I spent way more time than I should have for a week-day dinner. But I wanted to. I had my heart set on spinach pockets, and now I’m reaping the benefits of the smells of that glorious pastry. They are in the oven and nearly ready to eat. I made my Ecuadorian beet, carrot, and potato salad, too. It will be a colorful meal. And then, I spotted a lone tub of sliced mango in the freezer the other day, and thought about making another round of Mango Sticky Rice, so I did. It was a lot of cooking to add on top of a crazy work-day. I had technical issues with Zoom and spent an entire hour trying to figure it out. A colleague - bless her - helped me out. It’s not completely resolved. This is why teachers are struggling right now. On top of the work-load, we have endless tech issues to solve, or else.
I’m glad I walked away from the school issues and had these to focus on for a while.
Here’s the verdict on the spinach pockets: something was lacking. I could not figure out why fresh spinach (which it doesn’t call for - it says frozen - buy why, when I can get fresh?) parmesan cheese, feta, s&p, and fresh nutmeg would not produce a more flavorful interior. And then it hit me - there’s no onion or garlic! These need that, even though the recipe doesn’t call for it. The pastry was lovely, crumbly, and we ate a lot of them, even Ethan, although he said, “It needs chicken.” That kid.
The highlight of the meal - and maybe the entire day - was the mango sticky rice. Man, we slurped it up. I added freshly grated nutmeg on top of it all. I was really getting into the grating with my new nutmeg grater, going at it with full force, until I dropped it into the sticky rice. Whoops. That nutmeg gives it so much added specialness. Truly an amazing way to end a meal.
