The other morning I woke up and I was slightly surprised by the sight outside of my window. We were not up to date on the forecast and saw snow for the second time this winter. This time there was much more.
The view from our window is a brick wall so we have to stretch around the corner to see what is happening outside. There is barely light coming in. This is what makes me long for the past winter where I was getting ready to go to Asia for several months. I am not a cold weather winter lover.
Now that they have us trapped on the Island of Montreal, I have no choice but to embrace a northern winter. We had the day off so I thought this day we would have a feast of different foods.
I had been given a big cabbage from my kitchen manager who didn't want it sitting around anymore. He was going to throw it out so I took it home and shredded the whole thing.
There was so much that I froze some and made a soup for our feast. I cooked it with carrots, onion, garlic, and celery. I boiled four or five potatoes and added it to the pot.
I had a jar of veggie stock that I had made another day and threw that in along with a jar of strained tomatoes and a couple teaspoons tomato paste. I also added a teaspoon of thyme, a teaspoon of oregano, 1 teaspoon cumin,1 tablespoon agave nectar, salt and pepper.
I boiled red lentils and brown lentils to make it more hearty.
Next I made tabouleh salad. I make this using bulgur wheat which I add to boiling water, than turn it off stirring until it has absorbed. I use a 1 bulgur to 3/4 water ratio.
Tabouleh that I have had usually has more parsley than bulgur but I always put less parsley. I added diced red onion, tomato and cucumber.
The dressing is olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. You could make a dressing with tahini instead of oil. You could make a gluten free tabouleh with quinoa or even cauliflower that has been minced. I kept it almost traditional.
I thought with along tabouleh salad I would have another kind of mid east kind of dish. I bought some broad beans that were on sale. I love how big and juicy each one is when you bite into it. I sauteed them with some garlic, onion, and a cup of tomato sauce. I added some garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano, chili powder, veggie stock, salt and pepper. At the end I added some shredded kale that I had left in the fridge.
I had a butternut squash that I bought on sale. It is a very wintery thing to me, reminding me of festive dinners in the past. I often went to other peoples homes for these occasions and many times they had a side dish of squash that was simply roasted in the oven with onions, apples, cinnamon, salt, pepper and a little maple syrup. I put this in a casserole dish on 350f for about an hour.
As if it wasn't enough food, I added rice to the feast. After all a feast needs several items in it. I should have had even more but there was only two of us.
We were not able to eat it all naturally so there was stuff to put in the freezer for tired moments after work.
I guess this could have used plenty of other things like fresh green salad or green vegetables. Next feast I'll have more. They say "go big or go home".
For anyone who knows us they would expect something really spicy on the table but today was going to be a more European middle eastern fusion. Not that they don't consume heat. However I wanted to focus on other simpler flavors and the items they were mixed with.
Have a good day/night everyone!