Death by Om Nom

Made a Moroccan-themed dinner tonight.  Olive-and-citrus chicken served over couscous, greens with a Moroccan-inspired vinaigrette, and hot Moroccan mint tea on the side. :)

First dinner back home with my family.  Such happiness.  This was a full family effort that I was lucky enough to reap the benefits of: my mom made baked panko-crusted salmon and "actual edible molten gold" mashed sweet potatoes; my dad made chimichurri sauce to smother the fish in; and my brother made garlicky bok choi and chocolate molten lava cakes.  My only contribution was cutting the strawberries into hearts because I'm a dork (Happy Valentine's Day).  But this was the best meal I've had in a long time.

Whole wheat pancakes with honey Greek yogurt and nectarines :)

Last week, I premade a few days' worth of lunches with a batch of this Moroccan-inspired chicken-and-brown-rice salad.  Yum.

Keep following for more healthy, yummy eats. :)

First time making tofu in soo long.  It's expensive in NZ (okay, what isn't?) but I got it on sale a few days ago and made this great vegan stir fry.  I have pretty limited cooking ingredients in my kitchen, but after messing around with what I do have I threw together this ginger peanut sauce that was actually really good.  I had it over jasmine rice with onions, carrots, broccoli (I've been on a huge broccoli kick recently), crispy tofu pieces, and chopped peanuts.  

I've been loving the farmer's market here in Wellington; I go every Sunday and pick up some fresh fruits and veggies.  They're insanely expensive at the supermarket but a decent price at the market.  This dinner is from a few weeks ago but I had sauteed leeks, couscous, and a chicken breast with my favourite roasted red pepper and garlic seasoning (which my mom sent all the way from home--thanks, Mom!).  

Made chili in the slow cooker and let it bubble away all day while I explored the Te Papa museum.  So nice to have waiting for me when I got back! :D Cheese and avocado topped it off.

Amazing $5 vegan plate from Krisha Food, a food stand on campus.  I'm lucky enough to get this for free every Monday evening after my yoga class, but sometimes I have it during the week for lunch as well.  You get rice, curry (different kind every, salad with crushed peanut dressing, and a scoop of Indian dessert pudding made of semolina and fruit.  One of the best parts of the week, every week.

Just wanted to share the absolutely divine Moroccan lamb tagine wrap I had at the Wellington Night Market this evening, courtesy of Zaaffran. (New Zealand lamb, of course!) Such beautiful colours and flavours inside.  Some Moroccan mint tea was the perfect accompaniment for the chilly winter evening. 

I topped this salad with brown rice, sprouted chickpeas and adzuki beans, shredded carrot and purple cabbage, some shaved cheddar cheese, and a fried egg.  A drizzling of balsamic dressing and fresh cracked black pepper finished it off.  Feels good to be eating healthy again.

This is from last week but I still wanted to put it up.  On Tuesday morning, I dissected a sheep in my pathology lab.  Since my sense of humour tends to be on the ironic side, I went out and got some New Zealand lamb and made myself a steak dinner.  It was great.

  * I didn't make the sauce (got it as a free sample bottle from the supermarket), but it was amazing.

Dinner the other night: honey-spice chicken thighs, spinach-blueberry salad, and seasoned oven fries.

What I made for breakfast on father's day.  It was a kind of Mexican breakfast taco.  I made some semi-mashed spiced black beans, which we spread on a tortilla first, then topped with a fried egg, cheese, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and fresh chimichurri.

Santa fe pizza on the barbecue! Homemade crust topped with cheddar cheese, onions, jalapenos, corn, chicken, avocado, salsa, and sour cream.

Happy belated National Burger Day! (One day late.) I've been craving a burger for dinner all week and we finally got to make them tonight.  My brother made some homemade sweet potato fries and chipotle mayo.  I piled my burger with arugula, swiss cheese, onion, tomato, avocado, and some of the mayo, all on a toasted brioche bun! Paired with some beer and the baseball game, it was a good meal.