What does any of this have to do with quick lunches, I hear you ask? Well, because we were late getting back for naptime and the routine has been changed, I know that anything could happen and my son could wake up at any minute and I am hungry! Must… eat… and… blog…. So, I’m typing as fast as I can type and eating a lentil salad that is one of my favourite standbys. To the annoyance of my husband who loves them, I am not keen on sandwiches unless there is absolutely nothing else available. Because why eat a boring ol’ sarnie when you can have one of these lovely things in just about the same amount of prep time?  When I am in a hurry, some of my faves are:

Lentil Salad

1. Open and drain a tin of lentils and dump into your salad bowl. Yes, I said tin. This is a quick and easy ideas post so, deal with it.

2. Chop one tomato in your hand directly into the bowl. Do NOT use a chopping board or you will have to wash it up. Capiche?

3. Slice off a bit of onion into the bowl.

4. Search kitchen for those last bits of hydroponic herbs, whatever they are, that never get eaten and throw those into the bowl. Use dried if necessary, no biggie.

5. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

6. Drizzle on some vinegar, preferably balsamic, and some olive oil. I like Chilli infused olive oil because I am addicted to chilli, but it’s your call.

7. Optional: If you have some blue cheese or feta chop this in as well.

8. Eat

Antoine’s Potatoes

This is just so easy since you don’t really have to watch the potatoes. Just let them boil until ready and voila! Click here for details

Scrambled Tofu

If you have any kind of tofu in your fridge, this is easy and tasty. I would take the time to do the onion and garlic as they make it that much more savoury and delicious. But, really the whole thing should take a matter of minutes. Click away!

Come on now. Tell me what you do for quick lunches. I love to get new ideas for this time of day.

“The U.N. recently announced that the number of people suffering from the problems of “overnutrition” has for the first time exceeded the number suffering from undernutrition” (Pollan 2008:xiv)

As the book sits here accruing library fines (Naughty blogger!) I am finally getting round to reading and reviewing In Defence of Food by Michael Pollan. Well, I loved it. It says all the things I have always believed about the food industry and how it affects what we, as normal consumers, eat. The difference is that it explains in more detail than I have ever had, the connections. For example, from reading Diet for a New America in the 1980s, I knew that the meat and dairy boards in the U.S. are the ones responsible for supplying schools with ‘educational’ materials about what to eat but this book goes on to explain how, why and by whom food has been “nutritionised” and “industrialized” in other ways. Where it used to be that humans were drawn to foods by taste and colour and instincts (remember those?), now we have been trained to think in terms of nutrients. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? But the thing we have to think about is who has called for the nutrient-determining research and for what purpose? By reducing a food item to it’s nutrient parts (which, by the way, is a very inexact science as far as variable-laden food is concerned) industry can successfully market in terms of “low fat” “low GI” “high carb”, etc. His best example is that of margarine. Seriously, you would think that it was a super food in the way it can be manipulated to fit any deficiency. This month, it seems, magarine can lower your cholesterol. Cue eye roll.

He goes on to cite researchers such a Weston Price who have looked at the ills of the Western Diet through fieldwork in the past and how their findings, some of which need to be taken with a pinch of low-sodium salt, tend to lean toward the same idea, we need to eat real food, but we don’t eat real food, so we get sick.

Michael Pollan’s manifesto is this: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Pretty straightforward if you ask me, but he does go on to define ‘food’ and clarify the other two points. Sadly, what should be obvious to us about food is often lost in these days of fake foods and “nutritionism” and I really like how Mr. Pollan has laid it all out here in black and white. While reading the book I often found myself thinking “I knew it!” when I’d come across things that I’d been doing and felt were right, but just didn’t really know why. It’s good to find someone who thinks that same as you, or is it just that instinct thing?

