#and it’s a little bit of olive oil and some pepper— it’s delicious

[gemsofgreece]

How to follow a Mediterranean Greek diet

The Mediterranean diet naturally expands throughout the coastal countries of South Europe, North Africa and the Middle East but there are some small differences between their cuisines. So here I am writing specifically about the Greek version of the Mediterranean diet, known for its delicious, natural flavours and its significant health benefits.

Eat daily:

Olive oil: the pillar, the liquid green gold of the Mediterranean Greek diet. Olive oil should be used ideally exclusively for all purposes. It's dressing salads, it's used in cooking and in fact it's traditionally what is used in frying too. Replace all types of oils, butter and margarine with olive oil even when making pastries. The only problem here is that outside of the Mediterranean basin olive oil can be pricey, however that's the foundation the diet is based on. If you are interested in following the traditional Greek diet for taste or health purposes, it is good to really incorporate olive oil in your daily cooking. If it’s not possible to afford buying olive oil all the time (although you could balance it out by not buying other oils and butter), a non-Greek-typical but equivalent alternative could be avocado oil. However, I doubt avocado oil or any other oil can remotely compare to olive oil in health properties, taste or in any other positive quality 🫒

Vinegar: Just like olive oil, vinegar is a very important ingredient and is also used in natural remedies However, it can hurt a sensitive GI tract if consumed in large portions. A little bit of it added to meals frequently is very healthy. Apple cider vinegar is also very loved and used in salads often 🍇

Vegetables: no portion can be too much (wild greens, garlic, onions, cauliflowers, cucumbers, eggplants, beets, peppers, spinach, artichokes, zucchini, peas, lettuce, the list never ends). Tomatoes and broccoli are recent additions to the Greek diet however they were integrated perfectly to the Greek cuisine. In general, all vegetables can be enjoyed freely with some moderation in the potatoes, especially when fried 🥗

Fruits: grapes, berries, apples, melons, cherries, figs, prunes, sour cherries, peaches, pomegranates are the most historically loved fruits in the Greek diet. Since the middle ages citruses like the orange, the lemon and the mandarin are more and more loved. Greeks nowadays use lemon almost more than vinegar and both have become integral components of the Greek diet. Obviously, tropical fruits like, say, banana, mango, grapefruit are not present in the traditional Greek diet, however all fruits are good fruits and you can enjoy them freely 🍎

Legumes. Eat freely to the tolerance of your body. Legumes can be too heavy for some GI tracts. Legumes are a great source of protein and fibre. Choose brown lentils, white beans, fava beans, chickpeas, giant beans and black eyed peas the most 🫘

Nuts, seeds: almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, peanuts etc. Eat as much as your body can take, because everybody is different 🥜

Mushrooms: mushroom it up! A great healthy way to have them is grilled with herbs and plain or apple cider vinegar dressing 🍄‍🟫

Whole grains: this is the traditional way to eat grains. Brown bread, oats, whole wheat pasta 🌾

Fish and seafood: find and eat them fresh. Instead of buying them deep frozen from the big markets, find local fish stores if your place is coastal and has them. Eat both large but especially small and medium sized fish. Some fish like salmon and tuna should ideally not be consumed daily due to their high levels of mercury and fats 🐟🎣🍤

Herbs and spices. Feel free to use as much as you want however if you are interested also in the flavours of the Greek diet besides the health benefits, a tip is that Greek dishes do not contain extremely hot spices 🌿

Water: A lot of water daily and, mind you, plain clear mineral water. No flavoured water, definitely not sparkling water and ideally no other liquids in place of the water. I mean, sure you can have liquids but you should ALSO have plain water 💧

Eat a few times per week:

Poultry: Poultry and lean meats entered the Greek cuisine mostly after the Middle Ages however they are nowadays enjoyed as part of the Greek Mediterranean diet because they are tasty and healthier than other types of meat. Chicken has become especially popular in the Greek cuisine. Other birds are the pheasant, the quail, the turkey and more sparsely the duck 🍗

Eggs: eggs are healthy and should be consumed a few times per week but not daily because they can cause a rise in cholesterol levels 🥚

Dairy: Greeks LOVE dairy products, especially the various types of cheese, however they are often irritating to the GI tract and they are linked with rises in the level of inflammation in the body. This is why you should ideally limit them to a few times per week. One exception is the yoghurt, which is fermented and can be perhaps consumed more frequently due to its beneficial properties. Important note: if you want to follow the Greek diet, you should ideally opt for milk and other dairy products from goats and sheep! Cow milk is not traditionally used in the Greek cuisine often and sheep and goat milk are significantly healthier and more nutritious. The only drawback is the stronger smell, however if you can get past that, it is strongly advised to switch to those instead of cow milk. Another note: what is known as “Greek yoghurt” in western countries is not in fact a true Greek yoghurt. What you call Greek yoghurt is to us simply a strained yoghurt, a yoghurt from which the whey has been removed. Sometimes in western markets (and in Greek “modern” dessert yoghurt products) butterfat and powdermilk is added to them and they are mostly made of cow’s milk. Again, a traditional Greek yoghurt is made of sheep, goat milk or a mix of both and is unstrained. It also has a trademark thickened skin on its top (dunno if this is the actual term lol) which is in fact the part of the yoghurt that contains the most nutrients and personally it’s the tastiest part of the yoghurt but apparently it is not for everyone. As an example, a study showed that an unstrained sheep yoghurt has more protein, more omega-3 fatty acids and minerals yet fewer calories and fats than a strained cow yoghurt 🍦🧀

Wine: in small portions, like a small glass up to a few times per week and always in combination with your meal. You don’t drink it to get hammered, you drink it for the health benefits it has in very moderate quantities and for the reasonable mild euphoria it causes before it becomes harmful. The GI tract is linked to the brain and is detrimentally influenced by negative emotions. This is why it is important to try to be in a good mood, relaxed and peaceful when you sit down to eat. A sip of wine now and then can be good for that 🍷

Eat once per week or ideally less:

Red meat like pork or beef. In fact, beef should be the one most avoided not only because it is indeed the rarest of the common meats used in traditional Greek cuisine but also because you can’t separate the fat from the meat as easily as with pork. To follow the Greek style in a healthy way opt for goat, then lamb or pork and make beef your most occasional meat dish 🥩

Processed meats should be eaten rarely. If you are in a mood for it though, opt for Greek style sausages with herbs in or bacon at most. Cured meats like ham are better to be avoided but turkey is the healthiest of them. They are not a part of a traditional Greek cuisine though.

