Saturday, May 23, 2009

the easiest veggie pasta

this is the kind of pasta i make for dinner when i'm studying and/or being busy doing all afternoon long (i.e. almost all the time in the weeks before exams.. it's like my most usual dinner i should say ahah)
it's almost impossible to make it bad and it requires very little cooking skills and it turns out delicious with many different kinds of vegetables (besides it produces very little stuff to clean afterwards eheh)

i dont have precise doses, it all depends on how much veggie you want with your pasta (in these "veggie maniac" periods i tend to put a lot more vegetables than pasta actually) and with some little tips it can turn into a really awesome dish.
so well.. put a good amount of water to boil, clean and cut your vegetables (it can be cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, potato, pumpkin, green beans.. whatever vegetables you like boiled) pick your fav shape of pasta.
when the water is boiling, salt and throw in the pasta and the vegetables (NB. check the cooking time of your shape of pasta and compare it to how many min it takes to boil your vegetable without coming out destroyed. then throw in the vegetables according to that!)
when the pasta is ready (much "al dente" so it doesnt overcook in the next passage) drain everything and throw it back in the saucepan with olive oil, chili pepper and whatever spices you like with it and/or parmesan cheese.

is it that simple? yes it is. if you want to enhance your pasta, you can easily prepare some good soffritto (sauteeing some onion and garlic in a frying pan for example) or something super yummy to mix your pasta and veggie in after draining.. i love to boil cubed potato with my pasta and on the side sautee some bacon and rosemary, or some rabbit bites with thyme and lemon grass mmh :D
i often make orecchiette with broccoli this way, completing with olive oil in abundance, chili pepper, garlic and grated hard ricotta cheese.

Friday, May 22, 2009

lemon twist

finally i put my paws on some of my beloved lemon twist infusion.. sounds like i'm promoting twinings of london, but this infusion is definitely great :D just lemon grass, lemon peel, lemon flavour and a little prange peel, hibiscus and rosehips.. awesomeness.
on a different note, allergy is choking me.. it takes me ages to fall asleep and when i wake up my windpipe's on fire and my nostrils are on strike (plus i sneeze like crazy ahah) i'm not too much into spring really.

for the rest, what.. studying like hell extremely exciting things that involve differential equations, drawing and getting some artsy inspiration i wish i'll follow up (i'm looking forward to some painting, just need to get my paws on my tools eheh) drinking lots of teas and listening to music i didnt listen to in a while.. man i was a huge fan of savage garden back in the day :D
btw i cut my hair again.. whenever i tell myself this time i'll let it grow, then i get some sudden frenzy and go for the mohawk again ahah

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

pancakes and potatoes

my veggie madness is not over yet.. sometimes i get this frenzy and buy tons of vegetables to fill up my fridge, hence for days i eat vegetables in any possible way eheh
last night i made some awesome gnocchi with zucchini and a light quick pesto made of brazilian nuts. chili pepper and fresh basil.. so good :D
for lunch instead i had a very nice potato pancake.. usually i have it sweet but this time i sprinkled fresh basil and chopped buffalo mozzarella and then folded it.
potato pancakes
i dont have a too precise recipe for this, but more or less this is how i make them
(makes 2)
2eggs
4tbsp flour
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cardamom
half a glass of milk
1potato (boiled and mashed)
1tsp butter
1tsp baking powder


Friday, May 15, 2009

tiny world

this little guy is living on my plant of sage.. i was impressed by how small yet perfectly detailed it is :)

i got a few aromatic plants lately.. sage, thyme, rosemary and basil.. i thought my bonsai would feel lonely all by itself eheh besides i'm utterly fond of fresh basil.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

book and a cup of tea

i love tea.
black, white, green, pu-erh, oolong, yellow, flavoured, infuses, rooibosch.. i tend to prefer loose leaf tea to compressed and the only tea in filters i drink is usually black flavoured vanilla of twinings of london (i'm so fond of that tea i wonder if i can find the loose leaf version.. i also love their lemon twist infuse, absolutely refreshing and tasty)
i usually have my tea with no sugar or other additions.. expect for the earl grey, which just calls for a cloud of milk or cream :D
i enjoy collecting nice containers and boxes for my teas, even though i cant find space enough to place as many of them as i'd like ^^ some of them are so cute.. same for teapots, i'm always forcing myself to not buy one more ahah

among the green teas, i have many faves i must admit.. i really enjoy some genmaicha right after dinner, that salty touch is so pleasant. i also like some flavoured bancha, i have a flowery one that never tires me.. as for the chinese i like jasmine chung feng a lot, let alone the everyday gunpowder special i drink a couple of cups a day :)

i'm a sucker for black teas like the already mentioned vanilla flavoured, the earl grey and the peach flavoured (i have a special peach and cream flavoured loose leaf tea by twinings that freaks me out eheh) i'm fond of the south african ntingwe kwazulu also, very particular and pleasant.

as for the white teas, i love the lin yun white downy and the xia zhou bi feng, so delicate.. and a good jasmine pearl.

i have tons of rooibos tea to drink in the evening (no caffeine and tannins is a very appreciable quality, besides it's rich in minerals and the taste is so good) or iced in the summer.. about this one, the only flavoured version i like is honey and vanilla.

i have some pretty good infuses of other kind also, even though some of them are more of a natural remedy (eucalyptus i need for the sinusitis for example)

said this, just a few pics on the subject :)


hojicha

ntingwe kwazulu

gunpowder special

genmaicha

eucalyptus

jasmine pearl

flowery bancha