is not your meemaw’s chicken and rice – although you could make that with premade rice too! So aromatic, but not spicy hot. Even if you think you don;t like Indian food you should give this a try. It’s that good!

Quick Tips GINGER Ginger is a wonderful thing but if you don’t use it frequently you’ll end up wasting and buying way more than you need. Just keep the leftover ginger in the freezer! When it’s time to use, run it under a bit of hot water. The skin will peel off easily and the rest can be chopped, grated, sliced and used as usual. WEIGHING AND MEASURING  You’ll notice that a lot of cooks have given up on the american tradition of cups and teaspoons. Instead, measurements are provided in grams. You’ll need a kitchen scale to take advantage of these more accurate measurements. You can find one on amazon for well under $100. There are many options but take a look at this one Escali Primo Digital Food Scale or this one OXO Good Grips 11-Pound Stainless Steel Food Scaleto start.