Refined grains can be enjoyed weekly but should not replace whole grains

Pastries. What’s new, pastries are not ideal for health. However, if you are yearning for something sweet, if you want to keep it healthy as much as possible in the “Greek way”, opt for desserts made of healthy ingredients like honey, nuts, olive oil and fruits. Chocolate came to Greece in the 19th century, however it has become an integral part of confectionery since then. Opt ideally for dark chocolate, combined with nuts or fruits such as oranges and prunes. Greeks especially love chocolate combined with nuts.

Soft and sugary drinks. Avoid them overall, especially the processed products in the markets. If you need a sweet drink really bad, you can keep it traditional by making your own sweet lemonade, sour cherry, pomegranate etc drink at home. You could also enjoy small quantities of lemon or mastic liquors which are good for digestion.

BONUS TIPS & PHILOSOPHY:

Try to find mastic if it’s available where you live. The mastic is a resin produced from the mastic tree, a species endemic to the Greek island of Chios and a small part of the opposite coast of Turkey. It has numerous beneficial properties, especially for digestion and gut health, and it combines them with a very pleasant fresh and sweet flavour. You can find it in gums that boost digestion, in drinks, in pastries and even in non-edible products like toothpastes. Learn about it and give it a try, no matter if you are interested in following Greek diet or not.

Greek cuisine does not go berserk on as many ingredients as possible (however Greeks typically add more ingredients than, say, Italians and perhaps fewer than the Middle Easterners). Don’t worry about adding as many foods and nutrients in one single dish. The most important thing in Greek cuisine philosophy is to pick the finest ingredients. Avoid deep frozen or precooked and processed ingredients. Pick whole fruits and vegetables from your local small grocery store. For example, don’t buy a watermelon slice in a zelatin bag from the supermarket. Take the whole freaking watermelon home. You heard me right. It’s heavy, yes, but you would be surprised how much tastier and healthier it is this way. Go to the butcher for meat. Go to the specific cheese shop for cheese. Go to the fisherman for fish and seafood. Go to the pastry shop and get a nice dessert instead of buying candies from the market.

Remember that in moderation you can eat most of the foods you desire, especially if they are not processed foods. There is nothing about the Greek diet that is restrictive in terms of its philosophy - historically the intake of various foods was regulated only based on availability and price. There are no foods you should limit due to any perception of them being “bad” and you should never feel guilty the moment you are actually having the food. Just work slowly and progressively by building gradual appreciation for healthy foods and prize less nutritious foods as occasional taste bud rewards.

As said above, a good mood is crucial when you sit down to eat. In the history of the Greek society this translated into eating with friends and / or family, maybe with the occasional sip of wine, ideally in a pleasant environment and always taking your time with your food. If some of these are less feasible than others, try alternatively to improve the setting in which you eat, to eat in an environment that calms you down. Schedule your meal so that you won’t eat in anxiety or hurry, if this is possible. Think of pleasant memories and feel grateful for your food. Cheers! Or, you know, εις υγείαν!

[spacelazarwolf]

shakshuka - maghrebi

cookbook: jewish flavors of italy

total time from start to finish: 50 minutes

rating system

difficulty: 2 this recipe required chopped veggies and some sautéing, and it does require a couple of different timed steps (like watching the eggs to make sure they don’t overcook... oops...), but overall it wasn't difficult to make. the recipe did call for harissa, which i found (hechschered) at my local international market, or felfel u ciuma. you can make the harissa yourself, it just takes some extra time. i don't know if you can find the felfel u ciuma in any international markets.

rating: 5 absolutely fucking delicious. 100/10.

this particular recipe comes from the libyan jews of rome. there is a substantial population of libyan jews in rome because of the increasing levels of persecution faced by the jewish community in libya in the 20th century, culminating in violence and pogroms during and after the six day war, until around 6000 libyan jews were airlifted out of libya to rome by the italian navy in 1967. the refugees were forced to leave their homes, their businesses, and most of their possessions behind, but despite these hardships, libyan jews have become an integral part of the roman jewish community.

and i can’t mention libyan jews without mentioning david gerbi, a libyan jew who has spent years trying to restore synagogues and cemeteries in libya and hopes to eventually make libya safe enough for libyan jews to return. so far his attempts have been met with a lot of violent pushback, but b”h someday they will get their home back.

recipe:

shakshuka:

preparation: 15 minutes cooking: 50-55 minutes serves 2-4

ingredients:

3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3-4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp ground cumin or caraway (i used cumin, which is most commonly used, but the author of the cookbook likes to use caraway)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp felfel u ciuma or harissa

3 red, yellow, or orange peppers; stems, seeds, and white membranes removed, and flesh cut into 5mm (1/4 in)-thick strips

2 ripe vine tomatoes, diced, or 10 cherry tomatoes, halved (optional) (i used 2 cans of diced tomatoes)

500g (1lb 2oz/generous 2 cups) passata (an italian tomato puree, you can use pureed tomatoes but passata is a bit thicker)

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh italian parsley

4 eggs

sea salt and black pepper to taste

bread to serve

many middle eastern cuisines claim this dish as their own. libyan jews are no exception, and those who migrated to italy took it with them. shakshuka has become popular all around the world and today, many of rome's kosher restaurants have it on their menus, reflecting not just the city's large libyan jewish population but also the food of israel, where shakshuka is very well known.

put the oil, garlic, 1 tsp of cumin or caraway, paprika, and felfel u ciuma or harissa (i used harissa and added an extra tsp) in a large, non-stick frying pan, stir and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes. (before this, i sautéed some yellow onions)

add the peppers to the pan, stir, add a pinch each of salt and pepper and cook, covered, over a low to medium heat for about 15 minutes until the peppers start to soften.

add the tomatoes (if using) and toss for 5 minutes, then add the passata with a pinch each of salt and pepper and cook for another 20-25 minutes, covered, and stirring occasionally. remove the lid, add half the parsley, and the second tsp of cumin or caraway, stir and taste for seasoning. you can cook the eggs in the mixture straight away, or make the recipe up to this point and keep the sauce ready in the fridge for up to 3 days.

when you're ready to cook the eggs, make four dips in the sauce (reheating the sauce if you've made it ahead of time) with the back of a spoon and gently break an egg into each one. cover and simmer over a low to medium heat for 6-8 minutes until the egg whites are just set but the yolks are still runny (oops...)

sprinkle with the remaining parsley and, if you like, a little more cumin or caraway. serve hot, ideally with bread.

harissa (from saffron shores):

4 large red bell peppers or pimientos, seeded, deribbed, and cut into pieces

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp caraway seeds, toasted and ground

1.5 to 2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

extra virgin olive oil as needed

in a meat grinder, food processor, or blender (you could probably also use mortar and pestle, it would just take longer), grind or puree the bell peppers or pimientos. strain, pressing on the solids with the back of a large spoon. you should have about 3/4 cup puree. stir in the garlic, spices, and salt. add oil for spoonability.

alternate harissa (also from saffron shores):

3 dried ancho chili peppers, soaked in hot water for 1 hour

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and ground (optional)

1 tsp salt

cayenne pepper to taste

extra virgin olive oil for filming

drain the peppers. in a blender, combine the peppers, garlic, and seasonings, puree to a paste (could probably do in a mortar and pestle). pack in a hot sterilized jar and film the top with olive oil. seal and refrigerate for up to 6 weeks.

felfel u ciuma (from jewish flavors of italy):

6 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 tbsp paprika

1/2 tsp sea salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp ground caraway (optional)

2 tbsp water

simply combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir well to create a paste.

