Muesli has reminded me this. + + 11 April 2008

2週間ぐらい前から毎朝早起きをする事になったので、朝ゴハンを食べはじめるようになった。今まで朝起きるのが本当にニガテで、ギリギリまで寝て出かけ、会社でコーヒーを1杯だけ飲んでランチまで何も食べずに仕事をしていたんだけど、さすがに朝早く起きてランチまでに何も食べないと倒れるなと思って、買ってみたのがミュズリ。これはレーズンやナッツやマルチ・グレインがたっぷり入ったシリアルで食物繊維タップリ。私はお腹が弱いのでこれだけ食べると大変なコトになるので、普通のコーンフレークと1対1で割って牛乳をかけて食べている。今頃気付くのは遅いんだけど、やっぱり朝ゴハンを食べると午前中に集中力がぐんと出る。しかもランチの量が少なめでいいし、そのお陰で6時ぐらいになるとお腹が空く。で、早めに夕食を食べると翌朝お腹が空いて起きる。3食規則正しく食べるってやっぱり大事なんだなぁー。

As I've been getting up earlier than usual in the morning for 2 weeks, I started eating breakfast. Before that, I had slept just before the time I have to go for work and therefore I just grab a cup of coffee without eating until lunch time at work. However, if I did the same thing getting up nearly 2 hours earlier, I'll faint! This is why I bought some "Muesli". This is a type of cereals containing some nuts, raisons and multi grains and there are a lot of fibres. I've got a sensitive stomach so I normally make a bowl of "Half Museli + Half Plain Corn Frakes with some milk ". I should have noticed this though, having breakfast is making me concentrate on morning work, and also I don't have to a big lunch then I feel hungry around 6pm therefore I can get up early feeling hungry in the following morning. Ah breakfast is really important, I have just been reminded!

Soya Cream Pasta + + 18 January 2008

ああ、またやってしまった…。先月半ばから我が家の冷蔵庫が機能しなくなり、乳製品、生野菜、魚が一切保存できなくなってしまった。昨晩会社の帰りにスーパーに寄って乳製品のコーナーを通ったら豆乳ではイギリスでおなじみ、アルプロの250mlサイズがあるじゃないの。しかも長期保存用パック。牛乳不足だったので豆乳だけどこの飲み切りサイズは便利〜。って思って家でグラスに注いで一口飲んだら．．．濃い、とても濃い。。。もしや。。。とパッケージを見ると思いっきり「シングル・クリーム（生クリーム）」って書いてある…。確か去年も同じミスをしたハズ。疲れていてもパッケージはしっかり読もう。さて、冷蔵庫も使えないし開けちゃって困ったぞー。と思い、即興でパスタクリームソースを作ってみた。味が全然想像できなかったけど、コクがあって美味しくできた。もっとスパイスを効かせれば、これでタイカレーも作れそう。

Bahhhh, how stupid I am! It's been for nearly a month since a fridge at my place was broken and I haven't been able to keep fresh food in there. Last night, I went to a supermarket after work and walked through an aisle of dairy products then found some tiny cartons of U.H.T Alpro Soya. I thought this is very good to drink up in one time any bought a few of them, poured into a glass at home and had a sip...mmhmmm... too rich...well... yes the package says "Soya Single Cream"! Ah, I did the same thing last year also (see "Life in London" 2007)! Should concentrate on buying things although I'm tired!! The fridge doesn't work but I didn't wanna get rid of them so I cooked some soya white cream pasta sauce : ) It was just an improvisation though, the taste was not too bad, actually it was good! The taste is very deep in a good way so probably adding some spice makes some good Soya Thai Curry I reckon : )

Biscotti + + 9 December 2007

年末なのでキッチンの食材一掃大作戦がはじまった。今年の夏にイタリアン・デリで見つけたとうもろこし粉がずっと眠ったままになっていたのでビスコッティを焼くことに。冷蔵庫に卵がなかったので卵なしのヴィーガン仕立てにしたけれど味はなかなか。初めて作ったのだけど意外と簡単にできたから今度はチョコを入れたり工夫してみよっと。

