Thursday, October 02, 2008

Quick Quirks

Today's theme is Quirks.  I only had a couple photos of food from my business trip, one being the Pad Kee Mow from Amarin Thai below, so I was stretching for a theme, sure. 
What stands out in this dish? It was well rounded flavor wise, and the fresh basil rocked it. The basil was just tossed in at the end of cooking, and obviously makes this dish. Only since moving to Portland have I truly appreciated fresh herbs, aka - an old QUIRK!

I can recall trying fresh mint and basil when I was a wee little scone, but didn't like...the intense flavor.  How dare actual flavor try to get in my mouth!  I used to pick freshly chopped basil off of pasta dishes, and as an Italian, well, huh?

Pad Kee Mow


Other quirks:
  • I typically don't like my food to touch.  I should own divider plates.
  • I like to save a couple bites of my favorite part of a meal till the end.  
  • I refuse to eat a piece of onion.  I can handle them REALLY REALLY REALLY finely chopped or pureed into foods, or easily picked out if I must, but I generally use onion powder or incredibly well chopped shallots when I'm cooking.
Another use of fresh basil - Seitan, Almond, Asparagus & Basil Fried Rice from last year:


Onto hopefully cooking a meal tonight.  

So what's your cutest quirk?

25 comments:

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

Wow, I don't like my food to touch, I save my favorite part of the meal until last (I usually eat one part to completion at a time), and onions, leeks, scallions, chives, and shallots are not allowed anywhere near me. Were we separated at birth?

VeganView said...

That looks delish!
Although, I don't really share many of your quirks, I think mine would be since becoming vegan I can't have anyone touch or try my food with their utensils if they are not eating vegan. I have literally almost shoved some of my friends off chairs in restaurants to stop them. They know better now ;)

Question about thai food: I always have a problem asking questions about fish/oyster sauce since they are used in so many thai dishes and many servers do not know...whats a vegan to do?

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

Ha! My food cannot touch either. Today, my baked sweet potato slices were fraternizing with the brown gravy from my "gravy taters". I had to enforce immediate disciplinary action! :P

Anonymous said...

I have an onion quirk too! They're so slimy, like bugs...blech!!

The Pad Kee Mow looks ridiculously delicious... *drool*

tofufreak said...

i love saving the best parts of my meal (like at potlucks) until the very end too! that way, if i don't like anything else on my plate, i can always end my meal happily. :D

i absolutely get super annoyed when other family members cook my food! it's really odd because i don't mind restaurants cooking my food, but if i actually see someone handling my food (hello, brother, who has not washed his hands) i get REALLY REALLY REALLY mad. haha. so not really cute, no. but a quirk nonetheless.

Lisa (Show Me Vegan) said...

I save my favorite for a last bite too!
Happy MoFo by the way!

Bex said...

I like to save the best bit til last. I never notice I´m doing it until I´m on it.

Veronica said...

I love hearing about other's quirks, especially when I can relate. I hate my side dishes intermingling with my mains... especially with salads or other veggies. But when it comes to dessert, like brownies & ice cream or pie, I homogenize everything with my fork. It's very juvenile; I've done it forever.

allicia said...

I definitely always leave the best bite for last. I probably shouldn't do that because that just makes me eat the whole plate, which is detrimental to my weight loss. I also hate when people try to help me in the kitchen. I get really kitchen possessive.

JENNA said...

I too save the some favorite bites of my meal for the end! I've never known anyone else that does that or at least openly admits to it.

Chelsea said...

Yay! Our quirks are cute! I don't think I have major food quirks, off the top of my head: I also refuse to let my food touch (that can make potlucks difficult), I can't stand most fake meat to the point of getting nauseous looking at it, and I think American food sucks (hotdogs, mac and cheese, hamburger helper, that shit), oh and I think everything is better with hot sauce on it. My coworker recently freaked out when I put Sriracha on my bagel and tofutti :)

Anonymous said...

I have no quirks that I can think of except I have to eat my food is a well-lit area. I don't like mood-lighting when it comes to food. I like a fairly bright light so I can see it.

Catherine Weber said...

I don't like my food to touch, either. I should buy some divided plates, too!

Vegan_Noodle said...

We share similar quirks!! I always make sure the last bite is the perfect combination. If it's a salad I have to have a bit of greens, nuts, veggies, and whatever else all in one bite. Oh, and I was the same way with onions, but I can handle them a little better now. I think it's a product of getting older :-(

Cute post!

aTxVegn said...

I have those same quirks, except the onions.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Veganview -

As for Thai food, it is wise to keep asking questions and requesting "veg*n - no fish sauce, no oyster sauce, no shrimp paste" no matter how many times you've gone to a place. Servers, answers and preparations change. I like to think I can tell when things taste a little...fishy. Personally I am very suspect of Thai restaurants, but don't blame them, it's just a barrier, though it sucks for veg*ns.
Curries can be the most difficult to order vegan because while you can request the "nos", the staff might not know what is in the actual curry paste. It often has fish in it.
The particular restaurant I went to was listed on a couple veg lists for the area, and had a local vegetarian society's friendly sticker in the window - a promising notion. I requested the "nos" and there was no look of surprise on the waitress' face, and she was very friendly and reassuring. Even salads and appetizers were marked 'vegetarian' or not on the menu.

As a restaurant reviewer for Stumptown Vegans, I've tried many Thai restaurants that have sadly turned out to be not so veg*n friendly, no matter what others have said or menus have been marked.

Good luck!


Happy MoFo all!

donesmoking said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
donesmoking said...

i used to be horrible about not having my food touch...but as i've gotten older, i just grew out of it.

now i like to have a little bite of different things on my plate together.

also, Chelsea...i feel ya! i too am a hot sauce freak...i have been known to eat a bagel with tofutti and hot sauce, so good!

Jen said...

my pregan quirk was covering everything in cheese or ranch dressing. now i have to have a little dash of bragg's on everything. when taking food porn pics, i HAVE to have some sort of toy around, although i didn't use one for the blog today.my biggest quirk is my ability to stack. this means that no matter what i'm eating, i need to take some sort of cracker or chip and stack my food on top of it. i have been known to create a small skyscraper on a single tortilla chip.

Anonymous said...

I don't know if my quirk is cute, but, unless I'm eating out, I rarely (if ever) have a beverage with my meals. I just found out that my Mom is the same way. I guess quirks are hereditary!

Anonymous said...

I don't like food that bursts in my mouth. I like the flavors, but I have to drastically change the texture, by pureeing, etc. Grapes, tomatoes, beans - no way. Just the sight of a chickpea makes me want to vomit. Which is a testament to the glory of Isa's Chickpea Cutlets, because I will brave my gag reflex to make them.

Anonymous said...

So how might we manage to get ahold of your Seitan, Almond, Asparagus & Basil Fried Rice recipe? Because I just hunted high and low for it (it looks THAT good) through your archives and in the Perpetual Toxins deal (which doesn't seem to have archives), with absolutely no luck, and ME WANT TO MAKE IT!!!

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Lindy loo - It's apparently MIA, I'm sorry! I promise that it was a pretty straightforward fried rice - I'll look around for a saved file...

Unknown said...

Thanks, Jess! I'm doing OK, came down with some crud just today.

Anonymous said...

I don't mind if my food touches, but I always try to save my favorite part of the meal for the last bite on my plate, like a total flavor hoarder.