[cheruib]

favorite comfort recipe atm: mustard soup with mushrooms!!! start by sautéing some garlic and onion in some olive oil and once u can smell them add in your pre sliced mushrooms. season w some salt and pepper and cumin and stir the whole thing together (now at this step i like to add sometimes some other veggies like carrots or bell pepper, but if you want to keep it simple stick to mushrooms). add some vegetable stock and some of your best! mustard (i like to use stone ground mustard or really spicy dijon mustard) taste it and add a little more if you like intense flavors<3 at this point u can either leave it to bubble a bit then serve or u can add some (vegan) heavy cream if u want it creamy! thats it! so delicious and so simple miam

[fcukfodmap]

Low-FODMAP Gluten-free Instant Pot Short Ribs & Potatoes

This recipe is a little disingenuous, because short ribs and potatoes are already low-FODMAP and gluten-free, but whatever. It's definitely become stew season out there, so I'm going to try different approaches to beef stew. I'd never cooked short ribs before so I didn't know what to expect. Reader, they're freaking delicious. My only complaint was that for the weight, there really wasn't that much meat to devour. To the recipe!

Low-FODMAP Gluten-free Instant Pot Short Ribs & Potatoes

2 lbs bone-in beef short ribs

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 c dry red wine

2 tbsp gluten-free flour

1 1/2 lbs new potatoes, halved

2 tbsp minced parsley

olive oil, salt, and pepper

Pat the ribs dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. In Instant Pot on highest setting, heat a tbsp of olive oil until just smoking. Brown the ribs on all sides and transfer to a plate.

Stir in tomato paste and Italian seasoning to bloom, then add the tomatoes and their juice and wine, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom. Return the ribs to the Instant Pot, close and lock the lid, and cook for an hour at the highest pressure cook function.

Turn off the Instant Pot and let the pressure release naturally, about 15 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate. Add four to the braising liquid left in the Instant Pot, stir, then add the potatoes. Lock the lid and pressure cook on the highest setting for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with parsley.

These were really good; there were zero leftovers. I had a pretty light hand on the salt, and I think a tbsp or two of Worcester or soy sauce wouldn't go amiss. The only thing in this recipe that is a problem for the FODMAP diet is the flour. I used gluten-free flour (I think brown rice flour?) but I've seen some recipes out there that use either unflavored gelatin or minute tapioca, which might work better as a thickener.

Disclaimer: I am no dietician. I'm doing my best to minimize FODMAPs in my diet, but it's possible for me to be misinformed or mistaken about various ingredients.

[alex51324]

Farm Box Cooking Saturday!

This week I made ratatouille, and also watermelon sangria!

The ratatouille used eggplant, zucchini, onion, garlic, pepper, and tomatoes from my farm boxes, and also some additional peppers and tomatoes that I bought at a stand that's on the side of the road on my way to work, and basil from a pot I have next to my parking space. The only grocery store ingredients were olive oil, salt, and pepper.

As long as you're good at chopping vegetables, it's easy to make! You start by sauteeing the onions and garlic in olive oil, and after the onions have softened, the peppers too. Then you put in everything else. Cover the pot to get the liquid to start cooking out of the vegetables. (In my case, I had to let them cook down a bit before I could get the lid on!) Simmer for about 15 minutes with the lid on, then take it back off and keep simmering for 45 minutes to an hour.

You can have it as a side dish with anything, or as a main dish over your carb (or carb substitute!) of choice. I did penne pasta.

My other big project was the watermelon; I made a tasty watermelon sangria using half the watermelon, a bottle of inexpensive pink wine, a cup of vodka, the juice from three limes, a cup or so of sugar, and some mint.

It made a lot.

The first step is to cut the watermelon up into chunks and blend it in the blender. Then you pour the puree through a fine mesh strainer, which gets you a bowl of watermelon juice:

And a big spoonful so of pulp:

You know that watermelon is mostly liquid, but it's still surprising how little you're left with after you blend and strain it. This is the pulp from one blender-full of watermelon; I blended the half-watermelon in about three batches. It was probably about a cup of pulp total--I'm not sure, because I gave it to Sophie as I went along. (Remember, there's no alcohol in it yet!)

The blending and straining is really the only hard part here; once you've done that you just pour everything else in and mix it up. (To make sure the sugar and mint were properly incorporated, I zipped them through the blender with a cup or so of watermelon juice, but you wouldn't necessarily have to do that.)

If you are serving this at a party, you can cut-and-scoop the watermelon like you're getting ready to carve a jack-o-lantern, and then use the rind as a punchbowl! Or if you're going to drink it all yourself over a period of several days, you can put it in an old lemonade jug or whatever. It is tasty and delicious!

You can also make a nonalcoholic version using lemonade or limeade (purchased or homemade) in place of the wine. I might try that if they give me another huge watermelon, because I realized after the fact that what I'd just done was give myself a fairly tight deadline to drink an entire bottle of wine and five shots of vodka. (It's not like I have to chug the stuff, but I don't usually drink alcohol on a daily basis, but to get through the whole jug before it spoils, I will have to do just that.)

Anyway! foo

With the other half of the watermelon, I'm making sorbet! I don't know yet how well that will come out, but you start by cutting your watermelon into chunks and freezing them:

Then you put the frozen chunks through a food processor with some more lime juice & a little sugar, and spread it back out into a shallow pan:

And then you pop it back in the freezer. The recipes I consulted are not in agreement about how many times you have to take it back out and stir it during the freezing process to not get a solid lump of watermelon ice; the options range from "zero; once you've put it through the food processor it's fine now" through a variety of actual numbers, to "if you don't own an ice-cream maker you pretty much have to eat it all within about 4 hours after when you did the step with the food processor."

