This weekend we are going away for the weekend, so I realised I would have to up my game somewhat and cook at least a couple of dishes a day a few times this week to compensate for a no-cooking weekend. So, I referred to the 'Express' Index of 'Kitchen' to find some speedy ideas. The Avocado Quesadillas jumped off the page at me, shouting 'eat me'! I love dishes that only comprise of a few ingredients and this consisted of tortilla wraps (which I had in the freezer), avocado, manchego (gorgeously nutty) cheese and jalapeno peppers (which I had in stock). The ritual of making these is fun, and I enjoyed griddling them for the stripey effect. I happily tucked into my plate of triangles at the table, alone. I love sitting down properly at the table to eat which I plan to do more often. Next time I might even clear the post, pile of washing, Little M's artwork or whatever else may be on our kitchen table, to lay it properly, as Nigel Slater said you should.
Pudding was Lemon Polenta Cake which I was dubious about, as it is labelled gluten-free, but what a pleasant surprise! Instant polenta is used with ground almonds as a flour substitute, and boy does it work. I ate a piece standing up Nigella-style in the kitchen, just to sample of course, before bringing it into work this morning for a meeting. It is amazing the productivity cake can bring out of people.
I was reflecting on my cooking, and looking at my blog posts since the start of this and am quite blatantly proud of myself on the number of dishes I have produced in the past six weeks. A firm pat on the back to me, from me. I think the person who has got the most out of doing this is ME - I have learned to cook properly, experiment with new ingredients, dedicate myself to a project whole-heartedly just because I want to, and look forward to trying new things soon, e.g. learning a language, doing a photography course, learning to knit more than a few rows, start a book club... and the list goes on.
Goddess Mx
The quesadillas in Nigella Express were the first time I ate them, totally addictive, we used to have them every Sunday evening in front of the telly!
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