My Kitchen in the Desert

Those who are frequent visitors to my home will testify that I’m one of those people who sits down each week and writes out a menu plan for the coming week’s evening meals. That is then left on the kitchen bench (for the other occupants of the house to read and therefore not ask “what’s for tea?”) and is used as a basis for constructing the weekly shopping list.

This ritual works without fail during the cooler months of the year. In summer, by the time we get into those relentless and seemingly endless days of greater than 40 degree heat, the menu planning is a wee bit more haphazard.

I sit down and flip through my favourite cookbooks and notebook (I keep a book of recipes I jot down from all sorts of sources) and then write out a rough menu plan to cover either one or two weeks. I just want to ensure my pantry is stocked with all the ingredients and know which fresh vegetables I need to purchase and when. Potatoes for example, I can buy them days and days ahead of cooking them. But salad vegetables I like to buy as fresh as possible. I want them crisp and fresh, not slightly wilting.

As we’re on day 10 of more than 40 degrees, and the hot weather really has lost its novelty for me and my GERD is playing up again (nausea and reflux … lots of nausea), spending time in a warm-hot kitchen doesn’t appeal. Eating appeals, but I just want very quick, very easy, very summery recipes.

So tonight we’ll have the final remainders of that pasta bake. If we’re all still a bit hungry after a small serve each, then we have some lovely, fresh baked pesto and cheese rolls from the local bakery. They’re quickly reheated in the oven or microwave and they’ll be filling. And there’s fruit in the fridge if we’d prefer something cold and healthier.

Tomorrow I’ll do a salad, serving it either in a bowl or with some flat bread (as a salad roll). Tomorrow will be tomatoes, cucumber, fetta, lettuce, basil, parsley and olives all tossed together ( a sort of Greek salad, or maybe it’s an Italian salad, but with an Australian twist … we’re very multicultural here).

Sunday I’ll opt to roast some pumpkin, then add that to some chopped fetta, sliced red onion (pre-steeped in lime juice to get rid of the sting) and red coral lettuce. I’d have liked to use raddichio but couldn’t find any at the supermarket today. (And no, we don’t have a green grocer here, the supermarket is our primary source of fresh vegetables and fruit). I might throw in some toasted pine nuts too. Again, this salad can be served either in a bowl on its own, on some flat bread, or even with some cold, cooked noodles.

Monday I’ll go back to warm food again. Baking some potato, sweet potato (kumara or orange sweet potato) and red capsicum with garlic and assorted spices. Some mangetout (snow peas), quickly blanched, and the vegetables served up on a bed of hot couscous. The couscous will be prepared in vegetable stock, just to add extra taste. This dish can be eaten hot or cold. Both are delightfully yummy. A squeeze of lemon or lime juice is the only condiment needed. (I am tempted one day to experiment using a mix of bulgur wheat and couscous, I think the two different textures and flavours would be wonderful, but that can wait until the weather is cooler and my brain not quite so fried).

Later in the week I can do a sort of salad nicoise, with green beans, hard boiled eggs, olives, lettuce, tomatoes or cucumbers, basically anything and everything, all thrown together. Including a baked potato.

So, from the above paragraphs you can see my shopping list for today emerged with just a variety of fresh vegetables  on the list. Easy.

And the best thing is, if I want, I can change the menu plan as all those vegies would be useful in other dishes. It all depends on my mood, the weather, how many people are eating at home that night. The key is flexibility but stay inspired.