Still with the vegetables

 On the one hand, I'm doing pretty well with the veg-forward weeks. The whole of January was primarily veg forward, with the odd slide into sausage pasta towards month end. Now it's veganish week again, and I'm almost enthused. Almost. I may have have slightly fallen into some cocktail sausages for lunches. But dinners have been vegetables, and also broadly in line with the Eastern Med - oh and Middle East ridiculously expansive theme I've landed myself with. Some of which, as you will see, is leading to interesting recipes with combinations unfamiliar, and some of which is me flicking through a cookbook saying "there's tahini on that, it'll do". 

First, the good bit. I really enjoy the Cypriot cookbook Taverna, but it had fallen down my pile of reference books. It turns out to have some great veg things in that I've not tried, including a simple chickpea and chard thing. 

Slice a couple of bits of celery, and the stalks of some chard (or kale). Give them 10 minutes gentle cooking in oil to soften. Then add in anchovies, chilli, oregano and cook gently to melt the fish into a salty flavouring for the veg. (Obviously you can veganise at this point, but it's good to have the anchovy touch if you like it.) 

Then add the leaves, lightly cut down, and give them another 10 minutes with the lid on. Then add chickpeas and give it another 10 minutes or so with the lid on to mix all the flavours. I'm not pretending it's complicated, but it's good. Hot or room temp - ideal for taking into the office as leftovers.

 

In the less good, or wildly less authentic, corner, we have Nigel Slater, some pumpkin, parsley, coriander and some date syrup dressing. And what was meant to be couscous but I couldn't find a precooked pack and I don't like to keep it around dried after The Moth Incident of 2004. (Don't ask.) So I picked up a pack of Merchant Gourmet mixed grains with, it transpired, mixed spice and chestnuts. Definitely Christmas leftovers. Urgh.

But the pumpkin was fine - roasted squash with sumac, dukkah and fennel seeds, since I still can't find my zataar and the ridiculous spiced grains worried me. 

Plated with green herbs, dressing of date syrup/oil/lemon, and the dratted grains, it was fine. Should you happen to have some date syrup lurking around, I'd recommend it. If not, keep on scrolling.

Meanwhile, how's the pandemic treating you? I am really trying to relax. Things currently seem tricky, but not terrifying. I've booked an actual holiday abroad (4 nights in Paris, could not be simpler for this train traveller) and now I'm ferreting through two governments' worth of websites, none of which entirely tells me what I need to do re masks or tests, and it'll probably change in the next six weeks anyway. 

And on a less fantastical note, things are okay. I'm back to hybrid working. I've met two different friends on two different days, while on my way to/from other things, as if it's possible to just meet people as part of life. After meeting one such friend after a day in the office, and drinking gin onna Tuesday, I did not do the washing up for what I think is the first day since March 2020. Not a proud moment, but some slatternly normality is a bit refreshing. That said, I currently have only three windows open on my phone browser: Radio Times, Wordle and register your lateral flow result. And every time I get the smallest smiffle, I worry.

Paris though. I am excited, I don't entirely believe it will happen, and I'm intermittently so, so sad. I was meant to go to a meeting in Paris on 13 March 2020, but prudently cancelled at the last minute, ahead of a Presidential address which turned out to be a lockdown announcement. I was meant to go on secondment in April 2020 for work, and Liz was going to come over for her birthday weekend. But the secondment is cancelled (I could have done it this year in theory, but in practice it's no longer practical). And Paris, which I literally used to go to for 24 hours, with half a backpack and a passport in my pocket, and is one change of train from my doorstep, feels complex and unfamiliar and challenging.

And we lost Liz. It's been a long, long time in this pandemic, folks. I'm really feeling it this week.