un-chinese food, or Drew's super-secret surprise

Super-secret surprises are, well, super secret surprises that Drew and I plan for each other when we accomplish a milestone. There are few rules governing super-secret surprises. Obviously, it must be a secret. Beyond that, there is a lot of latitude. It doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive or complicated. It just has to be a surprise. The second rule is that they are reserved for milestones only- qualifying exams, prospectus defenses, marathons. Super-secret surprises aren't for just any occasion, so no birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays. The idea is that no matter the outcome of these (usually stressful and nerve-wracking) events, there will always be a super-secret surprise to look forward to. We don't remember exactly when we began referring to these as super-secret surprises, though I suspect that it was when I ran my marathon.  

My super-secret surprises for Drew tend to involve food; his involve either food or crafts. Here are some examples: When Drew took his qualifying exams, I made him pastries and gyoza like the ones we ate in Beijing. When I defended my dissertation prospectus, Drew transformed our garden into a pumpkin patch and surprised me with dinner. When I ran my first (and only) marathon, Drew made me a special trophy, and when I ran my 1000th mile, he made me 3 types of bagels each representing a city 1000 miles away. And when I recently interviewed for a job, Drew made me a giant gold star.   

Last week, Drew defended his dissertation proposal. The easy thing to do would have been to make him Chinese food, but that's cruel and unusual punishment for someone about to spend a year in China. And so I thought I'd be clever and make un-Chinese food. I bought egg roll wrappers and wanton wrappers, and stuffed them with Italian, Mexican, and Indian food.

First up: ravioli with a pesto and four cheese filling (maybe five). The recipe is inspired by Giada's Four Cheese Ravioli with Herb Pesto.

Next, I made egg rolls stuffed with taco filling and samosa filling. The taco filling is the Post Punk Kitchen's recipe for ancho lentil tacos (I used veggie crumbles instead), and the samosa filling is from Veganomicon (of Post Punk Kitchen).

The meal was a big hit, and Drew was impressed (and very relieved that it wasn't really Chinese food). I boiled the ravioli as one usually would, and I baked the egg rolls (though we did decide that frying is superior to baking, which we did with the leftovers).