Revision Food

So last time I popped in here, I was busy with the thesis. It had taken over my life. Life was wake up, library, lunch, library, dinner, work at home, sleep. Boring. And now that all feels like it was aaages ago. Because now there's revision. Yes, it's not enough that I had to write 30 000 thesis, words, I now have four exams to get through. Silly Oxford. And silly me for signing up to it!
Needless to say, revision's been pretty slow going. First of all, a group of us went away for a few days. Then, the boy and I went to London to see our family and friends. Then there was an election and I looove politics, so that was more important. We've both had interviews. And now it's hot. Really really hot. And much harder to revise.

Today was glorious and I just wanted to sunbathe. And as the evening approached, I could smell the bbqs. I'm jealous. I'd like nothing more than to spend the evening sitting outside with a drink and lots of grilled things. But I can't.

So instead, speedy food, perfect for revision.

It's an old favourite, but you can't beat couscous with roasted vegetables and a spicy sauce. Especially if you add chickpeas.

Couscous:
My trick with couscous is to stick it in a bowl, and add boiling water. Then, crumble in some stock, and some spices - I like cumin and coriander. That way is has much more flavour.

Veg:
I roasted courgette (zucchini), red onion, yellow pepper and mushrooms. That's a good range of colours.

Sauce:
Easy easy easy. Take one little tin of tomato puree. They cost about 25p in the supermarkets. Add spices - chilli, cumin, corriander, cinnamon - some oil & vinegar, and lots of lemon juice. Blend with a hand blender.

Combine all with chick peas! Yum!

Snacks and Lunches

I'm doing a play this week - you can see photos and things here if you have facebook - but that always means I don't really have time to eat. And I have been skipping dinner all week, relying on eating a little more during the day, and then usually having some crisps in the pub after the play, or eating chocolate (it's a prop!) during the play. Not so healthy really. As long as I don't eat too much junk or drink too much after each night, I'm hoping to drop a few pounds in time to get into a dress next week...

Anyway, I've had a couple of good snacks this week. At the weekend I made some lovely wedges of white sweet potato. White sweet potatoes look weird but taste good! I had some left over sour cream in my fridge, so I made a yummy sour cream & chive dip to go with them.

Yesterday's lunch was a fabulous salt beef and red cabbage sandwich. The salt beef and red cabbage both came from home via my freezer. It's such a good combination, almost as good as the ultimate: salt beef and chopped liver. On rye bread of course.

And today, I had some rtc salmon, so I made a wrap with avocado, salad and cubes of raw salmon. I put the whole thing on the George Foreman for a minute, so the salmon was lightly cooked, but I love raw salmon.

Speedy Pasta

Oxford life is incredibly manic. Most of the time I seem to be running all over the place, with 10 000 things to do.

This was a quick pasta which followed one of my more manic days: up by 07.30 to do some reading and finish an essay in time for my 11-1 class. Quick lunch with my class mates, followed by a brief meeting for a tutor to sign a form (he wasn't there!). Then from 2.30-4.00 we were looking at houses for next year. 4.30 I had a meeting on the other side of town for a play, then another straight after, for the same play. That meeting turned into a rehearsal, which went from 6-9, although I left in the middle for a physio appointment.

So, by the time I got home I was tired and hungry. Pasta was the obvious solution:



Luckily, I had mushrooms and leeks in the fridge, which I sauted, then added some creme fraiche, seasoning, mustard and parmesan. If only it was a prettier colour!

I'm submitting it to this week's Presto Pasta Nights, hosted by Patsy of Family, Friends and Food.

Quick cooking

A couple of quick, photo-less recipes.

Last night, pre-cocktails (perfect way to avoid revision), I needed to use up half a leftover butternut squash, that I had roasted to mash earlier in the week. I also had half a little goat's cheese round which I wanted to use.

So I decided to go for an favourite combination, squash, goat's cheese, spinach, walnuts and red onion. The spinach was from the market, and the proper leaves, not the stuff you get in supermarket bags. Red onions I already had, so I just bought some walnuts, and some sage.

I saute'd the red onion in olive oil with some cumin, and added the cubed squash when the onion was soft. I threw in some torn, washed spinach leaves, then the sage, walnuts and goats cheeese, and stirred until the spinach wilted and the cheese melted. It was lovely!

I rarely make desserts, but, in my post-theatre exhaustion on Sunday, I was craving something sweet. There was no chocolate in the house, but I did have some maple-flavoured golden syrup, which I'd bought to make fake blood with (!). I poured some of that over a banana and put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. It was sooo good!