a Bowl Of Winter Warm Colours

Coming back from a warm country into a cold (but should be warm) country is a scare, so I decided to make my first batch of soup for the winter season. Something a little thrown together from my fruit and veg man downstairs.

Chop a small onion into chunks along with three carrots, a red pepper, a yellow pepper and a quarter of a butternut squash. Take three garlic cloves and smash to remove skin.

Pour in a table spoon of olive oil and throw in the onion, garlic and butternut squash to cook on medium heat. Let these sweat for a bit. When the onion is translucent add the rest of the vegetables into the pot and sweat for 10 - 12 minutes on low heat.

In the meantime, boil 1.5 cups of hot water to add to one cube of vegetable stock in a separate bowl. Stir the vegetables in the pot until they are coated. After a few more minutes, add the stock and let simmer on medium heat until the squash is soft.

Turn off heat, give it a quick blend but keep it chunky. Return to heat add one teaspoon of curry powder, one teaspoon of marjoram, two bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste. Give it a good stir and let it sit for a bit.

Then eat with very mature cheddar on toast!

to Be or Not to Be... Vegan

I got on Singapore Airlines to South Africa this weekend and for the first time I requested a vegetarian meal on flight. Yes - I am vegetarian. So I thought, instead of just picking out the better half of a vegetarian option out of the normal meals served, I decided to take control of my inflight meal.

Being the first time, I really had no expectations of what I might actually get. The first meal on the menu was dinner. Included on my mini three course plane platter was a cucumber, tomato and lettuce salad with lemon and olive oil dressing. On the side, a bread roll with all vegetable oil spread. For the mains, courgette, aubergine and carrot steamed on the side of a flavourful mash and a tomato bean saute. For dessert, sliced fruit. In case I wanted my after dinner coffee they provided me with a non-dairy creamer that consisted of vegetable oil, water, flavouring, and glycerides amongst three other strange ingredients I wouldn't expect to be in a milk look-a-like!

For my breakfast feast, I had Sultana Bran Flakes with Vitasoy soya bean drink. Lets stop and say YUM together! I have found a new love for cereal. Another bread roll on the side with more vegetable spread (not so exciting). The big breakfast consisted of cooked mushroom with sun dried tomato beans and a hash brown. I am not a big fan of hash browns so I left mine to the side. However, overall I think the cereal topped the two meals and left me with a smile before my descent into a meat loving country.

Singapore Airline's chef did not take his/her vegetarian culinary skills lightly. I was very impressed that there were no animal by products whatsoever and though it was a plateful of simple fare it all had flavour! And I don't mean salt. It would'nt be a bad suggestion if everyone had a taste of the alternative menu - you might fly more often with a satisfied palette.

By the way, I do love my milk, cheese and anything dairy but my eyes were opened to the alternatives provided of which I didn't know I would discover at 12,000 feet in the air.