I’d recommend the book as an alternative to nutrient-based writings on food. The book doesn’t say that low carb/low fat/ high protein/high sugar/extreme fibre/veganism/meat eating is the way to go. Instead, it explains how we have been looking at it all from a managed perspective. And that perspective has been managed for us by others (scientists and educators led by industry, basically).

Have you read this book or any of this others? I’d love to hear your opinions.

While I’m not going to pretend that I have any sort of deep understanding of the Paleo Diet, I am interested in how people are trying to regain healthy lives by looking to what is or has been natural for our bodies. I am always searching for naturally sweetened desserts and snacks for my son so he feels like he is getting a treat and I feel happy he will not be doped up on refined sugars. He can do that later when he goes to university, ha.

My version is adapted from a  recipe that I found on a lovely blog called Food, Farm, Health which saw me continuing to dream about the day I will have my land for growing food. She used walnut flour, which is something we can buy here in New Zealand but, unfortunately, not in my budget so I am using almond meal. I’ve also used a nice local macadamia nut oil. As I’ve mentioned, I know very little about the Paleo diet and it is quite possible that my adaptation of this recipe makes it no longer Paleo. Sorry about that paleo people. Don’t be offended!  But it is still a) yummy b) gluten free and c) very easy to make. Plus, I really just like to imagine cavemen baking biscuits…don’t you?

Gimme a biscuit!

Caveman Biscuits

You need:

6 small dates
150g almond meal
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tblsp NZ macadamia nut oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
fruit sweetened jam (optional)*

You do:

Slap the oven on at 175C (350F), or start stoking the fire if you really are a caveman (in which case, can you contact me through Facebook? I’d really love to interview a caveman.).

Place the dates, almond meal, baking soda and coconut in a food processor and press go, or smash to smithereens with a club. Then add the egg, vanilla and macadamia nut oil and pulse some more.

Roll the dough into balls and press your thumb into each to make a nice indentation while placing them onto an oiled baking sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until they are lightly browned and the bottoms have browned without burning. If you are using jam, dollop it in after the biscuits have cooled.

Shake your hands above your head, jumping up and down and shouting “Captain Cavemaaaaan!” **

*I started to put jam on but found the biscuits too sweet so left it off the rest of the batch.

**This step is optional.

Dashi is the stock most used in Japanese cooking. The ingredients are simple, seaweed and shavings from a block of the dried fish known as bonito, and the method could not be simpler. Much of Japanese food is approachable like this and it’s a shame that so many people think that you need some sort of superskills in order to prepare Japanese food. Oh yes, there are Japanese masters! But there are also students who only eat 2 minute noodles for every meal but then manage to feed their families well once they’ve moved on to the next stage in life. Like anything, you can learn a few good tricks or you can go in for a major qualification. I say, learn a few nice things and leave the fancy stuff to the professionals. That’s the joy in eating out, isn’t it?

Once you’ve tried making dashi, and you realise how quick and easy it is, you can keep the ingredients on hand so that you are always ready with a base stock. Bring in some tofu, veggies or meat and you have soup! Add some miso and voila! Dashi is also used in other recipes such as for cooking vegetables or making sauces, so knowing how to make it is a good thing to have up your sleeve. Of course each cook will have his or her own preferences, but if you start here you can then adjust to make it more smokey by adding extra katsuobushi or more gentle by using more water or whatever. You can also make it with niboshi, tiny dried sardines, or with dried shiitake mushrooms for a totally vegetarian version. Have a play around.

Straining through a coffee filter keeps it clear

The ingredients are not usually cheap outside of Japan, but you do get good use out of them since the bits for the slightly stronger tasting ichiban dashi (1^st dashi) are reused to make milder niban dashi (2^nd dashi). You can also use the kombu again in other dishes or just chew on it as a snack. But,as I’ve said, I am here to prove how simple it is, right? So, let’s get to it!