Can't believe we're already in December! So, today, I sorted out some food to tidy up my kitchen and welcome the new year. I bought some corn flour at an Italian deli this summer which I haven't used for ages and made some biscotties. There were no eggs in a fridge so made some vegan version but it taste quite good : ) I haven't baked biscotties before though it's very easy to make and I will definitely make it again with some different flavours like chocolate etc... mmm yum ; )

Quorn + + 1 November 2007

イギリスでベジタリアンするなら欠かせない食材がこれ。Quorn（クオーン）。写真左のように、グリルにして食べるニセチキンフィレや、他にもニセひき肉やニセハムと種類も豊富。材料はマッシュルームや豆を使ってるみたいだ。さて今回、前から実験してみたかった「クオーンで日本の煮物が作れるか？」に挑戦してみた。結果はというと、見た目よし、予想よりダシも出ててよし、栄養も問題なし．．．なんだけど食感がNG。水分を吸うとかなり柔らかくなってしまい、焼きに向いてる食材みたいだ。めげずにまた頑張りまっす。

This is very essential to survive in the UK as vegetarian - that is Quorn. As you can see on the packeage above, that is a chicken fillet fravour version and there are minced meat and ham versions also. Ingredients are some mashrooms and peas apparently. This time, I tried to cook Japanese Nimono (simmered vegetables and chicken) with Quorn which I've wanted to taste for long time. And the result is... it looks good, fravoured other vegetables well, well balanced diet... but the only problem is the texture! - it becomes too soft when stock is absorbed - seems it's for fry/grill use : ( - but never mind, will try other things!!

Home Made Homous + + 30 September 2007

ブレンダーちゃんネタ・その２。昨日の夜からひよこ豆を一晩水に浸けて、朝ご飯を食べながら弱火でコトコト水煮する事2時間。レモン汁とオリーブオイルとニンニク１かけ、塩・コショウと一緒にペーストを作ってみた。明日のお弁当はこれと野菜でサンドイッチ☆　実際手作りして思ったのがいかに市販のペーストに大量の油と塩が使われてるか…ベジタリアン用の食材と言えども食べ過ぎには注意！

Blender Recipe Part-2. I soaked some chick pea overnight and boiled them with water for about 2 hours as I was having breakfast this morning. After that, added some squeezed lemon, 1 clove of garlic and salt and pepper into a bowl of the boiled chick pea then blend all. Of couse tomorrow's lunch is homous sandwich, yum ; ) The thing I found whilst I was making it is that how fatty and salty homous in shops are : / watch out the amount you eat!

Leek and Potato Soup + + 19 September 2007

なんてこった。大事な時期だっていうのにまた風邪をひいてしまった…。今回は自業自得。週末喫煙者に付き合って夜中まで外パブしてたから。もう夏じゃないんだしねえ。。。というわけで滑らかで栄養のあるものをということで、先日もらったブレンダーちゃんでリーク（ネギの一種で甘みがある）とじゃがいものスープを作ってみた。早く復活できるといいな。

Oh dear! I've got a flu again!! But this time is my fault... I was with some smoking people outside a pub until late this weekend... I should have noticed that how cold it was... so, in order to get a lot of energy easily to get it over, I cooked some leek and potato soup with a blendar I was given the other day : ) Hope feel better soon!

