Sunday 6 June 2010

New beginings, old soups

Tomorrow, I start a new job.

This has a number of implications. Firstly, I haven't written on here in ages, for which I apologise to anyone who minded. The rush of finishing up one job, preparing for another and organising a Greek-Cypriot themed meal for 17 for a friend's hen do conspired to squeeze out any spare time.

Secondly, I have a whole new office lunch set up to look forward to - focusing on fears over kitchen set up and the lunch-friendliness of colleagues is a wonderful way to quash some more significant fears about my ability to do the job in question.

Thirdly I have a later start and shorter commute so hopefully ( hopefully) I will have more time to photograph lunches and write before work...

But before all that, I have one last lunch from my old work - a classic standby of miso soup with rice noodles and salad/stir fry veg.

I have outlined the method below, though this one was unsual - normally I use a packet of prepared stir fry veg (M&S pea shoot variety when feeling flush; sainsbury's bean sprout variety at other times). On this occasion my stir fry had unjustly been thrown out by an over zealous colleague who thought it was off. So I substituted pea shoot salad borrowed from a colleague, and radishes which I keep in the fridge for snacking. Sliced in half with a squeezer of lemon and a dash of fish sauce (or sprinkle of salt for those of you with less scarred palettes), they make a good distraction from chocolate mid afternoon.

Office Miso

Packets of miso soup powder or paste
Rice noodles
Salad/stir fry veg of choice.
Large bowl, plate, kettle (microwave if possible)

add miso and noodles to bowl (I use two packets as I like strong tastes)
add noodles (you might have to break them up)
Pour over freshly boiled water to cover (85o water from water cooler/heater will work at a push but you'll need to leave ages and the noodles won't really soften)
cover and microwave for a minute or leave to stand for minute or two
(chop salad veg now if you need to)
Add stir fry/salad, stir through, add any seasoning (I like a lot of lemon juice and bit of soy)
Cover again and leave for 3-5 minutes (you might also want to pop in microwave if you want to wilt/soften the veg more, I like the crunch).

Eat.

PS sorry no pic, I took one but have in the chaos of leaving mislaid the USB stick I put them on. Next time I make one I will snap and post