Luncheon

Mmm. lunch today is a good one. I've taken to bringing my own lunch to work, since there's nothing good to eat hereabouts, and today's lunch is a salad, one of the few things that can be prepared mostly the night before and eaten at room temperature. sure, it'd have tasted much ncer this morning, but well, it works way better than something like sushi or pasta would've. Plus, it's tasty, and pretty as well.
So what is in this luncheon salad of mine?

Let's see..
-Romaine lettuce
-French beans, blanched in salted water
-Asparagus, blanched in salted water
-Yellow zuchinni chunks, stirfried with butter and salt
-White button mushrooms, sliced and dry sauteed, then smeared with a little butter and salt
-Cherry tomatoes, seeds squeezed out and grilled
-Bread, cut into small 'cubes' and toasted on the hot frying pan
-Grated aged Gouda cheese
-Toasted pine nuts

YUMMM.
Crisp greens punctuated with the cheery, sunny yellow of the zuchinni, the bright red of the tomatoes, dotted with the earthy brwn of the mushrooms, toasty pieces of bread, a carpet of shredded cheese on top and a sprinkling of triangular little pine nuts. pretty, and yummsome.

mm-mmm! lunch today rocks. much better than those vending machine sandwiches. healthy too.

Carrot Salad

Came home after work today after a rather disappointing 'dinner' of a sausage encrusted with potato cubes and deep fried. Dinner, if on a stick, is hardly ever satisfying.
So, I came back determined to eat something I had prepared by myself. Also, I wanted something light, and healthy, considering all the vending machine/junk food that has been my lunch for the past two weeks. saw this recipe online today for Carrot Salad, but I don't have olive oil at home, since my mother never uses it, and I didn't like the sound of raw crushed garlic in a salad. So, I made some alterations and came up with my very own Carrot Salad:




It was the perfect thing for tonight, since it was fast and easy, and it had the added perk of letting me practice my knife skills. It's basically carrots cut up into matchsticks, lemon juice to taste, pinch of salt, bit of sugar, and a touch of sesame oil, stir it all up, and eat. yum. it's tangy, sweet, crunchy, and with just a hint of smoky, fragrant sesame oil. am leaving a bunch in the fridge to see how it holds up, because I'm thinking of bringing some to work. Am utterly sick of the crap we keep making do with every day.
And just as a side note: I love this picture! haha.

limbo

Well, it's that last night before that last exam, and I cannot wait for it to all be over. Am already dreaming of the stuff I want to cook. Here's a list:

1) Apple Cinnamon Pancakes. v excited about these. was supposed to make them last weekend when i went home, but alas, there were no apples. How unbelievable is that?? but well, yes, apple cinnamon pancakes. yay.

2) A nice big, warm salad—the unhealthy kind, loaded with ingredients such as sauteed mushrooms, bacon, a fried egg, cheese, and whatever else catches the eye—and imagination— when I'm at the supermarket.

3) Cupcakes! mannn. I cannot wait. there's the candied ginger one from 101cookbooks, you can check them out here. and there's this other dark chocolate and peppermint bark one from here, although if i'm lazy, there'll be no bark, just crushed candycanes. or mints.

4) French toast! found this funky recipe and it looks funky-tastically delish.

and loads more! i don't particularly want to eat very much, i just want to cook! so if you're craving anything and want to eat, just tell me/find me a recipe and i'll cook for you! especially M and E, seeing as how i'll be seeing you guys most everyday..
yay i cannot wait for the weekend to come!

but ugh. packing. :(