Ichiban Dashi

You need:

A piece of dried kombu about as long as your hand, or pieces that add up to that

4 cups of cold water

1 big handful of katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

Start by placing the kombu into the water in a pan. Some say to wipe off the excess salt on the kombu with a towel first, but as long as there isn’t any sand or other grit you can safely leave this out. Your choice. Leave the kombu to rest in the water for 15 to 30 minutes. Have a cup of tea and peruse a few Japanese cookery books in the meantime to whet your appetite.

Now turn on the heat as if you are going to boil the kombu. Just before the bubbles start to appear, take the kombu out, drop in the katsuobushi and turn off the heat. Leave it to rest for a few minutes. Strain through paper kitchen towels or coffee filters to obtain a nice, clear broth for beautiful soups.

Niban Dashi

You need:

The leftover kombu and katsuobushi from Ichiban Dashi

Put the seaweed and fish flakes into a pot with 4 cups of water and bring to a light boil. Let it go for around 10 minutes and then strain.

We’ve just had Halloween which used to be one of my favourite holidays as a child in the United States. Although the roots of the event lie in Ireland, North Americans have taken to idea and run with it. From the beginning of October lots of spooky and fun things start appearing in shops, on TV, in the press and pretty much everywhere. Since Halloween coincides with autumn harvests, there are lots of lovely veggies that get celebrated, the best known of which is the pumpkin.

I believe there may be a photo of me somewhere as a wee girl pulling a disgusted face whilst pulling the guts out of a pumpkin in preparation for making a Jack-o-lantern. The funny thing was that, in the 1970s and 1980s at least, nobody ever ate those pumpkins. Yes, pumpkin pie (one of the world’s best pies IMHO), that great American delicacy, was more often than not made from tinned pumpkin. That’s just the way it happened. Imagine my surprise when I lived in England and my (now) Mother-in-law surprised me with a pumpkin one year so that I could make a pie. Granted, I was still an undergraduate and my life was about partying, not cooking, but I did know that pumpkin came from a tin and you mixed it with “pumpkin pie spice”…also pre-mixed. Nobody ever dealt with the real McCoy!

Well, now I live in the land of pumpkins, New Zealand*, and I’ve been experimenting a lot with converting the veggie for use in sweet dishes. Last week I made my Mother’s pumpkin bread recipe, an all time favorite of mine. I used a good ol’ NZ buttercup squash or kabocha. Would you believe there is actually a New Zealand Buttercup Squash Council? The things you learn! Anyway, it turns out that that particular variety made up a very tasty version of this cake, and yes it is a cake so don’t let the word “bread” fool you! The pumpkin makes this such a moist and moorish thing that I have a difficult time not plowing through a whole loaf in a day. At least I have to wrestle my husband for it so that cuts down on my portions as well as gets me a bit of exercise to burn off the calories.

I’ve adapted my Mum’s recipe a bit here and I also used chocolate melts for the first time, rather than normal chocolate chips. The problem with them was that they sink to the bottom of the cake. This did three things:

1) left me without chocolate in some bites (grr!)
2) presented a layer of chocolate in the bottom 1/4 that meant the bottom came off as I took it out of the pan (will wait for it to cool and solidify next time)
3) meant that at one point I ended up with a smiley face one one of the slices complete with walnut eyes and choco-smile. I almost thought Jesus was in my pumpkin bread!

So, unless you are looking for religious icons in your tea time delicacies, I’d go for real chocolate chips.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

You need

1 2/3 cup flour
1 slightly overflowing cup sugar (Let’s call it a cup and an eighth)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp “pumpkin pie spice” or a mix of warm spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and whatever you’ve got (chai spice would work perfectly as long as it has not got too much black pepper)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup of cooked, mashed pumpkin of your choice but laess watery ones are best
1/2 cup water
1 cup chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/2 cup of broken walnuts

It couldn’t be easier. Preheat the oven to 175 C (350 F) and mix all the dry ingredients together and then add the wet ones. Mix it all together and then stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon into an oiled and floured loaf tin. It rises a bit, but you can fill it up most the way without disaster (she says, bwa ha ha ha! ). Bake for an hour or more depending on how wet your pumpkin is. You may need to cover it in foil if it starts to brown prematurely. Slice and serve with tea.

