Weeknight Cooking Adventures

Last night I was in need of some major food simplicity. I did not feel like cooking, much less going to the grocery store. I wanted to sit in my clean, quiet, house, stare out the window at the setting sun, and drink a cup of herbal tea.

But alas, there was the hungry growl of two stomachs to worry about. So, in the late afternoon, I did what I often do when dinner looms and there is no inspiration -- I turned to my pile of magazine clippings and then to the web.

I love the fact that the web is so searchable. I can go to a food site, limit my search to soups, then search even more by the random ingredients I have. Last night was a particular challenge. I wanted a light soup, perhaps Asian or Indian inspired, quick, to be served with a big leafy green salad. Maybe I could use the open container of buttermilk in the fridge?

This is what I found, Rajasthani Buttermilk Curry Soup, from the blog 101 Cookbooks:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001407.html

This was my first foray into cooking from this blog and it was a moderate success. The soup was easy and delicious. M. ate it over rice, I dipped in chunks of pita. I think I'll make it again.

There were, however, two very small drawbacks: the recipe did not make very much. I stretched it a bit by upping the buttermilk and adding in some extra spice.

And about that spice... Not only did I stain my fingers and the wooden spoon with the bright yellow orange turmeric powder, I had quite the adventure with the mustard seeds. First the mustard seeds popped and sputtered over the stove like adventurous popcorn kernels. So I covered the pot (not rocket science, right?)

But the sputtering seeds managed, somehow, to stain the top of our le cruset pot. It is now stained with a lovely spray of brown freckles that don't appear to be going anywhere. It is quite the disappointment.

Even everyday cooking can be an adventure.