My short lived obession with couscous salad.

This summer has been one of sweltering heat.  I am fortunate enough to be living on top of a barber shop this summer - albeit one that is open only two days a week - but these are two glorious days of the week, because the air conditioning that comes from downstairs seems to miraculously leak into my unit.

However, the other five days are pretty torturous, and I have found myself escaping to Starbucks far too often not just for their internet or coffee, but for their air conditioning.  The heat has also discouraged me from using any appliance that will produce heat of any sort - in short, I use the stove or oven as little as possible (which is kind of gross when you think of it - I will have you know that I have not been living solely off microwaveable foods!)  Rather, I ate a whole lot of salad for two weeks straight. Specifically, couscous salad.

Growing up in a Chinese household, I never had heard of couscous until I was probably eighteen. If I let my parents try it now, I highly doubt they would know what it is.  However, I soon discovered its goodness in so many forms!  Having couscous as one of the main components of my salad made them more filling (breakfast-lunch-and-dinner material!), not to mention it was extremely quick to prepare, and was extremely refreshing to eat during a hot day.

Generally, my salad consisted of:

• cooked couscous (1-2 cups - prepared according to package0
• cherry tomatoes, diced
• cucumber, diced
• corn kernels
• lemon juice
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar

Mix it all together and TADA, an oh-so-delicious salad! 

STIRFRY UDON NOODLES

This is a savory and rather salty meatless dish with chewy udon noodles, tofu, snow peas, red pepper and oyster flavored sauce.

Stir fried vegetables with noodles has always been one of my favorite foods, ever since I was a kid, and my dad would whip up a savory stirfry noodle dish to go along with congee for brunch on Sunday mornings.   I was probably nine or ten the first time I tried Udon noodles (a fat, chewy Japanese noodle) and my most vivid memory on the subject of udon noodles (aside from the fact that I've always loved them) is my nine year old classmates squealing at me that I was eating worms while I was eating my lunch of udon noodles in peace while they were eating their 'lunchables' and PB&J sandwiches ..... Anyway, the great thing about strifry's is that you can put just about anything in them and they will still taste delicious, as well as being super easy and fast to make.

You will need:

Also, missing from the above list - you'll also need snowpeas (or another vegetable of your choosing, say brocolli!) and a few dollops of oyster sauce, as well as salt and pepper to taste.   Since it's a stir-fry, the quantities of everything is basically to your choosing, whatever vegetable-to-noodle ratio you'd prefer.

THE NOODLES:

The problem I've had with stir-frying udon noodles in the past is that they're quite dry and tend to break apart into a billion pieces when I'm trying to incorporate it with the vegetables and such.  What I did this time, and what I'd recommend is to soak them in boiling water for a few minutes before adding them to the vegetables in order to loosen them up first. 

THE STIR FRY:

1. In a pan, add oil and chopped up green onions, cook over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until you can smell the onions.
2. Add chopped up tofu, salt and pepper, as well as a few spoonfuls of oyster sauce.  Stir continuously, until tofu is coated with oyster sauce, for about 4 minutes.
3. Add snow peas and red pepper to the stir fry, cook for about 5 or 6 minutes.  
4. Add udon noodles that you have previously soaked (drain them first) to the stir fry - add more oyster sauce for a stronger flavor.  Cook for another 3 minutes or so (just eye-ball it, really).  
5. Top with chopped up green onion as well as crushed peanuts. 

a last glimpse of montreal

goodbye roommates!

some photos.

I came to the horrific realization recently that I haven't had to charge my camera battery in what feels like more than two months.   The sad conclusion I drew was that I hardly take photos anymore; something I surely hope to change in the coming summer months!  However, something I do enjoy doing (especially when at times like this when it seems impossible to fall asleep) is going through old photos. I did some mass-editing of some photos that I feel are a good representation of this past year: various room rearrangements, too much studying at mcintyre medical building, lots of dirty dishes, almost as much cooking, my roommate, my other roommate, a spoon apparently, a brief obsession with chai tea, brief attempts at being organized and using my planner, zach-newburgh scandals, my first student protest (lolz), far too much time spent on campus. 

exam season.

Again I find myself with a convoluted internal clock due to the lifestyle that is my sleep deprived self during finals!  I realize the subject of this blog however, is not my poor sleeping habits but rather - my food habits! I have been eating a steady supply of kraft dinner, instant noodles and - what's that? - yes, sadly, grilled cheese for breakfast.  I couldn't remember the last time I had consumed any real vegetables of any sort due to the fact that I've been living in the library or a coffee shop (neither of which supply a wealth of leafy greens) but I did settle for some salad earlier tonight.  I guess I'm writing this with the assumption that you will somehow find my recent dietary habits fascinating!  However, I did whip up some linguine last week before I started living strictly off packaged carbs.   The weather has recently gotten extremely beautiful and I think pasta can be a very summery dish depending on what you decide to put in it - or rather, what you don't decide to put in it!  This linguine was actually quite tasty without any tomato sauce! 

