Kooking with Krimson

I've been neglecting my foodie side, mainly due to budget constraints.  A lack of pretty ingredients makes for little to show off.  Still, I do manage to be creative once in a while.  For instance I am currently enjoying the nom noms in the picture below.

Its pretty simple fare.  I took four cloves of garlic and sauteed them in butter until brown.  Then I added some basil and mint leaves (hint:  fresh herbs can be frozen in ziplock bags, and so can garlic cloves), and gave them a quick sear.  After that I added some kichadi that I had premade.  Now there are a couple of types of kichadi in Indian cooking.  One is a cucumber recipe which I have yet to try.  The other is usually made with rice and lentils.  Lately I have been making it with 2/3rds red rice to 1/3 yellow split peas.  I tossed in some ground pepper corns.

After sauteeing, I realized I had precious little to use as a garnish.  So, you can barely see it, but I crushed up some try kelp in my hands (do not try this yourself unless you are confident you have a GI Joe Kung Fu grip), which I then sprinkled over top.  The basil and mint taste rather nice together, and its a good light dish for this hot spring day.