What's for Dinner?

Last night, I made this 5 spice roast chicken for the three of us. I wanted to make something that was pretty effortless, but also a bit different. This time of year, we all begin to feel we're in a bit of a rut.

5 Spice Roast Chicken
Mix in a gallon Ziploc bag:
1-2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 T. vegetable oil
1/2-1 t. hot chili oil
1-2 T. lemon juice
2 t. Chinese five-spice powder
Add one rather small whole chicken (or two game hens, or two quail would be nice this way), and roll around a bit to coat, and leave to marinate 1-4 hours. Put all in a small roasting pan and roast, uncovered, in a 375-400 degree oven for about 45 minutes, turning once halfway through the cooking time. Cover and rest 15-30 minutes before serving. Serves 2-4



I sliced and stir-fried some vegetables...



...and made this vegetable chow mein to go with. It was all really, really easy, and just the sort of dinner for this time of year.

Vegetable Chow Mein
Cook 6 oz. Chuka Soba Noodles 5 minutes in boiling water. Drain and rinse in cold water.

Slice:
2 celery stalks
5-6 brown mushrooms
1 yellow onion
Heat skillet and add 3 T. vegetable oil. When hot, add vegetables and cook 3 or so minutes. Add drained noodles. Add:
1-2 c. bean sprouts
8 oz. can water chestnuts
Mix:
1-2 t. cornstarch
1-2 T. soy sauce
Add to 1 c. chicken stock and add all to skillet. Stir and cook a few minutes until thickened and remove from heat. Serves 4-6

And tonight? Well, right now I'm preheating the oven (it's old and takes forever to heat up) to bake this chocolate layer cake (click here) for tonight. I could make this lamb stew (click here) that looks so delicious, or maybe we'll just fry up some bratwursts to have with sauerkraut and/or green tomato relish on a bun (I'm driving into Seattle this afternoon and it may take awhile), or something like this calamari pasta (click here), which everyone here (including myself) has been wanting me to make. I'll give it some thought while I'm baking the cake -if it was up to me, I'd be happy with just having chocolate cake and ice cream for dinner!