Tag: tomato

Autumn quinoa soup

Last Christmas my parents offered me a giant book on vegetarian cooking. I’ve tried several recipes from that book and a lot of inspiration. I also learned a lot about some basic preparations. But if there were only one recipe to remember about it, the one that I would have not thought of, it’s the quinoa soup. I love that recipe and how it can easily be adjusted to the seasonal ingredients. This time I prepared it with half of a little kabocha, 2 little potatoes, 1 large very ripe tomato and one Japanese eggplant.  First, I cut all the veggies but the tomato in dice then in a pan on high heat, greased with olive oil I roast them a bit. Add water for 2.5 soup servings, 1/2 to 2/3 cup of quinoa (I used black quinoa, but red and white work perfectly too). Add the tomato diced or in 1/8. Add a bit of black pepper and nutmeg (salt is not necessary with the nutmeg I find). Cook under cover at medium heat for 10 to 15min. Serve hot!

Want a Japanese twist for your pasta salad?

Since I have bought some different types of miso at the miso shop in Kichijoji (see Saturday’s post), I am using quite extensively. Mainly with raw veggies as a dip but finally last night I decided to try an original mix: a pasta salad with a white miso dressing. And it was a real nice experience! And super simple to prepare. I boiled some farfalle, then cut some okra, tomato and cucumber in small dices and add them to the pasta. And for the dressing I used 2 tsp of white miso, 2 tsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of sesame seeds, stir well and add it on top of the salad, add a little more sesame seeds for the decoration. The white miso mixed with olive oil is perfectly creamy and almost cheesy and suits perfectly the vegetables in the salad and the farfalle! A very good wa-yo taste and texture! 

The curse of intensive meetings

I work in a field where people loves to gather for a few days, sit and discuss all day what is the future of our field. Usually these meetings take place in close environment and from morning to night we are presence is mandatory. It gives very little opportunity for physical activity (choices are quite limited this time since I’m in a remote village in Germany) or only at the cost of sleep deprivation, and food options are also limited. Though they make efforts to have fresh local food, after 3 days there my body is now fighting for going back to normal. And by normal I mean sleeping more, being ourdoor more and eating homemade prepared food. 

I anticipated that, so our very last dinner in Tokyo I cooked some simple Japanese food with all my favorite ingredients: plain rice, salty konbu with fresh tomatoes and uneboshi salad, and okara, shiitake and carrot croquettes. Now I am craving for something like this!!!! 

Vegan curry pasta

While curry rice is an institution it in Japan, I decided to try an other combination, of course with a slightly different recipe, and was very much surprised with the way it ended. As the title saus, it’s curry pasta. For two not too big servings I used 3 tomatoes, 4 okras and 1 carrots, a bit of olive oil, 1 tsp of curry powder and salt and pepper. It’s really simple. Boil some big pasta: penne or whatever you like. In a heated and greased pan I put the tomato cut in pieces, cook at high heat for 2min than at low heat. I add the carrot sliced, the salt pepper and curry and cook under cover until the carrots are almost done. Add the okras, remove the cover, cook until the moisture is almost gone. Serve with the pasta. The taste of curry must be subtle and should not hide the sweetnes of the tomatoes and carrots.

Spicy stew

In the series of new preparations I really wanted to try fennel seeds together with north african style spices in a stew with plenty of veggies and a little bit of chicken. Something close to a tajine indeed, but served with a little of couscous for the full blast of energy. So I put one potato, ine carrot, a few green beans, one large tomato and some chickpeas and a few pieces of chicken breast together in a pan and cooked them in a bit of oil before ading some water, North African spice mix and plenty of fennel seeds. In the last minute of cooking I added a few okras. Served with steamed couscous. Enjoy!

Trying new ideas

As I was telling last week, recently I’m trying new cooking combination and new tastes. In particular I’m trying using spices and fennel seeds. The first attempt was some vegan stew with corn, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans and okra, with some paprika, red pepper, fennel seeds. All cooked together until the potatoes are just done. An utmost simple recipe but very tasty and a nice mixture of texture with the crunchy and sweet fresh corn.

The perfect light lunch

I love this ring pasta from Sicily: anelli siciliani that I bought in Sicily last time we traveled there. There are so many different pasta in Italy that it is amazing the different reciepe one can imagine with pasta. And it is also so simple to cook. It’s a pity that except from Italy is not that easy to find so much variety and in Japan most Italian restaurants that serve pasta would serve spaghetti, and most of the pasta that one can find in supermarkets in Japan are spaghetti indeed, penne, fusilli and some macaroni. Tagliatelle, lasagne and trofie in more high scale supermarket where they have European imported food. So yes, when I go to Italy i pack on regional dry pasta!!!.
This ring pasta are really perfect when eaten with vegetables and simplyaccommodated with olive oil. For this plate I have opted for fresh tomatoes, fresh shiitake and parsley from the garden. I boiled the pasta al-dente, in the mean time in a pan heated with olive oil I added 2 large ripe tomatoes diced and 5 large shiitake sliced thinly. I reduced until almost dry. I drained the pasta and add them to the sauce, then add a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper and served. Topped with freshly cut parsley. Bon apetite!

Saturday energy lunch

We are back to our little weekend routine: going to the country, gardening, playing tennis, baking bread etc… Which means a lot of outdoor time and a lit of activity. Lunch always to be energetic and well balanced. Pasta, rice or cereals make a good base, and since we have local and fresh vegetables and meat or fish I also use many. Today I opted for grilled vegetables that can cook while outside gardening, together with Sicilian ring pasta and some dried tomatoes and thyme pork balls. The veggies are oven roasted in olive oil for 60min. The pork balls I made them with fresh pork meat, 2 dried tomatoes chopped and a tsp of dried thyme (if you have fresh one it’s even better). I them mix all together, made tiny one bite balls and cook them in a bit of olive oil.

Desktop lunch

I’ll never quit this habit of eating freshly prepared food in my office. No matter what the prepared food in shops don’t appeal me to much nor the cafeteria. I’ve been doing for ever and actually love it. I just get rid of some usual combination so try new ones once in a while. In summer I prefer cottage cheese rather than cream cheese, less fatty and heavy. And I replace the thick large slice of bread by slightly drier and smaller ones. Avocado and tomatoes are my always winning combination and I stick to it while tomatoes are still sweet and juicy!  I prepare this in my office and I enjoy the super fresh and mix of texture very much. What is your best lunch option at work?

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