Menu: Spring Dinner Menu from Blissful Bites

Part of trying to heal is apparently doing things that previously brought me joy, and blogging is one of those things, so I am going to try and get back into it. There is also something that I find immensely soothing about blogging, and it allows me to focus and think about something else without being too strenuous for my exhausted brain. So I am going to start trying to blog regularly again. After all, my backlog of photos from cookbooks and eating out isn't going to keep working through itself.

People who know me know that I can't resist a menu! This is the spring dinner menu from Blissful Bites (not to be confused with Blissful Basil from my last post) by Christy Morgan. You can see other things that I have made from this cookbook here.

Lemon-Roasted Asparagus: I love roasted asparagus, I think it is the nicest way to have asparagus. This comes together very quickly, and it turns out that lemon roasts beautifully as well. I had to use dried oregano in the herb blend, as I didn't have any fresh.
Rating: :)



Brown Rice: Boiled Method: I normally make rice in the rice cooker, no shame. It is easy and frees up another hotplate on the stove. Christy has you soak the rice (medium or short-grain) for several hours before cooking. I needed to add extra water above what she mentions so that it didn't dry out mid-cook. Her version takes 45 minutes of covered simmering. She recommends using kombu or salt, and I used salt.
Rating: :)



Orange-'Wakame' Cucumber Salad: So I was convinced I had all the ingredients for this, only to then find at the last minute that I didn't have wakame. So I used arame instead. This is a very light and refreshing salad, that has a nice sweet, salty and vinegar dressing.
Rating: :)



Black-Eyed Pea BBQ Stew: I skipped the first step of this recipe, which involves cooking the beans, as I had some pre-cooked beans in my freezer. I used 2 cups worth. I needed to add a little extra water to simmer the beans and veggies. Once you have cooked beans, this stew comes together so easily, and very quickly.
Rating: :)



And here is the whole menu on a plate. This worked beautifully as a complete meal, everything tasted so nice together.



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



This little girl is keeping me going. I mentioned previously that Dim Sim is very happy to finally get to be an only cat. Spending time together and redefining our relationship in a one-on-one capacity has been very sweet, though heartbreaking for me.