i finally made a cover for the outside table.

i keep thinking about the wonderful food we had in lisbon... the day we went to the Gulbenkian, we didnt have to wander very far to find a place to lunch. two places, really. a vegetarian place and an african place. it was a tough choice. a few kind strangers exited the african place and told us it was amazing. and so, we went for it. it was a tiny joint and quite crowded. the daily menu was simple--a meat dish, a fish dish, and a i-cant-remember dish.

i got a spicy tuney fish plus rice and beans dish. the rice and beans were so perfectly spiced and the super spicy fish was fried in dough.

the other day, christian made some leek soup so i decided to make us some baked tuna pockets to go with that.


i used:
1 can tuney fish
handful of fresh parsley
2 large spoons of plain yogurt
a few good shakes of piri piri
pâte à strudel

the dough i used was a bit dry and quite fragile. i put all the ingredients together and divided the tuna mixture up into even lumps and wrapped it in dough. we baked it at 190 for about 20 minutes.

while the dough was quite different than what i had for lunch, it had the right crunch. i was pleased. but mostly, i was excited that the flavor of the fish rang true.

but, for me, a highlight of the week was when the sun came out and we got to eat on the balcony without freezing. the light on the mountains was a gorgeous pink, the trees were happily growing...

and we ate stuffed eggplant with salad and roasted mushrooms. and beer.

first, i cut into the eggplant and sprinkled them with salt. the salt encourages all the water to flee the eggplant, making for a silkier roasted veggie. i let them sit for about a half hour before prepping them with oil and roasting them for about another half an hour at 220 degrees.

once the eggplants cooled, i scooped out their guts.

i combined leeks, chopped sundried tomatoes, and cottage cheese... then added the eggplant guts.

into the oven they went! after about 15 minutes, i added a slice of mozzarella cheese to the top and let them continue baking for about another 15 minutes.

i also roasted mushrooms with garlic and parsley.

deeeee-lish.

the mister also made some bolognaise this weekend (i made some tvp crumbles), and chocolate mousse.


plus he surprised me with some tulips.

but did i mention the chocolate mousse?


chocolate mousse.

we both love soup.

the glorious glorious sun hung out for a few days. i thought, at LAST! and then it ran away. boo.

however, the disappearance of the sun did not deter me from making my favourite sunshine salad: broccoli, orange tofu, and coconut milk quinoa. served with or without greens, and with or without other fruits and veggies, it's a delightful and crunchy salad.

gather:
250 ml coconut milk (roughly a cup)
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
broccoli
tofu

orange juice, maple syrup, soy sauce, ginger

it's best to let the tofu hang out in the marinade for at least 30 minutes if not overnight.  make sure to press out the water first otherwise it wont soak up any of the orangey flavour.  my method is to slice the tofu and then lay it on a tea towel.  fold the towel over once, and twice and then press firmly with your hands.

i use about a half cup of orange juice and a few tbsps of syrup plus a generous splash of soy sauce (and sliced ginger goodness, if we have some).

the tofu is stacked in a plastic box--one with a tight seal so i can flip it after a time to make sure the tofu sops up as much as it can.

once the tofu is swimming, i prep the quinoa and lightly steam the broccoli. when both the quinoa and broccoli are cool, i bake the tofu (or pan fry if im feeling frisky) at 175/350 for about 20 minutes.


broccoli is chopped and mixed with the quinoa, cooled tofu is sliced and added, and whatever fruits or veggies are floatin around. for this round, i used grapes. i was going to add a plum but i ate it.



for lunch the next day i made soup. we had a mountain of leeks from my mother-in-law, so i roasted them all with some greek oregano, save a few, and made some stock with the leeks, onion, bayleaf, and astragalus root.

i added the stock to the roasted leeks, threw in some potatoes, and let that simmer for a while. then i used the immersion blender and that was that.

then i made chocolate chip cookies. because... chocolate chip cookies. i used the same recipe ive used before save the yogurt. i used bourbon instead.

bourbon.