I eat, I read, I watch — dining solo #23
halloumi with asparagus and mushrooms
I eat, I read, I watch — dining solo #23
Today’s post is the 23rd 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: Grilled Halloumi with roasted asparagus and mushroom salad
When you have three pounds of asparagus to eat in just four days (I’m cleaning the fridge out before leaving for a conference) you can’t waste any opportunity to eat the stuff. Plus I love it.
Tonight, I took a pound of the thinnest, most delicate selection I got from Redbud Farms and popped it in the oven drizzled with a little olive oil and some S&P. In a separate baking dish, I put in some mushrooms (yes, with olive oil too) and a red pepper. Might as well roast that baby up while the oven’s on.
While those were roasting, I got a hot frying pan ready for slices of halloumi. Don’t know halloumi? Well, time you tried it. It’s a cheese from the Eastern Mediterranean made of goat and sheep milk. Its high melting point makes it perfect for grilling. I don’t have a grill so the frying pan will have to do. I overdid the oil in the pan and so after a few minutes I had to pour out some liquid. Cooking involves adjusting to unexpected circumstances - the key to halloumi is a little crust and you can’t get that with liquid in the pan! I accomplished my crush about the time my veg were roasted to perfection.
I lined one of my favourite orange Le Creuset pasta bowls with some Boston lettuce, a little shredded cabbage, and dressed it with oil & vin. Funny thing about these bowls - I ordered them online during the pandemic because they were on a super-sale. They are so beautiful and five years later I’m still the only one to have enjoyed them. And I really enjoy them! But I digress, as I tend to do when it comes to crockery.
I topped the lettuce with a few pieces of cowboy candy, a bonus from my friends at Redbud Farm. They were surprised that I didn’t know it, given my farm girl roots. I explained that candied jalapeños were about as exotic in Huron County as kiwi fruit. We were grow-your-own peas, carrots, and onion people, with the odd broccoli from the store.
Then I added half the roasted asparagus, some sliced roasted mushrooms, and a few pieces of grilled halloumi.
Honestly? Really, really good.
Prep Time: 20 minutes?
Origin: Halloumi from Cyprus, Tunisian olive oil, everything else from Ontario
Cost: $15 for 2 meals
How have you served halloumi? In the Comments below please!
I read: The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr
Full disclosure - for several years already, this book has been on the list of things I should have read. I may have already confessed that these so-called craft books kinda bore me. Or have until recently anyway. I prefer actual memoir rather than books on how to write them. That’s why Stephen King’s book was so good - he put the advice into his life story. Like inserting medicine into a piece of brie for your dog.
Karr’s book, though, has enough bits of brie to make up for the pills - lines like “only the living talk about how they’ll die; the dying talk about how they will live.” And fantastic descriptions like this one about being a car in a rain storm: “the rain was orchestral: cymbal crashes on the metal roof; a violin vibrato against the windows.” And then there is useful stuff like Karr’s tips on how to deal with writing about other people to avoid lawsuits (and hard feelings).
So yeah, I get why there’s hype about this book. If you’re a memoirist and you’ve been resisting this one, give it a try. Mine’s from the library. Saves the full-on commitment.
What’s been on your list for a while? Add it to the Comments below.
I watch: Sort of
Sort of is a CBC series about a non-binary millennial who is trying to walk the line between their suburban Pakistani-Canadian family expectations and their urban Toronto life as a bartender in a queer bar and a nanny to a family with its own complications. I gather from the shows Netflix sent me from the last few years that its algorithm had pegged me as a non-binary racialized teen so this is kind of standard watching fare for me. I had to search around CBC Gem for this one though - it either has no algorithm or it’s too soon for it to have figured me out.
I highly recommend this show! Three seasons, eight episodes per season, 22 minute episodes so the commitment overall isn’t daunting and you can polish off one or two shows before bed without completely screwing up your sleep. So there’s that.
But also the storyline is so interesting, the characters are well-developed, and it’s filmed in Toronto adding the fun of figuring out where we are, even when it’s just a snippet of a shot.
Give it a try. I’d strayed from CanCon for many years but I’m happy to be dabbling in it again.
Have you found anything worth sharing? In the Comments below please!
Missed the earlier instalments of this column? Click:
#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)
#20 (lobster tacos with asparagus)
#21 (rainbow Trout, garlic mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus)
#22 (pork tenderloin and black-truffle infused egg noodles with fresh asparagus)
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