Oven Roasted Vegetables

Possibly, roasting might be the easiest method to cook tasty food. Certainly, some people will whine about roasting meats- how difficult it is. If we are being honest, how difficult is it to put a salt-and-peppered chicken on a roasting pan and letting it cook until golden? It isn’t! Right? Easier, still, is roasting vegetables. This particular combo took all of 10 minutes.

Clues: Clean and pat dry whichever vegetables you want to eat. In a roasting tray, drizzle vegetables with oil, salt and pepper. You may add various other herbs, such as oregano, or even include a few whole garlic cloves. Mix together and roast in a preheated hot oven for a few minutes until done to your liking. I had my oven at its maximum, 250 degrees Celcius.

Bon appetit.

Zucchini Gratin

Gratinéed zucchini is so tasty. I have done a potato and zucchini gratin which was so good. This one, sans starchy potatoes, may be more appealing to the waist conscious. That aside, i like caramelized foods. Caramelized vegetables produce delicious sugars that result in incredibly pleasurable feelings in the mouth.

Clues: Slice zucchinis, arrange in a baking dish, salting the layers as you go. Pour enough heavy cream to cover the zucchini. You may sprinkle some cheese atop for necessary comfort. Bake at 180 degrees celcius until golden.

Voila. Bon appetit.

Baby Spinach & Grilled Zucchini Salad

This salad was the beeswax. It is simple and packed to the bone with flavor: just my type. The baby spinach was my own that I grew on a pot and if I do say so myself, it was and is the best baby spinach I ever set upon my palate. Yes. The difference between truly fresh food and pretend fresh food (supermarket fresh) is mind blowing. Maybe maddening.

I had zucchini overload. My friend Ruthy and I, tired of sad supermarket groceries, went out seeking a market and we discovered a vibrant one. I almost tripped when I saw a woman selling plump zucchini at 10 shillings. I stocked up. So inevitably, stand by for another zucchini bake.

Since it was zucchini which is a heartier vegetable, I changed up the dressing from the usual lemon and olive oil to a mustard based one. The recipe follows.

Oven Roasted Carrots w/ Feta and Spring Onions

If you have never roasted carrots in the oven or on a grill, I am here to blow your mind. Here’s one interesting thing about vegetables: cooking them certain ways such as by roasting brings out their sweetness incredibly. Every time I caramelize onions on the stove top I am massively surprised by the abundance of natural sweetness present. A first timer would never believe there was no sugar added. Peas too, would blow your mind.

These carrots were almost too sweet for my non sweet tooth. Therefore I found the addition of feta to be a wonderful one for balance and contrast in flavor. To serve, I had it as a side with a meaty main, though you could easily build on it to come up with a decent, light, hopefully vegetarian meal.

The recipe follows.

Recipe: Quick & Easy Pasta Salad

I often wonder what and how other people eat at their homes. Do Kenyans like the idea of pasta, aside from spaghetti and meatballs?

I have been trying to minimize my meat consumption, specifically beef, so the less I eat it, the less I miss it.

I cook relatively often at my house, so I can appreciate the idea of a quick and easy meal. Pasta is great for that as you can have a meal in under 15 minutes.

In my quest to include more raw food in our diet, often met with protests from a carnivorous brother, I am happy to avoid the use of heat on vegetables whenever I can. Here the onions and peppers are consumed raw. People who dislike the idea of consuming raw onions should consider quick pickling. The result of this dish is a light but filling meal, thanks to fiber filled raw veg and a light lemon dressing.

The recipe follows.

Tomato & Onion Pizza

If the food pics on my blog are anything to go by, it seems as though I am making breads and pizza and cake almost everyday. In my mind I am questioning whether everyone is questioning my eating habits as I still claim to eat relatively healthy. Tell me if you are. But beloved, it is a mystery to me as well. I want to say I am in a funk, but I am not, really. Discovering that bread making is not as difficult as we thought it was, and discovering that bread companies have been ripping us off- economically and taste-wise, these cause a paradigm shift in a foodie’s life. Try bread making once on a dull Sunday. I promise, you will not look back. Or want to. You wouldn’t, if time was a non factor.

Fattening but delicious bread aside, it seems I like the idea of juxtaposing a bottle and glass of wine in my shots, a necessary component. I am just giving my readers my hundred percent. Which is that I consume copious amounts of wine whenever I allow myself to. Ha.

The pictured pizza has become my absolute favorite. Previously, I was a dedicated meat deluxe girl. But slowly, now, meat is over-rated, I find. Well seasoned delicious tomatoes and onions are my topping of choice and I won’t be mad at chicken subscribers. Great food is really just about great ingredients. That is the big secret. I have been trying my hand at gardening and- so far, I have been successful with herbs- with no prior experience whatsoever. I can tell you that the baby spinach I planted was the best damn spinach I ever ate! The taste is completely different, and fresh. So delicious, you would die. A dressing was not necessary. I am ready and willing to try my hand at growing tomatoes, specifically heirloom ones. That would make me very happy as tomatoes are now my favorite thing to eat.

As the holidays are here, I hope to see more food pictures on social media. Let’s nom unapologetically.

Sesame Spaghetti w/ Garlic French Beans

This is my new favorite quick week-night meal. And pasta can be quite boring, but I find sesame seeds and oil really take it to flavor town.

Enjoy this recipe and do share your results if you do make it.

Green Pea and Mushroom Lasagne

I made this vegetarian lasagne dinner a few weeks ago and well, it was goood. Better than my non vegetarian version i’m afraid. Vegetarianism has for some time charmed me; I am blaming my non-success on my African roots and by extension, me being surrounded by carnivores. That’s the other name for Africans. Don’t hate me. Ha. Red meat is disgusting to me now. I only have chicken and fish cravings now, which is so welcome. (Even though I really want to talk about the juicy burger I made recently over which I had multiple eye rolls and orgasms, it was very good). My skin is doing better, a fact I have convinced myself has absolutely nothing to do with my new face cream, no, but everything to do with my new eating habits.

The wine pictured is a 2010 South African Cabernet Sauvignon from Openers which retailed for less than a thousand bob. Not bad, that wine, but not very exciting either.