Dinner for one

Although I live in a household of two, I often feel as if I must cook for six to satisfy my significant other's voracious appetite. The degree to which he can put it away continues to shock me. It can be a challenge to come home after a long day of cooking and try and figure out what to make to satisfy his hunger. It is even more challenging when my own belly is overly full from a day of marathon tasting, but the chef in me can't stand to see a loved one go hungry. Perhaps this is why when I find myself on my own for a few days that I delight in the ability to cook for one: me!
As much as I love my sweetie, there is pleasure in being able to selfishly cook with only my tastes in mind. I love dishes that are more spicy, tart and messy than he cares for. One of my favorite dishes that is all of those things is vegetable rice noodles. I actually make this often for the both of us, but when it is just me, all bets are off. I don't treat this as a side dish, underplay the spice or bother trimming the long noodles to manageable lengths.
I can't really give a proper recipe for this because the pure joy of making it is in catering to my mood that day, but I can share with you my building blocks so that you too can take it and make it just for you.

Vegetable Rice Noodles:

For the sauce:
Lime juice, cider vinegar, honey, soy sauce, hot sauce, minced fresh ginger, peanut butter, toasted sesame oil, red curry paste, salt and pepper.

Mix-ins:
Strips of cucumber, bell pepper, carrot. Sliced scallion and fresh chilies. Whole cilantro, basil and/or mint leaves.

Soak rice noodles in hot water until tender; drain. Toss with sauce and let stand for 30 minutes to allow the noodles to soak up the sauce. To speed this up, cover and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. The noodles will drink up the sauce. Toss in your mix-ins of choice and eat right out of the bowl.

Feeling Corny

The last few weeks in New York has finally signaled that the seasons are changing and summer is just around the corner. Every year this shift is so highly anticipated that when the temperature hits above 60 for more than one day in a row, men and women start walking around in shorts and sandals. I'm as ready as anyone, but I'm still wearing my jacket. I am, to a fault, a realist. 60 degrees is not 80.
This bubbling fervor hasn't left me untouched. While ramps and rhubarb have been great, I'm really starting to crave juicy berries and cherries and, most of all, crisp sweet summer corn. I learned the hard way not to buy the tempting ears all wrapped up in cellophane at the supermarket. Starchy and bland, this corn just ends up making me feel both mad and sad and does not scratch the itch. So this time I tried another route and turned to one of my pantry staples, canned hominy. Hominy is dried corn that has been treated with an alkali, such as lye, to prevent it from sprouting during storage. You can buy it in the same forms as beans: dried in bags or cooked and in liquid in cans. The applications are the same as well. If you buy it dried you need to soak it and cook it until tender and from the can with a simple rinse it's pretty much ready to go. I actually keep both around since they are cheap and last a long time, I can use it depending on my time frame that day.
I had hominy for the first time about 5 years ago and quickly added it to my own pantry. It has a deep corn flavor with a hint of something citrusy and a pleasant chew that holds up in soups and stews, which is mostly how I have cooked with it until now. It dawned on me that since hominy is corn, why don't I treat it more like corn? My summer corn itch was about to be scratched with a roasted hominy salad.
The hominy took very well to being roasted, maintaining its texture without becoming dry or tough, and with a bit of lime and cilantro to brighten the dish, I think I'll be able to make it to summer.

Roasted Hominy and Sweet Potato Salad
Melissa Gaman

1 15-ounce can white hominy, drained and rinsed
2 small sweet potatoes, about 1 pound, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 large sweet onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped if desired, I like whole leaves
1 scallion, sliced
1 avocado, peeled and cubed

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. In a large bowl toss the hominy with the sweet potatoes, onion and garlic. Add the oil, chili powder, paprika and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper; toss well to coat and spread in a single layer on the lined baking sheet. Roast until the hominy is golden and the sweet potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cool until warm but no longer steaming, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the mixture. Add the cilantro and scallion and toss. Season to taste with the juice from the second lime, salt and pepper. Fold in the avocado. Serve warm or at room temperature.