I’m pleased to be hosting the Carnival of Cities on The Gooseberry Fool for the first time. Since this is a food blog, I was especially keen for posts with a culinary connection and I wasn’t disappointed. I hope you enjoy this week’s menu.

* Gray at SoloFriendly on great Thai restaurants in her hometown of Burlington in Vermont. It makes me hungry just thinking about it! We are blessed with great Thai in my home town of Sydney but sadly it is not something that London does well.

* London does, however, have reasonable Mexican food. Jessica at Ripe London was none too impressed with the offerings at Tortilla in the Angel-Islington or Mexicali in Notting Hill, but she does rate Taqueria in Notting Hill. This also happens to be a favourite of mine - terrific tacos and heavenly horchata.

* Wanderus on why Portland, Oregon is the microbrew capital of America. Cheers!

* Samir on living in Dubai and the contrasts with his hometown of Bombay - and a slice of life at an Indian-run cafeteria serving sandwiches, roast chicken and chai tea near Lamcy Plaza.

* Jon on the DC Traveler treats us to a Sunday brunch with a difference at a Washington DC cafe with drag queens.

* Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago is going organic and Stefanie at Focus Organic wants a tomato, basil and mozzarella panini.

If all that food has left you needing to burn off some calories, then it’s time to get active.

* The Q Family call into Cozumel in Mexico for some snorkelling and Starbucks on their Carnival Cruise. (They recommend the fajitas at La Laguna Beach Grill).

* CAE on VWXYNot? describes her love affair with her adopted city of Vancouver. I thought it was a lovely city when I visited, oh 10 years ago now, and all those gorgeous pics of kayaking make me want to go back. Either that or move home to Sydney - I could have a kayak there too!

* Jason Loper on Zola Jones Designs on a bike ride around the lake front in Chicago.

* Random Musings takes us boating on Lake George (is that a town?) and hiking on Prospect Mountain in the Adirondacks in upstate New York.

* Dave Cano on why his first impressions of Coney Island in Brooklyn, NYC were wrong.

* If It Feels Good Do It tells not-quite-all about a bachelor’s weekend in Las Vegas.

Time for a bit of culture, fun and relaxation?

* Leslie Carbone delves into history in Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

* See how the other half lives with a peak inside a $9m penthouse apartment in Miami on Michael Emilio’s small business and real estate blog.

* Me, My Kid, and Life heads to Cannes for a short film festival. (Although she was there on business, a girl’s still got to eat and she found time for a shrimp spring roll, Thai rice and chicken in curry sauce).

* Adventures in Daily Living takes the kids on a fun-filled trip to Seattle, where they ride trains, buses, monorails and merry-go-rounds

* Andrew at the Cyprus Informer takes us on a journey to Kyrenia in Cyprus. His blog is usually quite commercial, but this post is not, and it really does sound like a beautiful town.

Thanks to everyone for taking part and apologies for the late posting - my broadband was up and down like a whore’s drawers last night.

Submit your blog post to the next edition of the Carnival of Cities using our carnival submission form. Please only submit one (non-spammy) post and keep it on the topic of cities and (midsize and bigger) towns. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

The Gooseberry Fool is hosting the Carnival of Cities for the first time next week. This is a weekly event celebrating cities (and midsize to large towns). My travel blog, Roaming Tales, has hosted the event twice before and it’s always an interesting trip around the world to different cities.

Submissions are accepted for any posts on the theme of cities but this week I am particularly keen to read any posts with a food related theme. Perhaps your city has a fantastic restaurant or farmers’ market? Or perhaps food featured prominently in your travels to more far-flung city destinations?

This week the event is hosted on Where Next?, the travel blog on Away.com, and it seems the entrants were channelling my interest telepathically because there is already a bit of a culinary theme happening, with posts on the Linwood Sausage Factory in Cincinatti and the Oyster bar in Grand Central Station in New York.

