I've cooked a few interesting dishes this past month!
I made some Vietnamese spring rolls for lunch. I've usually bought these from Central Market when I wanted a healthy lunch, but I thought it would be fun to make them myself! I only had to cook some shrimp and vermicelli noodles, and the rest of the process was just assembly. I found rice paper wrappers that I bought at Central Market were made out of brown rice, so the spring rolls look a little different than normal. I dipped the rice paper into some warm water for a few seconds, and for the veggies, I added sliced cucumber, sliced carrot, spinach, and mint. Lastly, I added a few shrimp and a small handful of noodles. Rolling the spring rolls was definitely the hardest part of the process, since it was my first time making it. Sometimes I didn't roll the rice paper tight enough or some of the ingredients would fall out the side. In addition, I made a dipping sauce with some sriracha, fish sauce, and water. The spring rolls were a refreshing and light lunch, and I've made them a few more times!
My boyfriend and I made some chicken biriyani one weekend. He has been trying to cook some Indian food, and we decided to give this a shot. It took about 2-3 hours for the entire process with cooking the chicken, parboiling the rice, and baking the biriyani. We were nervous about how it would turn out, since it was our first attempt. Surprisingly, it was really good, and since then, we have made the biriyani again, each time with a few tweaks to make it better!
For dinner one week, I made some Thai green curry with chicken. I've made this dish a lot as it's really simple. I always buy the Mae Ploy brand green curry paste, and I usually follow the recipe on the tub. I usually will add chicken thighs, but I've made it with chicken breast and beef. For veggies, I usually use an assortment with red bell peppers and broccoli, but it also works well with frozen veggies. Within 30 minutes, I have enough food for about 5-6 meals!