Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Tasty foods!

Woo hoo! I'm cooking again! Like, really cooking!

Jonathan and I have been eating home fries and veggie burgers as a primary dinner option for the past month and a half or so to save money for our trip. This is excellent, as he and I both LOVE home fries and veggie burgers. I'm pretty sure I make the best home fries in the world. Combined with my favorite organic ketchup...oh, man...don't get me started. But I really like to cook a lot. And in summer I don't get to cook much because our apartment gets hot and I'm already hot and it's sweaty and cooking just doesn't always sound like fun. So I'm really excited that fall is coming because it means I get to cook again. Also very important is that soup is my favorite thing to cook (maybe you knew that?) and Jonathan doesn't want to eat soup in the summer because it "doesn't sound good." Well, hah! It's cooler weather now and Brittany is making soup!

I made shabu shabu soup the other night. I originally got the recipe from a magazine sometime a year or so ago and now I can't find the magazine page I ripped out and I can't even remember what magazine it was. Boy, how's that for excitement? So I'm going to write down what I usually do when I make this and I assure you it's good.

Above: First veggie part simmering. Mushies, onions, garlic, carrots.
Below: Foods that go in last.


(YES. You get crappy cellphone photos of food. I never said I was a fancy food blogger.)

Britt's Version of Someone Else's Shabu Shabu Soup

Step 1: I drizzle olive oil in a large pot. I usually dice two large onions and saute them with two giant spoonfuls of minced garlic on medium heat. (Perhaps eight tablespoons' worth?)

Step 2: I dice probably seven or eight carrots into little medallions. I cut up probably a cup and a half's worth of mushrooms. (I used three different types of mushrooms in this pot. YUM.)

Step 3: When the onions and garlic are browned I put about six or seven cups of water into the pot and turn the heat to high. When the water is boiling I put in the carrots and mushrooms and pour lots of shoyu in. A cup's worth? Enough so it tastes beefy and salty and delicious.

Step 4: Simmer everything until the carrots are a good texture. While the soup is simmering I chop up several stalks of green onions and cut deli roast beef into strips. (We use Hormel Natural Roast Beef, or something like that. No preservatives or yucky crap. It tastes good. I use about half the package.)

Step 5: When the carrots are done I turn the heat back up. When it's boiling I put in the roast beef, carrots, and two bundles of soba noodles (three come in a standard package - I think each bundle is about 3oz each?). Everything boils for five minutes and voila! You're done!

This whole meal takes maybe 40 minutes to make. Super easy and this makes enough to eat leftovers the next night! Easy enough to make vegetarian by not adding the meat, and it still has awesome flavor. I love this soup!

Seriously, if this does not make sense or you need something clarified, ask me! I see recipes as more of guidelines and just do my own thing.

I really want to try these recipes and am doing so in the next fortnight. I've scheduled them into our menu! Spinach chickpea curry, vegetable curry, and quinoa and black beans.

Do you have recipes to share? I prefer to make vegetarian (or little bit of meat), lighter food. We tend to eat fairly healthy. (I have a whole sockeye in my fridge as I type this.) I'm always on the lookout for new ideas of healthy recipes. Ooh, bonus points if you share healthy lunch ideas. Since living with Jonathan there are no dinner leftovers usually and so I (sometime him) have to make lunches. Variety is good!

4 comments:

  1. Sounds DELICIOUS! I'm not a huge meat-lover, so the less meat, the better, I say!

    Super cute blog, so glad I found it!

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  2. Oh, thank you! I really, really like making this soup. This was the most mushrooms I've added and they were perfect!

    If I may ask you a question, how did you find my blog?

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  3. Yay for cooking again! Fall is the absolute perfect time to get back into the habit. This soup sounds AMAZING! oxoxo

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  4. I'm so excited about having soup again. We've had it almost all week with this cooler weather. Thanks for the recipes!

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