Odds and Ends.

Here's a mash-up of some of the food gracing our palates over the past few weeks.

We took some out of town family to the St. Lawrence Market last weekend to show them the farmer's market and all of it's many treasures. They seemed to really enjoy it, but to be very hungry. Off we went to the weird diner actually inside the market (Paddington's?) for a quick sit-down brekkie.

I, of course, was drawn towards the breakfast on a bun... egg, cheese and peameal on a portugese roll. With fries. With a smile. Yum.



Then, there were many permeations of tomato sandwiches with the tomatoes purchased from the farmer's market. I have discovered that eating raw tomatoes tends to upset my stomach, so I am slowly stopping the mass consumption, but that didn't stop G from indulging in her favourite of sliced tomatoes on toast with olive oil and s&p.

The green tomatoes were amazing, they seemed lower in acidity, but that could have just been my trying to rationalize eating them!

One night for dinner, G took some of our beautiful market leeks and made a leek and tomato soup with grilled cheese and green tomato sandwiches. (See me working those lower acid green tomatoes in.)




This picture doesn't have the tomatoes in the sandwich (it's G's). Mine had the tomatoes in the sandwich, but the picture didn't turn out even as well as this one, so there ya go. Really really nice, though.

And then, it was a couple of day's of lunch prepared from home. I really don't like much of the food around my office, and it's quite expensive, so I am making an effort to take more things from home to have for lunch. This week, I made one of my favourite pasta salads, aptly named Greek Chicken Orzo Salad.

This is one of those recipes that has been kicking around between my Mom and me for many years now. I think I must have originally read it in Cooking Light magazine, or some such thing, and I don't have a written version of it anywhere. But Mom and I both still make it, though I hadn't in some time.

This is the lunch version, in IKEA tupperware ready to go. I highly recommend this salad. Here it is...

Greek Chicken Orzo Salad (makes enough for four medium sized lunches)
Cooked Chicken cut into cubes (for this one, I used store cooked rotisserie chicken from the night before)
1 cup or so orzo shaped pasta (prepare according to directions)
1 chopped tomato, seeds removed
Chopped pitted black olives (I used 5)
Some Feta Cheese (I used the kind with sun-dried tomato)
Greek Dressing (Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried oregano, garlic)
Lemon Juice (1/4 of Lemon)

Mix all the above together well. Squeeze in lemon juice to brighten flavours. Divide into work-ready bowls and keep in refrigerator.

Can't beat it. It's filling, savory, and pretty good for you, all things being equal. My Mom says so, and she don't lie.

One day last week (maybe Thursday), I went to the cafeteria downstairs to get some lunch. Work has been so crazy busy that I rarely leave my office building at all, so having the cafeteria downstairs is a mixed blessing. Anyway, I ordered the club sandwich with pasta salad. The sandwich comes cut up in quarters, with real pieces of chicken breast, fresh bacon, tomatoes and mayo. It also comes with lettuce, but I have a warm lettuce aversion. And I get mine with cheese, because, well, what's not better with cheese on it?



Really tasty and cheap. This whole lunch costs less than $5 CAD, which is a bargain for downtown Toronto. Now for a lunch that's not such a bargain, but really good?

I went to Sprout, a Vietnamese place near my office that doesn't really have a huge selection, but is pretty tasty. I ordered the "oh my goodness" soup (yes, that really is the name!). It looks like a tom yum gai sort of thing, and for the most part it was. Hot, with a slight bit of sweet, with mushrooms, chicken, sprouts and noodles.

(Here it is about half way through.) It was fiery, and the chili on the sides of the bowl really accented that. But for $9.11 CAD, it's a bit on the dear side. Not an everyday thing, but definitely a winter warmer. I would have preferred no noodles, but a side of rice, and may ask for that next time. We'll see.

And then... paella. We had purchased some elk sausage at the St. Lawrence Market (really really good) and wanted to make something spicy and ricey with it. Paella won out. G used parts of a recipe from fresh magazine (another UK favourite) and part from her own brain (she's so smart) and came up with this beauty...

Oh yeah. Tasty.

So all in all, it's been a good food few weeks. Sorry for not being as diligent with the blog, I miss it when I am not here.

But the good news is, in two weeks (!!!), we are taking off for a two-week trip in Ireland, Wales and London!!!!! I can't wait!

I haven't decided about taking Lady Vic yet, there are definite pros and cons, but will try to keep in touch through internet cafes at a minimum. But until then... there should be some interesting things coming up. I am right this MINUTE in the process of making Smitten Kitchen's pizza recipe, and we have good things planned for the week.

Until then...