Girl Dinner & Dog Days
"no preparation just vibes"
Hello, friends and family!
Did you know that the phrase “dog days of summer” refers to the forty days between July 3 and August 11 which correspond with the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star, in the morning sky? We are officially in the dog days! According to this Farmer’s Almanac article, “the name ‘Sirius’ even stems from the Ancient Greek seírios, meaning ‘scorching.’” Thanks, I hate it.
However! We seem to have broken through the worst of this past week’s awful heat wave, which means I might be motivated to cook again. I went to the farmers market this morning and stocked up on tomatoes, corn and kale, so I think some simple and excellent salads are in our future. Stay tuned.
Sunday 7/23/23
Kikiriki chicken and maduros
Remember a couple weeks ago when I said I needed to try the rotisserie chicken from Kikiriki, the Peruvian restaurant on Central Ave? Well, I’ve tried it, and now I’m hooked. No more Perdue Shortcuts in this house! Not only was the chicken perfectly seasoned and roasted, it also comes with this incredible spicy pepper sauce, identified on the menu only as “Special Hot Sauce” (I reached out to Kikiriki for more intel on this sauce; as of press time, they had not responded to my inquiry). Also, this place serves possibly the best maduros I’ve ever had, meltingly sweet with crispy edges and caramelized in all the right places. Plantains are a great source of fiber, complex carbs and antioxidants: that’s what I remind myself after I inhale half a pound of these fried daydreams and find myself staring down an empty grease-stained paper carton. Health food!
Kikiriki, I don’t care if you’re cash only. You have my heart, and my business.
Monday 7/24/23
Big Salad, cabbage version
Anne took over the kitchen tonight and produced a pitch-perfect Big Salad, featuring chopped cabbage, beets, red bell peppers, and shredded Kikiriki chicken. Oh, and those crispy little dried beet strips I’m so into. I made this apple cider vinaigrette that my Aunt Melanie recommended, but I didn’t have the right ingredients to make the tweaks she suggested, like adding pomegranate balsamic glaze (!!!) and freshly juiced tangerines. Yes, culinary genius runs in the family.
Tuesday 7/25/23
Bean and chicken quesadillas
Used up the last of the rotisserie chicken by adding it to some easy weeknight quesadillas, along with some canned small red beans—which I only just now learned are an actual varietal of bean, and not just a vague descriptor. You know what they say: you learn something new about beans every day. These quesadillas were a delight, topped with avocado and the rest of the Special Hot Sauce.
Wednesday 7/26/23
Big Salad, kale version
I was feeling inspired to make something super-nutritious, so I went into full Big Salad mode. Chopped massaged kale with cherry tomatoes (including some from our balcony garden!) and the rest of the small red beans from yesterday, raw chopped broccoli, and crunchy crumbled tempeh. The tiny woodland creatures that I imagine adorably populating my insides when I think about my gut microbiome? They ate well tonight.
Thursday 7/27/23
Pizza Masters pizza and mozzarella sticks
After a long hot day of work at the cafe, I didn’t want to turn on the oven, and I didn’t even want to think about what to make for dinner. What I wanted was to pick up the phone and order a pizza from Pizza Masters, and that’s exactly what I did. Well… I also ordered mozzarella sticks. Sometimes I like to eat salads and roasted vegetables like a glowing earth goddess, feeling self-congratulatory about the diversity of my gut microbiome, and sometimes I turn into Liz Lemon. It’s all about balance, right? I mean, there were roasted red peppers on the pizza. And sliced Italian sausage. Thanks, Meatcat!
Friday 7/28/23
Teriyaki sesame salmon and charred edamame
Sounds fancy, tasted fancy, but was pretty easy! I’d recently picked up these frozen Sea Cuisine Teriyaki Sesame Salmon fillets at the grocery store on a whim, and had some frozen edamame pods too, so I decided to pair them for an easy stovetop dinner. The salmon was a hit, pre-flavored with ginger, soy sauce and red pepper; all I did was pan-sear the fillets in some brown butter. And I followed this recipe (from the improbably but delightfully named food blog Pups with Chopsticks) for charred lemon garlic edamame, except that I was out of lemons, so I just made the garlic butter. It still worked. Perfect light dinner for a hot summer night, followed by a single perfect plum for dessert.
Saturday 7/29/23
Girl Dinner
Another week, another culinary TikTok trend that I only know about because of the more plugged-in people in my life: Girl Dinner! My sister mentioned it to me several weeks ago, my therapist suggested it should be on my radar, and now even the New York Times has weighed in, which likely means that the trend is officially over now that the adults know about it, and the Internet is on to new things. But in case you, like me, missed the rise of Girl Dinner, here’s how NYT’s Jessica Roy describes it:
It’s 90 degrees outside, and you’re too hot and exhausted from a long day of work to cobble together a proper meal... You grab a bag of popcorn, a glass of wine, some bread, some cheese and a hunk of chocolate, and settle into the couch for a night of snacking and watching TV. Is there anything more glorious? Welcome to “girl dinner.”
According to TikTok, where the trend has more than 30 million views, girl dinner is akin to an aesthetically pleasing Lunchable: an artfully arranged pile of snacks that, when consumed in high enough volume, constitutes a meal. Or so the thinking goes.
Typical girl dinners may include some kind of fruit, a block of cheddar, sliced salami, a sleeve of fancy crackers and a dish of olives. Girl dinner is “both chaotic and filling,” as one TikTok commenter put it, requiring none of the forethought, cooking or plating demanded by an actual meal. As another commenter observed: It’s “no preparation just vibes.”
I’ve been referring to this phenomenon by the gender-neutral term “grazing night,” but the description is right on the money. I’ll leave it to others to ponder whether Girl Dinner is problematic; I think it’s a cute and fun way to describe eating whatever you want. I love to eat whatever I want! Tonight my Girl Dinner consisted of some Mary’s Gone Crackers superseed crackers, sliced sharp cheddar, a handful of dates, Trader Joe’s chocolate-covered coconut granola bark, a bowl of blueberries, and half of a quinoa carrot cake cookie from the cafe where I work.
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Thanks for reading! Hope you’re all staying cool and calm in these gross, sticky dog days, ideally with some chilled watermelon or some home-grown tomatoes (thanks to loyal reader Julie Currey for sharing this fun Guy Clarke song ❤️). Till next week!
XO,
Hannah
Only the best!! Wish I could share my eggplant bounty with you too! Your mom and dad are sure enjoying it!! ❤️