*Well, OK, they are originally from South America but you’d never know it round here.

And woo-hoo to New Zealand for hosting!

and this:

and buying this:

Why?! Because while I was in Bangkok, one of my favourite cities, I also became a Mum (Ta daaaa!) to a lovely wee lad through adoption. It’s been a long haul, but we are so happy to be home and be a family:)

He is an active little 20 month old boy, so I may need some leeway on posting as we all settle in to life in New Zealand. But, rest assured, I am here and thinking about food!

I have not been to Cuba, but I have lived in South Florida, which has  a sizeable Cuban community, where you can get the most delicious black beans and rice ever. Well, OK, maybe not ever since I’ve already mentioned that I haven’t actually been to Cuba. Tucking into a steaming bowl of black beans and feeling the crunch of fresh onions on top is something I could do just about any day of the week or for any meal and remain happy. But Cubans are not the only people to enjoy the contrast of smooth and creamy beans with a bit o’ crunch on top, no Sir-ee! Indians also go in for all manner of crunchy bits (namkeens) from fresh veggies to deep fried dhal (lentils) to purposely made flour-based crispies such as bhujia that, mixed with other ingredients, often get called simply “Bombay mix” outside of India. Sure, you can just eat these right out of your hand, but to sprinkle them on your favourite thick dhal or chick pea curry, you end up with something a wee bit delightful. North American’s crumble crackers on their soup and croutons on their salads and many a South-east Asian will doctor up their food with a smattering of crushed dried chilies and some fresh, crisp coriander leaves. Students in England will even put crisps (potato chips) in between bread for a crunchy sandwich of sorts. Hmmm, or was that just us? By any account, it seems interacting with your food for the crunch factor is a world-wide phenomenon. Don’t you just love things that we all do, as they say in Thailand, “Same, same, but different”?

Another thing we all seem to agree on is the combination of protein and carbs for a fulfilling meal and black beans and rice are a perfect example. Now, I can just hear many a Cuban shuddering with fear that this recipe is not made properly with bits of pork, but I wanted to see if I could make a really healthy version. So,  no this is not “authentic” Cuban fare, but it is delicious and extremely easy to make.

By the way, I’ve decided that my unrecipes, you know, those ones that don’t look like they should be in a proper cookbook because of a lack of measurements and exact processes will now be called “narrative recipes”. I love the idea of a narrative recipe because that is exactly how most people learn to cook around the world. Someone either demonstrates the dish or tells a person what to put in the pot until they sprout cook’s wings and fly solo with it. So, here is my first official narrative recipe.
 

Vegetarian Black Beans and Rice

 
Once upon a time…just kidding! Get a couple of cups of dried black beans and enjoy the meditation that is sifting through them to get out the stones and broken ones. Then, put them on to soak over night and go to sleep dreaming of tomorrow’s dinner.

In the morning, rinse the beans and put into a big pot with enough water to cover and then half that amount of water again. They need lots of swimming room. Do not add salt whilst cooking the beans. Legend has it that cooking legumes with salt will keep them hard and chalky rather than soft and creamy, and who am I to argue with legend? Boil the beans hard for the first ten minutes and then let them simmer until they are cooked. Be aware that this may take an hour or more depending on how long your soak was and how old the beans are. When they are done, you can either proceed to make the dish or set them aside and make the dish at dinner time.

To make the final dish, first chop an onion, place it into iced water and set aside. This is to take away some of the sulfur, so if you don’t mind the sulfurousness (is that even a word?), don’t bother with the iced water.

