Vegetarian Basil Fritata with Blood Orange Salad

What do you do when you're feeling a little uninspired and sorry for yourself? How do you pick yourself up and bring yourself out of the pitying hole?

Perhaps draw? Paint? Arrange colours on the plate and relish it with the simple joy that you can cook something from scratch? It does make me feel a little smarter.

I read on The Age recently about Jamie Oliver's latest mission to save the Great Britain society from junk food poisoning. I missed the episode where he burst into outrage after witnessing that dinner for a particularly family consisted of kebab shavings and chips served out of polystyrene box. You may think it's disgusting (I thought it was) but behind the greasy 'truth', poor people believe they can't afford to buy healthy food. It's like how busy people believe that they don't have time for their family.

I am a self-confessed tight arse. I keep a weekly budget of $20. I don't eat out because it costs less to cook my own meals. And if I do, it's for a special occasion and to enjoy the company of good friends. I don't spend my money on junk food or processed food. I often shop at fresh markets (and just before closing so I can strike a bigger bargain) and find that it's far cheaper than supermarkets.

I think it's not nearly so much about poor people having no money to buy good food, I believe it's poor people making poor choices (in that article, it says that the family owns a plasma tv and most of the money is spent on chocolates and sweets for the kids). Busy people have no time because they choose to make time-poor decisions. I've seen incredibly busy CEO's make (the keyword here is 'MAKE') time for their kids' school dramas, competition, holidays. I think it's rather interesting about the choices we choose to make. (Of course I make many bad ones)

Vegetarian Basil Fritata ( serves 4 )
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• 4 eggs
• 250ml thickened cream
• 120g cheddar cheese
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 4 baby tomatoes, halved
• 100g pumpkin, sliced into small pieces
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tbsp of dried basil
• salt and pepper

Method:

1. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan.
2. Cook onions until translucent. Put vegetables in.
3. Cook until soft. Stir occasionally.
4. Beat eggs and add cream, basil, a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
5. Preheat the oven to 180C.
6. Grease a baking tin with some butter or olive oil.
7. Arrange cherry tomatoes and cooked vegetables in the baking tin.
8. Pour egg mix in.
9. Sprinkle cheese and place in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes or when egg has completely set in the middle.

Blood Orange Salad
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You’ll need:

• A mix of salad leaves
• 1 blood orange, skinned and sliced
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• A drizzle of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Arrange salad leaves and blood orange on a plate.
2. Drizzle walnuts and then olive oil.
3. Season the salad with some salt and pepper. Serve with fritata.

Baked Eggplant with Miso

I've heard a lot about eggplant with miso or nasu dengaku from my flatmate, Mr. P. Mr. P's pretty fabulous at dishing up some Japanese cuisines, especially when he entertains. However, my first encounter with the eggplant dish was at my favourite Japanese restaurant, which had proper Japanese chefs instead of Cantonese-spewing Hong Kong men.

The frustrating fact that I've heard so much about it and have never tasted it (Mr. P confessed he's made it twice before - when I'm not around) made me pretty determine to order the damn dish. And he was right - it is good and I absolutely love it!

I was very excited when I saw it in the weekend newspaper. I had an eggplant lying in my fridge for weeks and this was the perfect chance to use it. I've adapted the recipe to suit one eggplant rather than eight. So, feel free to adjust the proportions according to your gastrointestinal capacity.

Baked Eggplant with Miso (Nasu Dengaku)
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serves 2

• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp sake
• 1/4 cup white miso paste
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large eggplant, halved
• 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
  

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
2. Combine the mirin and sake and cook for 1 minute on low heat.
3. Add the miso paste and whisk until dissolve.
4. Add sugar and stir consistently until sugar has completely dissolved.
5. Make criss-cross markings on the eggplant with a knife (it'll allow heat to penetrate and cook the vegetable quicker).
6. Heat oil in pan. Cook eggplant until slightly brown.
7. Remove and brush miso mixture on eggplant.
8. Bake eggplant for 20 - 30 minutes or until the eggplant starts to blister and caramelize.
9. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds and serve immediately.
   

Mushroom Soup & Spinach Pesto Toast

I reasoned, that the difference in my cooking between my early twenties and, ahem, not-so-late twenties is that I challenge myself to use more natural produce. Sure, I cheat once in a while - cubed chicken stock here, canned fruits there... but these days, I prefer wholesome, fresh, straight-from-the-cow stuff. It could do well because I've got time on my hands but I'm also valuing my health more.

We're all guilty of the instant food days - instant noodles, instant rice, instant coffee - it's no wonder we're instantly losing our minds. All rush and no fresh food makes Jane quite insane. Perhaps, my one of my values in this blog is to inspire every twenty-something out there to take the time and simply enjoy your food.

Food is not just food. It's not just to fill up. It's about nourishing your soul in the company of friends, family, partners, lovers and even your self. It's about the process. Cutting, stirring, kneading, dicing... putting energy and love into making the food... it's a relationship. It's a dance. It's therapy.

Today's food for thought: Life's short. Take time and smell the pesto.

P.S.: If you're wondering about the Baked Caramel Custard. It was beautiful, thanks.
Okay, okay, Mr. G and I finished it all up before I could take any photos of it. I'll make them again and shoot them just for your sake.

