10 min Caprese pasta

There’s course packs that need to be read, lectures that need to be listened to and I will scoff at you if the gym is mentioned…or at least mumble something nondiscript like “I can’t go right now I'm um... laundry”. And despite a false early start yesterday morning at 8:00 am (to place some cereal within arms reach), I was quickly back in bed and substituting lectures on embryological development with more episodes of The Real Housewives.
 

3:00pm: Realizes that I have not had lunch yet.

3:05pm: Realizes that it is not like me to just forget to have lunch. Worried that I might be severely sick.

3:10pm: Feeling hungry. Phew.

3:11pm: I WANT FOOD NOW

3:12pm: Realizes in order for this to happen, must first get out of bed and into a place with more food. Like the kitchen. (The McGill education has really not gone to waste)

 

Anyways I think everyone should have a fall back meal for days you want to put minimal effort into making a fast and tasty meal. (No, Subway's not the answer!). For me it was cereal. Large handfuls, funnelled from box into mouth. Or it was, until I made this pasta with my friend Molly. It’s her mom’s recipe and a) can be ready in about 10 minutes b) only the pasta requires cooking c) it will make you really happy.

(Serves 2 really hungry people)

Ingredients:

Extra virgin olive oil

4 Roma tomatoes (or about 1 cup of cherry tomatoes)

1 clove of garlic

1 container of bocconcini cheese pearls

Handful of mint or basil sprigs (or both)

Bow tie/penne pasta (or a pasta that can hold onto sauce)

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Start by boiling the desired amount of pasta. While the pasta is boiling, pour around 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a large bowl.
2. Mince the garlic really finely and add it in the bowl so it can start to flavour the oil.
3. Dice up the tomatoes and herbs. Add the tomatoes, herbs, bocconcini pearls and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper to the olive oil.
4. Drain the pasta when it is el dente, making sure to get rid of all the pasta water and add pasta to bowl.
5. Immediately mix everything together so the heat from the pasta can slightly melt the bocconcini and warm the sauce. Add more salt and pepper to taste. 

Bruschetta egg scramble

Did I ever tell you about my pesky morning classes?

We met the first day of first year and were instantly inseparable. We would see each other every Monday to Friday and had a pretty good thing going. But pretty soon, I was showing up for our dates late and in sweatpants or stained t-shirts. The conversation was boring and I really needed the caffeine to get me through. Also, moving too fast too soon led to a panic attack sometime in October. I don't remember committing myself to do midterms, labs and assignments!

Not wanting to grow apart, we spent even more time together outside of the classes in tutorial sessions and office hours. We decided to call it quits after the end of the semester and I even got rid of their textbooks and study manuals. But this semester, we have started seeing each other on a regular basis again, much to the warning words of my friends who just don’t think we are right for each other. I hope it works out this time!

So on weekends when I have the leisure of sleeping in, I'll make this bruschetta egg scramble and bacon for breakfast. And on weekday mornings, when I'm scrambling out the door with five minutes to make it to class, I'll make this for lunch. Basically eggs are good whenever.

Ingredients:

1 medium sized tomato, chopped finely

2 eggs, beaten

Sprinkle each of garlic powder, salt, pepper, dried basil, thyme (optional), sage (optional)

Oil for cooking

Heat up a small pan (on medium) with a little oil and add in the tomatoes and spices. Cook the tomatoes until tender (1-2 min) and add the beaten eggs. Using a spatula, move the egg mixture around the pan until the eggs are cooked.  

Chicken stew

Highlights from this weekend include: a house party turned 90s-music dance party, a three tiered chocolate peppermint cake, witnessing a lot of beer induced man love, sleeping until noon followed by a breakfast in the park of greasy Madonas pizza and fries, a collective food coma after an intense Greek themed potluck, watching six McGill students struggle at a child’s version of Cranium, and waking up to buttery Greek kourambiedes cookies for breakfast. Weekend win: 10000. Homework win: 0.

Also from this weekend came the curious observation of the significance of the time 11:15 pm. Have you noticed that regardless of the event start time, around eleven fifteen is when a low key house party can turn into a dance party on the dining table and grown men start serenading each other to Brittany Spears. When a nice classy potluck complete with cocktail dresses and real glass wine glasses turns into an abandonment of utensils not to mention body parts being formed with the purple Cranium clay. Eleven Fifteen starts the creation of those moments that aren’t quite remembered (or are denied being remembered) when asked the next day. And leads you to decide maaaaybe the “limited access” option on facebook is not such a bad idea.  (No, just me?)

Anyways, it brings me to this chicken stew that was made for a Greek themed potluck this weekend but doubles to nurse a hangover. This stew was inspired from the avgolemono soup that was served at the Greek restaurant I worked at last summer and to this day still cannot pronounce. It lemony and hearty and has the ability to reverse some of the damage done the night before.  

This makes a BIG pot.

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts with bones attached (optional: remove skin and fatty bits for a lighter broth)
2 chopped onions
4 chopped carrots
4 chopped stalks of celery
1/2 cup uncooked barley
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 eggs
2 lemons

1. Place the chicken in a large pot and turn the heat on high to brown the chicken on all sides. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the chicken by about 2 inches. (You can also add a couple coarsely chopped onions and carrots now to flavour the broth but this is optional.) When the water is boiling, reduce the heat to simmer for about an hour.
2. Skim the fat off the top of the broth. (What I find works well is placing Seran wrap on the top of the broth so that the fat easily transfers from the broth onto the Seran wrap.)
3. Take the chicken out of the pot and once cool, strip off the meat. Discard any vegetables that were added to flavour the broth.
4. Add the uncooked barley and chopped vegetables to the remaining broth and season the broth with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat for another hour until everything is tender.
5. Whisk the eggs with the lemon juice in a seperate bowl. To prevent the eggs from curdling, slowly whisk in a ladle of the hot broth into the egg mixture. Gradually whisk in more broth until the egg mixture is heated and then pour all the egg mixture back into the pot, whisking briskly.
6. Add the chicken strips back into the pot and add additional seasoning or water as desired. The end result should be a creamy stew.