So...I'll just see what happens, I guess! Anyway, it's pretty tasty:

[myloveisinthefood]

A not-the-best photo for a pretty simple lunch that was sort of slap-dash but turned out super delicious!

For a batch of chickpea flour (besan) pancakes, whisk:

1 cup chickpea flour

1 1/2 cups water

Salt to taste

Let the batter stand for 15 mins. It will still be pretty runny! In a nonstick or cast iron pan with a little bit of olive oil in it, cook 1/3 cup of batter at a time. When you pour in the batter, swirl it around like a crepe. These pancakes can be tricky to flip, and are quite floppy! They will tear easily. Don’t be afraid to cook until well brown before flipping.

The kale was just sautéed in some olive oil with minced garlic, dried oregano, and chilli flakes. I added a splash of red wine vinegar as well. I always finely slice my kale stalks so that nothing is going to waste! Put them in the pan first so that they have longer to cook.

I topped a pancake with the kale, and crumbled over some almond “cheese” that I made the other day, along with some fresh parsley and cracked black pepper.

Surprisingly good considering I sort of just threw it together!

[eclipse-song]

TOTALLY NOT PRESIDENTS CHOICE ROASTED RED PEPPER DIP RECIPE

If there is anyone out there like me who is insane and drinks down a tub of this shit in a day so finds the $5 price tag, then you're in luck because I'm crazy enough to have replicated it at home as close as I possibly could so that I could save money and eat as much as I wanted.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS RECIPE:

1 red bell pepper (You will be roasting this)

1 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 cup of sour cream

1/4 tsp garlic powder (honestly this is an estimation you can go crazy if you want and eyeball it)

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp paprika

a dash of lemon salt (the back of the package said citric acid which I did not have so I just added a bit of lemon salt and didn't notice a difference)

Appliances:

Food processor of some kind (a blender might also be able to work, I haven't tested that yet), something to roast red peppers with

Instructions:

What you're gonna do now is roast a red pepper. Or buy some. But I roasted one. I tossed that shit in the oven at 450 F with some olive oil and salt and they came back out smelling yummy delicious. Pick your poison on that one, just make sure it's around the equivalent of at least 1 red pepper. Then you are going to toss EVERYTHING into your food processor or blender (if anyone actually tries this then lmk if that works). Blend until smooth and enjoy. That's it. That's all it takes. Eat it with some bread, crackers, pita, whatever you like. Fuck Galen Weston and his expensive ass red pepper dip that tastes so good. You just made more than that 226 g tub has AND you saved a few bucks.

As a note: I would recommend letting the peppers cool a little bit before this step but that's just me. Make sure you also peel the skin off of them if you're roasting them at home.

[timetraveltasting]

MINUTAL MATIANUM (ROMAN PORK WITH APPLES, 1st c.)

It's a been a tougher week than usual - my husband broke his leg and had surgery, and I'm dealing with some dental pain - but amongst it all, I thought it would be a good idea to treat ourselves with a Tasting History dish that is especially hearty and comforting: Minutal Matianum (Roman Pork with Apples). From the quintessential Roman source by Apicius from the 1st c., De Re Coquinaria, this meat dish is made using ingredients that would have been available to Roman soldiers in Britain, near forts in the area of Hadrian's Wall. This hearty dish was probably closer to what the officers of the Roman army would have eaten rather than the foot soldiers, however. I decided to make this dish because my husband and I have enjoyed most of the Roman recipes I've made so far, and Max exclaimed this was the best Roman dish even he had made so far. We hope this dish provides us with the fortitude of a Roman soldier on the frontiers! See Max’s video on how to make the dish here or see the ingredients and process at the end of this post, sourced from his website.

My experience making it:

As usual for me with Roman recipes, I struggled to compile all of the specific listed ingredients, but I did my best! I sourced a pork shoulder from our local butcher, and for the ground meat, I used a mix of 60% beef and 40% pork (a very common mixture here in Germany). For the pork roast rub, I used oil, a bit of salt, lots of pepper, and a tablespoon and a half of linden tree blossom honey. For the meatballs, I didn't use any egg to bind them, as I didn't have any on hand. Instead of garum, I used an Asian fish sauce (which Max suggests as a substitute). For the apples, I used some sweet Pink Lady apples (which I definitely snacked on while I was cooking). Instead of the long pepper Max used, I used the tablespoon of peppercorns. I decided to omit the asafoetida completely, as I couldn't find it at 4 different supermarkets, including the bio-supermarket and the Turkish supermarket. I've recently learned that I should look instead at an Indian supermarket, so now I'm on the hunt for one! I reduced grape juice myself to make defrutum, as Saba seems a little expensive. Instead of starch/cornflour, I used regular white flour, since I think they would function fairly similarly.

First, I set out making the rub for the pork roast. Nice and simple with olive oil, salt, pepper, and honey, I loved that I could customize this part to my tastes (give me that sharp pepper taste!). Next, because I didn't have a roasting rack, I made one myself out of tin foil by taking a large sheet, rolling it into a snake shape, and curving it into a zig-zag pattern on top of a layer of tinfoil at the bottom of my pan. It fit the pork perfectly, and then I added the rub and tossed it in the oven. My pork shoulder was just over 2 pounds, so I roasted it for just over 2 hours. While it was cooking, I rolled my meatballs (sans egg), ground my spices for the sauce in the mortar and pestle (which took awhile), and chopped and portioned the ingredients for the next steps. When the pork was almost done cooking, I began cooking the meatballs in olive oil, also adding in the leeks. I added in the chicken stock and garum, stirring to get any bits from the bottom to release their flavour.

While this cooked on the stovetop, the pork roast was ready to take out of the oven. It looked wonderful and smelled delicious! I let it sit for a little bit, then chopped it into cubes and added them to the pot with the meatballs. I added in the cilantro, then a little bit more chicken stock so the pork and meatballs were 3/4 submerged and sizzling nicely in the juices. I simmered it for 15 minutes, then added the apple chunks. I simmered it further, but for less than the 20 minutes in the recipe (more like 15). I portioned the meat and apples into our serving bowls to cool a little while I prepared the quick sauce, being sure to leave some of the juices in order to provide the base to the sauce. I added the juices, defrutum, white wine vinegar, garum, and honey to a pot, added the crushed spices/herbs, and brought it to a light boil, stirring often. I made a roux with some flour by mixing a bit of water into it, then added it to my sauce to thicken it. By the looks of it, I think I ended up thickening it a decent amount more than Max did, but I like a thicker sauce, so I wasn't too upset about that. I took it off the heat once it was combined and thickened, and drizzled it over the pork, meatballs, and apples. It looked absolutely scrumptious - the sauce added a nice silky shine to the meat, the leeks added a pretty green, the peppercorns some texture, and the apples a beautiful yellow and red pop of colour. I served the Minutal Matianum with a side Greek Salad to balance the heaviness of the meat.

