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[cherry]

It is possible -- nay, probable -- that I have been heard many a time to proclaim that I have neither interest nor aptitude when it comes to all things domestic.

Seriously, people, I have set off the fire alarm while boiling water. I wish that was hyperbole, but, alas.

With my fancy new apartment, however, and this "taking lunch/supper" places kick I'm on, I am reaching out for help. I have decided that I am going to try to cook at least once a week.

What are your favourite recipes? Where do you find said things? What would you recommend to someone starting out?

Really, I'm very open. I don't eat red meat or bananas, but other than that ...

I adore vegetables and fruit and trying new things, but I appreciate classics. I enjoy both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. I am partial to fast and easy, but am stoked to try things that are a little more involved. I am especially willing to put in the effort for things that are a little different (read: non-North American fare).

I often take lunch and supper to my full time and part time jobs, so reheatable/cold foods are good, and I am also interested in your favourite sandwiches and any awesomely interesting sandwich/salad combos you've tried.

Please: Educate me, mock my ineptitude, it's all good.

Comments

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Here's a few that are all quite simple. Use an oven timer to remind you to stir them and as a reminder to check on them. They're all in the put them in a pot and check back every ten minutes if it's on the stove, every half hour in the oven category. :) They all make at least four serves, so you've got a few meals out of them and they're all freezable and microwavable. :) They're not that fast but they are very much low effort once you've got them in the pot.

(If it's all okay with you, I'm probably going to be hanging out for a chance to cook something, anything, oh, god, please after four and a half weeks of travelling.)

psuedo chilli - I think I learnt to make this one when I was eleven. It's the simplest meal I know.
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 onion, finely chopped
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can of equal size, diced tomatoes
three bay leaves

Fry onion, garlic and ginger in a small amount of oil till onion is soft. Add everything else and bring it to the boil. Put a lid on and bring the temperature down to low, simmer it with lid on for half an hour, stirring every ten minutes.
Serve with rice, corn chips, grated cheese and shredded lettuce.

THINGS in the rice cooker used to save my life when I first moved out. And then my family caused my rice cooker to die and I was very upset. It's just rice, some pre-cooked garlic, onion, ginger, mince, spices or whatever and with stock used instead of water. Possibly with soy sauce or tomato. Add chopped vegies about five minutes before it stops cooking or just stir through microwaved chopped veg at the end.

Vegie Stew
1.5 cups chopped, peeled sweet potatoes
1 cup green beans
1 diced eggplant
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced, peeled mushrooms
1 tin canellini beans
1 tin kidney beans
750 ml pureed tomatoes
2 cups stock

Put everything in a pot, bring it to a boil, reduce to low and simmer with a lid on until the larger pieces of sweet potatoe are soft - this should take between 45 minutes and an hour. Serve with couscous. Makes enough to feed a small army.

Vegie Lasagna

FINELY sliced vegies - eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, baby spinach leaves.
Lasagna sheets
1 - 2 large bottles of premade pasta sauce. Add garlic and onions to it.

Layer sauce, lasagna sheets and vegies - sauce, lasagna, vegies, sauce, lasagna ect. The final layer should be sauce. Top with grated cheese, bake, covered for 45 minutes to an hour at 180C/350F

Tomato bake

fry onion with cardamon, cumin, corriander, chilli and tumeric. Add 600 ml tinned tomatoes, simmer for ten minutes while preparing vegies.

Slice tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant.

Layer vegies and sauce in baking dish. Cover, bake 45 minutes at 180C/350F. Serve with rice. :)

[cherryice.livejournal.com]

Oh, goodness, you just made me so very hungry. I don't have a lot of experience with eggplant, but I am very willing to try.

(Cannellini beans are like kidney beans? y/n?)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bounce_/]

Eggplant is LOVELY stuff. It's also great if you grill it for half an hour and then mash it and mix it with about half a cup of tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt.

Cannellini beans are like white kidney beans but borlotti beans would work just as well. Actually, as long as it's two kinds of canned beans, it'd be fine.

The only way I can remember to stir things is to use the alarm on my phone - I put it on for ten minutes after I start things and then use the snooze function to remind me to check on things till they're done.

Finally, yo. I need to speak to you at some point about coming to visit? It's getting to the point where I need to book the flights and well, whether you'd like me to or not and when you'd want me to bugger off. :)

[cherryice.livejournal.com]

What's tahini?

Dude, of course I want you to visit. Shoot me an email when you know about what your time frame is, and we'll work something out. How much time I can get off work is going to be directly related to who we have in for users, so I won't know that until much closer to the date.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bounce_/]

Tahini is a sort of sauce made out of sesame seeds. You might have trouble finding it outside of Middle Eastern stores. I can get it at the supermarket in the health food section but that might be because I've always lived in areas with lot of Middle Eastern and North African people.

Thank you! I was planning to be there over a weekend. I'll resend the email, shall I?