Falafel Pita Pockets

This post is dedicated to Lauren's mom, Mrs. Witek. I was never really that big of a fan of falafel before, but after Mrs. Witek demanded to have some falafel in August during our exploration of Harvard Square, I have been longing for falafel during random times. When Brian visited in March/April, we tried out two falafel mixes bought from Star (the local grocery store). We decided that this brand was better because it was easier to form, fry, and tastier (not to mention, also cheaper at $2.99!). I bought this again last week because I wanted something other than leftovers and sandwiches for lunch (but I ended up making this and eating it for dinner today). On this box, the directions to make the falafel are on the side, but the back has recipes for falafel chili and breaded chicken and wings, which I should try one day.

You take the mix out (I just mixed the whole package, which is 2 cups of mix) and mix it with 1.5 cups of water (the original ratio on the box is 1 cup mix and 3/4 cup water). Mix it well and let it rest for 30 minutes. I just left it sitting on the kitchen counter; I don't think you need to put it in the fridge. After 30 minutes, you want to shape them into balls (or somewhat flat cylindrical figures because it'd be easier to shove those in a pita pocket), like the picture below.

Flat-ish balls

Oops. I forgot, when the mix was resting, I made a yogurt-cucumber sauce. I chopped up like...2 inches of cucumber (I mostly did this by eye) and minced it into small pieces. I threw that into a small container of yogurt. Mince a clove of garlic (I like to chop mine extraaaa small because I dislike biting into garlic, especially raw garlic) and throw that in as well. Mix it up, and that was my yogurt-cucumber sauce! Super easy.

While I was shaping the balls, I heated up a small pot of vegetable oil (the box says 2 inches of oil). Then I place the ball into the hot oil to let it fry to a golden brown (until it floats). After taking the falafel out, I put it on a plate lined with a paper towel and I gently pat the excess oil off. I ended up frying all of my falafel mix because I figured that I would save oil and do it all in one go.

I fried 2 patties at a time

Looks more golden-brown with the flash on

Look at that delicious pile of vegetarian goodness!!! (I couldn't resist and took a bite out of the one on the right, hehe!)

Haha, see how that pita pocket is ripping already from the awesomeness of the falafels! I used 1.5 patties for 1/2 a pita (hence the pita pocket...if that makes any sense), added some yogurt-cucumber sauce (it actually needed more) and some sliced cucumbers. This is incredibly filling and you wouldn't even have thought it would be!

I'm so excited that I now have lunch (or dinner...) for a couple days now :D yay!!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

This meal was made before I left for my week-vacay in Maryland and I figured that I might as well finish off the vodka marinara sauce. I included some sliced portabello mushrooms (I had way too many), green beans (probably boiled a little bit too long; they weren't as crunchy as I would've liked, and meatballs.

These meatballs need a paragraph for themselves. They are SO GOOD. Aidell's sausages and other products are all very delicious in general, but sometimes they can be a little expensive. I bought the meatballs in a double-pack at Costco and I've made many meals with the meatballs so it was well worth the price. The teriyaki and pineapple meatballs are sweet and savory and they compliment many different types of meals. You can freeze them if you can't finish all of them and defrost them when you're ready to eat them. They are, so good.

I've had a lot of delicious meals since I've come back home in Maryland...and it has made me realize that I really need to start working out on a regular basis. sigh.

Sweet Potato Fries

After a night out, I had the intense craving for anything greasy. For breakfast, I made an omelet with green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and Mexican blended cheese (a deviation from my standard chocolate chip pancakes). Lunch was just ramen. As I was on the bus on the way back from fixing my now-alive iPod touch, I was wondering what I should eat for dinner (after seeing Knock Knock's "What To Eat" notepad, which I will talk more about later). I knew I had one more burger patty left in the fridge and I shouldn't make a big meal because I was leaving to go home to Maryland on Tuesday.  So, what went well with a burger? FRIES! More specifically, SWEET POTATO FRIES!! I didn't get to eat too many sweet potato fries at the SED GSA party on Thursday so I guess I was still craving it a little.

