So Many Dishes

I’m still in the process of getting back into the swing of things. I’m definitely feeling better. All the surgical glue is now gone from my abdomen, so I asked our kids if that meant I’d come unglued. Well, I thought it was funny.

I’m back in the kitchen, but, except for the salmon I posted a few days ago, the dishes I’ve cooked have been old favorites.

I’m anxious to get back to trying new recipes, but I’m also working out my new relationship with food. For so many years, I have “watched my weight,” some times more successfully than others. The last couple of years have been a real battle, but I realize now that, because of the cyst, it wasn’t a fair fight. I’m now 20 pounds lighter than before the surgery and within a pound or so of my goal weight.

The result is that I’m working on switching from a weight loss mindset to one focused on maintaining my current weight. It’s changed how I think about food drastically. Suddenly, a lot of food guilt has disappeared. Ken offered me a cookie after lunch the other day, and I didn’t think twice about accepting. We went to Jersey Mike’s for subs the week before last, and rather than have a small turkey sub, or maybe even “sub in a tub,” (the sub fillings as a salad), I ordered a cheesesteak. Wow, did that taste good!

I’m not going crazy. I have absolutely no intention of regaining the weight. Interestingly, I’ve found I don’t want to eat more food. My portions are staying about the same as they were before the cyst compressed my stomach and I couldn’t eat more than a few forkfuls. But food isn’t calling to me these days. If that bag of Milano cookies is emptying, it’s because someone else is eating them.

The foods that I’ve been cooking have been, as I said, family favorites, from a variety of sources. I made a sausage and pepper pizza one night, using a Boboli crust—I’m not ambitious enough at this point to do crust from scratch. Monday’s recipe was from one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks, a decidedly non authentic but delicious chicken tikka masala.

I didn’t take pictures while I was cooking on Monday because I was certain that I had posted this recipe before. But I checked; it was one that I shared to the old Flash Mob Dining group, but not here. It’s ridiculously easy, because many of the sauce components get puréed in a blender, so it all comes together easily. I play with the seasoning. I didn’t have a Serrano pepper, so I replaced it with half of an orange bell pepper. When I’ve had the dish in restaurants, it hasn’t been spicy hot, and I like it this way. The amount of garam masala listed is what I use. My biggest gripe with Weight Watcher recipes is that they often are stingy with the spices. I’ve made it saucier, too. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of tomato sauce; what are you going to do with the other half cup in an 8-ounce can? I just add it all. My one-third cup of half-and-half is, shall we say, a generous pour 😄

Chicken Tikka Masala

• 1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 – 1 Serrano pepper, stemmed and seeded (or 1/2 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and coarsely chopped)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons coarsely chopped peeled, fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup half-and-half
• Fresh cilantro for garnish, optional

Combine onion, pepper, garlic, ginger, and water in a blender and purée.

Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Pour onion mixture over chicken and bring to a boil. Stir in tomato sauce, garam masala, turmeric, sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until flavors blend, about 10 minutes. Stir in half-and-half; remove from heat. Sprinkle with cilantro, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

We always serve this over rice. This time, I made one of my absolute favorite Indian sides, butter-smothered cabbage. Ken says I need to share that recipe, too, but it deserves its own post. Coming soon!

Happy eating!