More about food

[charloween]

I've had a cold (in varying degrees of severity) since late March. Seeing as it's now May, and the weather is the same as it was in late March, the bleak rain* and the wearying cold means an early night for me.

*There's been so much rain this weekend, every river in the area is sneaking past its banks.

I'm writing this from a laptop, in bed, and it's barely past 8pm. Yessssss.

BUT LET MET TELL YOU ABOUT DINNER.

I made veggie soup and had a poached egg on toast on the side. (Or, the other way around?)

THE SOUP:
- I diced and roasted carrots and a butternut squash (with loads of fresh ground black pepper, some olive oil and two cloves of garlic)

- while those were in the oven (~15 minutes), pot went on the stove and I started heating sunflower oil and a teeny bit of olive oil (keeps it lighter)

- SECRET INGREDIENT: a very tiny amount of dried chili flakes in the oil as it's heating up. Turns the oil fiery and everything you cook in it gets a bit of the heat. Also, fresh ground black pepper and sea salt from the posh sea salt grinder. Om nom nom.

- Chopped leeks went in the pot as they got chopped; left them for a few minutes (get the second saucepan for the egg, slice some bread, that many)

- more water to the peppery pot leeks, also a stock cube (aka SECRET INGREDIENT #2)

- let that bubble away until the timer went for the oven veggies

- oven veggies to the leek pot! (plus a little extra water)

- second saucepan got to a simmer, bread (thick slice of seeded whole wheat om nom nom) went in the toaster, soup simmered itself away (carrots always need more time than I give them)

- PARTY TIME: egg in the poaching pot, timer set, toast popped (left in toaster to cool), soup off the heat and prodded with hand blender, toast buttered and waiting, soup into bowl to cool, egg done, egg-to-toast, dinner inhaled*, happy-fed-sated me.

(*Did not use knife and fork for the egg/toast. Just picked it up and shoved it in my face. Delicately.)

Plus, I got to feel competent and in control. And have simple, tasty dinner. Win-win.

Comments

[firstgold]

Recipe posts are never tl;dr. That soup sounds FANTASTIC. Will have to try myself. I may try making it in the slow-cooker even.

Tonight I made myself pad thai. I used the pre-made sauce, and sauteed some snow peas, carrots, extra firm tofu, and added a healthy portion of srircha sauce and rice noodles. And peanuts. So tasty.

I have to e-mail in slo-pitch scores (we lost both games and some girls have major attitude), clean up, and then I'm going to bed. Pbfffft ... is it July yet?

[charloween]

I'd vote against the slow-cooker, if only because it doesn't take that long to make (and because roasting the veg gives a nice flavour - carrots get sweeter, etc.)

Oooh, that pad thai sounds good. Reminds me I've still got some green curry paste in the freezer that needs using. Maybe that's what I'll use the rest of my leeks on?

And... I humbly suggest applying to the schools that beat yours at slo-pitch. Clearly they're doing something right?