My experience tasting it:

I made sure my first bite was with pork, apple, and some sauce - it was very tasty! The pork was tender enough, but I might have overcooked it just a little. Luckily, the tougher, hearty texture was balanced by the crisp and light flavour of the apple and the acidity, sweetness, spice-infused, and herbed flavour of the silky gravy-like sauce. Like Max mentioned, the sauce first tastes a bit sour due to the vinegar, but it melts into a sweetness from the defrutum and honey. It is still a very 'Roman' flavour of sauce - I could taste hints of the previous Roman sauces I have made in other dishes in this one, but this one was more like a gravy, and maybe more in line with the modern palate. In terms of herbs and spices, I found that peppercorn and cilantro were the most forward in the sauce - the mint and cumin were just barely there. I decided to make my next bite a meatball with some sauce, apple and leek: an absolute winning combo! I don't always have time to make a pork roast, so I can't see myself making Minutal Matianum often in its complete form, but I will most certainly make the sauce with apples and meatballs again in the future. Like Max, my husband and I both agreed this is our favourite of the Roman dishes I've made so far. This is a great meal for late fall/early winter, and I will probably make it again as the weather gets colder this fall. If you end up making this dish, if you liked it, or if you changed anything from the original recipe, do let me know!

Links to harder-to-find ingredients:

Long Pepper

Flor de Garum

Colatura di Alici (Garum substitute)

Saba (Defrutum)

Asafoetida

Minutal Matianum (Roman Pork with Apples) original recipe (1st c.)

Sourced from De Re Coquinaria by Apicius, 1st century.

Put oil, garum, stock, chopped leek and cilantro and small ground meatballs in a pot. Chop previously cooked shoulder of pork with skin into cubes. Cook all together. Half-way through cooking add cored and diced Matian apples. While it cooks, grind pepper, cumin, cilantro and coriander seed, mint, and silphium root, pour in vinegar, honey, garum, defrutum, and some of the cooking liquid. Adjust the flavors with vinegar. Bring to a boil. Add broken tracta to thicken. Sprinkle pepper and serve. 

Modern Recipe

Based on De Re Coquinaria by Apicius (1st c.) and Max Miller’s version in his Tasting History video.

Ingredients:

Roasted Pork

Pork shoulder

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Honey

Pork and Apples

1 tbsp olive oil

3/4 lb (340g) ground pork or beef, shaped into 1” balls

1 cup chopped leek

1 cup (235ml) chicken stock, plus extra as needed

2 teaspoons garum*

Small handful chopped cilantro

1 lb (450g) roasted pork, cut into cubes

1 lb (450g) sweet apples, cored and cut into about 1” pieces

Sauce

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp chopped cilantro

1 tbsp coriander seeds

2 tsp chopped mint

4 long peppers or 1 tbsp of peppercorns

1/2 tsp asafoetida

1/4 cup (60ml) white wine vinegar

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp garum*

1/4 cup (60ml) defrutum**

1/4 cup (60ml) cooking liquid from the pork and apples

2 tsp starch or cornflour

*Garum was a fermented fish sauce that was used in a lot of ancient Roman cooking. You can buy a modern equivalent or use an Asian fish sauce.

**Defrutum was a 1/3 reduction of grape must. Today, Saba is pretty much the same thing. It can be expensive, so you can reduce some grape juice instead.

Method:

For the roasted pork: Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Line a baking sheet with foil, then place a roasting rack on top of it.

In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, salt, pepper, and honey. There should be enough to coat the pork roast. Adjust the amounts to your liking.

Brush the olive oil mixture onto the pork, then roast for 15 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 275°F (135°C) and cook for about an hour per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches at least 165°F (74°C).

For the pork and apples: Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add the meatballs and leeks and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they start to brown.

Deglaze the pot with the chicken stock and garum. Toss in the cilantro and roasted pork. Add enough additional chicken stock so that it covers the bottom of the pot.

Simmer for 15 minutes, adding more stock if necessary.

Add the apples, then cook for another 20 minutes or until the meatballs are fully cooked.

For the sauce: Grind the spices and herbs with a mortar and pestle, then put them in a saucepan with the liquid ingredients. Stir together and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat.

Mix the starch with a little water, then add it to the sauce. Simmer for a couple of minutes until it thickens.

To serve: Dish the pork and apples into a bowl, drizzle with the sauce, and serve it forth.

[goodluckclove]

clove, i have an intense personal problem to solve: what's for lunch? or dinner? my cooking repertoire lately has been limited to japanese food because i can have the sides all week and mains take like 10 minutes to prepare. but i feel like i need to branch out. so i pose to you a riddle (not really): what do you make when you're hungry, you have 15 minutes to cook, and roughly 1/4 teaspoon of energy with which to cook it?

See I was going to answer with some funny nonsense but this is actually a really important question. We all have to eat and we all have to eat something delicious otherwise life is significantly worse.

So like here are a few easy meals that I enjoy! I don't know the exact times because I'm usually vibing out to a podcast but I do know these all to be low effort in my eyes.

Eggy Potatoes

This is my go-to whenever I just want protein and carbs and good good flavors. It's also a major depression meal of mine and I don't usually make it for other people because it doesn't seem like a Real Meal but I made it for Riley and now it's their favorite thing for me to cook.

I take potatoes O'Brien and skillet fry them in like canola oil. Season those babies - I use garlic salt, pepper, red pepper, maybe some onion powder. Cajun seasoning or Old Bay is great if you have it. Anyways get it as crispy as you want.

From this point you can either whisk up a few eggs and add it to the cooked potatoes, or you can cook the eggs separately to your liking and add them to the top. Maybe add shredded cheese. Ketchup. Hot sauce. I'm not a cop.

Pasta Salad

This is a great way to meal prep. You can either make a bunch of pasta or buy the ready-made microwave pasta that comes in bag. Do what you have to do to get some cooked pasta. Drain and chill it in the fridge with a little bit of oil and some kind of brine (caper/olive/pepper).

Once it's chill add whatever toppings you want. Feta? Fuck yeah. Any other cheese? Sure. All sorts of veggies? Let's party. Shredded chicken/smoked salmon/cured meats? Boo-yah. Then you can dress it with either a vinegrette or like virtually any other dressing and you did it.

