january noms

//i have been continually surprised by the amount of excellent meals i’ve been cranking out these days, if i do say so myself. i haven’t even felt particularly inspired or full of ideas, but day after day i’ve found myself plating up some serious photo-worthy meals. woohoo! (unfortunately, the photos aren’t turning out so worthy of the meals)
the beginning of the month took us on a trip to globus where we stocked up on some serious mexican ingredients. oh, refried beans! cilantro! real salsa! how i’ve missed thee! i cranked out this huevos rancheros type meal one sunday brunch and felt pretty dang proud. so full of flavor… and enough protein to keep you running the whole day.

(fluffy eggs, refried beans, cheese, salsa, coriander, red pepper, jalapeños + more)

beans for breakfast has become a new thing around these parts. it all started last april when i served alex a traditional english breakfast for his birthday and i ate morning beans for the first time. as skeptical as i was, dang, beans for breakfast are a brilliant invention! especiallly when drowned in tomato sauce and served with toast. that’s one thing i could never get behind until now but it’s definitely worked it’s way into our staple sunday brunches.
ahhhh, sunday brunches. when you eat around noon because you can’t be bothered to get out of bed until just before then. add to that a big pot of tea (we’ve been loving vanilla bourbon loose-leaf black from czech brand oxalis) and you’ve got an occasion writing home about. or rather, worth tweeting about.

to continue the mexicali madness (and take advantage of actually having coriander for once), i whipped up some veggie enchiladas inspired by this recipe. the filling was a cheese/onion/tofu/lentil mixture (because crumbled tofu has a very eggy or cheesy texture– i love it!) and a homemade blended avacado/green onion/green chile sauce. i have heard rumors of a mexican goods supply store in prague that i’m definitely going to have to check out in a few weeks. i’m especially on the hunt for masa, as i’ve been craving tamales since the holidays.

other deliciousness…
i tried amanda’s sweet potato thai soup recipe that was a huge hit! it was fabulous and i ate the leftovers with some rice the next day. but it definitely inspired a great confusion over what exactly is a sweet potato and what is a yam. i bought sweet potatoes at the store several months ago and they were the typical orange color, but the ones i bought recently were an off-white color. after cutting into them, i became terribly confused. i mean, the sign at the supermarket said sladke brambory… what was going on? 

even though i didn’t get that nice golden orange color, they still tastes great, but the sweet potato mystery still persists. according to the kitchn…

next on the docket: my favorite macaroni & cheese, muffins, and minestrone soup. (which i insist on calling ‘min-i-strone’ due to my upbringing even though alex has informed me many times it’s actually pronounced like ‘min-i-stroney") also: visiting a newly opened hole-in-the-wall pirohy eatery only a couple blocks away! i have high hopes for this place.

what have you been cooking up these wintery days? do tell!