A MDLN Picnic

My Dear Lovely Neighbour brought a picnic today.

Specifically, a summer vegetarian picnic with yougurt dahl dish, carrots and mustard seeds, potatoes and rice. Just look at how colourful all of this is.

We love MDLN Picnics and love MDLN even more. Thank you.

Summer Snacks

Jardin snack of boiled eggs and a sweet potato, mashed with olive oil and spices

Frozen snacks come in handy on hot summer nights

Summer yellow zucchini with gnocchi; an improvised meal

And on really hot nights, nothing is served but a simple Greek Salad

 My dear lovely neighbour adds to the excitement of summer snacks

Her daughter's baking beats all summer snacks

 

Cooking Swiss

Cooking in Switzerland is an old beautifully cloth bound book that a dear friend passed on to me.

I look at it but everything seems to be either complex to produce or heavy in cream and butter.

But, after major scrutiny, I landed on this recipe.

It is supposed to be made with slices of beef and veal or other meats.

But I opted for steak instead.

It is really easy. You cook potatoes, carrots and peas in butter, season with herbs.

You then grill the meat and serve it on top of the vegetables.

Simple taste, beautiful view.

En Guete!

A Really Freekeh Great Recipe

A recipe worth sharing. If you cannot find Freekeh, I am happy to barter some.

Step 1: Roast olive oil coated florets of a cauliflower in a 425 degree stove for 30 - 35 minutes. Put aside.

Step 2: In a pot with olive oil, cook 0.25 cups almonds until they turn colour.  Add 1.25 cups freekeh and cook for a couple of minutes. Add 2 garlic cloves minced, 0.5 tsp salt, 0.25 tsp cumin and 0.25 tsp dried coriander. Top with 3 cups plus 3 Tbsp vegetable broth or water. Bring to boil, then simmer until Freekeh is cooked and all liquid evaporated (may take over 30 minutes, but check on it after 20 minutes).

Step 3: Make tahini sauce by adding 0.25 cup lemon juice and 0.5 cup water to 6 Tbsp tahini. Mix and keep on adding water or lemon juice (and salt to taste) until it is the texture of cream.

To Serve: Add the Freekeh to a platter, cover with the roasted cauliflowers, drizzle with tahini suace and garnish (optional) with feta cheese, raisins and/or parsley or green herbs.
 

Bartering At Its Best

As I was doing my month end accounting, I came across this invoice for copy writing services. Oh I wish all my suppliers invoice me this way, can you imagine how much fun working will be?

Here's the payment (sorry the Highland Park Single Malt bottle disappeared quickly before having a chance to be documented).

 

A Picnic

somervillekitchen cookbook club held a summer picnic. But summer means everyone is on vacation so we had a only a portion of the club participate.

An Edamame noodles salad from Plenty More

A Kebbeh Pizza from Bison Delights (tune back Thursday for the recipe)

And a decadent creamy lemon squares with lavendar from Leon

 

Wacky IKEA

Going to IKEA on a Thursday = Instant material for Wacky Thursdays

I cannot believe I stood in line up for 25 minutes to eat IKEA food. But I still had the lower level of the store to roam so, being hungry, I was held hostage by the anticipated finds.

Plus, the food is of decent quality and long line ups means freshly made. And one is paying fast food prices for casual dining platters.

In real life, the new Caribbean basa looked way more appetizing than the picture (and tasted great).

IKEA Richmond

3320 Jacombs Street

Richmond, BC