Mondays Are For Quiet Time, Reflection, & Eggs

Tune of the Moment: "Main Titles" from the film "Never Let Me Go", composed by the sublime Rachel Portman.


It's no secret that I am  a complete sucker for film scores that evoke feelings of heightened emotions, nostalgia and a near state of euphoria-you know the one, the feeling where you're transported just beyond daydreaming and a sense of peaceful contentedness washes over you. You feel this when watching a film that possesses a expertly crafted soundtrack that punctuates the plot and visual aspects in all the right places.


Some examples are James Horner's "Meet the Ludlows" theme from "Legends of the Fall." Or Ennio Morricone's "Cinema Paradiso" from the film of the same title. Thomas Newman manages to make a plastic bag emotionally compelling with his theme "Any Other Name" for the film "American Beauty." I'm a massive Thomas Montgomery (I kid you not) Newman fan. Huge. Gigantic. The cousin of Randy Newman (a nice bit of trivia) is phenomenal at composing scores, often piano-drenched and rhythmically interesting or quirky, and tugging at one's heart strings with the first few notes. If you're a Newman novice, check out the soundtracks for "Road to Perdition", "Revolutionary Road", "The Horse Whisperer", "Meet Joe Black", "Little Women", "Finding Nemo" and the theme for television's "Six Feet Under." OMG. Sooooo good.

Back to Rachel Portman (not to be confused with Natalie Portman, who you've all probably heard of and who has just given birth to a baby boy-mazel tov). Rachel's work includes "Emma" (for which she won an oscar-the first female composer ever!), "The Cider House Rules" (which stars our favourite gal from Benoni-Charlize Theron....pronounced "Tron" with a rolled "r", FYI), "The Other Sister", "Chocolat", "The War of the Buttons", "Only You", and today's selection "Never Let Me Go." I read somewhere that she composes from the piano (a rarity in today's technological age) and she lives in London with her three daughters. I found this lovely interview with her and am even more enamoured-a bit of a girl crush have I.

Moving swiftly on to foooood, glorious food (everything has a musical number lurking under the surface). One of the reasons I've loved being home in Cape Town for a breather, is because my mum's kitchen has amazing counter tops. Sounds odd, I know, but having had to cook in a tiny kitchen with minimal  chopping, stirring, pouring and tossing space, I am hyper aware of the luxury of granite surfaces, stretched out ahead of you, beckoning the putting down of a chopping board here, or a bowl there. Bliss I tell ya. 

I've also been immersing myself in Heidi Swanson's book (I think this is the third of fourth consecutive post that I've mentioned it!) and she eats a lot of eggs which has only reiterated my love for the sunshine-hued things. I've also started reading this blog which I am smitten with. "Sprouted Kitchen" is written by another self-titled veggie fiend, Sara, and boasts delish recipes and, again, lots of yummy egg dishes. I love Sara's narrative before each recipe-this is the kind of writing I like to read and have, hopefully, adopted in my own blogging. Little snippets of and windows into other people's lives. Bookended my foodie talk. What could be better?!

Anyway, for a long time I was wary of the whole "don't eat too many eggs" mindset that was floating around blogs, books and nutritionist-heavy talk shows. Some sources say that the yolks are very high in cholesterol and should be avoided, while other sources say that consuming one yolk a day will not have an affect on one's cholesterol nor put one at risk for heart disease. According to wikipedia (I have no shame) "A 2007 study of nearly 10,000 adults demonstrated no correlation between moderate (6 per week) egg consumption andcardiovascular disease or strokes except in the sub-population of diabetic patients that presented an increased risk of coronary heart disease". Egg yolks are also a major source of vitamins and minerals-good for you stuff. The egg whites are incredibly high in protein and contain almost no fat-unlike the yolks which have a high fat value.

Jamie Oliver says eggs are brilliant breakfast grub and I agree. Patrick Holford says you can eat up to six eggs a week. If I feel I've consumed too many yolks or I simply want something a little lighter, I'll opt for egg whites only. And, as a vegetarian, you're getting great protein without having to be too creative. Often I'll simply use one full egg and add an extra egg white (save the unused yolk to glaze bread or something....ja, whatever, like I'm THAT thrifty). What I also like about many of Heidi's recipes is that she recommends adding an egg to many of them to create a complete meal (eg. adding a fried egg to a farro salad, or mixing in scrambled egg to a tomato barley recipe, etc.).

When I started cutting back on my avocado consumption I started eating more eggs. Yesterday's breakfast was rye toast slathered in Woolworths' sundried tomato pesto, topped with mushed up avo (only half...you avocado police you), and topped with garlic/lemon sauteed spinach. I also forgot about garlic for the longest time but have been reminded of it's wonderful flavour and ability to "oomph" up a dish. Yummeroo. A fellow musician who we shall call Aussie Sax Man, commented on my breakfast and so I took things to a new level this morning by doing exactly the same thing but substituting the avo for egg....genius, I know.

