As much as cooking is my hobby, my distraction, maybe, potentially, my career, this kitchen has gotten me down. I've been stuck with the worst kitchen in the world for two months now. The sink is obscured by dishes abandoned because the soap has run out or disappeared. There is one hot plate which must be left alone to heat up. Sometimes I forget to turn the fuse on so I just stare at it, depressed, until someone points out what an idiot I am. I miss the reassuring danger of gas burners. I'd rather have a barbecue than this unchanging grey disk that brings me right back to junior year honors chemistry hell. The microwave is old and slightly orange inside and doesn't really work. There's also a hot water boiler which drips on you if you stand too close, which is difficult not to do as the floor space is about 2 x 6. About 30 girls share this space. I'm pretty prone to hyperbole, so you can take my claim that this is the worst kitchen in the world and make what you want from it, but truly its enough to make someone like me, who lugged about 15 pounds worth of culinary literature over the Pacific Ocean, give up completely on the idea of a decent meal made outside of a restaurant kitchen.
I'm trying though. Because plugging my camera into my computer is too much for me (where the hell does the cord thing always go??) I'm going to photobooth my food and tell you a bit about it. I am not the best cook in the world, I am barely even a good cook- my restaurant kitchen jobs have had me cleaning lettuce and doing chocolate calligraphy so while my food didn't really improve (and perhaps got worse, because of the massive complex that is easy to develop when an amateur is surrounded by masters) my work ethic definitely did, and I suppose I did pick up a few tricks.
I brought this soup to the library and ate it at my desk while hiding from the librarian. Its ridiculously easy, trust me. The following recipe makes enough for a few thermoses worth.
Vegetable soup with lentils, garlic, and thyme
You need:
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped up any way you like (slice of the ends and smack with the palm of your hand to get out of its annoying skin)
1 carrot, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
3/4 cup red lentils (you can use other ones, but these are nice because they cook fast and are crazy cheap)
Dried thyme (mixed herbs, oregano, rosemary will also wrk nicely, use fresh if you are feeling fancy)
White wine vinegar (if you've got it, no worries if not it will still taste good)
Salt and pepper (or sriracha if thats all you've got)
How to:
Get your onion and garlic and chuck them in a pot that you've been heating a generous amount of olive oil in. Be careful not to have the heat up too high or your garlic will burn and taste seriously bad. After a few minutes chuck in the rest of your ingredients bar the seasonings and let this cook down for a few minutes. Your tomatoes should start collapsing after a bit, if they don't add a bit more oil and get a bit pushy with a wooden spoon. Fill your pot to within an inch or two from the brim with boiling water, stir in your lentils and a teaspoon of thyme, cover, reduce the heat, and leave alone for 15 minutes. By this time your lentils will have collapsed and sucked up a lot of your liquid- add more if you want. Now its time to season, the most important step when making a soup like this, which is made from very little. Start with your salt. Add a big pinch. Add a little bit more. Grind or shake in some black pepper or a squeeze in some sriracha. Stir through a spoonful of vinegar (this will balance and brighten the flavors, trust me on this). Now taste. Good? Bland? Add or subtract at will. I tend to add. Eat it with some wheat bread, its especially good if you tear some up and put it right into your serving bowl, its not worth bothering dipping. Grated cheese is also nice on top.
