I actually made lunch for R, twice!! and it was pretty tasty. It was a bean salad (she likes beans) and I used
this recipe as recommended.
It was pretty much the easiest food you could possibly make (no actual cooking involved) but I was still surprised at how troublesome chopping vegetables into tiny pieces is (which is what "diced" means: you probably knew that already but I was a little unclear and had to look it up). The whole time I was doing it I kept thinking that this is the kind of mundane, pointless task that should be automated. Maybe there's a machine for it already and I just don't know it? If so, tell me what it is! I hate all manual labor.
I didn't use any paprika the first time (bugs had gotten into ours: things spoil much quicker here due to the climate), and substituted apple cider vinegar for red wine vinegar (which the grocery store was out of). I also didn't read the recipe carefully (cooking is tricky!), so didn't buy celery. The second time I followed the recipe exactly. It tasted fine either way.
I still need to buy a rice cooker and maybe a toaster oven (R has been ill or on school break, so I haven't had any time to shop yet) as the next step for using some of the other suggestions.
My next goal is to make an omelette. I am planning on trying
this recipe per Gigi's suggestion (except with oil instead of butter, since I'm allergic. Hopefully it won't ruin everything?).
How good are your knives? We spent $150-200 on one good chef's knife and that makes it all so much more fun and easy! We love our Japanese steel knifes (mac is the brand, I think). I hated cooking till my husband brought these two knives home and they are all we need. Truly - and I LOVE cooking and it takes WAY less time.
ReplyDeleteI like to cook and I do a lot of breakfast, but I'm intimidated to do an omelet! Can't wait to see! I do a lot of scrambles to get all the flavors but no pressure :)
Our knives are OK (because B does cook, and he thinks like you: but he's also really cheap and couldn't face spending too much since I didn't care). Maybe I will buy a better knife when he's not there!
DeleteUsing a box graters, manual food choppers, even a food processor can do the job more quickly. I prefer using a box grater (the slicing grate) instead of actually chopping carrots because it give them a thickness and length that is perfect for almost any salad. Using a grater is also much less time consuming!
ReplyDeleteHaha, a box grater is a "grate" idea (hahahaha, sorry for the bad pun, I couldn't resist). I will definitely try that next time!
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