Chop another onion and some garlic, the more the better, and even some green pepper or celery if you are feeling fancy. Fry these up on low heat and then add the beans plus a bit of the cooking water. You may need all of the cooking water if the beans have mostly soaked it up. You want it to be thick and stewlike, not thin like a soup. Simmer as long as you can withough turning all the beans to mush, although you do want some of the beans to mush up*. Just before serving, stir in about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of sesame oil into the pot. If you add this too early it will cook out. This will add a nice smokiness which would have been imparted by the pork had it been the traditional version.

To serve, place some rice in the bottom of a bowl and ladle on the beans. Top with some chopped coriander and some of the onions for the obligatory crunch. Some also like a scoop of sour cream or plain yoghurt on top which makes the whole thing rich and creamy.

* a technical term used in the finest kitchens in Cuba. No, really. I swear.

For the onigiri that are wrapped in nori, there is a slight drawback in that the nori will go soft and chewy if left on the rice for too long, making the whole thing rather embarassing to eat as you attempt to rip the nori with your teeth only to find your head snapping back and rice flying everywhere.  Well, I hope it’s not just me, anyway. To bypass this sort of episode, a feat of engineering that could possibly only be found in Japan has been invented. It is the double-wrapped onigiri with special keep-nori-dry-and-crispy feature. Yes, I made up the name myself. If you can not follow instructions, this type of onigiri is not for you so just pick up a plain onigiri or go for the noodles and be happy. If, however, you have actually practised a bit of origami when you at primary school, read on. Basically, you unwrap the onigiri by following the numbered tabs so that you can then systematically place the nori onto the rice and then end up with the crunchy snap that fresh nori-wrapped onigiri give when you bite into them. Here is a video demonstration I made. Please remember that I am not a videographer so, sorry about the quality, but do listen for the crunch!

How to enjoy your own yummy-giri

The best onigiri I have ever had were made by these lovely ladies in Niigata City in northern Japan. Aren’t they cool? They, almost exclusively, made onigiri and it was the first time I’d had freshly rolled onigiri that were still warm. Normally they are just room temprature so this was a treat. Paired with some really good miso soup, this little lunch made me a happy bunny.

Making onigiri by yourself is really not difficult at all. Every Japanese person I spoke to liked to tell me about the “two curved fingers” method of shaping that helps you to get the triangle shape. But there are also myriad rice shapers available in any Hyaku-en (hundred yen), shop or supermarket. Yes, you can even get Hello Kitty ones if you are one of those kawaii fiends! One other way to cheat is to use the plastic wrap method that I am showing here. It is really easy for beginners and, seriously, nobody is going to know.

Easy Onigiri Method

Start by preparing your short-grain or Japanese sushi rice. Once the rice is cooked, you can decide if you want to flavour the whole lot or just put some filling in the middle. If you want to flavour the whole lot, you can add some commercial (or home made!) furikake and mix it through.

Next, you get a piece of plastic wrap, place it over a small bowl like a rice bowl, and sprinkle it with a bit of water to help stop the rice sticking. If you are using plain rice, at this point you can also add a little salt to the plastic which will end up on the rice.

Next, you place a handful of rice into the plastic wrap and add some filling in the middle if you are using it.  Push the filling into the middle letting the rice enclose it completely. Close up the end so that you have a ball of rice inside the wrap. It should be fairly tight so that the rice compacts, but not so tight that the parcel bursts.

So, now you have a nice little parcel of rice and all you have to do is flatten it a bit and push the rice around so that you get a triangle shape.

Since the rice is already wrapped, you can just pop it into your bento/ lunchbox, or unwrap it and eat it. It is nice to carry some nori in a separate container that you can place on the onigiri when you are ready to eat. You can even buy the super-awesome, keep-nori-dry-and-crispy feature wrappers that I mentioned earlier in Japanese shops if you are keen to have a go at wrapping them, but they are quite tricky to use…and sort of defeat the purpose of making onigiri in it’s own wrapper. But, if you do use them I’d love to see the results so please post a pic on the Five Flavours Facebook page.

Gambatte! Kia Kaha! Good Luck!