Filed under: Celebrations don't need serious motivations, I want to eat dinner now!, Lunch, Piece of mind, Tomatoes | Tags: eating in res, expeditions involving food, irene kim, picnic, res food, surprise food
During orientation at university it was compulsory for all first years in my hostel to eat the meals created by the catering company – yes, en masse. After that one week I had had my fill of Res food for life, instead I took over our fridge in the room I share… our fridge featuring salad leaves, steam-in-the-bag butternut, sprouts, goats cheese, the occasional smoked salmon and cherry tomatoes for Africa, and chickpeas, tuna, balsamic, olive oil and onions in the koskas (food cupboard). I am quite proud of holding my record for a neat two terms without needing to swipe my student card to stand in the food queue. I admit missing out on the social aspect of eating downstairs, thus my peers do sometimes witness my crazy concoctions while we chat away.
Here, documented in surreal photos, is one of the expeditions Irene and I made (all the way to the coolest grocery store) with the purpose of attempting one of those idyllic-baguette-and-brie-pique-nique-along-the-Seine vibes, except with cars flowing past us in the street instead, in mind. It was seriously magnificent, and I cannot wait until our next teddy-bear expedition, maybe a picnic in the mountain next time. It took us no time to get together, if you consider the satisfaction thereof. I challenge students to shy away from the gruel downstairs for a while and try this.
This calls for a join-the-club-t-shirt- your turn! How to go about it:
Step 1: Call someone you love or haven’t seen in a while and tell him/her you are going on an secret mission together.
Step 2: Run (well, if you have the luxury of a car or scooter… reconsider running) and go to your nearest cool grocery store and buy the essentials: good, fresh bread (baguette, ciabatta, farm loaf is good), good cheese (think brie, camembert, goats -, cottage cheese, or whatever you like), olive oil and balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, rocket/salad leaves, some salmon, pate or ready-grilled chicken strips if you have the cash and source, avo, ect.
Step 3: Run home and get together a chopping board, three knives, one for cutting and two for spreading, as well as a dishcloth
Step 4: Meet the person at your favourite spot, or alternatively in your room at res for an unforgettable meal, some catching up and a good laugh. Worth the running, isn’t it?
Only beans? This must be too boring! Aha! You would be surprised…that is the secret. This simple dish inspired by the film, the Malaga Beanfield War, and it shouts (or sprouts): power food. You could go to battle with this soup…I love it. If you use different kinds of beans it just adds that extra: mmmm-factor… Serve it with tortillas, made the way my sister, Olivia, demonstrates in the pics.
How to gear yourself for feeding 4 people:
One onion
½ chilli (or more if you like it hot)
2 garlic cloves
4 more-or-less 8 cm sticks celery
One bay leaf
4 mixed cans of any beans of you feel like, for example chickpeas, cannellini beans, butter beans, red kidney beans, lentils…
2T extra-virgin olive oil
500ml home made veggie stock
At the end, to garnish:
One fresh red tomato
One small handful coriander leaves
A few gratings Parmeggiano cheese
More ideas to garnish:
Sour cream or crème fraiche
Lime juice
Avo slices
(Stick to 2/3 garnishes, it’s your choice which)
4 Tortillas, to serve
How to start training:
Chop the onion into chunks of roughly 1cm and the celery sticks in chunks about ½ cm thick. With a generous hand, add the olive oil to a medium-sized deep pan or casserole dish and put it on a medium heat. When the oil it ready and heated, about 30 seconds, add your onions and let go of the celery in as well. Turn down the heat to a low flame. Using a wooden spoon, stir the onions and celery a bit in the oil and let it cook gently for 7 minutes, also stirring occasionally. The aim is not to let it burn much, rather go for soft and melting onions and celery. Meanwhile, peel the garlic cloves by cutting off a very small piece at the end and the crushing it lightly with the side of your knife, so that the skin comes loose. Grate the garlic finely, and then chop the chilli! If you like things hot – use the seeds as well, if you like it mellows – scrape out the seeds. Dice it quite fine, because munching on a chunk of chilli is not so romantic. Add the garlic and chilli to your pan and let it cook for another 2 minutes, while you drain the beans of all its juices. This done, add your beans and stock and let in cook for 20 minutes in a medium heat. Don’t forget about it – it still needs love whilst bubbling away, so stir every now-and-then. You can dice the tomato, slice the avo, or chop the coriander and grate the parmeggiano so long, depending on what you chose. Get a pan ready for the tortillas. When the soup is done, turn it off and start by slicing the tortillas in triangles (as shown), heat up a non stick pan and go for it! Garnish and serve. Good stuff.
It was December 2006 in Morocco – my family and another family, the Dreyers, found ourselves in a carpet shop in the Imperial City of Fes. We could not believe our eyes (or our stomachs for that matter) – sitting in this surreal room, having lunch of salad, marinated olives and bread, among millions of large rugs collecting dust in the corners of the majestic riad (close to a mansion, with the rooms designed around a patio). Nevertheless, the lunch did not come priceless – we were eagerly offered some carpets afterwards: “Shock me with your price. I give you very good price,” (nothing is sold without bargaining first in Morocco).
A page alone cannot begin to describe how the northernmost country of Africa captured my heart… . Now, where I am living in the southernmost tip of Africa, there are still the bright memories of one of the best holidays I had in my life with my family and friends. This is one of the recipes I brought back with me and it allows one to travel over deserts, jungles and oceans to experience Morocco – all in just a serving of this salad.
What do you need to go on this trip?