Please send the entries as usual via the carnival submission form. Entries received after Tuesday lunch time (British time) will be sent to next week’s host, so be sure to get your entries in early. Posts should be no more than a week old. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Nilmandra is an ethnic-Chinese Singaporean currently living in the UK. She runs a food blog called Soy and Pepper which documents her thoughts and experiments on cooking and bento. Her love of food and cooking developed from recreating food from home that she misses.

I was excited at the prospect of taking part and showcasing something special from Singapore. Then I had the problem of deciding what to submit as a breakfast entry to represent Singapore. As a multi-ethnic country, there is a huge variety of breakfast items that Singaporeans have for breakfast, ranging from dim sum and fried bee hoon to nasi lemak and roti prata.

I eventually settled on kaya toast for my entry. I like kaya toast for the blend of taste and influence that is is a fusion of western style toast with Southeast Asian taste. The toast is often served with one or two soft boiled eggs in a saucer, with dark soy sauce and white pepper added to taste. The toast is then dipped into the egg mixture and eaten, rather like boiled eggs and soldiers. Given that soy sauce and pepper are the namesakes of my website, how could I not go for this breakfast? And finally, I recently came back from from Singapore with a jar of the famed Ya Kun Kaya so I might as well dig in!

A typical Singaporean kaya toast breakfast consists of kaya toast, soft-boiled egg and a cup of tea - I like mine with fresh milk and a little sugar. It doesn’t look particularly impressive, especially compared with the other entries, but I think its origins, the specific way that it is cooked and put together and its nostalgic significance to many Singaporeans render it a worthy contender.

Kaya is an essential ingredient in this breakfast. It is a jam made from eggs, coconut milk, pandan (screwpine) leaves and sugar. Yup, I did mention that it is fusion. It tastes like a sweet egg custard. You can find a recipe for making kaya here.

Instead of the denser brown bread, white bread without crust is used for the toast in order to get that light crispy texture. Each thick slice is placed on a grill until slightly browned and crisp, and then sliced thinly in half horizontally. That takes skill (and a sharp knife), which was why I destroyed a couple of slices in the process! The toasted slices are then spread with kaya and then sandwiched with little pats of butter within. This is no diet food. The sweetness of the kaya and savoury butter go together surprisingly well. The toasted white bread complements the rich taste with a light and crunchy texture.

The soft boiled egg is also quite specific. Unlike the ones served in egg cups, the egg is only just set. Undercooked, according to my husband, who likes his soft boiled eggs overcooked (in my opinion). Add a few drops of dark or light soy sauce and a dash of white pepper, break up the golden yolk and mix it around a bit, and dip a piece of your sweet and savoury toast into the eggy goodness. Enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee.

Our champion for the United States in the Global Breakfast Tournament is the lovely Pixie from the You Say Tomahto, I Say Tomayto blog. Pixie, who also has a sweet blog at A SweeTart, has been a guest blogger for The Gooseberry Fool once before, when she road-tested Nigella Lawson’s recipe for rhubarb tart. For this contest, Pixie actually went to the trouble of making bagels from scratch - needless to say, I’m very impressed!

My idea of a top breakfast involves a (preferably a New York) bagel with lox (smoked salmon), cream cheese, and a touch of lemon. When I lived in NY, I would have a bagel almost every day for breakfast on the way to work. You can find bagels practically on every block and in the morning I would crave a bagel with scrambled eggs, American cheese and a bit of ketchup. On the weekends it was usually lox with cream cheese. I don’t have bagels as much as I used to, which I guess is a good thing on my hips.

Finding the perfect bagel in England isn’t the easiest of tasks. We have tried bagels in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco … you name every popular Brit supermarket and we’ve had their bagels. Our favourite bagels in England, thus far, are sold at Brick Lane Beigel Bakery in London. Small in size, but with a sweet savoury taste. They don’t have any toppings and are plain, yet delicious. My favourite NY bagel would be an everything bagel and my favourite bagel shops are Astoria’s Bagel Shop & Deli and Murray’s Bagels in the Greenwich area.

