Come Away with Me

Sunday brunch

Was intending on sleeping in last Sunday morning but for some reason i kept waking up throughout the night. Finally gave up at 730am, went downstairs, washed up and summoned every ounce of effort and courage to step out into the cold for my weekly bike ride.

The first 10 minutes or so is always the hardest but as the body starts to get used to the cold air and warm-up sufficiently after a considerable amount of exertion, I never regret the decision to lug the bike out. In fact, I really enjoy cycling around the neighbourhood these days. For one, there are hardly any cars on the road throughtout the day and also I do not need to travel half way across the island and pay to cycle at the perpectually crowded East Coast Park.

After the ride, I was in a really pretty mood and decided to make myself a healthy and sumptuous Sunday brunch. Toasted bread to make a nice sandwich together with a huge salad. I do eat an occasional bell pepper but i must admit i wasn't much of a fan back home but recently I've developed a huge liking for bell peppers, green, yellow or red, if it's not obvious enough from the picture :p The other must have these days is really a nice bowl of plain yogurt topped with fresh fruits and complete with a cup of black coffee. The perfect combination for a perfect Sunday brunch :)

Was somehow in the mood to just make something (anything really) in the afternoon and decided to use the remaining kiwi fruit in the fridge to make this agar-agar. I've always love agar-agar since i was a kid. To me, agar-agar is one of the most amazing food around though i know of friend who will object strongly to this (agar-agar is what she calls 意味ない食べ物, in other words, they are what she considers 'meaningless' food or food that doesn't serve much of a purpose when eaten). But of course i beg to differ. Agar-agar provides good fibre and aids bowel movement, satisfies one's sweet tooth adequately, serves as a good subsitute to sugar and dairy product ladened dessert and yet has almost zero calorie content. Tell me, what other food you know fits the bill??

Anyway, the agar was a sidetrack to my actual plan of making something to bring to a dinner that i was invited to later on that night. After several experiences of being invited for meals and going empty handed while the others whipped out chocolates or bottles of wine for the host, these days i try to cook and bring along some stuff to avoid being the odd one out at parties. As i was running out of time after experimenting with the kiwi jelly, i searched around my pantry and found the remaining half packet of green beans that my mom brought over last Nov and a sweet potato and decided that a pot of steaming green bean soup should make for a nice dessert after the meal. Moreover, green beans are not that commonly eaten in Japan (in fact it's not sold in that many places) so it's somewhat Singaporeanish i figured. And the most important bit is, green bean softens quickly and is a good match with sweet potatoes. In a matter of 35min or so, i ladled the cooked green bean soup into a container and was just in time to hitch a ride for dinner.

posted by テレサ @ 11:02 PM