Egg & Spinach Breakfast Toast

-a handful of spinach

-half a clove of garlic finely chopped 

-a squeeze of lemon juice

-one egg and on white, mixed together with a fork or whisk until combined

-a slice of bread (I used rye)

-sundried tomato pesto or pesto of your choice (coriander, basil, olive)

1. Put your bread in the toaster to toast.

2. Heat two pans and drizzle each with olive oil

3. When hot enough, throw the garlic into one pan and then the spinach, adding the squeeze of lemon.

4. Toss your egg mixture into the other pan and allow it to spread out evenly by gently lifting the edges with a spatula and swirling the liquid egg into the spaces created (as if making an omelette).

5. Carry on doing this to your eggs until they're thin enough to cook through.

6. Take the spinach off the heat (it'll carry on cooking)

7. Spread the pesto onto your toast, top with the egg folded over, add the spinach  and sprinkle with sea salt.

Devour your breakfast while watching this:

Thin Omelettes on Rainy Days

Tune of the moment: George Harrison's "Here Comes The Sun" performed by James Taylor and Yo-Yo Ma. Continuing the theme of "I heart JT" I thought playing this song ad nauseum might will the rain to bugger off and welcome in the sun. I guess I can't complain too much since the Cape Town weather has been nothing if not deliciously bright and pleasant for the past week or so.

The howling wind and sideways rain made me hanker after a bowl of porridge but, let's face it, porridge is that much nicer when someone else cooks it for you. It means you don't have to deal with overflowing pots, charred oaty pan bottoms, or realising you were too liberal with the salt and the only antidote to Mediterranean-sea-infused oats would be to start from scratch. So, I abandoned the idea of making my own millet porridge (I will, one day, get off my lazy tush and follow through with this plan) and looked, again, to Heidi Swanson's amazing blog 101 Cookbooks for inspiration.

It might be hard to believe but I think I took my avocado obsession too far yesterday. Although, truth be told, it wasn't entirely my fault. How was I supposed to know that, after consuming an entire avocado at breakfast, I would find myself ordering Justin Bonello's Celebrity Chef pizza at Col'Cacchio's? It's called the Green Genie for crying out loud-it has my name all over it! The rest of the ingredients were as follows: roasted beetroot, butternut and garlic, shiitake mushrooms, danish feta, topped with fresh rocket, toasted seeds, avocado and a drizzle of balsamic glaze, served on a wholewheat pizza base... nogal!

I need at least a day's break from the green stuff until I ascertain whether one can actually eat too much avo. I know it's full of (good) fats, and I'm pretty sure I've overdosed on saturated (bad) fats many more times and lived to tell the tale, but I don't want to fall into my typical pattern of gorging myself on the things I love most (Nanoosh hummus mushroom wraps, OPI nail polish in "Wicked", Nancy Meyer's movie "It's Complicated") only to tire of them. So, this morning I turned to another true love-eggs-and found this recipe on Heidi's blog for a "Skinny Omelette." The "skinny" part simply refers to the thickness of the omelette (crepe-like) so don't let it turn you off or deter you and it's a good option for people who are gluten intolerant. Heidi filled her omelette with chives, salad greens, pesto and feta but the wonderful thing about omelettes in general is that they're the perfect vehicle for whatever odds and ends you have stashed in your refrigerator or cupboards. I (over) stuffed mine with some julienned zucchini, asparagus and enoki mushrooms. And, being a big believer in having a grain or carb at every meal and needing to appease my desire for millet, I threw in some left over brown basmati rice. It was delish and I think my mid-year resolution is to become more adventurous with grains and ingest them at breakfast times too.

This was my version-sans avocado as much as my little heart yearned for the verdant fruit.

"Skinny Omelette"

2 large (preferably organic) eggs (I used one full egg and one egg white)

a tiny pinch of fine grain sea salt

a few tablespoons of chopped coriander/cilantro)

a dollop of pesto (I used sundried tomato pesto)

a small handful of mixed salad greens

Lightly sauteed julienned zucchini, asparagus, enoki mushrooms and brown rice

Use a fork to beat the eggs and salt in a small bowl. Beat well, until the eggs are mostly uniform in color - they seem to run around the pan more evenly when there aren't huge patches of yolk vs. whites.

In your largest non-stick skillet gently sautee your vegetables (zucchini, asparagus, enoki mushrooms) in some olive oil until cooked. Reheat any leftover grains by adding them to the pan and pour the mixture into a bowl.

