Karina, you can skip…

Karina, you can skip this entry. Not veggie-friendly. :-)

Living with Kevin has entailed some adjustments in my eating habits. For one thing, I can't just make two big pots of curry every single week. The boy likes curry, but not nearly as much as I do. He generally prefers to eat more European food than not (even though he also does like Chinese, Japanese, etc.) He also really likes Mexican food (growing up in California no doubt influenced that), and knows a lot more about it than I do. He doesn't eat seafood (it makes him sick), and he likes red meat a lot better than chicken. He eats way more vegetables than I usually bother to. So since I'm doing most of the cooking these days, I'm trying to at least attempt to accomodate his tastes some of time. I restrain myself to one big pot of curry a week, for example. :-) And even when I'm just trying to use up leftovers and such, I think about European and/or Mexican options. For example:

Last week, I made cornbread. I'm not really sure why -- just had a yen for it. Cornbread with chopped up green chilies and whole corn; a little dry, but tasty enough. I ate about a quarter of the batch that day...and then I didn't want any more straight cornbread. So what to do with all that leftover cornbread? Mexican cornbread-sausage stuffing, that's what. I made up a recipe, based on what was in the fridge. It's really good.

Mexican Corn Bread-Sausage Stuffing

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 T butter
• 3 hot turkey sausages, chopped small
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 green scallions, chopped
• 4 t. chipotle sauce (buy canned chipotles and use the sauce they're in)
• 2 t. rubbed sage
• 1 t. salt
• a few grinds black pepper
• 4 c. cornbread, crumbled (best if made with chilies and whole corn)
• 1 c. chicken or beef broth

1. Saute (on medium-high) the onions and garlic in the butter until golden.
2. Add the sausages and saute until cooked through.
3. Add the bell pepper and scallions and saute until soft.
4. Add the sauce, sage, salt and pepper and stir well.
5. Stir in cornbread.
6. Stir in broth.

This is where I ate some, and it was pretty good. I plan to add one more step (as I roast some chicken):

• Transfer to covered baking dish and bake for an hour at 350. (Add more liquid if necessary.)

No guarantee that Kevin will actually like this, but I do, so it's at least something of a success. :-)