Lent, Week Two

March is marching along. I’m so ready for blooms, and some warmth, though it never really feels like the warmth settles in in Scotland. Over the weekend and into the beginning of the week we had a few days of solid sunshine, and so I could finally believe that spring is firmly on the way. The weather has actually been really pleasant, and already the radiators are slowly falling into disuse. Matt and I went on a walk on Sunday to identify wildflowers. Not much is up yet but I’m fairly certain I identified a patch of Greater Snowdrops and struggled a bit with what we think might be a wild cherry tree, possibly a bird cherry of some kind. As far as food goes we had a great week! This year I’m not missing the meat so much, I think I have a better handle on what is in season vegetable-wise and just a better arsenal of recipes. We think we might be going down to meat just twice a week indefinitely!

Sunday was our version of kalua pig and cabbage, served with rice and two scoops of mac salad. I use this recipe from Kawaling Pinoy. I recommend using a mix of Kewpie mayo and regular (or all Kewpie if you wish) or at least mixing some MSG into the dressing. It gets it closer to the real deal. Kalua pig is my favorite Hawaiian plate lunch dish and I could probably eat this every week for the rest of my life and not get sick of it. I don’t really follow a recipe, I just brown a hunk of pork shoulder in a dutch oven, add a small amount of water and a few tablespoons of soy sauce and set it covered in oven at 140C for 3-4 hours, and add an ample amount of roughly chopped cabbage in the last hour.

Monday, we cosied up with some leek and potato soup and homemade bread. I generally like to begin the week with a big batch of soup as it ensures we have lunch sorted for a couple days. I made a loaf of Wholemeal-ish Bread to go alongside.

Tuesday was a warm lentil and greens salad, a slightly modified French Lentils with a Trio of Mustards from Cool Beans. Slightly modified because I have trouble sourcing mustard greens where I am at, I use what are simply labeled as “greens” at my store but I am fairly certain they are collard greens. I think kale would work nicely as well. This one is a great one for busy weekday evenings, as the lentils cook quickly while you prepare the rest, but you could even have them cooked and waiting ahead of time in the fridge if you want. Reheats well for lunch the next day, too.

Wednesday is a modified version of Maangchi’s Braised Tofu. Nothing crazy, we just double the sauce and add some finely shredded cabbage in with the tofu to braise. Just a way to add some veg without having to dirty another pan.

Thursday went a bit awry, I had planned to make Slow-Cooked Marinated Fava Beans from Cool Beans, but a bit too late I noticed it had a 12 hour cook time. Always read the recipe entirely when meal planning! Matt instead made an impromptu veg and egg stir fry from what we had kicking around in the fridge, flavoring with ginger and some broad bean chili paste. It was super tasty and satisfying, and to be honest I was a bit relieved. After my first try with fava beans I can’t say I’m super enthusiastic about them, but I am hoping it was that particular recipe I didn’t like (it was a version of macca, a blended fava soup widely eaten by peasants in Europe). But I still have a decent amount of them so I will be trying that recipe soon!

Friday we had miso-glazed salmon, I used this recipe from Just One Cookbook for the glaze. This is a favorite of ours as I love salmon and Matt generally hates cooked salmon but enjoys this dish. We had some rice and sauteed broccoli alongside.

Saturday was falafel and salad. We Recently started trying recipes that use dried and soaked chickpeas and that is definitely our preferred method now. Using canned chickpeas, while convenient, just has such a mushy texture that I don’t love. Still trying to find our ideal recipe though! We used one that added a bit of ground cardamom this time and really enjoyed that flavor.

Underside of what I believe to be a Greater Snowdrop