lentils

This was inspired by something that my friend Cat made. It's got lentils, beetroot and olives to give it a bit of salt. Cat's version had beetroot, lentils and feta, served with a refreshing vinaigrette. Both taste great.

Cook beetroot in a little water or oil. I prefer oil for flavour and it means that the pot won't dry up. When they are soft, add in cooked lentils and olives. My only regret is the olives are tiny and pitted, so you really have to be careful not to break any teeth. If I made it again, I would use pitted olives.

I love breakfast, the thought of what to make, satisfaction of eating leisurely, which is rare. Of course, some mornings it is as simple as cornflakes and out of the house. Today is not a school day, so I had time for avocado, lemon, olive oil and yoghurt on toast. With tea. ( I had breakfast in the city on the weekend, and was inspired by their menu, but the yoghurt is my extra.)

Great designs for breakfast.

burger queen

It's a song by placebo btw.

I made burgers over the long weekend, thinking it would last me through the week. Ha ha. I had friends over for dinner, gave some away and ate the last four for lunch today. All gone now.

Burgers are a great way to get rid of leftovers. These are veggie ones. You need a mix of mashy and chunky. The mashy ingredients (tofu, blended chickpea, potato, pumpkin, rice) are to give bulk and help the burger stick together, and the chunky ingredients (onions, carrots, broccoli, leeks) lend bite.

Cook the mashy ingredients and smoosh them up. Chop the chunky ingredients in tiny bits and fry them. Mix the 2 and add seasoning - salt, italian herbs, or go asian, kafir lime, chili, coriander. I underseasoned mine, but I guess you can afford to make them more salty, depending if you are serving them with a sauce or not.

Form into patties and dust with flour (or an egg batter). Deep or shallow fry.

Eat plain, or with ketchup/sweet chilli sauce. Lingams (malaysia boleh!) I had some chopped up preserved lemon with mine. It went very well, which makes me think of making chickpea patties with chopped up preserved lemon next time.

easter is time for chocolate

It must be the hormones or subliminal advertising - have been craving chocolate this week. Made friand/muffin/madalines. Not sure what they should be called, but I was aiming for chocolate cakey thingy with pear bits in the middle. I was tempted to add the first chilli from my new chilli plant, but thought better of it.

The smell of chocolate and baking, Van Morrison on the ipod, made me feel good, especially now that winter is on its way (It won't get past 24C this week).

Iggy Pop, who turns 60 in April, tells Spin: "To feel good when I was 21, all I had to do was to smoke a joint. Now I have to turn off my phones, do tai chi for an hour, drink a strong cup of coffee and stay away from bad people, so I can feel good for an hour or two - knowing [that] when it ends, I'm gonna feel like the miserable 59-year-old fuck that I actually am."