Asian-Inspired Veggie Cutlets

To the beat this heat, just add more heat and it already feels cooler, no?

It's so easy to eat out most of the time, especially in New York, where kitchen space is often non-existent, or if you share with roommates, the avocado you bought a month ago and forgot about is likely to have become a black, mushy, rough ball of rotten vegetable casualty. You can easily spend $3.50 on breakfast, $8.00 on lunch and $12.00 on dinner here, and with the intent of making the effort to be more careful with my cash, tonight, I cooked.

Asian-inspired veggie "ground beef" cutlets topped with shredded pickled ginger and spicy thai-peanut sauce!

 

 

My roommates said these tasted a lot like hash-browns. For me, my Memme's (my mother's mother) sealiha kottlettid (ground pork cutlets) inspired this thrown together recipe. She made these all the time for me when I was little and I couldn't get enough of them!

Here's my version:
- 1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
- 1 egg, to mash into the ground veggie "beef"
- 1 tube (1 lb.) of any brand of ground veggie "beef"
- Adobo seasoning (the kind "with pepper") to taste
- Soy sauce to taste
- 1 stalk of green onion, finely chopped
- Bread crumbs, to coat the mixture

Mash everything together and form small (2" in diameter) patties, then pat them on a plate you've set aside with bread crumbs (Japanese panko bread crumbs are good). Then in a pan with heated olive oil, fry the patties til browned (about 2-3 minutes per side).

Serve hot with thai-peanut sauce and garnish with picked ginger. (A side of broccoli goes well to make this dish complete!)

Blue Monday

Today, I feel tired.

But other people have bigger problems than me and I don't want to be selfish.

On a poppier note, my trainer made me do the Dying Cockroach tonight, twice. Once for 45 seconds, then again later for 30 seconds. It's known as the Bicycle in fitness circles, you lay on your back and flail your arms and legs in a motion supposed to resemble cycling. Personally, I think they've got it all wrong.

Epiphanies

So I had an epiphany last night, while laying on my friend's bed, spacing out, and waiting for my turn to play video games, it occurred to me that all the guys I've dated in my twenties up to this point, (except for one), were tall, bearded and emotionally unavailable.

This is kind of a medium-size deal to me as I've been doing some thinking, (mainly over the past few days), about what attracts me to a guy; and what better way to find that out than to look at the similar traits they all shared. When the last trait popped into my head, it kind of surprised me, "Is this what I find attractive?" Don't we all though? Will I grow out of this? I really hope so, because it sure as heck isn't doing me any good. It's been said that the first step to finding a solution is admitting you have a problem. If evolution could be true, then why haven't we women evolved past the going-after-the-emotionally-unavailable-male trait? Hmm?

The last guy I dated was a wonderfully chivalrous and lovely person, and then one day, out of nowhere, I get dumped in a park on a hot and humid Tuesday evening after work. To say I wasn't hurt, I was. We'd only been seeing each other for a month, but the dude who I said I wouldn't let myself fall for, well, I did. Not only was my heart sore, it kind of hurt my pride too. One thing that I'm really proud of myself for though, is that there's nothing that could have played out differently over that one month that would've lead to a different outcome. I played my cards right, I kept my girlish cool, I let him take the lead and pursue, I did not behave like the clingy, insecure person I used to be in a relationship (if you could call it that). I've changed a lot in the last 10 months living here. It feels good, sometimes it hurts like a bitch, but overall, it feels good.

I believe that with each person we meet, date, or just plain old spend time with, we are given an opportunity to learn about ourselves and to grow. I don't mean to sound like it's all good and I'm not still sad, but it's my duty to pick up the pieces, dry my tears (there were very few, just a slightly damp cheek) and get back on the figurative saddle. I owe it to no one else but myself.