Tonight I tried making two things, and neither were as delicious as I’d hoped for! It happens now and again, and again, and again, so I like to take the time to reflect when and where I went wrong.

Tonight was my first time cooking with a Kabocha.

I had it all planned out. A thirty Minute BART ride home allowed me ample time to devise a stupendous plan of attack. I would roast this new squash with green zucchini and yellow summer squash alongside delicious red onion (one of my favorite veggies to roast) that had been covered in a perfectly sweetened honey & fresh ginger combo.

Needless to say it was a complete failure. I forgot about the ” perfectly sweetened honey and ginger combo” until it came out of the oven looking dismal, and tasting even more bland. The tedious process of breaking down the squash (which was particularly hard) clouded my mind. I overcooked it all, and resorted to adding the honey after the fact to make it somewhat okay. The onions and zucchini were yummy, but the Kabocha was just weird. The texture was something I have never experienced, and shutter to think about.

Billy claims it is palatable, but I beg to differ. I spit it out. I kept thinking that if I tried it again, it would get better. That never happened

The second dish was a simple pasta salad. Although not as big of an ego-blow, still a disappointment. I chose to use tortellini as opposed to a more traditional “pasta salad” type noodle, which was my main mistake. The texture of the ‘loni didn’t work with the other ingredients that I added. Alone the “extras” would make an excellent salad. I will share with you that much.

Quick Chicken Salad

1 can Trader Joes Chicken (similar to Canned tuna…but chicken…)
1 T grainy mustard
1 T mayo
Oil and Vinegar to your liking
Salt & P
2 radishes cubed into chicken salad sized chunks
1 apple cubed
4 chopped scallions in their whole or about 3-4T chopped onion
4 T Fresh chopped parsley
Lemon juice
Corn from 2 Cobbs

2 pieces toasted Dark bread
a fork

Mix all ingredients together. Toast bread. Consume with fork and hands. If you feel like getting extra racey, put the chicken salad on untoasts pieces of bread with a slice of Munster or Swiss on top. Put in the oven to melt the cheese and east as an open faced sandy.

Cook and learn, I suppose. I think that shall be my motto.