Tuna Coriander (feat. Andrew Kurban)

Now that I'm back at school, I'm back to reality. Seriously, reality means work, responsibility, and awful weather. Last week was such a tease. Reality also means being so lazy that I drive everywhere due to the cold. I walked to Arabic today, which was a feat. I drove everywhere else. ...

Friday was a beautiful day. I saw a friend from high school, Lexy, who I hadn't seen since May and we smoked hookah and watched Aladdin and cooked with my eccentric (gharib) father. Drinks were consumed (made by pops), food was eaten, bellies were full.

A few scrolls down is a recipe my dad made for our Italian cousins when they came to visit in August and wanted to try Boston seafood. So, naturally, instead of going to a restaurant, my dad decides to design and execute a 9-course meal (I aspire to one day have his skills).

I felt really bad for Lexy as she was the sous-chef and my dad is a very harsh critic and likes things done a very...particular way. I've experienced being his sous-chef many times and let me tell you--it is stressful. There's lots of yelling, mainly in Arabic, many tutorials on how to correctly chop carrots, and me refusing to ever touch celery (they make me cry like onions do). But Lexy was a champ and rather enjoyed the lesson, bonding with my dad over little artistic details in the new room. I sat off to the side, in charge of the music. My dad even chastised me over that (jk pops ana 7ebbo!). But really, he did.

"You're NOT supposed to have it without the sauce!!" -Andrew Kurban, circa August 2011

I haven't really cooked yet since I've been at school. I made a TVP black bean chili last night but I forgot to put in the spices so it came out kind of bland. I had cereal for dessert (9 different kinds, of course). And then today I wasn't feeling the chili so I ordered Baingan Bharta from Tandoor. So delicious. Obviously the right choice. Unfortunately, I forgot my computer charger at home (go me), so I couldn't watch Mad Men (I'm 6 episodes behind fhadsjklh) and promptly decided to actually get my homework done before midnight.

It didn't happen.

So now, I'm blogging instead of reading Kalila wa Dimna for Arabic tomorrow. Those stories are so gruesome. There's one about a pigeon who kills his wife but then realize he was wrong about accusing her and so he killed himself. I can't believe these are children's stories.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the recipe.

"I mixed the celery into yours and you didn't even notice!! See?? You like celery!!" -Andrew Kurban, circa March 2012

Tuna Coriander with Soba Buckwheat Noodles
Ingredients

• 2 c carrots, julienned
• 1/2 c celery, julienned
• 1 c red onions, julienned
• 1/4 c cucumber
• 1/4 c mayonnaise
• 3 T fresh ginger
• 8 tsp minced garlic
• 8 scallions, chopped
• 1/2 c soy sauce
• 5 T minced jalapeños, seeds and membranes removed
• mirin, to taste
• rice vinegar, to taste
• 1 lb. buckwheat soba noodles
• 1/2 c ground coriander
• 1/4 c kosher salt
• 1/4 c ground pepper, coarse
• red pepper flakes
• 2.5 lbs albacore tuna loin, chilled
• grapeseed oil

Instructions

1. Place the carrots, celery, onions, cucumbers into a bowl and set aside.
2. Mix together the mayonnaise, ginger, garlic, green onions, soy sauce, jalapeños, mirin, and rice vinegar to taste (add to get the consistency you want).
3. Add the vegetables to the noodles and toss. Pour the sauce onto the noodles and toss well until the sauce and vegetables are distributed throughout.
4. To prepare the tuna, place the coriander, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl and mix well. Slice the chilled tuna in half lengthwise to form two cylinders of tuna. Rub the spice mixture onto the round portion (not the ends) of the tuna pieces, being sure to spread it evenly on all sides.
5. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Carefully add the tuna pieces and sear for 2 minutes on each side. The tuna should be opaque on the outside, but still raw ion the inside--lower the heat if the tuna starts to brown too quickly.
6. Cut tuna into large slabs/slices and arrange on top of noodles.

"I could really go for that right now." -me, circa now

Song of the Day-- Falsehood by Vijay Iyer, Prasanna, and Nitin Mitta. Absolutely beautiful--the piano and guitar mesh perfectly.

Recovery News of the Day-- Pinterest banned Thinspo boards! About time.

Okay I'm exhausted and want to go to bed, but unfortunately I have a gruesome Arabic story to read.

-Carina

Spicy Black Bean Coconut Soup with Quinoa and Homemade Dairy-Free Baileys

Anger management is not my strong suit.


