haven't blogged in way too long, i know. and why? beats me. mostly i've been sitting at home playing tetris and watching arrested development. i'm really pretty boring.

BUT.

tonight i decided on a whim that it was time to pull three random ingredients out of the fridge and pantry and turn them into soup. here be the results:

carrot, tomato, and chickpea soup
serves 6, plus possibly seconds/leftovers

1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 good glug olive oil
3 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup strained tomato
2 cups chickpeas, soaked and drained if dried, or rinsed if tinned
4 cups vegetable stock
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. sugar
a pinch of salt and a crackling of fresh ground pepper, to taste

in a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. add onion and garlic, stir, and soften for a minute. add carrots, cover, and let steam until carrots are soft. add tomato and about half the chickpeas, stir, and cook for a few minutes. add stock, curry powder, sugar, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. take soup off heat and, either using a hand blender or a blender or food processor, whiz until smooth. add remaining chickpeas, adjust seasoning if necessary, and cook over low to medium heat for at least another half hour. serve with green salad with creamy tahini dressing, and a square of flapjack for dessert.


mixed green salad with creamy tahini dressing

a couple handfuls of mixed baby greens
about 4 inches of cucumber, sliced into rounds

1 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
juice of 1 small lemon
salt and pepper to taste
a teensy squizzle of honey
a dash of cumin
a sprinkling of parsley, cilantro, or chives (whatever fresh herbs you've got hanging about, really)

wash greens and toss with cucumbers in a salad bowl. in another small bowl or jar, combine tahini, yoghurt, lemon juice, salt, pepper, honey, cumin, and fresh herbs, and stir to combine thoroughly. drizzle a little dressing over the greens and serve. any leftovers can be stored in the fridge and will keep well for a couple of days. it also makes a nice, sprightly dip for nice, crunchy fresh veg.


flapjacks, almost englandland-stylie
(ever so slightly adapted to suit the contents of my pantry)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup agave syrup
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

preheat oven to 325°. line a small cake tin with parchment paper. in a microwave-safe bowl, combine butter, sugar, and agave syrup. microwave on high, checking in every 30 seconds and giving contents a stir, until butter is melted and ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. add oats and stir until oats are coated and buttery. carefully spoon contents into your parchment-lined pan in an even layer, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown. remove from oven, cut into squares, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. (then, if you're anything like me) proceed to hoover square after square until you are dragged, kicking and screaming, away from the kitchen counter.




























(bastards.)

first gosh darn blog entry of 2010. where the hell i been at?

this is IMPORTANT:

i just got home on the bus from watching dexter (i've never seen it and had basically no clue what's going on, but it seems neat) at dave's. so there was me on the last bus, and the driver, and this utterly fucking wasted kid who looked, i guess, about 20. driver stopped once or twice to make sure kid didn't barf as he looked pretty poorly, all slumped over and wobbly. when the driver got to my stop and i went to get off, the kid was pretty much unconscious and the driver couldn't get an answer out of him as to where he was going. so i pitched in and tried to ask (as the driver was a middle-aged sikh fellow and did have something of an accent) where he was going, and if he'd missed his stop, if he knew how to get home and all that. the kid then proceeded to list random numbers at me, vomit on the seat in front of him, and he gave us this utterly creepy smirk all the while, as the driver got on the phone with somebody to try and sort out what to do. eventually we got the word "west" out of him, concluded he must mean west acres drive, and we got him to get off as my stop is the last stop on that street. then i shrugged and said goodnight to the driver (poor guy) and the kid just STOOD THERE in the road as the bus sped away back to wherever buses go at the end of the night. so i walked past, shrugged apologetically, and as i passed, he shouted after me, "i made you suffer!" at which point it was all i could do to keep from rolling around in the snow with laughter. see? this story totally had a point.