There are a few things that The Hungry One won’t eat. He won’t eat tinned fish. He won’t eat smoked salmon.
I’m fairly sure if the opportunity arose he wouldn’t eat dog.
But he’s better than he used to be. He does now eat cheese. Particularly baby bocconcini which get sucked down like the little golf balls at an automated putting range.
He now eats raw fish. Particularly tuna sashimi which goes quite well with an Asahi on a sunny day.
When it comes to things he likes, well, we don’t call him The Hungry One for nothing. There are a lot of things.
At the top of the list is anything with chilli. Anything with avocado. Anything with chocolate. Anything Mexican. And surprisingly for someone demolishes a full rack of ribs in record time, he likes to eat vegetarian.
I think it’s like binge drinkers who have alcohol free school nights.
Vegetarian nights are how The Hungry One pays his penance for the 12 ribs of smoky seared pork that has been inhaled the night before.
So, this isn’t raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens.
It’s not even schnitzel with noodles.
But here’s a truncation of the Hungry One’s favourite things-
All into one dish.
Vegetarian Mexican fiesta
Sauté 2 red onions diced with some olive oil and 1 teaspoon each of smoked paprika, ground cumin and ground coriander. A Le Crueset casserole pan is good for this.
Add three diced tomatoes, a shake of dried chilli flakes (depending on how hot you like it).
Get 1 tin of Cannelini beans, 1 tin Red Kidney beans and 1 tin of 3 or 4 bean mix. Rinse all of the awful slime off them and add them too.
Add a 500 ml jar of tomato passata and a cup of red wine.
Simmer all together for about 45 minutes.
When all the flavours have mingled and the beans have softened add about 50 grams of dark dark chocolate to melt. 70 % cocoa solids is good. 85% is better.
Bocconcini and Coriander Quesadilla: Take a burrito wrapper. Rip up about 5 baby bocconcinis and scatter them over the top of it. Scatter a handful of coriander leaves. Add another burrito wrapper over the top and dry toast the bottom in a non stick saucepan until it’s charred and the cheese is melting. Turn off the fire alarm before you do this. Flip the quesadilla and toast the other side. Leave them to warm in the oven until you’ve done enough, then cleaver them into quarters. Serve one quesadilla per person. 2 for The Hungry Ones among us.
Low fat Guacamole. Thin thin thin dice half a red onion. Mash 2 ripe avocados with a fork. Add 3 tablespoons of Greek yogurt. Add pinch of salt, pepper, squeeze of lemon/ lime juice and a handful of coriander leaves. Serve with beans and quesadillas.
Serve the beans a little bowl with a quartered bocconcini and coriander quesadilla on the side and a dollop of low fat guacamole. You could add a green salad too, but you’re never going to make friends with salad.
Serves 6 good friends for a fabulous feast of The Hungry One’s favourite things.