Only 8 of the reddest tomatoes
One red onion
2 T chopped mint (a small bunch)
2 T good extra virgin olive oil
A big pinch salt
Freshly ground black pepper, three or four grinds
3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
A pinch of icing sugar
Your itinerary:
Take out your serving bowl (a plate will look gorgeous) and ingredients. There is one thing of tomatoes, actually two, which make or break the tomato – never store tomatoes in the fridge (excepts mini ones) and always go for the reddest ones – and then Mohammed’s your uncle! Firstly cut your onion from the root to the top part where the leaves sprouted from, length-ways in half. Peel it and discard (if it goes onto your compost heap, you are doing your bit to the environment too), then cut it in thin slices. Do this with both halves. Toss the slices into your serving bowl, while loosening the bits of the onion. Cut the tomato in quarters, the chunkier the better, but you still want to be able to put it into your mouth in one bite! I don’t like fighting with huge pieces of salad ingredients at all, it must be totally recognisable but also chewable. Morocco will really come to town when you chop the mint finely next, and then add it. In with the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Morocco has arrived – it is ready to serve – with bread and olives, with your invention, with a tagine, or on its own as a refreshing lunch.
These two ingredients are like a soon-to-be married couple – unusually fresh and new. It does seem like a strange combination at first, Mr Avo is not usually seen with Mademoiselle Papaya, but as soon as they are placed on a bed of rocket and dressed with a splash of good balsamic vinegar, all your doubts will have gone. Try this engagement, it may just be the recipe to a successful marriage…
For a couple:
One avocado pear (are they ever-so-slightly yielding and soft if you press against the skin? If it is rock hard, you’ve got a immature boy in your hands)
Half a big or one small papaya
Half a packet or two small handsful rocket leaves
A good drizzle of the best Balsamic Vinegar you can find
One or two grinds of pepper
How to go about it:
The papaya is extra seductive if you store it in the fridge beforehand, but that is not necessary. Wash your rocket in a colander and and shake the water off to drain. Place in a flattish bowl. Cut the papaya in half and take the skin off, scrape out the seeds. Now cut the halves, as you would do with chips and place it on top of the rocket. Follow with the avo, which can be a bit of a pain in the backside with taking off the skin, but it well worth the effort. I usually end up with quite a mash, so I tried cutting the avo in half, taking out the pith and holding it in one hand, slicing the avo in the skin in pieces and then scooping it out with a spoon. The salad is now ready to be dressed, be yourself and drizzle the balsamic with love. Grind over the pepper and serve with anything you like or on its own.
Filed under: Lunch
“Luckily, there is a lot of rice – some 450 million tonnes are harvested every year throughout the world. Rice belongs to the family Gramineae and contains protein, fats, carbohydrates, sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron and other nutritional essentials; and 100g provides 350 calories. It is highly recommended food because it cannot be adulterated and is easy to digest. Furthermore, it goes well with meat, pulses, vegetables, fruit and milk.”
- The Silver Spoon, Phaidon Publishers
This was not the reason this dish was produced, nope, it was simply a bright idea my mom had, she decided to take the leftover basmati rice and make this salad because I have a long day after school tomorrow… but the nutritional aspect is a bonus. Thanks mom!
For one person on the go you need:
½ cup cooked basmati rice
5 rosa/cherry tomatoes, cut in half
About a piece of 4cm cucumber, chopped
About ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled
Juice of half a lemon
One big handful (or two small ones) Italian parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
How to make it, fast:
Make it the night before by throwing everything together in a container/bowl and mix with your hands. Keep it in the fridge until you leave.
Filed under: Lunch
YIKES! Is tabouli something you can eat?
Surprise! It is, and it’s 1,2,3 chop and throw everything together for lunch. Here we go!
For 1 hungry person you need (just adapt by multiplying ingredients by how many persons you plan to serve):
1 cup couscous
Roughly 1/2 cup cucumber, sliced and then diced into four
1/4 red onion, also finely diced
one big fat red tomato, chopped
one chicken breast, marinated in yoghurt and paprika overnight (but it’s optional), then pan-fried with a bit of oil, torn into pieces (almost shredded) and cooled
one small handful fresh mint (and coriander is good too), chopped
One sweet pepper, you can use red, yellow and green for multi-coloured tabouli, diced in square
Juice of one lemon
Salt and freshly grinded black pepper
How to go about it:
Pour some water and the couscous in a pan and cook according to package instructions (about 2 minutes). By this time the water should be absorbed (it does that quite feverishly), loosen it with a fork so that it fluffs up. Transfer it to a bowl and add a few drops of olive oil (about 1T). Next throw everything together! In goes your cucumber, onion, mint, lemon juice, peppers, chicken, tomato and seasoning ( salt and pepper.
To serve – put in a smallish ramekin/bowl, one that you would put butter/porridge/tapas in – press flat and then turn it over on a plate. WOW! Now eat it!
(All) You Need (Is Love):
- 2 tins mixed beans, drained
- a handfull grean beans, roughly sliced
- one smallish red onion, as finely chopped as you can
- knob butter
- juice of one lemon
- pepper and 1/2 hanfull coriander(chopped)
How ro go about it: It’s so easy!
- Put on some music
- Use a small, deep pan and melt the butter in it on a meduim heat
- Add the red onion and green beans and stir around for about 2 minutes, untill you can smell the flavours developing.
- Now add the mixed beans, turn off the heat and gently toss to coat everything with the yummy butter.
- Sqeeze lemon juice into the beans (don’t be shy.
- Finish off with a good grind of pepper and the coriander.
- Place in the fridge ’till you need it. Keeps up to one week.
Good any timme in the day, especially if you gas has run out… hehe
