Sunday Funday Cooking: Whatever's Lying Around The House

So. Pancakes. It's a Sunday brunch staple, but I've never been the biggest fan of them. This past week, though, I was gifted a bag of whole wheat pancake mix from a fancy place here in Manhattan. They even used an old-timey font on the package!

I whipped them up this morning and two pancakes in I could tell it was total dreck. It seemed wasteful to toss all that batter, so I threw in some raisins and feta (because feta makes everything betta) and did what I always do with extra ingredients: I muffin-ized them.

Maybe I should have put the raisins and feta in first, but I like these little guys a lot better.

Later that same day I made more breakfast quiches, because they really made my life easier last week.

If anyone has insights -- Freudian, Jungian and otherwise -- as to why I seem to like making food the shape of flying saucers, I am all ears.

This strange pile of yellow and green is what happens when I have too many mangoes and cucumbers in the house. Most Pinterest recipes make mango cucumber salads with cilantro, but I only had scallions and they're practically the same thing, right?

I riffed off of this recipe, only squeezing fresh lime juice over the mix of cucumber, mango, scallion, feta and raisins. I also only had yellow rice and was not about to run out in the rain for white rice, simply for aesthestic purposes.

Over all, it's great right out of the bowl, but even better after being refrigerated for a few hours. The lime really pops.

When Cucumbers Are In Season, How On Earth Do You Eat Anything Else?

Some people are into sweets. Me, I can't get enough of cucumbers. This time of year I can get them two for a dollar from the sidewalk fruit guys. That's a deal.

I think the mistake that most people make with cucumbers is that they use them as an accoutrement in the meal, as opposed to centering the whole meal around cucumbers. For example, they make cucumber part of the salad, and not the base of the salad itself. (Who needs leaves? They get stuck in your teeth, anyhow.)

If I have a philosophy about cooking, it's that I like to be able to just cut things up and throw them into a bowl and see how they work out. This is why I like couscous. There are a lot of great combinations that come from just cutting and tossing.

These days I typically cut up a whole cucumber, toss in half a chopped apple as well as some yellow raisins. The secret ingredient, always, is peanuts. They add texture and just the right amount of salt. After exercising I like to cut up a whole cucumber and toss in cantaloupe or watermelon. With a side of hard boiled egg whites, it's quite filling.