Mushroom Soup (serves 4)
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2 tablespoons olive oil
20g butter, chopped
1 large onion, chopped roughly
5 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
2 cups flat mushrooms diced
4 cubes vegetable stock (3.8g each)
4 cups of water
1 cup thickened cream
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat oil and butter in a saucepan.
2. Throw in onion and garlic. Cook, stir until tender.
3. Add mushrooms. Stir often and leave to cook until soft.
4. Pour in water. Partially simmer for 20 minutes. Add cubes of vegetable stock.
5. Remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly.
6. Process soup in batches until well combined. Return to stove.
7. Add thickened cream under low heat.
8. Season with salt and pepper and finally, serve.

Spinach Pesto Toast
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6 cloves of garlic, chopped (if you're afraid of garlic breath, reduce to *4 cloves)
4 tbsp of water
225g spinach, blanched
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/3 cup of natural seed mix with pine nuts
25g grated Parmesan cheese
sour dough bread

Method

1. Process nuts, garlic and water until nuts are chopped.
2. Add small amounts of basil and spinach alternately with oil. Process until smooth.
3. Slather a slice (or how many you'd prefer) of sour dough bread with some butter. Put in the griller for about a minute.
4. Spread the pesto on the bread. Add some cheese. Return to grill.
5. Remove bread when cheese has fully melted.

Note: Store leftover pesto sauce in a screw-top jar and cover with a little olive oil and sea salt for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

*Chicken

Pumpkin Rice

I woke up hungry. Unfortunately for me, my fridge was having a Old Mother Hubbard's day. All I could see was half a butternut pumpkin, half an onion and a couple of garlic cloves. Oh thank you Lord!

Now, if there's one thing you must know about me, I love my pumpkins. Seriously. They're yummy. They're healthy. They're the one of the most blessed vegetables God made in this world that can be transform into about anything you put your mind to. (Need a car? All you need is a pumpkin and call 1800-fairygodmother).

Food Commandment: Thou must not walk away from the stove and chat to your sister about food blogs because you might end up with burnt rice.

Pumpkin Rice (serves 2)
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2 1/2 rice cups of brown rice or wild red rice
1 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 a butternut pumpkin, cubed
1/2 a onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of ginger, slivered
1 tbsp of soy sauce
5 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in hot water
fried shallots to garnish

1. Heat olive oil in a pot, when hot, throw in the garlic, onions and ginger.
2. When fragrant, add the butternut pumpkin and leave it for *5 minutes.
3. Add rice and 3 cups of water. Salt and pepper to taste. Leave for 10 minutes.
4. Stir the rice and when most of the moisture is gone, add the soy sauce and mushrooms.
5. Leave for another 15 minutes or when rice is cook.
6. Garnish with shallots and serve hot.

*Note: I believe that's how long I took to do the dirty dishes.

Lazy Hints:
An alternative and unsupervised method is to cook it in the rice cooker. Follow until Method 2. Then put the rice, water and pumpkin into the rice cooker and press 'Cook'. *Bing-Bada-Bing!*

Spicy Vegetable Soup

A couple of months ago I took up a friend's invitation to go on a 10-day meditation retreat. If you've never been to one, and might be thinking about it, I suggest that you try it. It was the most mentally and physically challenging exercise I've done in a long time and I've discovered that many of us don't like our own company very much. (After ten days, you'll have a whole different perspective about your self - in a really good way).

We were served two meals a day with simple, wholesome dishes. The simplicity of the food brought out the flavours of the ingredients. It tasted alive! It might have been the fresh air or the peace that surrounded us but everything was vibrant and delicious. (My taste buds was at its happiest).

One of the dishes I enjoyed (and thought most about) was the vegetable soup. The original recipe wasn't spicy but I've made it hot and perfect for a cold autumn's night. The can tomatoes adds a sour tang to the soup while the vegetables gives it some natural sweetness. What you'll get is a rustic and hearty hot, sour and sweet soup.

I'm extremely pleased with this recipe and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Spicy Vegetable Soup (serves 6)
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8 cups of water
2 cubes of vegetable stock (10g each)
1 tbsp of sea salt
2 fistful of barlotti beans; 2 fistful of lentils; 2 fistful of black eye beans; 2 fistful of red kidney beans
3 large spuds, cubed
1/4 of butternut pumpkin, cubed
1 leafy vegetable
1 large onion, diced
1 zucchini
1 can (400g) diced tomatoes
1 tsp rosemary; 1 tsp thyme; 1 tsp cumin; *1 tsp hot paprika
1 tbsp of olive oil

Method
1. Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat, then add the onion and saute until tender for a couple of minutes.
2. Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, beans and water and continue cooking for a few more minutes, letting the soup come back up to a simmer.
3. When the soup boils, throw in the vegetable stock and sea salt.
4. Stir in pumpkin and spuds. Wait for approx. 15 minutes.
5. Stir in the chopped greens and zucchini. Wait another minute.
6. Throw the spices in. Let the soup simmer for approx. 10 minutes.
7. Ladle into bowls, and serve with crunchy, fried shallots.

*Note: If you're not too keen on the heat, reduce the amount of hot paprika to half.