There are a number of different spreads you could have with your bagel. One favourite used to be walnut and cream cheese. Then there’s vegetable cream cheese, strawberry cream cheese, cinnamon raisin cream cheese, scallion cream cheese … you get the drift. You also have your large list of choice of bagels; blueberry bagel, strawberry bagel, egg bagel, everything bagel, sesame seed bagel, poppy seed bagel … you name it they have it. And that’s the greatness about NY - always catering to their customer needs.

I set myself the challenge of making a NY bagel. It was high on my list of things to make and so I tried my best to search for a recipe which I felt would come closest to a NY bagel and found the following: Authentic New York-Style Homemade Bagel Recipe. Always read the comments when you choose a recipe online, they’re extremely helpful.

The one ingredient I found difficult to get hold of was malt syrup. You can substitute honey or molasses for the syrup but I really wanted to try the original recipe first. I eventually purchased malt syrup at a health shop in town. The recipe is quite easy to follow but I would recommend reading the comment about shaping the bagels. You want to divide the dough into eights and then form a small ball, press your thumb firmly down in the center and twirl the dough around your thumb. I think it’s also fine to just drain your bagels on your counter space and there’s no need for the extra baking sheets.

The bagels were far better than the supermarket ones and I really enjoyed making my own. However, the question is were they as good as a NY bagel? Maybe it’s psychological, I’m not sure, but for me, the answer is simply NO. Perhaps, it’s because you can’t beat walking the streets of NY and taking in the smell of freshly made bagels and viewing all your choices. Or maybe it’s the water used in making the bagels; yes, the water. I read several times online how the water from NY is the key ingredient to the success of a NY bagel.

Would I continue making bagels? Absolutely!!!! I will hunt and try all the possible recipes out there till I find my favourite bagel recipe, even if it will never quite be as good as a NY bagel.

Forced rhubarb is available in England at this time of year. It’s notable mainly for the stunning colour, which ranges from pale pink to fuschia. The main crop rhubarb, which comes later in spring, is a darker, cherry red.

This month’s In the Bag event, which focuses on seasonal eating, has forced rhubarb as the star ingredient, along with orange and sugar. (Last month, the theme was pears, almonds and lemon and you can see my effort here and all the other recipes over on the A Slice of Cherry Pie blog, which hosts the event).

There is a debate among cooks about the best way to cook rhubarb and what the desired consistency is. Some cooks go to great lengths to ensure that rhubarb holds its shape. Recently I had a rhubarb trifle at Alastair Little’s in London, which featured small, defined chunks of rhubarb. Angela on A Spoonful of Sugar recommends oven poaching rhubarb to ensure this effect.

“This is the only way to cook rhubarb in my opinion. It preserves the gorgeous colour of the rhubarb and also keeps the shape of each piece intact - I suspect that many a child has been put off rhubarb by being served stewed rhubarb which is generally a rather dubiously coloured puree with stringy bits in it.”

I don’t subscribe to this school of thought. There’s certainly an aesthetic difference and some people think it is prettier with the rhubarb intact. However, I think that it compromises the flavour. Rhubarb is very tart and requires sweetening. I believe the rhubarb needs to fall apart in order to blend properly with the sugar - otherwise you end up with chunks of tart rhubarb sitting in syrup.

To my mind, the best and simplest way to cook rhubarb is to slice it into small chunks about 2cm long. This counteracts the stringiness, which usually comes from the cook trying to stew huge long chunks of rhubarb. Then put it in a pot with the juice of half an orange, stirring occasionally to prevent it sticking to the bottom. Do not add any water as the rhubarb will release water when cooking. If you are not using the orange juice, you could add a couple of tablespoons of water but that’s all. When the rhubarb is soft and starting to lose its shape, add sugar. How much sugar depends on your personal taste and the flavour of the rhubarb, but I used about 50g (half a metric cup) for 400g rhubarb and that seemed about right. Adding the sugar at the end, rather than during cooking, helps preserve the colour (as you can see in the picture).

