Unfortunately, I can’t recall where I first came across the lovely term “foodiot” – I’m fairly sure it was a food writer, probably an American one who first coined the term. Tell me if you know.
Well, as you know or have guessed, I’m one of those. I LOVE food. I like to make it, to look at it but more than anything; to EAT it.
As a de facto single mother (my husband lives and works in Switzerland and is only home every other weekend and for holidays), I face the challenge of cooking for myself and a 10yo every day. This is not always something that I’m very successful at! Sometimes I’m tired, sometimes I’m grumpy, sometimes he is grumpy, sometimes I’ve been over-ambitious while shopping and then am not up to the task come dinner time.
I’m trying to work ways around this, one of them is a food box from Danish organic veg-delivery company Aarstiderne, three days every other week. You get the ingredients, organic and healthy, for three meals for two, easy to cook in less than 30 minutes. This is cool, but there’s always slightly more than we can eat, which is why I only have it every other week, to make sure we finish off all the extras and so that I don’t forget how to cook out-of-my-head entirely.
Today I had a recipe and some ingredients but knew that son would not eat it if I didn’t alter it. Inspired by a trick I’ve learned from our lovely Pakistani/Hazaran cook at the office, namely to grate tomatoes rather than chop them or using canned ones, I made a pasta sauce equally loved by son and myself. This is a relatively rare occurrence!
For two:
One chicken breast, cut in strips and marinated for 4-6 hours in
olive oil, apple cider vinegar (only a splash), salt, pepper, chopped oregano
5-6 tomatoes, grated (this way only the skin is left in your hand, incredibly smart!)
2 young lemon leaks or just common ones, finely chopped
some ramson (ramsløg) or a bit of garlic, chopped
Some quality ketchup
A splash of white wine
Fry the chicken strips in the marinating oil, add leaks and ramson/garlic, then the grated tomatoes including their juices. Cook for a bit, then add ketchup and at last, the wine.
Easy as pie, super tasty and Dane absolutely loved it and, upon hearing that I made it up on the spot, looked at me sternly and told me to write it down right away. Done!
