Out of the Comfort Zone

So in search of new foods to eat--okay I admit, weird foods to eat--I ended up at an Asian market with my good-sport husband, searching the aisles. And I learned something. There is a reason we eat the same foods, and go to the same places and do the same things. Because it is comfortable!! I kept finding myself drawn to the things I knew. Mushrooms, coconut milk, rice noodles. I had to push myself to grab something different. I ended up with red curry paste, lotus flower stem thingies, and jasmine rice.

And I made an impromptu, perfectly wonderful dinner. Celery and onion browned, then about a tablespoon of the red paste as it was VERY hot, then threw in chopped lotus stems (which when cut create a weird sort of spider web-like thread) and shrimp. Finished with the coconut milk and served over jasmine rice, it was divine. And it cleared your sinuses.

Lesson learned. Go ahead and push yourself out of the comfort zone; it will probably work out, but just in case, buy a can of mushrooms anyway.