Happy moment + + 18 August 2007

さっきジムの帰りに近所の八百屋を覗いたら、新鮮な野菜がたっぷり入荷していたので、久しぶりに大人買いをしてみた。同居人のパートナーが庭から摘んできたばかりのローリエもあるので明日はラタトゥーユを作ろうっと☆

On the way back from a gym this afternoon, I found many fresh vegetables at greengrocer's and bought a lot of staff which I haven't done for a while. A partner of my flatmate brought some fresh bay leaves the other day so why don't I cook ratatouille tomorrow? ; )

Wooo Hooo + + 10 August 2007

同居人が誕生日プレゼントにブレンダーをくれた。これがあれば手作りバジルソースやひよこ豆のペーストや野菜スープやスムージーが作れる。ジャムも作れる、豆腐マヨネーズも作れる。これから楽しみが広がるわぁぁ♪

My flatmate gave me a blender as my b-day present!! So, I can make pesto, homous, veg soup, smoothie, jam, tofu mayonaise paste easily from now on ...mmm so excited!!! : )))

Red Currants + + 20 June 2007

大陸に行くとマルシェやスーパーのジャムコーナーでよく見る「Groseille」という果物。今日通勤途中にあるマーケットで「Red Currant」（赤すぐり）という英語名なのだという事が判明。それにしてもこの深い赤色、なんて美しいんでしょう。あまりに色ツヤが素晴しいのでシールはついてないけど思わず購入。見た目よりも酸味があるので、甘いお菓子と一緒に。今日はグリーク・ヨーグルトにハチミツたっぷりでヘルシーにいただきます。

When can often see "Groseille" when we are in a market or find at supermarket as a jar of jam in the Continent. I didn't know what it was called in English though, I coincidentally found them in a fruit market on the way for work this morning - apparently it's "Red Currant". Anyway, the colour is so beautiful - how deep the red colour is! There is not a sticker but I purchased it. The taste is a bit sour so shoud be eaten with some sweet stuff - today is with Greek yogurt and full of honey in a healthy way, yay!

Dairy Free Fruit Cake + + 17 June 2007

Ingredients: Flour 170g, Dried Fruits soaked with cognac, Baking Powder 2 tea spoon, Baking Soda 0.5 tea spoon, Soya spread (dairy free butter) 40g, Honey 2-3 spoon and soya milk when dough is too thick.

Mixed together and bake it with pre-heated oven (gas mark 3 or4) for 40 minutes.

Banoffee Pie + + 1 June 2007

Ingredients: Digestive Biscuites, Bananas, Toffee Sauce (you can get at Sainsbury's), a couple of shots of cognac and fresh double cream

1. Crush biscuits into very tiny pieces then add cognac (if you cannot drink alcohol, use soft batter instead)

2. Slice bananas

3. Place 1 as a pie base (I normally use a 12cm diameter pyrex low dish)

4. Put sliced banans then pour toffee sauce then repat again for 1 or 2 times

5. Coveres with whipped double cream then leave it in fridge for 5-6 hours.

Big Veg Dinner + + 7 May 2007

先週から入居してきたフラットメイトがいきなり高菜チャーハン、アスパラのマスタードドレッシング和え、きゅうりとわかめの酢の物味噌風味を作ってくれたので、私もひじきの煮物とルッコラのサラダを作ったら、何人家族？っていう量になってしまった。もちろん全部食べました。ごちそうさまでした : )

My new flatmate who moved in last week cooked pickled takana (a type of leaves) fried rice, boiled asparagas with mastard dressing and marinated cucumber, seaweed with miso. I added soy sauce fravoured hijiki with vegetable and rocket salad so the amount of dinner tonight ended up for like a big family - we ate all though! Gochisosamadeshita : )

Marmite + + 7 January 2007

イギリスのベジ食品で外せないのがこれ。マーマイト。イーストを加工したペーストでトーストに塗って食べるんだけど、これがハッキリ言ってマズイ！何とも説明しがたいんだけど…うーん、あえて言えば「苦くなったゴハンですよ」かなぁ。しかもこのキュートなパッケージでスーパーのジャムコーナーに売られているもんだから、チョコクリームかと思って初めて食べた時の裏切られた感は今でも忘れられません。しかしこれ、ビタミンB12がたっぷり入っていて肉・魚を食べない人にとっては究極の栄養源なのだそう。私もがんばって克服して某健康ドリンクのように「まず〜い。もう１枚！」って言えるようになれたし。最近は使い切り用も売られているのでこれから初めてみるのはいかが？