(those microwave pastas are fantastic for easy meals by the way. Add like olive oil and Parmesan and pepper and red pepper. Cut up some bacon or spam. Just pour like a vodka sauce over it. Yum yum.)

Charcuterie

When I can't think of what to eat I end up eating some form of charcuterie. I fucking love charcuterie.

I get three cheeses - a soft, a hard, and a medium. I like to mix my milks if I can. A spread of some kind is cool, like a mustard or a spicy jam. Maybe a seasoned butter.

Bread or crackers? I usually prefer cut bread. Like a nice Dutch Crunch. Crackers are good too though.

Also get some fruit. Cut up an apple. Carrot sticks or celery. Bam all the food groups.

I loved answering this I hope you eat something delicious.

[veliseraptor]

top 5 vegetables

how strictly are we calling "vegetables" here? are potatoes a vegetable because they're a root vegetable? or do they not count?

I ended up leaving them off because it sort of felt like cheating, which meant also leaving off sweet potatoes, but I would like it to be known that they are here in spirit.

carrots. most of the vegetables on this list I like roasted more than anything else, and that is also true here, but I will simply eat a bunch of raw baby carrots sometimes. not with anything on them. just the carrots.

green beans. roasted or sauteed, or even steamed, with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper? mm, delicious.

arugula. the king of leafy greens.

butternut squash. preferably either in soup form or roasted.

bell pepper. another one that's great roasted but I will also just eat raw on its own and enjoy it. many peppers are good but bell peppers are the only one I'll just eat straight and unadorned and I feel like that deserves some kind of award.

[who-scrambled-my-ocs]

Eggs

This started as fave egg recipes and devolved into anything involving “egg” XD

Also not everyone’s on here cause some didn’t inspire anything really interesting. I can add if asked B)

-

Neora: Living in Arcaelys, the land of the elves, most of her experiences have been with sweet foods and dishes. Beyond cakes and patisserie, she rarely gets variety in egg dishes. She thus doesn’t often cook it for herself and prefers alternatives during breakfast like toast with jams and butters.

However, on her visits to her mother she has often been treated to highly savoury foods like egg curry, egg chatamari, and the highly popular spicy fried boiled eggs which has left her with a nostalgic craving each time she heads back home with her dad. Her dad has occasionally requested herbs in order to make it as the occasional treat for them both during special occasions as she grew up. One of the few Arcaelys raised elves who often eats savoury foods

-

Tireal: similar palette to his daughter Neora, if perhaps more elven inclined. Enjoys sweet egg dishes greatly and is less prepared for the spicy dishes his ex-wife prepared for him and their daughter, often being left red faced and wheeze-laughing through tears as his littol girl giggled at his silly face, smiling fond at the chuckles of his former partner

-

Evan: Scrambled, he likes to crack the eggs straight in the pan and toss the shells in one swift move, which has been upgraded to Taren the moss-fae-fox snatching em up midair to crunch on as excellent fertiliser for his fur, much to Evan’s amusement.

Evan himself will continue to shake and agitate the eggs until they’re fluffy with light crunchy bits in between, adding some thyme, salt and pepper to the mix. If he’s making breakfast meat with it, he’ll use the oil of that to fry said eggs in

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Sia: Usually sunny side up. But doesn’t even actually like eggs all that much, and has had the existential crises thought of wondering if that’s because she’s technically a Mythical Bird

However that thought was quickly confuddled upon observing little Raspberry absolutely going to town on an egg, pecking and chipping it to smithereens, gulping it down faster than she could think, and then watching Raspberry fly off into the sunrise to build another nest. An experience which has left her with a whirlwind of thoughts about biology, life, magic, her own self, and what it all means in the grand scheme of things despite Fate not existing.

Drowns her sunny side up eggs in cinnamon now so she does not have to go through another existential rabbit hole while eating breakfast with everyone present. Can’t think about eggs when ya can’t taste em. Hehe…

-

Felix: An absolute feast at his theìa’s house, scrambled eggs with tomatoes fried in olive oil, oregano, basil and crumbled feta on top. Something he’d devoured in a hurry with his brother and cousins, before rushing out the door to play as his mama and theìa gossiped the hot day away, a full stomach warming his thin frame as dust swirled around his running feet.

Something he took so greatly for granted, as all kids do, and shed tears over when he ate again at his theìa’s house many, many years later. Felix’s soft spot is food, and the feeling of being finally satiated after a meal is a feeling he treasures dearly with every spoonful of delicious kayanas and his theìa fussing over him

-

Lucas: Despite appearances, Lucas is as much an excellent cook as his husband is, considering he learned much from him. His literal sea life diet of raw fish and unfortunate human flesh has long been put aside for more, palatable sushi and richer, livelier, Chosen prey.

As thus, he has learned to cook his meals with a patience that is almost reverent as he carefully lowers eggs in perfectly cooked sauce, poaching them to a perfect consistency. Uova All’inferno, Eggs in purgatory in Italian, and yes, he still enjoys gulping them whole with an amused irony at the name as he considers his own nature. But its rich and warm and perfectly done, and he savours every moment of it

-

Bruno: Frittata al tartufo, Uova All’inferno, Frittata di zucchine, Deviled eggs, etc etc etc. He’s had so many egg dishes he’s long lost count of all he’s tried, and all he’s made uniquely his own. With so many recipes, one would expect something fancy and rich and over the top to be his favourite, no?

Surprisingly, it’s the simple dish that captures his interest best here. A simple sunny side up, cooked very similar to Lucas’s own purgatory poached eggs, heaped with flavourful ingredients on the side true. But the simple egg yolk is allowed to shine as it practically melts over the rest of the dish, adding a rich flavouring only the basics sometimes can give, being a spotlight on their own.

-

Lewis: Easter eggs. As a baker and pattiserier he would often spent countless hours painting food safe dyes onto chocolate eggs, placing a basket up front of his shop for the kids to come and choose one out of.

Had an extra special batch he’d make just for Mairae and her kids, blushing greatly as he offered the sweet strawberry filled treats to the trio and sighing fondly as they left his shop, happy for the rest of the day (but no he definitely wasn’t in love. Definitely not. No no)

-

Flint and Rho: Both love a good hard boiled egg, with Flint chomping into it and eventually eating it straight whole as he grows bigger than the egg. Rho will take sweet little bites, and make happy smacks and coos in between each nibble

-

Yarrow: Who cares about what Sia and Evan’s deadbeat dad liked? But for lore sake it will be said, he never learned to properly cook. Mooched off his parents spoiling and complained constantly about everything put on his plate to them. “Praised” Mairae highly on her learning how to cook human dishes early in the relationship while simultaneously chipping at her self confidence with passively hurtful comments, knowing full well what he was doing.

