What to eat when you eat alone.

Bacon. Avocado. Peas. Tomato. Cous cous.
I call this lunch.

Because I study from home, and because it's cold and rainy outside, I have to try and find things to have for lunch that are more substantial than vegemite on toast. Because, honestly, I could totally live on vegemite toast. No. Doubts.

This is a bit more substantial than vegemite toast. For starters, it's got veggies in it. And it only takes about 10 minutes to make. That's a win/win in my books.

It has a sweetness from peas, saltiness from bacon, creaminess from avocado. I don't think the tomato adds much other than to make me feel like I'm eating lots of veggies.

Cous cous salad
Serves one very hungry person.

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup uncooked cous cous
1/4 cup frozen peas
2 rashers of short cut bacon
1 roma tomato
1/2 an avocado
1/4 tsp tumeric
salt and pepper to taste

Grill the bacon until crispy.
Meanwhile, put the water and tumeric and a splash of olive oil in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
When boiling, take off the heat and add the cous cous and peas. Cover and set aside.
Cut up the tomato and avocado and crumble the bacon.
When the cous cous is done (about 6 mins), add the tomato and avocado and bacon.
Mix it all up. Tip it all into a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Beetroot soup with sour cream and chives.

I like the word borscht.

I'd like to say that this is a recipe for borscht, but if I said that, I would be lying. This is a recipe for beetroot soup.
Not that I'm complaining. Who wouldn't want to eat that bowl of purple soup?
The sour cream helps to cut through the sweet, earthy beetroot, and the chives add lovely texture and (more) colour. The soup really needs the sour cream and the chives to make it perfect. Otherwise it's just a big bowl of colour.

Although I'd like to call this borscht, it really isn't. And I definitely would not tell any Russian that I made borscht. But you can call it that if you want.

It sure does make it sound fancy.



Beetroot soup with sour cream and chives
serves four


7 small/medium organic beetroot
1 litre vegetable stock
1 medium potato
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
chives and extra sour cream to garnish

Peel and chop the beetroot and the potato. Be careful of your hands/clothes/bench, as they will definitely get stained by beetroot (Don't worry, it washes out. Eventually).
Chop the onion and fry it in a big saucepan until soft. Add the garlic and cook a little bit longer.
Add the potato and beetroot and cover with the stock.
Bring to the boil and cook until everything is soft, about 20-30 minutes.
Let the soup cool slightly.
Blend the soup in batches before returning to the saucepan on the stove. It's important to blend in batches, otherwise the soup can be a bit grainy. If this happens, add some water to help smooth it out.
Stir through the sour cream.
Reheat the soup gently, until hot.
Serve in (white) bowls, topped with extra sour cream and snipped chives.



p.s. I've just downloaded this new program to help edit my photos. I used to just take the photos and upload them, but now I can play around with them and brighten all the pretty colours. So if some of the photos look overly bright in the future, that's why...

Cauliflower and Bean Soup.

 It's starting to get cold.

The wind is whipping against my window panes and the heater gets turned on for the first time this year. The cold sneaks in under the door and through the window glass. You need to wear big socks to bed and snuggle right up close to the person you love. And even then, you might still be cold.

I had to dig through my summer shirts to find something warmer to wear. And when it’s still dark when you walk to work, you need lots of scarves and stockings and hats to wear (I don’t start early very often, but I’m setting the scene, go with it). I even had to buy some boots, because cute little flats just won’t cut it in the cold.

Sounds like it’s time to make soup.

I like soup a lot. It’s easy and quick and filling and tasty. I couldn't even make it all the way through this little bowl of soup, it was just so hearty. I like cauliflower too. Brent doesn’t like it though, so I normally make pumpkin or chicken soup. But it’s nice to make different things sometimes.

This soup is soft with cauliflower and creamy with white beans. It’s super fast, too. Just cook the cauliflower in some stock until soft. Add the beans and lots of yummy spices. Blend it all up. You’ll be warm before you even have time to out on another jumper. You might even have to turn off the heater.

Cauliflower and Bean Soup.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

You could start this soup by heating 1 chopped onion in some oil and then add the garlic and then the cauliflower, but I didn't have any onions, so I skipped this whole step and just put the cauliflower into the stock and went from there.

1 head of cauliflower, chopped

1 can cannellini beans

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 litre chicken or veggie  stock
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Greek yoghurt or cream or creme fraiche to serve (optional).

Put the cauliflower, garlic and stock into a large pot.

Bring to the boil and then simmer until the cauliflower is really soft. About 15 mins.

Add the beans and give it a stir. Simmer for 5-10 mins longer, until the beans are warmed.

At this point, I added some paprika and lots of pepper and some chilli. Totally optional.

Let cool for a little bit, then blend it all up. (If you have an immersion blender, this would be heaps easier. Otherwise, a standing blender is fine. Just do it in batches.)

Stir in the parmesan.

Gently reheat.

Serve with yoghurt, and extra pepper.

Es! is for soup

I can't think of a better way to spend winter, than by making soup. It's just so warming and easy and healthy. And, goodness, it's cheap too! (Did you say $3 for that whole pumpkin?)
I'm no fan of tomato soup, and potato and leek just doesn't seem that great, but pumpkin soup has got it all going on. It's colourful and healthy and, well, thats all I need, really.

I made this soup with some frozen chicken stock that I made ages ago. Stock seems so easy to make, but it was the first time I made it, and I didn't really have the hang of it, so the stock didn't really taste like that much. I ended up having to put a stock cube in the soup as well, to make it extra tasty. If you've got a good stock recipe, please share!
I'm sure you don't need a recipe for pumpkin soup, it's just so simple! But here's one anyway... I haven't used much liquid because I like my soup thick, but add more if you like.

p.s. this has nothing to do with soup, but my sister is just so talented, I thought I'd share a photo with you of her amazing installation. [click here]

Butternut Pumpkin Soup:
1kg butternut pumpkin, seeded, peeled and chopped
2 cups of chicken stock + more water, if you prefer your soup thinner
1 onion, diced
olive oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
cream, for swirling

Heat a big saucepan and fry the onion in some oil until translucent.
Add the pumpkin, stock and spices, bring to the boil.
Cook until pumpkin is soft.
Transfer to a blender and blend it, baby!
Pour a little swirl of cream on top.