I spotted cookbook Bowl at my local library and the premise is, pretty much meals in one bowl. Written by Lukas Volger, a veggie expert (as it states in the blurb) it was worth a flip through.
As the Hubby was out fishing for most of the day I wanted something fresh, healthy and most importantly made up of ingredients that he refuses to eat. I was planning to make something else from the book but I figured this would be easy and quick enough to whip up for lunch!
Yay or Nay: Yay
This was light, refreshing and smugly healthy! I didn't have some of the ingredients on the list so I omitted them or replaced them with similar items. Instead of buying 5 ears of fresh corn I subbed with canned corn, of which I used the liquid in the can as part of the broth as I couldn't get the corn milk that you would get from fresh corn. I'm assuming you'd get more corn-like flavour. I didn't add onion (none at home), togarashi, scallions or egg as I didn't think it would take away too much from the flavour profile - though I'd rethink the onion (for sweetness). I didn't have kombu (which I can't get my hands on here) so I subbed with some Korean seaweed/kelp.
We wanted to make the most of the last good days of sunshine/summer, before the snowy, cold upstate winter settled in. Naturally, throwing some chicken on the grill/bbq was an easy decision for dinner this week. I had brought back from the UK some Nando's spicy rub and started thinking of some side options. Obviously, the Fino Sides are a complimentary accompaniment to the chicken and I love me some Spicy Rice so after some research on Pinterest I found Not Posh Food's recipe for Nandos Spicy Rice.
Yay or Nay: Undecided
It really should be either yay or nay but there were several reasons why this was a maybe. The taste was good, not dissimilar to jambalaya it was just the texture that wasn't right. Maybe it was because I used brown rice instead of white long grain/basmati or that I cooked the rice with the veggies but it was just too smushy compared to Not Poshs'. I would try this again but would cook the rice first and then add to the veggies.
Admitedly tteokbokki or spicy rice cakes were never my favourite Korean street food when I lived there. I think because it was so easy to get ahold of and therefore I took it for granted.
When I recently went back to London, a family friend's wife made this for lunch and watching her make it I realised how easy it was. Now, this is my husband's favourite meal so I guess I had to make it at some point! I'm using a mix of her and Maangchi's recipe for tteokbokki but the former is a very reliable and authentic blog of Korean food.
Yay or Nay: Yay
Spicy, tasty and delicious! So simple and quick. This will be made again! I added some leeks that I had leftover during the week but I guess you can add any extra veg you might have!
Another day without the Hubby so another opportunity to make a dish I know he won't eat but I will! I figured I had to give another recipe a try from Amelia Freer's cookbook Cook. Nourish. Glow. even though the last recipe didn't fare so well.
Anything tastes good with an egg on top, so when the book naturally fell open to this recipe I knew it was one to try! Let's hope this recipe for Roasted Peppers with Baked Eggs will do better.
Yay or Nay: Undecided
I did make a few changes to this recipe; I added quinoa and replaced some veggies with what I had on hand so it is different from the original. On the plus side, it is a quick meal to throw togther and the egg adds a rich creaminess that you would otherwise expect by using cheese. Also, the harissa adds some welcome heat to an otherwise kind of bland meal. HOWEVER! Maybe it is down to technique and not overstuffing the peppers - but adding the egg on top was like mission impossible! The peppers kept toppling over so couldn't keep the egg on top, the filling didn't allow the egg to sit on top and the egg kept sliding all over the place so I ended up with pretty much half an egg.
Tip: Scoop out a hole/groove/pit to place the egg in or you'll end up with eggy mess!
A quick post as I've been battling jet lag/allergies/tiredness/getting back in a routine! I had a need to bake yesterday and had a flash of wanting to make brownies. I had seen a recipe for Black Bean Brownies a while back and had always wanted to make them to see how brownie-like they could be!
I had a reminder of brownies from Deliciously Ella's latest cookbook called...Deliciously Ella - highly inventive! The book was a bit of a dud as it didn't feature anything new or exciting so I returned it to the library. Although, I did see her recipe for Gooey Black Bean Brownies and her recipes are easy enough to follow so I went with it!
Yay or Nay: Yay
No every tells you whether these taste of beans or not - well I can attest that they don't! Yay! Pretty easy, whack everything in the blender and then bake. She does stress to let them cool and I forgot so poked my finger in (you can see the indent in the pic) and it was true to word soft. But seeing as it was late at night I let them set and woke up to solid brownies! I didn't have honey so I subbed brown sugar and didn't have any raisins either but I don't think that makes too much of a difference!
After eating so decadently I needed a bit of a break from rich and moreish dishes. As soon as I was back home I spent most of the morning trying to save plants from the dead and unpacking. I realised that I had no food in the fridge so had to quickly think of some things to eat for the week. In the muddle of jetlag I flicked through Amelia Freer's book Cook. Nourish. Glow. and picked out a few recipes that I could rustle up without searching far and wide for ingredients.
The one plus of going away was that I came home to a jungle of herbs, berries, peppers and tomatoes which I knew I would utilise this week for sure. For the Mediterranean 'Pasta' I had 90% of the ingredients bar the courgette/zucchini and olives so I knew this would be easy, but would it be tasty?
Yay or Nay: Nay
I love the idea of zucchini/courgette noodles and all that but it never really lives up to expectations - I did have an amazing bowl of noodles in, of all places, Prague but I've never really had anything close to that since. There's always that weird taste when it is raw so knowing that this was cooked appealed a little more. Once the noodles cook down it does have a better aftertaste and the zest of lemon adds freshness but it was overall kind of bland and boring. Plus there was no mention of seasoning it! I'm not a big salt person but even I knew to add salt and pepper for at least some flavour!