After researching some recipes online, I kinda just winged it. I stopped by Star to pick up a sweet potato as well as other items I needed to make it to Tuesday. Cutting the sweet potato was really tough...literally. I don't know if sweet potatoes are generally harder to cut or what, but it was difficult. The potato was cut into strips and then I threw them into a mixing bowl of some olive oil, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes. Make sure that the fries are seasoned well, especially with olive oil. 

Place them on a baking sheet and put it in the oven heated at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. I checked it around 15 minutes, and it was cooked, but still a little soft. Turns out, after 30 minutes, some parts were still soft but other parts were crispy (but I ain't complaining!)

When I had cut all of the fries and placed them on the pan, I definitely didn't think I could eat it all, but it was so delicious that I did. Lauren helped a little as well. This was a delicious snack! The sweet potato was very sweet and savory, and the crushed red pepper flakes added a hint of a spicy kick (not enough to mask the sweet potato flavor though).

About the "What To Eat" notepads, I was seriously contemplating buying them at Anthropologie (where I stopped by and "shopped" while waiting for my appointment at the Apple store). Sometimes I have trouble planning out my meals for the week, and I only go grocery shopping once a week with my roommates so it would be easier if I could plan it out. Of course, the grocery store is only a 4 minute walk so I could always pick up more things, but most days I am either busy or lazy. The notepads were around $7.50 so I took some pictures with my cell phone and decided that I'd just make these by myself. It's not difficult at all and I have lots of time :]

Omaha Steak Burger

My roommate Nicky's sister sent us a huge package of Omaha Steak products, including some apple tartlets, various seasoned chicken, mashed and baked potatoes, and burger meat. It takes her a while to eat all of the food so I help out, hehe! I grilled my burger on my tiny Foreman Grill (which is a pain to clean but a perfect size for a single patty) while slightly caramelizing my onions and mushrooms on a pan. I had also made some guacamole earlier today (to bring to the last class of psych testing, yay!) and spread some on my bun. Top it off with some cheddar cheese (the muenster cheese looked...bubbly...I didn't know cheese could go bad...?) and a slice of tomato and deliciouuus!

Since I infrequently make/grill burgers by myself, I had no idea how long to cook the patty for. I kept spearing it with my knife and blood kept spilling out. It came out pretty well-done so I guess next time I don't have to worry about it so much. Apparently I also cooked too much onions/mushrooms that could fit on top of my burger so I piled them next to it and ate it before taking this picture, hehe!!

Proctoring for the AP's are almost over, as well as the one last class for BU. It doesn't feel like it should be summer yet (mostly just spring) but I guess I'll really start to feel it when I go home!

Update: I made the burger again today (as a main course to the sweet potato fries above) and this time I only changed it from guac to Sweet Ray's BBQ.

The buns also aren't as sqooshed as the picture above haha!

Vegetarian Kashmiri Rogan Josh

Only starting to write this blog did I realize that Rogan Josh is supposed to consist of lamb. Oops. Most of the time I prefer my Indian food/curries vegetarian, I'm not sure why that is.

I purchased Kitchens of India's Spicy Tomato & Ginger Cooking Sauce (Kashmiri Rogan Josh) from Star Market. I've made this before, and it was so delicious that I wanted more. Plus, for a $3 jar, and some veggies, it produces at least four separate meals for me.

Ingredients I used:

- 3 small potatoes (old, but they still taste great)

- 3 carrots

- 1/2 green pepper

- 1/2 large onion

- jar of rogan josh

- dallops of yogurt

I boiled the potatoes to soften them up before mixing it with the rest of the veggies. Here is the picture before the sauce:

Looks so healthy!

 And this is the after-picture. The yogurt was added to try to dilute the sauce a little. I also added in some water because the sauce was more paste-like at first.

It's so fiery red

So delicious. Serve it in a bowl on top of a bed of hot steaming rice (straight out of the rice cooker!) and you're golden!!

Thanks to an inspiration from my friend Jenny, I will put my cooking/baking skills to work and attempt to make naan in the future! She found a great recipe on BBC.

This shall get me through the last week of classes and AP proctoring!!