Simple, local fare at the G20 dinner tonight
Jamie Oliver is feeding the Obamas and the rest of the G-20 band (along with some “huh?” people like Naomi Campbell) dinner tonight. G-20 spouses dine close by, with Michelle sitting beside JK Rowling, I am so jealous!
Here’s Jamie’s simple but delicious menu:
Starter
Organic salmon from Shetland, served with samphire and sea kale, a selection of vegetables from Sussex, Surrey and Kent, and Irish soda bread.
or
Goat’s cheese starter (v)
Main course
Slow-roasted shoulder of lamb from the Elwy Valley in north Wales, with Jersey Royal potatoes, wild mushrooms and mint sauce.
or
Lovage and potato dumplings for the main course (v)
Dessert
Bakewell tart and custard
While not vegetarian, Jamie Oliver’s food is very appealing to me. He’s known for being anti-processed foods and for sourcing ingredients from local farmers and serving simple food made from scratch. (Sounds good to me, mostly I dislike anything junky, though when stressed out I do have a tendency to eat bags of gummy worms and Cheez-its. Invariably I feel like rummaging down my throat and barfing afterwards, a good indication that they’re really not very good for you.)
I try to eat healthy and succeed most of the time. Luckily my mom lives ten minutes away and she makes fresh vegetarian dishes just for me. But I have an aversion to cooking. (Note: Ironically I’m a pretty decent cook since my mom made us girls cook when we were young. There was no training, it was “watch, learn and do.” So I can make most Filipino dishes with no need of recipes and I can follow a recipe fairly well.) I know, I know, cooking in versus dining out just has so many benefits, it’s healthier, greener, cheaper, really just MUCH BETTER, so recently I picked up my wok and wooden spatula and took it up again. (Another note: I was also getting tired of buying lunch from the deleterious deli in my office building; in my first week at my new job I spent about $7 a day for lunch (a banana and a not very good sandwich.) This past week I’ve been brown-bagging my leftovers. A coworker salivates from the good food smells when I microwave my lunches.
Whenever possible I try to use organic veggies and unprocessed ingredients. It’s so easy sauté mixed vegetables or bake them in the oven. Either that or I make my own salad.I heard on the radio the other day (I forget which show) that packed lunches are 30% healthier , and have a third of calories and a third of the price compared to eating out.
Let’s see if this works for the meal I made last night.
My version of pad see ew, yummy
Last night I made Pad See Ew, my favorite Thai noodle dish. My first time to make it, I decided to put my own spin to it, and immodestly I can say it turned out quite well. (I’m eating leftovers now at my desk and it’s still good!)
I based my concoction on this recipe, which I largely followed, with some changes: I used Chinese broccoli and added carrots, pulsed peanuts and sesame oil to the mix. Just because I love them 
Here’s how it compares to an order at Busara:
- Two servings for me
- Pretty good but I’ve got no idea how many calories
- 11.99 + tax+tip
= Total $18.00/2 servings= $9.00/serving
My recipe:
- 3 servings
blazinghotwok.com -- the site where I got the basic recipe
- All ingredients whole and mostly organic
- 30 minutes prep and cooking time
- 509 calories/serving
- $4.59 for everything /3
= $1.53/serving
I’ll post the fat and sodium count next time, but since I made it I can tell you it won’t be much.
Not bad huh?