Well, what I have to introduce here is one of the favourite British vegetarian food "Marmite". As you have already known, this is a jar of yeast extract paste and sorry to tell you but that tastes incredibly disgusting! It's very hard to explain this taste... I would say, bitter version of Japanese seaweed paste... This cute package is put next to jam/honey jars in local super markets and at first I believed this was a kind of chocolate paste then I was so shocked. However, apparently this paste contains a lot of vitamin B12 which helps people who don't eat meat and fish. I've been getting used to this notorious paste little by little - this is not too bad : ) Little portion package is now sold. If you still hate it, why don't you try this again?

Japanese Sweets + + 19 November 2006

お料理上手の友達がイギリスの大手スーパーマーケット、セインズベリーズに小豆が売っていると教えてくれたので、早速翌日行ってみるとあったあった。「Aduki Beans」って書いてある（「Azuki」じゃないのね）。500グラムで99ペンスなので高くないし、栗善哉を作ったら美味しくできて大満足。折角なんでお抹茶も立ててみた。うまー。

My friend who is very good at cooking told me that apparently azuki beans (Japanese beans especially to cook Japanese sweets) are sold at Sainsbury's. The following day, I went there, and ah yes, I found it! It says "Aduki Beans" (I thought the spelling was "Azuki" though...) costs £0.99 for 500g and it's very reasonable. Today I cooked "Zenzai" (a type of Japanese sweets: sweet azuki beans with some chest nuts) had it with a bowl of Matcha (Japanese bitter green tea.) - yummy, yay : )

Very Berry Sweets + + 17 November 2006

最近目がものすごく疲れるのでそろそろ視力検査しに行こうかなぁと思っていたのだけど、今日会社の昼休みに近くにあるフルーツマーケットの前を通ったら、美味しそうなブルーベリーとラズベリーを発見！確かブルーベリーは目にいいハズだよね？というわけでベリータルトを作ってみた。味見はこれから。う〜ん楽しみ☆

For some reason I've been suffering from tired eyes recentry and considering if I should go to an eye hospital to have an eye test. Anyway, I passed a fruit market near my office at lunch time today and found good blueberries and rapsberries there. Ah as far as I knew blueberries are good for eyes! This week's sweets is berry tart. Hmmm yum ; )

Winter dish is now ready. + + 3 November 2006

ロンドンは今週から寒い！冬時間も始まって、遂に暗くて寒いイギリスの冬が来たみたい．．．今日は何だかお腹の調子が悪いので、あったかくてお腹に優しいゴハンを。ということでニューヨークで食べたバターナットスクオッシュのリゾットを真似して作ってみることに。2ヶ月前に食べた味を思い出しながらできました☆味はなかなか。また１つレシピが増えてうれしいな : )

Freezing London from this week! Eventually, winter time has started and we have to welcome dark cold English winter... For some reason, I have a dodgy stomach today so cooked some warm/belly-friendly meal. What I tried was butternut squash risotto which I had in New York. Remembering what I tasted whilst I was cooking and "voila!" that was not too bad yay! Cool I've got a new recipe : )

Welsh Chutney + + 27 October 2006

友達が旅行先のウエールズから帰ってたので、旅の話を聞かせてもらおうと思って会いに行ったらお土産にとウエールズの市場で見つけたチャットニーをくれた。チャットニーと言えばよくインド料理店でカレーの付け合わせとして食べるけど、実際それ以外の使い道がよく分らなくて今までの８年間ずっと買物時にスルーしていた食材。友達曰くチーズとワインにもよく合うらしい。自分の頭の中だとベジタリアン・チリコンカルネと合うような気がするけど、どうかなあ？

My friend came back from her holiday in Wales so I met up with her to catch up and she gave me some Chutney. We can taste it at Indian restaurant but I don't know what else it goes with and this is why I have been ignoring it at supermarkets/shops for 8 years. She said it goes with Cheese and Wine. I guess perhaps going with vegetarian chili con carne...what do you think?