Rotten fucking egg through and through

-

Juliette: *spoilers. Reminder to add once introduced*

-

Denise *spoilers. Reminder to add once introduced*

-

Seth: *spoilers. Reminder to add once introduced*

[sniffanimal]

Hey boss do you have an actual recipe for that gyro bowl? Or do you just cook by vibes? Literally have been thinking about that thang for a whole day, lol

So, I've cooked *similar* things from recipe but I was going off pure vibes alone, BUT I can type up what I did in a sort of recipe-esque format for you! This may not be 1:1 exactly what I cooked, but it might be close?

Recipe for Donnie's Gyro Bowl below:

Ingredience (amount of each fed 3 people in excess, so maybe 4 servings?):

1lb Ground Lamb (can be omitted for a vegetarian friendly recipe, or changed for Protein Of Choice)

2 roma tomatoes

1 cucumber

1 zucchini

2 cans of chickpeas

1 large white onion

Dill weed (I ended up having to get dry, but fresh is better!)

Pearl Couscous (1 box, was roughly 2 cups of dry couscous)

greek yogurt (1 little cup of it)

1 lemon, or a decent amount of lemon juice

white wine vinegar

feta

"tuscan seasoning blend" which seems to be mostly basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, garlic, and fennel.

"taco seasoning" which I used mostly for its cayenne, i would have liked to use paprika and cayenne together instead of relying on taco mix

Garlic powder (again, would have liked at least minced garlic if not fresh)

onion powder

red pepper flakes

Olive oil, butter, salt, and pepper

preheat oven to 400f. Dice tomato and zucchini (keeping them separate), and halve then slice thinly the onion. Zest and halve the lemon then juice into a bowl/cup. Dice half the cucumber, then grate the other half on the medium/large size holes on a box grater (or really finely chop it into mush).

Put the diced cucumber and half the tomatoes in a bowl and add half a cup of white wine vinegar and some warm water. Add a few tsp of lemon juice, salt, pepper, and Dill. Allow to quick pickle while everything else cooks.

drain chickpeas well and mix in a bowl with olive oil and what feels like the right amount of tuscan seasoning and taco mix powder. the peas should look well coated but not like Caked with Seasoning. Toss to mix and then spread out in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for ~25 minutes depending on your oven. They might make popping sounds while cooking, be not afraid.

Melt a little butter in a pot and then add the couscous to toast it a bit before adding the same amount in water and then a little extra, maybe 1/4 cup extra. Stir in a generous amount of garlic and onion powders and boil for uhhh a bit until all the water has been absorbed. If couscous is undercooked and all the water is absorbed then add some more and cook until done. Keep warm until ready to serve.

In another pan, melt a bit more butter then add the lamb, stirring to break it up and brown it. I added a lot of the seasonings in different amounts, and some chili pepper flakes. Once cooked through, add half the tomato to cook with it. Once the tomato is soft and the lamb is fully cooked, remove from the pan and keep warm.

To the ~juices~ from the cooked lamb in the pan, add the zucchini and onion and cook well until the zucchini is soft and charred and the onions are soft. Season with Salt, Pepper, and Dill. Add more butter or oil if you didn't have any animal fats left over from meat.

To the greek yogurt, add the shredded cucumber, some lemon juice, dill, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and taste to see if it's balanced.

To serve, put a layer of couscous at the bottom of the bowl, followed by chickpeas, the meat mix, the cooked veggies, the cucumber tomato salad, and then tzatziki sauce. Top with crumbled feta cheese.

The dish has such a mix of great flavors and textures and temperatures and heat and cream and lemon sour and its all just really really delicious. It did take maybe 40 minutes for me to cook but was soooooo worth it new favorite thing to cook for people.

Also if you were wondering, I went to the grocery store to buy everything I needed to make it more or less and it was about $35 and fed 3-4. The real expensive parts were the dill and the lamb, so those comprised $20 of it. If you already have dill, and omit or change the meat, it's a lot cheaper. Also its 2024 and groceries are expensive as hell.

[midnightjamlady]

My DIY grain bowls

One of my favorite lunches to make (for myself) are grain bowls. It’s essentially a mishmash of a protein, some veggies and maybe shrooms, and a grain. Or to put it bluntly, it’s ang mo cai png lah. 😂

I finally found some bulgur wheat for cheap on my trip to Sydney and of course I hauled some back. Yes, people travel and do luxury or fashion shopping, I go to Woolies.

I had some leftover supermarket rotisserie chicken today, and that was the perfect excuse to put my new grains to use. This grain bowl contains: shredded roast chicken, Brussels sprouts, celery, oyster mushrooms, and bulgur wheat that I dressed in a faux beurre blanc sauce (more on that below).

For my grain bowls, I cook each ingredient separately, then dress them together at the end. It is actually less work than it sounds, in that I use a single technique and one pan to do the cooking consecutively. For all the veggies and shrooms, it’s just olive oil, salt, pepper - the key is in the correct application of heat to extract maximum flavors. I don’t wash the pan in between as it’s just oil, but I do wipe down with kitchen paper towel to remove any bits of food that’s stuck to avoid burning them in the next round of cooking.

I start with Brussels sprouts. Olive oil in a hot pan, throw in shredded Brussels sprouts and toss to coat thoroughly in oil. Then let it sit on high heat, and stirring occasionally only to prevent burning but you do want the leaves to brown - it’ll smell nutty and you know it’s going alright. Once done, remove all into a large mixing bowl.

Then it’s the celery. This doesn’t need browning but you do want to cook it just enough so it isn’t too raw but also not too done such that it’s soft and soggy. So this is pretty quickly done on high heat - almost like a Chinese stir fry, except to keep this dish dry, I don’t add water as there’s already a bit of moisture from the celery itself that would evaporate and lightly steam/cook the veggie. Dump into mixing bowl once done.

For the shrooms, use whatever you like. I find oyster and maitake mushrooms to be more satiating than button mushrooms. Like the Brussels sprouts, what matters most in cooking delicious mushrooms is high heat, lots of oil, generous salting, and resist mucking about in the pan and just let them sit to brown nicely. Rake them over occasionally to prevent burning. Again, they go into the mixing bowl once cooked.

Because my leftover chicken were refrigerated, I threw them into the pan to heat up gently. As the pan is already oiled and the chicken skin has fats, I don’t add oil at this stage. Remove when warm - be careful to not overcook and dry them out. I generally keep the heat on low for this stage.

