It's been a bit of a momentous week for Lolz and I, gastronomically speaking. Not just because Lolz cooked for once (chilli - delish - 9/10 I'd say), but because the one thing I'd been looking forward to most about co-habiting finally happened.
Yes, that's right, we got an Abel & Cole veg box! I'd always been tempted to get one, but I knew that living on my own and cooking for myself I would not do it justice. Now that I'm spending more time and effort on cooking we decided to take the plunge. It felt a bit like Christmas as we opened the box on Tuesday morning and discovered a plethora of organic produce including carrots, potatoes, onions, broccoli, Chinese leaf, oranges, apples and bananas. I have no intention of becoming a full-blown veggie, but Jamie Oliver, amongst others, has been extolling the health, environmental and financial virtues or being an occasional vegetarian and maybe, with the help of our weekly box of surprises, we will start reaping those benefits.
Anyway, it was a bit of a last minute decision to do a 15 minute meal today and this was literally one of the first recipes that I came upon as I flicked through the book before heading to work. Pasta is always a good option for a weekday evening and this seemed to use a few of the remaining contents of our veg box, so it was a no-brainer really. By the time I started cooking, I had done a seven and a half mile run and witnessed a nail-biting finish to THFC v Inter Milan in the Europa League, so was physically and emotionally drained. It was therefore lucky that the recipe did not look too taxing - incredibly all cooking would take place on one stove ring!
It turned out to be one of the more inventive recipes I have attempted so far. I would never think of using raw, grated broccoli in a salad, but, mixed with the crunchy carrot and creamy avocado it creates some interesting texture sensations. The pasta sauce is basically a low-fat pesto, which contains only a tablespoon of oil (about a third of what you'd expect in a standard pesto recipe I believe) without compromising any flavour. It's very different to the other pasta dishes I have tried so far - they were robust and powerful, whereas this was much more subtle and delicate, but I thought the flavours all combined brilliantly. The dried chilli (which I only managed to find in the Lebanese supermarket!) added just the right amount of kick. The pine nuts (which may have been slightly over toasted...) added a nice crunch. And there was some left over for a Friday lunch.
Lolz gave the dish 8/10. There was something about the sauce that she didn't really like - I'm not sure what exactly - maybe she can elaborate in a comment? Difficulty rating 2/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment