We made it through another week and Halloween is just a few days away. Are you ready for the festivities? Truth is that I haven’t joined in all the fun in a very long time. It’s not a holiday that is celebrated the same way, here in Central Europe, as it is in North America. You do see advertisements for bars or restaurants hosting special parties, but there are no window decorations or groups of trick-or-treateres roaming the streets. So needless to say it will be just another day for us.
Now that I write this I want to travel back in time to the days when I still loved going trick-or-treating. All that candy and making trades with my friends and siblings for candy bars we didn’t want. They were fun times. I think I’ll buy myself a couple of candy bars to reminisce.
Okay, let’s talk about these photos. Don’t you find figs to be beautiful and sexy at the same time? I do. My husband doesn’t care too much for fresh figs, he prefers dried, but I happen to love them. I make a delicious salad with prosciutto, arugula and a balsamic glaze. Check out the recipe here, Fresh Figs with Prosciutto and Spiced Balsamic Glaze. These two gorgeous figs were my afternoon snack. I simply sliced them in half and ate alongside country bread which I spread with a little bit of goat cheese. Simply, sexy, and scrumptious.
The soup is a fusion recipe that I quickly came up with. It was really a result of a craving for quick soup. I can eat soup and stew year round, but lately I can’t get enough of either. This one really hit the spot because it was spicy, had fish-which I was craving, and many vegetables to make it healthy. We ate our stew alongside country bread and below are the ingredients I used. Only one photo though, I didn’t much feel like making a session of it.
- 1 lb. or 500 gm firm white fish fillets
- 1 can stewed whole tomatoes
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 hot chile, thinly sliced
- 3 whole pickled bamboo shoots, thinly sliced
- 1 bag frozen green beans (340g)
- 3 sprigs of Italian or sweet basil, leaves only
- 1 tsp. Thai red curry paste
- ½ tbp. dried ground lemon grass
- 1 tsp. dried ground celery leaf
- 2 tbsp. fish sauce
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
- 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- In a large pot heat the oil and saute onions until soft and translucent, then add garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Next add the curry paste and mix with a bit of water or broth to break up the paste. Add all remaining ingredients except the fish fillets. Bring to a soft boil, add the fish fillets and simmer for 30 minutes.
Have a nice Sunday and a great week ahead!
