Masalas

Last night I concocted homemade enchilada sauce for vegetarian enchiladas. The sauce turned out quite good, in fact, even with that tablespoon of honey that I feared but included anyway! Craig went to a Knicks game with co-workers so he didn't try these until lunchtime leftovers today - he liked well enough for me to put the dish on repeat. The filling for the enchiladas consisted of corn and black beans and finely diced zucchini, to which I'd next time likely add onion, green pepper and maybe some jalapeno for kick. Tonight's dinner will be here soon (finally, it's Thursday and we have not eaten out all week so Indian from Baluchi it is!) Tikka Masala, while not adventurous, is my favorite, plus the seared lamb kababs as appetizers and the luscious warm naan bread. Cravings, for me, are becoming peculiarly strong, which I never experienced before. I've always loved food and most of my life I was fortunate enough to carry on my dad's family's tradition of cougar-like metabolism, but turning thirty crashed my weight world and here I am nearly a year into my Weight Watchers membership (and proudly back to high school-age weight!) but now, this far into our stay in New York, I've learned so much about foods and flavor and aromatic pleasures in the kitchen that I experience actual cravings, full-blown lingering desires to eat certain foods that I've grown to just love. Indian cuisine, Thai cuisine and sushi fall into the cravings category, for me. I've attempted to cook Indian, as earlier mentioned, and I've got a full array of Thai dishes, compliments of Cooking Light, that satisfy my yearning for curries and coconut milk and basil (of course, heavy on the sodium side, as my dear friend Lauren has pointed out, due to salty fish sauce!) and sushi is clearly something I would never approach to attempt on my own! But there are more adventures I'd like in the kitchen someday, some which rely on a bigger kitchen, better stove, and a more varied arrangement of kitchen utensils. For now, as Craig pays for the Indian delivery (hurray!) I will stick to what I can accomplish in the miniature kitchen we've got...and Tikka Masala, American Idol and Lost are mine tonight on this cozy Thursday!