Brown Rice 2 + + 15 October 2006

先日買った玄米は、豆腐とひじきの煮物と自家製浅漬けと一緒に食べる事に。今週も一週間が終わり、疲れた身体に優しいごはんだった。ごちそうさまでした☆

Finally, I boiled the brown rice and had it with tofu & hijiki (a type of seaweed) casserole and some Japanese style home made pickles - the meal treated me a lot after finishing a hectic week. Gochisosama deshita!

Brown Rice + + 10 October 2006

お昼休みに会社から歩いて5分ぐらいのところにあるオーガニックスーパー、フレッシュ・アンド・ワイルドに行って来た。このお店、他のスーパーマーケットと比べて値段が高いのだけど、食材もオーガニックなのはもちろん、環境にやさしい洗剤やフェアトレード（物価の安い国から仕入れる際、公正な取引をする）商品も扱っているので時々利用してます。今日はランチと一緒に玄米を購入。やっぱり日本人なので白米が好きだけど、玄米のあのプチプチした食感も大好き。特にベジごはんとは相性がいいと思う。早速この玄米を使って何かメニューを考えてみようっと。

At lunch time today, I went to an organic supermarket called "Fresh and Wild" close to my office. The shop's products are more expensive than other supermarkets' but we can find not only organic products but environmental freindly washing up liquid and some fair trade products so I sometimes go there and purchase something. Today, I bought my lunch and some brown rice. As I am Japanese, I love white rice (sushi rice) though, I also like the texture of brown rice - I think the taste goes with vegetarian dishes very much. Well, I'll improvise some good menu now.

Vegetarianism in the States + + 19 September 2006

ニューヨーク滞在中に興味があったのは、やっぱりアメリカ・ベジ事情。感想は？と言うと、「浸透度が平均的でない」。ロンドンより断然食べ物が美味しいニューヨークでは、ベジタリアン・カフェやマクロ・バイオティックレストラン、オーガニック食材店がいろんな所にあったけれど、普通のレストランに入ってしまうとメニューに「Vマーク」がない。自炊をしたくて、小さめのスーパーに入るとベジタブル・ストックがない。などなど。滞在中に日帰りで行ったワシントンDCでは、普通のレストランに入って、メニューに「ベジバーガー」とあり注文をしたら、パンにビーフ100％バーガーと沢山の野菜が挟まれたバーガーが出てきてしまった : / でも「 英国ではベジバーガーって言ったら肉の代わりに豆よ！」って文句を言うのも異国にお邪魔しておいて失礼かなと。だからと言ってこれも失礼なんだけど、全て残してしまいました…牛さんごめんなさい．．．。

しかし美味しい所は本当に美味しかった。写真のカフェはグリニッジ・ヴィレッジにあるSoy Luck Club。大豆を取り入れたメニューが売りのお店で、オーダーした豆腐アボカドサンドはかなりの美味。タマゴサンドのタマゴの代わりに豆腐っていう味なんだけど、マヨネーズに隠し味でカレーパウダーを少し入れてて味に奥行きがあり、なかなか工夫しているなって思った。 あと6th Ave.とWest 8th St.の角にある、「ゴーボー」というベジレストランも美味しかった。ここのバターナットスクオッシュ（ヒョウタン型のカボチャ）のリゾットは最高。機会があれば是非お試しあれ！

One of the most interested thing I was is of course "vegetarianism" in the States. Well, my opinion about it is... some of them are extremely veg friendly but some of them never understand what vegetarianism is. It might be wrong but This is what I felt during my stay. The Food in New York is very tasty rather than the one in London and there are many vegetarian cafes, macro biothic restaurants and organic food shops. However, once we sit down in a normal restaurant, we cannot see "V mark" on their menus and it was hard to find out if my order doesn't contain any meat or meat products. Also I tryed to cook by myself for a couple of times and it was a bit difficult to get veg products - like veg stocks in local small suparmarkets. Anyway, I had a chance to visit Wasington DC as a day return trip last week and went to a traditional American diner-ish restaurant there. I found a dish says "Veg Burer" and ordered it but the dish served in front of me was a beef burger with a lot of vegetables sandwiched between bans. I didn't wanna be arrogant saying "Hey, in England, we normally use bean burger for veg burger!" but I admit I was so gutted and left everything (feel sorry for the cows...).