In the same skillet, over medium heat, pour the egg mixture and give it a good swirl so that they spread out thinly across the entire pan. Alternately, you can use a crepe pan or crepe maker - this works beautifully as well. Sprinkle the eggs with some of the coriander and let them set, this happens quickly depending on the heat of your pan - 15 seconds to one minute. 

Run a spatula underneath the omelette and slide it out of the pan (flat) onto a countertop, large cutting board or Silpat-line cookie sheet. Do this with confidence (or practice). Spread the pesto across the surface of the omelette (if you have a thick pesto, thin it a bit with water to make it easily spreadable), and then sprinkle with the vegetables and salad greens. Starting with one end, roll the omelette away from you. Cut in half on a deep diagonal. Season with a bit more salt if needed and serve garnished with more coriander.

R&R in Slaapstad

Tune of the moment: "Only A Dream in Rio" by James Taylor, ole JT, or "he who makes singing look so darn easy." I do love James Taylor. Real, true love. The kind of love that is reserved for genius. He crafts a song the way Otto Lenghi concocts a vegetable dish that just screams brilliance.

I've been back in Cape Town for under a week and am well ensconced in all things edible, fresh and exciting. South African produce is just so wholesome and vibrant. It's not that it's all local either-SA imports as much as the next country-but the context just makes everything seem that much sweeter, better and yummier. Maybe it's because the air is so clean and CPT is awash in green during the winter months. It's so energising and soul-salvaging.

I've also been lucky enough to, once again, partake in my mum's culinary triumphs. My first supper at home was a family affair boasting cranberry-roasted yellowtail fish (a South African fish), sugared parsnips (they're dipped in egg, flour and sugar and then roasted to sweet, crisp perfection), not one but TWO green salads (a simple bowl of watercress and rocket tossed with baby mozzarella and walnut oil, and a broccolini, green bean, pumpkin seed, mange tout concoction) and, of course, about four desserts (lemon pistachio cake, chocolate torte, slices of mango and pineapple, a bowl of strawberries, my sister's homemade lemon/dark chocolate ice cream).

Last night's supper-a slightly rushed occasion since we went off to hear jazz- was no less impressive even though it was for three people versus eight. There was a fish stir fry, grilled eggplant (grown and picked from our farm), brown rice dressed up with some fried onion and a nob of butter, and roasted vegetables. Life is good here. Very good.


I've also adored using a well-stocked, spacious kitchen that boasts counter tops AND a draw for the cutlery. Returning to my galley-style NYC kitchen will be a challenge...and I've already made lists of ingredients I need to purchase (soba noodles, tahini, ponzu)-where, pray tell, will I put these items?! However, I shouldn't be such a wimp since I recently visited my friends Lohr and Violinista who have a quaint (read: small ish) kitchen yet I was force fed (ok, fine, I was a willing taster!) David Lebovitz salted choc chip cookies...made in said quaint kitchen. I promise that once I've returned to the Humid Big Apple I will get creative and manage to souffle, grill, whisk and flip all from the safety of my galley kitchen.


And gosh knows I've been inspired. My "go-to" gift for my mum, aunt, cousin, etc was Heidi Swanson's kick-ass new book "Super Natural Every Day". Recipes for broccoli pesto, quinoa salads, millet porridge, baked blueberry oat pots, rye soda bread and more have sent me into a very happy mental food coma. I am in lurve. If you can't buy her book, her blog is amamamamamazingness and makes for good reading while chomping on a piece of almond butter-covered pumpernickel toast. Reading her fabulous recipes has also reminded me of things I love to eat but have not munched in a while due to transitioning (that is my word for the next year) from student-life to "real" life, moving apartments, etc.


I once embarked on Patrick Holford's liver detox-a really great detox if you're looking for one. The detox called for a daily dose of "greens". This involved taking a handful of parsley, basil, coriander (cilantro for the Americans), watercress, rocket, basically any green herbs you liked, shoving them into a blender, adding some olive oil, lemon juice and whizzing it up until it was a desired consistency. Basically a parmesan-free pesto. You would then add this to bean stews, grilled salmon, rice, etc. and feel like a green goddess. You could add in things like sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, orange zest, etc or avocado. And this is how I discovered "avocado cream". I actually liked the "green" emulsion-it was fresh, zesty and merely knowing how good it was made me feel virtuous...and smug....but more virtuous. So, when I've tired of eating avocado mushed up on toast, or sliced up in salads, I make a cream out of it and dollop it on rice or spread it on a corn cake. It's very rich but satisfying and the basil adds a sweetness that is terribly moreish.

Avocado Cream

-1 avocado

- a handful of basil

-a splash of mirin

-a sprinkle of salt

1. Blend all the above ingredients in a food processor, taste to check the seasoning, and eat.

On top of Monday's lunch: Brown basmati rice, Morrocan chickpeas, wilted spinach, coriander.