Saturday, October 20, 2012

Domestic Diaries: Kitchen Adventures

When people ask me if I can cook, my ready answer is no. To be fair - I think at the back of my mind I always knew if I HAD to, I probably wouldn't be too bad at it.

I definitely enjoy the AFTER of cooking - I mean, who doesn't love food now a day? It has truly become an art in itself. But the actual cooking? I've never had a burning desire to experiment and whip up any culinary creations.

With my new living situation though, it made sense to try throwing something together other than salad leaves with boiled egg. I could at least cook without filling my entire studio with smoke (just my living room now.. hehe) and would be feeding more than just myself. I find groceries to be rather expensive here, but for the most part, think it comes out much cheaper than eating out every day. If not cheaper, than at least healthier.

So trying is what we've been doing!

We have a very no-frills kitchen - oven toaster, microwave and induction cooker with just enough counter space left to rotate between dish drying and chopping stuff up on our little chopping board.

But we've made do!

My prerequisite for recipes is minimum prep and cooking time with maximum taste - which will explain all the pastas and sandwiches (ok.. sandwiches technically aren't things you "cook".. but you get what I mean). I know this is a no-no for lots of serious cooks, but I am so glad there are lots of "short-cuts" available at the grocery store to help a girl out!

It's been lots of fun actually! And I know both roomie and myself look forward to slowly but steadily increasing our repertoires

Anyone have any simple recipes to share?

Wheat penne with tuna, tomatoes, mushrooms & freshly grated parmigiano regianno

More penne (my favourite if you haven't guessed yet!) - this time as a lamb sausage aglio oglio

Wheat spaghetti with spanish sardines & sundried tomato pesto

Focaccia with goat cheese, grilled eggplant, tomato and arugula 

Turkey on wheat with dijon, arugula and tomtatoes

Penne (yes - my favourite if your haven't noticed by now!) with parsley, lemon and sautéed chicken in garlic

More of the same eggplant sandwich - this time wrapping it up so we could bring it to work

Rica's chicken curry 

Rosemary chicken breasts with gouda, stewed tomatoes, mushroom and eggplant

3 comments:

  1. I love it! It is such a big step from your former kitchen. You might want to add a slow-cooker to your minimalist kitchen. Some people swear by it.

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    1. Thanks Cutty! Slow cooker huh? hmmmm... cige, let's research! :D

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