That is the only problem I had and I managed to find a nice cafe in Greenwich Village called "Soy Luck Club". Asyou know from the name of the shop, they serve soy dishes and I ordered some tofu and avocado sandwiches. It's like egg sandwiches using tofu instead but they use mayonnaise including a tiny bit of curry powder and that made people not to think it's a boring taste - clever! Also, there is a cool veg restaurant called "Gobo" in 6th Avenue (West 8th Street) and the taste was superb - especially Butternut Squash Risotto is treating people's belly well. If you have any chance, try it! : )

Nut Roast + + 27 August 2006

今日はイギリスに来て発見したベジごはんをご紹介。その名もナッツ・ロースト。名前の通り、細かくしたナッツや野菜とチーズを混ぜたものを型に流し込んでオーブンで焼き、グレイビー・ソースをかけて野菜の付け合わせと一緒に食べるロースト肉もどき（写真右は調理例）。かなりボリュームがあるのでいつもは食べないけれど、ガッツリ食べたい時や、クリスマスにはベジにとっては美味しい嬉しい一皿。スーパーで簡単に作れる素も売ってますが、以前手作りのナッツ・ローストを作ってもらった事があった時、調理過程で摺った人参やフランス産チーズのブリやクランベリーソースを混ぜてるのを見て「おいおい大丈夫かい？」って思ったけど、出来上がりはかなりの美味だった。機会があったら試してみてください。

So, I will introduce one veg meal which I found after I come here in the UK. It's "Nut Roast", as you can see from the name, some mixture or small pieces of nuts, veg and cheese are roasted by oven then eaten with some gravy sauce with some boiled/roasted vegetables (The right pic is a serving image.). This is very rich and I don't normally have it though, it treats me really well when I want something heavy. And of course for the Christmas time. You can get a sachet of instant mix in supermarkets but the hand-cooked one was very tasty (I had doubted the ingredients like French brie and cranberry sauce mixed together but they worked well actually!). Try it if you haven't tasted before and are interested in.

Banana Cake (for 1 tiny sticker...) + + 4 June 2006

Because of the tiny sticker for my notorious hobby (see my message board also : )), I had to consume a lot of bananas and baked a loaf of banana cake this weekend!

Ingredients (Serves 6-7): 3 bananas, flour 180g, 2 tea spoons of baking powder, caster sugar 50g , 1 free range egg, batter 50g, half of lemon, milk 15-20ml, a couple of sprinkles of salt (if you use no salt butter)

Instructions: Chop bananas into small pieces and sprinkle lemon juice to avoid changing colour. Sift flour, baking powder and caster suger into a bowl and add banana, egg, milk and butter. Mix gently and pour it into a loaf tin. Heat oven with 180C (gas mark 4) then bake it for 35-40 mimutes.

