if a dinner can be an urban legend...

this* could be it... it is a very simple dinner made out of minced beef, garlic, curry (I like to use red curry paste, but ordinary curry powder can do), grated carrots, finely sliced leeks, salt and pepper. it is served with (brown) rice, and yoghurt and mango chutney on top... to be honest it is the topping that makes the dish, so don't skip this. since I made this for the first time, about three years ago, it has been a regular in my kitchen... it is a great combination of taste and textures and can be done in the time it takes to boil the rice (i.e. about 20 min. if you don't go for brown rice).

* in Denmark this dish is known as "Skramsgaderetten", i.e. it is named after a street that is named after naval hero Peder Skram.

sunday dinner

fortunately the lack of grocery shopping didn't also include shopping for our Sunday dinner... we had panfried pork tender loin cut and wrapped in a thin slice of bacon with a potato salad on the side.
the pork tender loin I cut in appropriate slices, wrapped bacon around, secured it with a cocktail stick, seasoned with paprika, salt and freshly ground pepper and fried them in a pan (bacon down first). for the potato salad I used a good portion of fresh spinach, an avocado, green beans, potatoes good olive oil, salt and pepper. I boil the potatoes till they are just tender, give the green beans a quick boil too, and while both potatoes and green beans are still hot I add them to a bowl where the spinach, avocado, olive oil, salt and pepper are waiting for company...

cauliflower soup and corn chips

main ingredients

nice warm cauliflower soup with corn chips and a little lemon juice

also little hands enjoyed the soup

today has been nothing but rain here and I really feel like soup... it is still summer though, so dinner ended up being a light cauliflower soup inspired by this recipe. as I know this is a soup liked very much by all of us, I made a large portion and froze half of it for a busy day with no time to cook... a great thing about this soup is that you can serve it with almost anything... bread, parmesan, chicken, bacon or as today, corn chips and lemon juice. This version is made from two rather large organic cauliflowers, two cloves of garlic, two potatoes, a bit of freshly grated ginger, vegetable broth, nutmeg, olive oil and lemon juice. I cut all the vegetables into appropriate pieces, seared them carefully, including garlic and ginger, in olive oil, and then added water and vegetable broth. for this version I added about two liters of fluid. when the potatoes are done I used my beloved Bamix, and gave the soup a good blending. finally I added grated nutmeg, salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste and served it with a little extra lemon and corn chips.

when we are out of time...

ingredients for a very simple dinner

dinner is served

some days we run out of time and life can be a bit camp chaos... on days like this I like to draw on well known classics (at least in my book). this version of pasta, ketchup and sausage has followed me from my childhood till this day, granted, I've upgraded the ingredients a bit, which to me makes a huge difference... for this version I used whole grain spaghetti, good ketchup, really good sausages (these are with a bit of wild garlic) and a little splash of olive oil. 

Spaghetti is boiled in salted water, sausages are cut and fried, ketchup is added to the sausages and given a quick boil while stirring and finally the spaghetti is added and tossed around. serve with a few kalamata olives and/or grated parmesan... 

fish in a wok

fish in a wok

one of our all time favorites is fish in a wok... it is a very good opportunity to use up any left over vegetables from the fridge, it takes almost no time to prepare and depending what you use, you can dress it up or down as you please (and last but not least, it can be prepared in advance).

in this version I used a bit of salmon, pollack, black tiger scrimps, yellow and red bell pepper, red onion, spring onion, sugar snaps, squash and broccoli. everything is cut into appropriate bites, mixed in a large bowl with oil (usually I use either a mild olive oil or canola oil), lemongrass and lemon-pepper to your taste. at this stage it can be left in the fridge for some hours, or from morning to evening. a few minutes before serving everything is fried in a very hot wok using a bit of oil, salt is added to your taste (alternatively you can add a bit of fish sauce or soy). I like to serve this with a bit of whole grain noodles.

variations that I can recommend is to try out scallops or lumpfish, adding a bit of mustard seeds, or maybe go with white fish, scallops, spinach, squash, tomatoes and a pinch of chili to replace the lemongrass and lemon-pepper.