Sequestration Meal #533

 

I had memories of a meal I'd liked once upon a time and decided to veganize it while I still had fresh grapefruit on hand. This is a Wegmans Don't Be Chicken patty topped with grapefruit-tarragon sauce (recipe loosely based on one in America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two 2010) and turmeric rice (recipe from from Well Plated).

This was fine, and I did like the grapefruit sauce, but it wasn't as amazing as I remembered. That's probably because the original recipe has one serving the sauce over a cornmeal-crusted chicken, and I didn't have any crust here. There are ways to make a cornmeal-crusted vegan chicken, but I don't think I want to invest the energy in that this winter. Maybe next time citrus season rolls around.

But I can say that grapefruit is one of my favorite fruits now, which is really remarkable considering the path it had to travel to get into my good graces!

This will be posted on the last day in January. As I write this, I have not met my January goals, and I'm emerging from an intensely challenging week. I can't share all the reasons why, but I can tell you that on top of two significantly-negative-to-me-personally events that happened on the same Monday afternoon, the hot water heater in my apartment broke down; I taught a workshop where fewer than 10% of registered students ultimately showed up (and I don't know what happened to them); one of the rims on my car cracked and will need to be replaced for $800 after I had just had a major tune up, alignment, and coolant flush done so my car has demanded $2K in three weeks; and I'm just...over it right now. All that considered, one not-stellar meal is not significant. That I cooked at all probably is!

So my January goals will become my February goals and I will try to keep perspective. How was your January?