On another unrelated note, there is nothing to get you through the misery of exams like the consoling voice of Sufjan Stevens!   I recently stumbled across this gem of a song that I had forgotten about for a while; it was a song he had written (presumably, 'for' sofia copolla) many years ago during his time in college. 

here's to cliche posts & cliche inspirations: tim walker.

Although I'll admit to being less than familiar with the plethora of big-name photographers out in the world, what I do regularly do is drool over the work of Tim Walker whenever I happen to stumble upon it, which is pretty often.  I realize most people are quite familiar with his photographs, but I just can't help but have a post devoted to a few of his photos because they have a very distinct character - stunning and other worldly.   I think the best photographs are enjoyed simply because no words can be put to describe why they're so beautiful - or maybe I'm just lacking a way with words.

miniature tomato quiches.

Last night, I came across a recipe for Ina Garten's tomato/goat cheese tarts, thought to myself: "these look incredibly tasty!", pointed excitedly at my laptop screen to show my roommate, but realized I was missing a lot of ingredients.  Being in my tomato-obsessed phase, I went to bed thinking about tomatoes, and these tarts (life is pretty thrilling!) When I woke up this morning (or afternoon, rather...eek), I instantly felt the need to make something similar to those delicious looking tarts.  Being someone who is generally too lazy to follow recipes by the book anyway, I searched through my fridge in an attempt to create something remotely similar.  I remembered I still had a pie crust left over from the last time my roommates and I had attempted to make a quiche (with great success, unless you consider the fire that occurred in our oven which could have been more than dangerous) - and decided to make miniature quiches instead.   I had no idea how I'd end up making them, but surprisingly, it turned out to be a pretty simple process, and they turned out looking like somewhat normal. 

Here's a rough idea of what I ended up doing: 

Ingredients:

• 1 egg, beaten, with a pinch of salt added, and a tablespoon or so of milk 
• 1 store bought pie crust
• 2 tomatoes, sliced.
• goat cheese

Using a cup or some other container with a cylindrical shape, flip the cup upside down and use it as a cookie-cutter to cut the pie dough into small circles.

Spray a muffin pan with Pam, or butter/grease it.  Press the small pieces of dough into each (and here is where my lack of food-related expertise comes in. I have no idea what these things are called) muffin hole (?).   I think I made about ten using one pie crust.

Add a bit of the beaten egg mixture into each miniature pie crust.

Add a slice of tomato on top of the egg mixture.

Sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees Farenheit (give or take 50 degrees... our oven is a bit unreliable. so is my memory) for about 10 - 15 minutes. (Again, horrible memory).

breakfast.

Yesterday's breakfast consisted of three things I currently seem to be addicted to - avocado, eggs (sunny side up!) and most importantly - tomato.  For some unplaced reason, I can't stop eating them!  Everything I consume, be it meal or snack must contain some element of tomato.  Another lesson learned this past week: ciabatta bread is best enjoyed without being toasted, unless you want to severely scar the insides of your mouth with extremely sharp crust. 

potato & mushroom frittata.

I made this potato & mushroom frittata a few weeks ago as a sort of breakfast for dinner type meal.  I was initially inspired by a recipe I had come across on a food blog that I have since lost track of (ah, sorry!), but essentially, what was interesting about it was that it was a much more convenient way of making a frittata as it could be made on a stove top in a pan!

I realize that a lot of my attempts at cooking are rather ... experimental? (often producing horrible outcomes, of course) and I have a pretty terrible memory, which isn't really conducive to food blogging standards.   But from what I remember: ingredients included 5 or 6 beaten eggs, cheddar cheese, red potatoes (thinly sliced), chives (thinly sliced) mushrooms (surprise: thinly sliced!).  Fry all the ingredients except for the eggs in a pan with some oil, and add salt and pepper to taste. Then pour the beaten eggs and shredded cheese, on top.  Reduce the heat to a minimum. Cover the pan, and wait for the egg to cook.  Once the egg has fully cooked (it should take some time), remove from heat and let it cool.

Of course, my memory could be failing me, but ah well!

On an unrelated (but food-related!) note, I encourage all Montrealers to visit Fuschia | Epicerie Fleur, a really beautiful and quaint cafe with light and delicious food, with hints of flower incorporated into .... well, basically everything!  I live by an incredible amount of extremely enticing cafes and restaurants, this one being somewhere I had wanted to visit for a very long time, but somehow never got around it.  I am extremely glad to have done so!

so long, winter

 

 

 

Some photos from a disposable.  Right now life is full of happy thoughts about winter ending and an unhealthy ABBA obsession. Also, this post is dedicated to my wondrous roommate Logan who reminded me of this blog's existence, and is hopefully reading this (! lolz).

happy 'reading' week.