At long last, the first Friday of the summer season is here and you can’t wait to get home, away from co-workers, weird people on the train and flirty bodega clerks. You could head back out, to the heat and humidity that makes your clothes weigh five pounds heavier than they normally are, or you can do something more relaxing. You can put on your PJ’s, turn on the air conditioner your former roommate left behind and never picked up and stay in. To keep yourself entertained and away from your phone, buzzing with texts from sweaty people, we have ideas of what to cook, listen to and watch while you enjoy staying at home this Friday.
WHAT TO COOK
Ever since you first subscribed to the Buzzfeed food newsletter and saw your first e-mail showing stuffed peppers, you have been wanting to make some. Days, weeks, seasons go by and the peppers you buy to stuff end up going bad, or as part of a salad or something. Well not today. Today is the day you will finally man up and make yourself some Spanish quinoa stuffed peppers, to see what the big deal is.
Ingredients:
1 cup (168 g) quinoa or rice, thoroughly rinsed and drained
scant 2 cups (460 ml) vegetable stock (sub water, but it will be less flavorful)
4 large red, yellow or orange bell peppers, halved, seeds removed
1/2 cup (120 g) salsa, plus more for serving
1 Tbsp (4 g) nutritional yeast (optional)
2 tsp cumin powder
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 15-ounce (425 g) can black beans, drained (if unsalted, add 1/4 tsp sea salt)
1 cup (168 g) whole kernel corn, drained
Toppings (All Optional):
1 ripe avocado, sliced
Fresh lime juice
Hot sauce
Cilantro, chopped
Diced red onion
Creamy Cilantro Dressing
Chipotle Red Salsa (or your favorite salsa)
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WHAT TO DRINK
Whether you prefer it canned or in a bottle, you can never go wrong shelling out a few bucks for Brooklyn Summer Ale, that reliable classic from The Brooklyn Brewery. A British pale ale you’ll more than likely see in every BBQ or beach bag for the next few months. But, tonight, you’ll enjoy it in the comfort of your own bed, taking a swig whenever the spiciness of your dinner gets to much for you.
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WHAT TO LISTEN TO
The words “Charles Manson” and “relaxing” don’t really go hand in hand. However, if the person telling you the story of Charles Manson is journalist and author Karina Longworth, then the story of one of the craziest people in existence can provide quite the soothing soundtrack while you work on the stove. Longworth’s popular podcast “You Must Remember This” is an atmospheric look back at Hollywood’s first 100 years. Her current series, on Charles Manson, gets into how the false prophet first obtained his cult of followers, and how he desperately tried to find fame in either the music industry or Hollywood.
If that’s a little too deep for you, we also recommend Marc Maron’s interview with President Obama, where you can hear the President say a bad word and wonder why people made a big deal about it. And, if you enjoyed listening to Mystery Show last week, host Starlee Kline tries to solve the greatest mystery of our time: How tall, exactly, is Jake Gyllenhaal?
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WHAT TO WATCH
After listening to people talk about psychopaths and Jake Gyllenhaal’s height, how about you watch a movie where Jake Gyllenhaal plays a psychopath. Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler, which you can watch on Netflix, was one of the best films of 2014. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a hustler who goes out of his way to climb the ladder of success, crushing and manipulating everyone with every rung he passes.
If that’s a little too scary for you, especially after listening to podcasts about Charles Manson. We can also recommend a couple of other films with everyone’s favorite Gyllenhaal (second favorite, we love you Maggie!) Amazon prime has quite the collection of Gyllenhaal films: Source Code, the science fiction movie where he must stop a train from getting blown up, Zodiac, the David Fincher classic, and, if you’re a softie, you can watch Love & Other Drugs.
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