What have you been cooking during quarantine?

I've made a batch (1kg) of char siu following some of the steps of Chinese Cooking Demystified then froze most of them. I can now toss a few slice of those in a noodle soup whenever I'm feeling too lazy to cook something more elaborate! Alternatively, this works pretty well with Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches).

For whatever weird supply-chain reason, the local grocer had gorgeous tomatillos for cheap. We made a big casserole dish (double recipe) of Roasted Tomatillo Enchiladas.

We had to substitute jalapeños for Serrano peppers, and made it lasagna-style, with layers of tortillas, instead of as individual enchiladas. That worked fine, though we could have spread the filling a little more evenly. Yellow corn tortillas would have been better than white corn, but overall, it's not bad and a not-too-complicated way to make a lot of relatively inexpensive meals.

I've had a bag of corn flour lying around, so I made chef john's cast iron cornbread. It's got a more delicate texture than the name would suggest.

Otherwise, nothing too much different. I've changed my shopping habits more than my cooking habits - more anticipatory of what I'll need. I've previously rarely bought vegetables when I didn't have an immediate need for them, since they're usually the least shelf-stable item. I've changed that up a bit and I try to have a little at home, even if that means more mental work when fitting such stuff in.

Sourdough bread, instant pot soup, seitan, oatmeal every day, and my wife made banana bread!

I've also been really getting the forage bug. O went and picked some mulberries yesterday off a street tree.

I've been eating so much more healthily that it's almost embarrassing. My normal schedule is the perfect storm of convenience lunches at the office, last-minute invitations to grab delicious, fried, buttered, carb-laden dinners, and far too many evening delivery orders when I'm so flat and exhausted that I need some kind of indulgence. When I did make the effort to cook, it tended to be just that: effort. Big, elaborate dishes to try out some new technique or ingredient.

Now all that's been turned upside down, I'm not usually making anything fancy: simple grilled meats, good quality vegetables, maybe some rice or pasta on the side; what I am doing is cooking proper fresh food for every meal. The restaurant suppliers around here have retooled to home delivery, so there are amazing ingredients coming to the door once a week or so. There's time to plan and time to keep an eye on things because I'm working a few steps away from my kitchen. There's a routine that I know won't be disturbed. There's suddenly room for me to have a better relationship with food than I have done for quite some time.

Actually quarantine has been good for our cooking. We're normally too busy and just snack when we get home in the evenings. Now we have a decent cooked lunch every day. The various shortages of one particular item or another forces us to vary things a bit as well. First they closed the markets, then they allowed the shops around the periphery (like the butcher) to be open, 1 person at a time. We avoid supermarkets, and try to be flexible and creative. It's kinda fun.

One thing my wife made which is pretty quarantine-friendly was goulash. The ingredients are long-life, easily attainable staples, you can use frozen meat, and it keeps well in the fridge.

I have a good variety of dinners and lunches this past week:

• Maple glazed salmon with a sugar snap pea, carrot, and quinoa salad
• Strawberry, spinach, and quinoa salad with balsamic vinaigrette
• Roasted salmon and asparagus with balsamic-butter sauce
• Brussels sprout salad with roasted chicken, apples, and walnuts
• Spicy thai basil chicken with spinach and rice
• Spaghetti squash pad thai
• Cheesy penne with zucchini, corn, and basil
• Pan-fried chicken with sauteed sugar snap peas and sweet potato mash
• Spicy chili-garlic chicken & broccoli rice bowl

In addition I have baked a few loaves of white bread and made a fresh pan of homemade cinnamon rolls.

Same as it ever was, mostly.

Made some chilaquiles with a side of soy chorizo the other day, though. I make this every so often, but I tried to make it look a little nicer this time.

Not too hard to make. Cut up some tortillas, give 'em a bit of a fry (I sprinkled some cayenne and garlic powder, cuz why not?), stew 'em in some type of enchilada sauce (I prefer green), top with crema, onions, and cotija. I cooked the soy chorizo with onions, and that's about it. Oh, and garnish with cilantro. Because all Mexican food must be garnished with cilantro if it is to be Instagram Ready™. (hot tip)

My favorite easy food is just chopped chicken and bag of baby carrots + chili + what ever type of vegetables i have on hand.

just wait for the chopped chicken and mushrooms to soak up the taste and cook in olive oil, then dump the vegetables in, add chili sauce, what ever form you have it, some coconut cream, add curry and or turmeric if you have it, but not required.

let it simmer for 45 minutes.

ready to eat.

i like to make this more of chili hot than curry hot, but depends on the day, it's so easy and simple to make i eat it almost too much.

My wife and I meal prep each Sunday so that neither of us spend money unnecessarily going out for lunch/dinner or have to cook on weekday nights. Cuts down on snacking and the like as well. So nothing has really changed on that front. Over the past few weeks it was pasta with homemade bolognese, coconut curry, tikka masala curry, and this week I smoked a brisket (which was probably the best one I've ever made and the extra was handed out to friends who agree) to which she paired mashed sweet potatoes and roasted green beans.

Well, I learned how to wash and cook rice! I know, I know, but hold your applause until I can do a whole meal without burning down the house.

I was surprised by just how starchy the stuff is. I rinsed and scrubbed it about four times, and the water was still a little milky at the end. Boy, we use a lot of water when we're only cooking two and a half portions of rice.

For my next trick, I hope to learn how to bake bread or make pancakes. Why yes, I've never cooked before except in a few high school classes, how did you know?

Mostly the neighbours ;) nah. Where I live the main difference is working from home. We already made our weekly grocery shopping online and (except for some pasta) most things could be bought if you placed your orders in time. So we basically have been eating the same things as regular weeks. Mainly different vegetarian dishes with legumes.