I eat, I read, I watch — dining solo #20
Lobster tacos aside Ontario asparagus
I eat, I read, I watch — dining solo #20
Today’s post is the 20th of “I eat, I read, I watch,” my column highlighting a solo dinner and my reading and watching accompaniments. Don’t just eat alone - dine solo! You’re worth it. And it’s not hard to do.
Missed earlier instalments? Check out the list at the bottom of the post.
I eat: Lobster tacos with a side of fresh Ontario asparagus
If you know me at all, you know that May begins my annual asparagusathon. I don’t eat the stuff any other time of the year. But for a month, it’s about the only vegetable I want.
You can join me as I enjoy the bounty of my asparagus-growing friends’ farm soon but for now, I bought some of the green gold at the grocery store. I was also excited to see whole cooked PEI lobsters on the shelves of my little Metro and decided the perfect dinner would be lobster tacos with fresh Ontario asparagus.
Here’s how that got to the plate.
First, I shaved some cabbage and thinly sliced some red and yellow pepper (all Ontario grown) and dressed it with lime, avocado oil, rice wine vinegar, and a drop of mustard to emulsify. I plucked a few cilantro shoots from my garden for the garnish.
Then I put some asparagus stalks into boiling water for seven minutes. I regret those last two minutes though - a little overcooked for me, despite them being thick. When you haven’t cooked something for 11 months, it takes a little re-acclimatization.
I got a dry frying pan hot and put three taco shells in to crisp a little.
My last thing to tackle was the lobster. So I live in Ontario, where lobster is, shall we say, not local. I don’t have therefore the tools to crack a lobster. I improvised by tapping it with the meat tenderizer. Then got the kitchen shears out and extracted all the flesh from the claws, body, and tail and chopped it up a little. I kept all the shell pieces because I’ll make a stock from them tomorrow. Waste not, want not.
By then, the asparagus was ready to drain. While it cooled a little, I assembled three tacos on the plate: first the lobster, then the slaw, then the cilantro shoots. Some lime crema would have been nice, but I had nothing suitable.
I added the asparagus to the plate and squeezed a dollop of sriracha ranch on them more for the visual than anything.
With a dark and stormy (rum and ginger beer) this was a perfect gazebo dinner!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Origin: Canada except the lime (Mexico) and the taco shells (USA, regrettably)
Cost: $15 for the lobster. $5 for the rest maybe?
Favourite seasonal treat? In the Comments below please!
I read: Between Two Kingdoms
Suleika Jaouad was barely in her twenties, living and working in Paris with her boyfriend, when her life was ripped apart by a rare leukaemia. The first part of this book chronicles the devastating symptoms that led to the diagnosis; her long, difficult treatment back home in the States; the toll it took on her relationship’ and the new relationships she developed with other young people living with cancer. The writing is soul-baring without being manipulative. I was enthralled, but was saved the usual stress of worrying about dying - she’d clearly survived to write the book.
The second half is a departure. She writes about her challenge to find a place in life after she’d been declared cancer-free in her mid-twenties. She’s written this part in present tense - the cancer story having been in the past tense - which is a good technique to shift the reader’s focus. I’m thinking about how that would work for my own memoir, Lane Change.
I’ll be honest. Part two is beautifully written and still an interesting story, but it isn’t as engaging for me. I wonder if that’s because survival is not a part of Jack’s story and therefore I can’t relate to it in the same way. Makes me think about to what extent a reader needs to have a personal connection with the content of a book before they can really be held in its grip. More food for thought for Lane Change.
Got a reading recommendation? Add it to the Comments below.
I watch: Wallander
Wallander is now old, dating back to 2008 to 2016. It was originally on British TV and stars Kenneth Branagh, he who competed for every Gen X girl’s crush with Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, and the rest of the pack of leading costume drama men of the 80s and early 90s. Wallander features an older Branagh though, playing a police inspector who is a highly flawed human, incapable of family or romantic relationships, rendering him infinitely more attractive. (Now THERES’s an admission)
This is the kind of Scandi-drama I love best! The murders are grisly. Everyone drinks and smokes too much. No-one eats meals, sleeps, or does anything other than work. Lead characters end up in comas. Even though it’s midsummer and daylight therefore during many episodes, it always seems dark. Love it!
And because this is adapted from a Swedish series based on the novelist Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels, I now have the fun job of seeing if I can find the original series, subtitled, so I can continue my fascination.
Can recommend. It airs on BritBox.
Have you found anything worth sharing? In the Comments below please!
Missed the earlier instalments of this column? Click:
#1 (pork chop & green beans)
#2 (trout & veg)
#3 (shrimp pepper bisque)
#4 (rice & peas with coleslaw)
#5 (ramen)
#6 (burger & fries)
#7 (duck sausage & salad),
#8 (shrimp & veg with pasta)
#9 (Wigilia)
#10 (mushroom shepherds pie)
#11 (roasted veg and sausage)
#12 (leftovers)
#13 (garlic shrimp with rapini on egg noodles)
#14 (beef stew)
#15 (salmon mac and cheese)
#16 (salmon cakes and ragout)
#17 (pork tenderloin, red cabbage, potatoes)
#18 (pulled turkey and salad)
#19 (almond butter chicken korma)
If you like what you’re reading, there is no greater compliment than to become a subscriber. Sign up below with your email address to receive an email with my weekly blog.