Lao Meat Stew with Fresh Dill and Eggplants

So, you're probably wondering if I ever get a chance to cook these days since my posts have centered primarily on my eating adventures outside of my home.  Well, the answer is yes, but not as much as I'd like to nowadays. I'm wrapping up my first year in business school (whoo-hoo!) and it's another week of finals, so blogging has been a feat eventhough I manage to take pictures of my meals.

This past weekend, my mom prepared a wonderfully traditional Lao dish:  meat stew with fresh dill and Thai green eggplants (otherwise known in my language as Aw Seen Sai Puk See kup Maak Keuy.  So hearty and oh-so-GOOD!  You have to eat it with piping, hot sticky rice and it's only as great as the bounty of fresh vegetables that you have around.  As I was washing the baby lettuce, cucumbers, dill and other baby greens, I couldn't help but gush over how much I love this time of year when you can wander into my local grocer and go bonkers over the fresh produce lining the aisles.  It can honestly make a gal like me do cartwheels (in my head, that is).

I'm just posting the pictures for now, but if you want the recipe, you'll have to wait until after I've (successfully) battled my finals this coming week. Wish me luck!

Oh yeah, we always have many interesting tastebuds in my family, so my dad really wanted some grilled fish stuffed with fresh chilis, dill and tender, feathery fronds of theThai cha-om (a fragrant herb grown in Thailand & Laos) plant. It was quite yummy.