a little food porn

My mother used to say that if money were no object she would hire a cook. A COOK? I could never understand that. I loved to cook - and I still do. But I understand it now. She was a pretty good cook but worked part time, and later in life, full time. I'm tired when I come home from work and since I live alone (most of the time), if I want to eat, I have to cook.

I have many wonderful ethnic cookbooks (Indian, Israeli, Greek, Lebanese) but most frequently, the NY Times Cooking App is my go-to. When I got home from my Rectangle class I made Melissa Clark's Green Shakshuka. Quick, easy, delicious. Fortunately, I had a half a leftover avocado and I have a fairly robust cilantro plant on my window sill. This doesn't look as pretty as the photo on the NY Times post, but it was delicious and it didn't take long to make. Try it.

My beloved late husband couldn't so much as turn on the grill, let alone cook. I once had my hands in the dyepot and asked him to throw the marinating chicken breasts on the grill. He said, "If I'd known, I would have picked something up on the way home."

OMG.

But here was the deal: when I came home exhausted, we went out to eat. Once in a while, when I was even too tired to go out, we got pizza, calzones, or subs. He picked up because mostly they didn't deliver. Or it took too long.

Here in West Palm Beach if you want delivery, it's pizza, Chinese food (which is atrocious in South Florida) or sushi (which never tastes as good as it does when you eat it out). No thank you.

If you want ribs or Indian food you have to go pick them up. We've picked up ribs but prefer to go to our favorite South Indian restaurant because by the time we do takeout, we might as well eat there.

So Sunday night when I got home from the second day of class and was hungry, I had to cook. I was in the mood for Indian Food. I had some lovely Gulf Shrimp in the fridge and basmati rice, so I was ready to go. Fortunately, I have almost every Indian spice you can name - including curry leaves - so it was easy. I made lemon rice (my fave),

and shrimp in coconut masala fry, the recipe for which I found in a YouTube video. LOL.

It was so delicious; I had the leftovers last night.

For me, cooking is as creative as making art. I only wish I had somebody to clean up after me. sigh...