While I was doing the shrooms, I also concurrently started cooking the bulgur wheat. I used 1/2 cup for 4 servings as I don’t like a lot of carbs - feel free to use more if you’d like. Follow instructions on the packet - mine said boil in water for 10 mins and drain. You just need to ensure the grain is cooked before you start the sauce.

Now the sauce. I call it a faux beurre blanc because while I used a technique typical of beurre blanc, I thin it significantly so that it’s more of a dressing than a thick creamy sauce, and I keep the shallots for texture. In a true beurre blanc sauce for seafood, the shallots are strained out so you get a smooth velvety cream. Anyway, away from the French kitchen and back here in reality — as there were some bits of chicken skin stuck to the pan from the stage before this, I deglazed it with some sherry vinegar, add a little bit of water, then added finely diced shallots to sauté. When the shallots are near done, turn the heat down super low, then add cubes of cold butter (one cube at a time, not all at once), and whisk gently until you get a thin sauce. If it’s too thick, just add a bit of water to thin it. Once done, throw in the cooked bulgur wheat to soak up the dressing, and add some chopped chives or parsley too (optional). Remember to salt the sauce especially if you butter is unsalted.

After this, it’s just a matter of mixing all the cooked ingredients well in the big bowl, then serve and enjoy. The butter sauce made this just decadent enough to obviously not qualify as a healthy meal, but enough to make this more than a boring, everyday plate of grub. The crunch and freshness of the celery also plays off well against the nutty Brussels sprouts and almost meat-like oyster shrooms. All in all a balanced meal that doesn’t feel mundane.

The health conscious ones among you might ask: can I use a different dressing and skip the butter sauce? Absolutely! My original plan was in fact to do a simple shallot vinaigrette but then I saw the butter in the fridge and that plan flew away. 😅

I made enough for 4 servings. But I’m the only one at home who eats like this, so it’s one for today and 3 more as packed lunches that I can take to work. I froze one and will see how that holds up.

Is this cheaper to DIY? Yes and no. It still costs me almost $5 per portion in ingredients to make this, so it isn’t a cheap lunch, and that’s why retail charges you $15 for a bowl. But I do this because I get to eat exactly what I want, and it is far tastier, and mostly because I do enjoy cooking and simple meals are all I have time for these days.

[littlehen]

Recipe: Warming Winter Vegetable Stew

This is my favourite cosy dinner recipe! I cook it often in the winter, it's delicious :)

This is a really tasty stew and easy to make. The flavour is tomatoey with some warming spices. It’s very versatile, put in whatever vegetables you like or need to use up. Vegan too. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil, 1 sliced carrot, 1 diced onion

Spices etc, put all these in a dish together so you can easily add them in: 1 crushed garlic clove, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp either paprika or baharat spice mix, salt and pepper

300-500g passata (i.e. a medium-sized carton, it would also work with a can of chopped tomatoes)

1 cubed large sweet potato, 425g tin kidney beans, 50g grains (e.g. pearl barley, quinoa, bulgur wheat, etc), 1 litre vegetable stock

100g savoy cabbage (or kale) with tough stems removed, roughly chopped or sliced in strips. (Or baby spinach, just needs less cooking)

handful of frozen peas, no need to defrost

To serve: nice bread, e.g. sourdough toast or spelt

Method:

Heat the oil in a casserole pot.

Add carrot and onion. Sauté for 5 mins over medium heat.

Add the dish of spices, cover the veg in the pan with the spices. Fry for about 1 min until fragrant (don't burn them!)

Add passata and simmer 5 mins (could add a tsp of sugar to cut through the tomato acidity. But I add peas at the end because they’re sweet: either way is good.)

Add sweet potato, kidney beans, grains and stock.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 mins until the sweet potato and grains are almost cooked.

Add cabbage, peas. Cook another 5 mins. (Or if using baby spinach, cook 3 mins until just wilted.)

Serve with a large chunk of bread to dip in.

Source: I googled vegetable stew recipes and got this one by Fearne Cotton [X], I have only modified it a little bit here to include ingredients I like. For example, I’m not a fan of kale and I think a dash of baharat spice mix really adds depth. (Another swap: the kidney beans and cabbage together can be a bit... windy. Spinach is just a bit lighter on the digestive system.) This time when I took the photos, I had sugarsnap peas in the fridge, so I chopped them up and used those instead of my usual peas. I also threw in some cubes of butternut squash.

🥓 For a carnivorous option, chop up some thick bacon and cook it in a frying pan and add it at the same time as the cabbage, or you could put sausages.

[indnwitch]

HOW THE FUCK DO I COOK THAT IM BROKE AS SHIT (HTFDICTIBASVV) , Master post:

[airfryerburrito]

What I cooked this weekend, hot weather edition

It's been scorcher after scorcher here, so I'm looking for ways to avoid turning on the oven: salads, spiralized vegetables, overnight oats, yogurt, no or minimal bake desserts. Here's what I prepped this weekend:

Zoodles

There was a sale on zucchini so I bought three and spiralized them. At dinner time I sautéed about half in sesame oil for 3 minutes. They were surprisingly good -- still firm, but cooked and tasty. Next time I'd cut them into shorter lengths. They go with anything you'd put in pasta or noodles.

Black bean brownies with dried cherries

These required a little baking, but under 20 minutes. I followed this recipe. I didn't have quick oats so I just pulsed regular rolled oats a few times before adding the rest of the ingredients to the food processor. I also added a half cup of dried cherries, which were delicious in the dense chocolate.

It doesn't call for eggs, so they're easy to make both gluten-free and vegan (with vegan chocolate chips). I'm also enjoying this chickpea cookie dough.

Balsamic farro salad with edamame and cranberries

Not gluten-free, unfortunately, but it can be if you swap out the farro for brown rice. I saw this recipe in Erin Clarke's Well Plated cookbook and I wanted to try it out. I cooked the farro in the Instant Pot and then dressed it with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Then I mixed in thawed edamame, dried cranberries, green onions, and feta. I'm eating it for lunch both by itself and in a wrap.

Blackberry-strawberry chia jam

This one was a bit of an accident. I bought blackberries and when I got them home, I realized they were quickly turning to mush. So I put them in a pot with some strawberries, water, vanilla, and maple syrup. I was planning to make them into one of Amy Chaplin's berry compotes. I noticed a recipe note in her book about adding chia seeds to make jam, so I did that: brought it to a boil, let it simmer for 5 minutes, and then took it off the heat and stirred in a quarter cup of chia seeds. It's a little watery to be classified as jam, but I've already eaten it as a jammy overnight oats topping.