21 January 2011

HOW EASY IS THIS?

One of the things I love about summer is the ease with which I can throw a simple platter of great food together, with a little help from the store cupboard. I always have fresh tomatoes (they are outdoor grown and full of flavour right now - shame on anybody not seeking them out at their local farmers market), red onions (ditto), apple cucumbers (ditto) and of course basil that's everywhere; in the garden, in pots on the deck and on my kitchen bench. And from my pantry, canned Spanish sardines (Albo brand from Sabato) and Spanish octopus in its own ink (ditto).

And so I can whip up the platter pictured above in the time it takes to boil the orchard fed free range eggs. It's as simple as put the eggs on, chop the tomato, onion and cucumber and pile it into the middle of the plate and drizzle it with some lovely EVOO and torn up basil leaves. Open the cans of sardines and calamares and place them at each end. The eggs are ready now, so peel them under cold running water, cut in half and wedge them onto the plate too.

And to go with this easy lunch, some fresh corn as I am not eating bread presently. And for drinking, I like an ice cold beer. Right now it will be a choice of Leffe Blonde (if I am not watching my pennies) or Steinlager Pure which I recently discovered. Not sure just why this discovery took so long, but I am a fan.

How easy and how delicious is that?