Friday January 3rd, 2014

Dinner for 4

Turmeric and Saffron Curry
Ruby Grapefruit, Lime and Scallop Salad
Stir Fried Bok Choy
Pretzels with Hersey Kisses and Peanut Butter M&M's

Wow it is the start of 2014 already.  Times flies sometimes.  The Friday night dinners are off to a quite start.  Tonight it is my husband, my son, his girlfriend and myself.  Our two daughters are also hear but not interested in scallops so they are having some pasta.

We are starting off with a favourite broth.  This recipe is from Vij’s: Elegant & Inspired Indian Cuisine . I've been making it a lot lately.  It is simple to make, the colour is beautiful and we all think it is so tasty.  I doubled the recipe so that we could have some leftover but it is just too popular with my son and his girlfriend, they ate it all up.

The main course of ruby grapefruit, lime and scallop salad was inspired by this recipe however I changed a few things to adapt it to what I had on hand.  With no watercress I used a combination of baby spinach and rocket (arugula) for the salad base.  I also thought I had macadamia nuts in my pantry but it turns out I didn't, so for the nuts I used some blanched slivered almonds.  The fish market hear never has scallops with roe attached so I just used frozen Nova Scotia scallops, some days I really miss living near the ocean.  Well maybe most days.

Stir fried bok choy is often enjoyed in our house.  My eldest daughter and husband love it.  I trim and clean the baby bok choy, today it was what they call the Shanghai variety, and leave it in the colander until I need it.  In the wok I use a little peanut oil and toasted sesame oil.  I heat it to almost smoking, toss in about a tbsp of finely chopped garlic then almost immediately toss it the bok choy.  I stir fry it until it wilts, add a splash of soy and rice vinegar and them plate it up.  Simple goodness.

Dessert today wasn't really a dessert.  I got no Christmas baking done this year for many reasons, so I was pleasing the children with a sweet salty favourite.  You can find variations of these all over the internet so I am not sure who should get the credit for them here.  They are supper easy.  Lay pretzels out on a cookie sheet. Top with a Hersey Kiss and put them in a 180C oven for about 3 minutes.  Take them out and put the M&M on top.  Let cool completely.  My eldest daughter helped make them, it was fun in the kitchen with her.  Unfortunately no pictures were taken before the 3 and 1/2  trays of them were gobbled up.