It's not a serious issue. + + 21 May 2006

イギリスで「ベジタリアン」はかなり浸透していて、レストランのメニューやスーパーの食料品パッケージには動物性食材が含まれていないという意味の「Vマーク」がついている。これはお肉を食べない私にとってかなり便利。そしたらあなたベジタリアンなの？という事になるんだけど、答えは「デミ・ベジタリアン」。ベジタリアンには種類があり、乳製品は一切食べず革製品やシルクは身につけない「ヴィーガン」、肉・魚は食べないが乳製品は食べる「ラクト・ベジタリアン」、肉は食べないが魚・乳製品は食べる「デミ・ベジタリアン（ペスクタリアンとも言う）」に大きく分かれ、他にも地域や宗教によってさらに細かく分類されるみたいです。さて、いつも聞かれる質問「いつからベジなの？」。実は小さい頃からお肉のあの食感がダメなんです。はい。元々はただの好き嫌いです。でもこの国に来ていろんな人と出会って「ベジタリアン」とは何か、沢山のいい意見を聞きました。変な話ですが私は魚を３枚におろせます（おサカナさんゴメンナサイ）、だけど動物は殺せない。ニワトリさんも狭い檻の中に一生閉じ込めておけない。そこで自分なりに考えて辿り着いたのが、「肉は食べない、魚は食べる、卵はフリーレンジ（ファームで放し飼いにされた鶏の卵）、ベジのお薦めはするけど他人に強要はしない。」一番大事なのは美味しく味わって楽しく食べること。これから少しずつこのページでベジ生活を紹介していくので、お時間がある時に覗きに来てくださいね。

A word "Vegetarian" is very popular here in the UK and we can easily find V marks on restaurants' menu and products from supermarkets/shops. This is very convenient for me as I am a demi-vegetarian (pescetarian) who don't eat meat but fish and dairy products. Generally, there are a few kinds of Vegetarian, Vegan (Eating vegetables only, don't wear products from animals like leather/silk etc.), Lacto-Vegetarian and Demi-Vegetarian (Pescetarian). Apparently they are categorised further depend on where people live and their religion. Anyway, this is a typical question to me - "When did you become a vegetarian?". Well, I just don't like the texture of meat since I was a kid like other kids hate vegetables. However, I've been hearing many good opinions about being vegetarian for over 8 years here. This sounds very odd though, I can fillet fish, but can't do for meat. I don't wanna put chickens into small cages during their life...therefore I've been trying not to eat meat and factory eggs as well as not to be pushy towards people who eat meat. The most important thing is to enjoy and respect food! I'm gonna introduce my veg life on this page sometimes - come and check when you've got time : )

Borough Market + + 14 April 2006

HAPPY EASTER! 今日から英国はイースターホリデーで４連休。お昼過ぎからLondon BridgeにあるBorough Marketへ行ってきました。ココは毎週金・土曜日に開くフードマーケット。欧州各地から新鮮な食材が集まっています。今日は美味しいサラダを食べたくてマーケット内にある「Turnips」という青果店で食材探し。このお店はジェイミー・オリバーもよく通ってるみたいです。結局Turnipsでイタリアのビーフトマト、マーケット内のパン屋さんでオリーブブレッド、あとクレムリーでバターをゲット。美味しいものに囲まれるってハッピーだわ。

Happy Easter! Eventually, the bank holiday weekend has started. For some reason, I fancy having a good salad and decided to go to Borough Market this afternoon. This is a famous food market having a lot of good quality food from all over the Europe. I popped into a greengrocer's called "Turnips" and got some Italian beef tomatoes. Apparently, Jamie Oliver is a one of the customers of the shop. I also bought some olive bread and a jar of butter. Happy to be surrounded by the tasty stuff : )

Moroccan-ish Tomato Curry + + 2 April 2006

The recipe of today is a kind of moroccan style curry dish. As I don't eat meat (I'll explain why another time...), I need to eat some beans for getting protein. If you have some cumin seeds and turmeric, you could cook nice dishes with short preperation time.

Ingredients (Serves 4): 1 tin of chick peas, 1/2 courgettes (middle size), 1/3 white radish (small size)*, 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, 1/2 tea spoon of cumin seeds, 1/2 tes spoon of turmeric, 1/2 cube of vegetable stock, some salt and pepper, olive oil (*you can buy it at Medditerranian greengrocer's - 1-2 ribs of celery can be used instead.)

Instructions: Chop courgettes and white radish into 5mm dice size. Heat some olive oil in a pan then add cumin seeds and turmeric. Stir for a couple of minutes until it has aromatic smell. Add courgettes and white radish then stir for 5mins. Add chick peas and chopped tomatoes then sprincle some salt, pepper and vegetable stock. stew until the tomato juice is concentrated.