Controlling emotions well in general is just...not a skill of mine. So when something goes wrong in the kitchen, I go a little crazy--90% of the time with good reason, though. One of these times was Saturday night, when my dad and I were coming back from Lowe's (lol) and had the urge to eat something that was not leftovers for dinner. I decided on spicy black bean and rice burritos. He suggested we replace the rice with quinoa. And since I love the fluffy texture of quinoa, I went with it.


We stopped at the supermarket and returned after picking up a slew of spicy, canned ingredients. Also, since it was also St. Patrick's Day, I figured I should treat myself to some Baileys. I love Baileys. Loving Baileys, however, has proven to be difficult as of late, seeing as I am lactose intolerant (woo!). So, I thought of this awesome dairy-free Baileys recipe I found on Angela's blog, Oh She Glows, and got to work. I mixed the coconut milk and Sucanat together and started the quinoa.


I put my dad on the burrito-filling duty while I cooked the quinoa and the Baileys. I wanted to mix in the quinoa with the beans before it had fully cooked, so while I was cleaning up, I told my dad to scoop the quinoa into the bean pot. My back was turned for probably two seconds and when I turned around, the bean pot (filled with onions and all sorts of chiles and spices and sauces) looked like a milky soup. Yes, my dad had poured the Baileys mix into the beans.


Naturally, I started flipping out, especially since we were out of most ingredients we needed for the burrito filling. But Papa, trained to always act on his feet (or maybe it's just his ADHD), told me to calm down and that it actually smelled good. Which it did. And whaddya know! It tasted delicious. Like a Thai black bean quinoa soup. I guess this was one of the times where a mistake turned out to be a good thing.

"See?? This is how new recipes are made! Now apologize to your dad." -Andrew Kurban

Spicy Black Bean Coconut Soup with Quinoa
(serves 4-5)


Ingredients

• 1.5 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 can full-fat coconut milk
• 15oz. Almond Breeze coconut milk
• 3 T Sucanat (or brown sugar)
• 15oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium onion, diced
• chiles in adobo sauce (we used a small can, it was pretty spicy)
• salsa verde (to taste)
• diced green chiles (again, to taste)
• spices (we didn't use any this time around, but I'd recommend cumin and curry powder)

Instructions

1. Follow instructions to cook quinoa.
2. Shake the coconut milk and add to a medium pot. Stir in the Sucanat and bring to a low boil. Let simmer for 6 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Fry the onion in a bit of olive oil--once cooked a bit, add the chiles+adobo sauce, salsa verde, and green chiles. Cook for a few minutes.
4. Add beans to onion mix and stir-fry.
5. Pour the coconut milk mixture into the bean pot and let cook on low for 4-5 minutes. It should now look like a soup (....).
6. Two minutes before quinoa is done cooking, scoop it into the soup pot and stir. Cook for 2 minutes and add spices to taste.
7. Feel free to blend half of it with an immersion blender. I preferred it this way, but my dad liked it with all the different textures.

Anyway, once the soup was deemed quite edible, I got back to the more important project at hand. I redid the first two steps for the dairy-free Baileys drink (thank God we had more coconut milk) and made sure my dad didn't pour it into some other spicy mixture. A quick 10 minutes later, the drink was done and was taste-tested by 5 people. It gained approval from all, especially my mom, who said she'd put it in her coffee the next morning.


The original recipe for the delicious drink can be found here. I made a few adjustments/didn't have the right ingredients/didn't read the recipe correctly/I hate coffee.

"If everybody agreed with me, they'd all be right." -Lucy Van Pelt

Homemade Dairy-Free Baileys
adapted from Oh She Glows
(makes approx. 4 cups)


Ingredients

• 1 can full-fat coconut milk
• 1 can's worth Almond Breeze coconut milk
• 3/4 cup Sucanat
• chocolate syrup, to taste (I used about 3/8 c)
• cocoa powder, to taste, one tablespoon at a time
• 3/4 - 1 cup Irish whiskey (my dad insists it can be any kind of whiskey...)

Instructions

1. In a medium pot, add the coconut milk (make sure to shake the cans first) and stir in the Sucanat. Bring to a low boil, stirring frequently. Simmer for 8 minutes until it thickens slightly.
2. Remove from heat and add in the chocolate syrup/cocoa powder, to taste.
3. Add a cup or however much you want of the Irish whiskey and stir well (this makes it pretty strong, but hey, it's St. Patrick's Day [at least it was...]).
4. Serve and drink.

Man, that Baileys was good. Thank you, Angela, for coming up with that delicious recipe. Okay it's 4:21 in the morning (hi mom!) and I don't think I should post this before going to sleep and looking at it again. But yes! First post. Hope you all enjoy!

-Carina