Sequestration Meal #635

 

This is a greater variety of dishes than even I would usually have, but I simply couldn't choose from among the things I was pondering making, so I just made everything. So this is a really lovely bowl of Korean food: Steamed rice, gochujang mushrooms, vegan bulgogi strips, a slightly-less-spicy version of oi muchim (Korean cucumber salad), Korean-style beet salad, and Korean-style watermelon rind salad.

The mushrooms are the ones from this recipe at Budget Bytes; they're easy and delicious and I'm so glad I am back to normal because avoiding buying fresh mushrooms during my low spend month made me sad. So! Mushrooms everywhere, mushrooms all the time!

The bulgogi is from Nasoya; nothing much to say other than it's a great easy option and I like having it every so often.

The cucumbers are this recipe from Kimchimari. It's a far less spicy version of the classic Korean cucumber salad that lets it be more cucumber-forward than gochugaru-forward, and that was perfect here because other things are also spicy in the meal. But on their own, I think I like the spicier version better (I am surprised this is the case!).

The beet salad is one of my favorite things in the world. The recipe is from Lavender and Macarons. Try it if you haven't; it's the sort of thing where you have to pause and let your eyes roll back to savor what you're eating. Bear in mind, I do love beets. So...

I'd gone all summer without watermelon, and while I may not be in low spend mode, I am still looking for ways to exercise frugality where possible. So although the not-low-spend part of this meant I wanted to buy a watermelon (big spender energy there), the let's-be-frugal impulse meant I went looking for ways to eat the rind. This is a recipe from Asian recipes at home. Aside from being unbearably salty, it was delicious. Next time I make it (which I may, as I have rind left, though I also have some other plans for it), I think I will cut the salt by at least half. So I think of this watermelon rind salad as a kind of seasoning for the rice, a bit like furikake, more than something you can eat on its own, for the moment.

All that said, though, it's worth trying (with less salt). Watermelon rind has the texture of jicama and makes for a great salad ingredient. It's not that sweet, so you won't think of it as a fruit.