Quick Meals #3

Another quick-meal-random-mashup. :) 

Part One: Mushroom tortellini (pre-fab ones) tossed in cream of chicken and mushroom soup (from the can), with fresh tomatoes, diced onions, white button mushrooms, seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese. 

Part Two: Marinated pork chops. I honestly don't quite recall which spices I used. Looking at the picture there must have been fresh black pepper, dried rosemary and fresh parsley (snip, snip). Knowing me I probably also added a pinch of salt, brown sugar and olive oil. Popped them straight into the oven at 200°C until juices ran clear and glazed with honey at the end. 

(http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/it-s-gonna-be-legen-wait-for-it-dary.png)

The chops were tasty fresh out of the oven but they were legen-wait-for-it-dary at 2:48am in the morning. O.o

Final Verdict: You can't go wrong with pork chops and a white sauce.

First Harvest + Quick Meals #2

Phew. I managed to save my parsley plant. Despite its colour being slightly yellowish—at least it's still alive—I strategically pruned it and got my first parsley harvest today. It's quite hard to ignore the aroma of freshly cut parsley so, of course, I had to use some right away. 




Dinner: Baked Salmon with Miscellaneous Sauce (elaborated below) topped with fresh chopped parsley and served with a simple tomato and cucumber salad with lots of feta (mmmm!!mmm) and balsamic vinegar. I have been eating A LOT of this salad; it's just so easy and quick to make. Most importantly, it's cheap. Student Cooking 101: It's all about convenience, speed and budget. As you can see in the photo, I did not even bother discarding the parsley stems. The more the merrier.

Right, the Miscellaneous Sauce. 

Ingredients in Miscellaneous Sauce (a.k.a. a mixture of random things I found in my fridge...):
-Ketchup, Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, Salad Cream (in equal quantity, I put about one tablespoon each)
-Spring Onions (chopped)
-Ginger (diced)
-Garlic (finely diced)
-Olive Oil

Surprisingly, it was really tasty. I think it's the ketchup; ketchup makes everything taste better. I also seasoned the fish with freshly ground black pepper and chinese five spice before loading the sauce onto the fillets. I think, in post-rationalisation, I was going for an Asian Fusion type thing?! 

I finished the dish with a sprinkle of dried parsley. 

Not Too Long After...

My parsley plant! :S Apparently one of the many things that "melt" in heat.
This is the reason why I should never have children... (kidding?)
Or why you can't leave young things unattended in a small room... 

A Little Bit of Green

New additions to my room - Sweet Basil and Flat-Leaf Parsley

Quick Meals #1

From a few weeks back: Dukboki...with British sausages and sliced cabbage :D