Meatless Monday

Tomorrow, for Valentine's Day, I've ordered a heart-shaped pizza for lovers from Papa Petrone's Take 'n' Bake -- pepperoni and sundried tomatoes on top. Papa makes it up, then we take it home and cook it here.

But, today, we're doing a Meatless Monday. I'm making curried tofu over basmati rice and we'll have a garden salad on the side. The rice already is in the rice cooker, timed for 6:00 p.m. When my wife gets home, I'll cut up the tofu and the onion, then sautee the onion in some peanut oil. When the onion has browned, I'll toast the curry powder in the pan, then pour in the unsweetened coconut milk, followed by the tofu and some soy sauce. I'd normally add a pinch of cayenne, but my wife prefers less heat in her curry. Very simple.

We'll watch "Downton Abbey" over dinner. We watched the first five episodes over the past weekend, and want to get into the second season this week.

Chicken Salad

Tuesday morning, I poached some boneless chicken breasts. We've been chowing down on them since. I sauteed a mirepoix, then heated chicken broth over it, and threw in a inch of fresh ginger. The breasts were poached in the brew.

That night, we had them sliced -- cold -- with some of the broth over. The veg was brussel sprouts roasted with whole garlic.

The next night, I sliced some more of the chicken and we had it cold again, moistened with broth. The side dish was roasted cauliflower with ras el hanout.

Today, we're finishing off the chicken for lunch. My wife took some slices for a sandwich. I made for myself a chicken salad largely of my own recipe, i.e., what was around the house--

CHICKEN SALAD

1 cup diced poached boneless chicken breast
1/2 cup minced shallots
1/2 cup minced celery
1/2 cup chopped green olives
1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded goat milk Gouda cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix and serve. I had it in a whole wheat pita. For a side, I had leftover roasted cauliflower with ras el hanout.

To drink, I had iced coffee with chicory.