The cooked rhubarb is lovely served hot with vanilla ice cream or cooled and mixed with custard or whipped cream (or yogurt if you’re trying to be healthy!) to make a rhubarb fool. The blend of tartness and sweetness is sublime, and fruit and cream is a classic that is hard to beat.

Rhubarb & Orange Cream Pudding

The whole point of these events is challenge and innovation, so I decided to try something new. (It also requires the rhubarb to be puréed, thus side-stepping the whole texture debate). I based this dessert on my aunt’s orange flummerie but I had to alter the recipe to accommodate the stewed rhubarb, which is not pure liquid. I also decided to made this with agar agar rather than gelatine. Agar agar is a flavourless Japanese gelling agent made from seaweed and it’s a vegetarian substitute for gelatine.

This recipe is also surprisingly low in calories and fat. There is sugar and cream but the recipe serves 4, so each person is getting 12.5g sugar (50 calories) and 12.5g double cream (55.6 calories; 5.9g fat).

Ingredients

Forced rhubarb, 400g

One orange, juiced and half zested

Caster sugar, 50g (adjust quantity to taste)

Agar agar, 2 tablespoons

Water

Greek yogurt, 50g

Double cream, 50g

Blanched almonds or hazelnuts to serve (optional)

Method

1. Wash and chop rhubarb into 2cm chunks. Cook with half the orange juice, according to the instructions above, then stir in the sugar. Leave to cool. (This step can be done in advance).
2. Blend the rhubarb in a food processor.
3. Pour 1 cup (250ml) water into a small saucepan and sprinkle with agar agar flakes without stirring. Heat and then simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the rest of the orange juice and one teaspoon of orange zest to the rhubarb and top up with a little water to make 1 cup (250ml)
5. Pour the hot water and agar agar into the rhubarb and orange mix and stir thoroughly. Leave to cool.
6. Once it is tepid to cool, spoon in the yogurt and cream, and fold it into the jelly mix, which will be starting to set.
7. Transfer to 4 serving bowls or glasses, and cover with plastic food wrap before transferring to the fridge.
8. Serve with a garnish of blanched almonds or hazelnuts.

Notes

This was my first time using agar agar and it worked very well but it sets a lot more quickly than gelatine. You can’t fold in the dairy until it’s cool (or the dairy will curdle), but leave it too long and the jelly will already be solid. Check after about 20 minutes.

If you prefer to use gelatine, then you will need to read the instructions as the ratio of liquid to gelatine may be different. You will need to add enough gelatine based on the rhubarb being liquid, but dissolve the crystals in boiling water. You could also use packet jelly if you prefer but would suggest lemon flavour is best as it is not too sweet.

Results

The pudding was a pretty pale pink and tasted sweet and tangy. The texture was creamy and mostly smooth, with the occasional fleck of orange zest or titbit of rhubarb. It reminded me a little of the mango puddings you get in Chinese restaurant, though not quite as sweet (I believe they use sweetened condensed milk).

This is my entry for the monthly Waiter There’s Something in My… event. This month it is hosted by Andrew at Spittoon Extra and the theme is salad. He’s called for the salad to be seasonal if possible and for me in England that means a winter salad.

I eat a lot of salad at any time of year and I don’t generally follow too much of a recipe. The joy of a salad, as with a soup, is that I can use whatever is to hand. I recently made a fabulous salad with roast beetroot (following the Sophie Grigson method), clementine (small, sweet citrus fruit similar to mandarins), roast red pepper, pine nuts, lettuce, shallots and salad cress in a lemon and olive oil dressing. I have also been eating bufalo mozzarella with avocado, sweet green tomato, basil and a drizzle of olive oil on crisp bread, for lunch.

This week I bought some delectably creamy and sharp Devon Blue cheese from the deli and I wanted to base a salad around that. My mind leapt immediately to the ripe pears we had at home. My favourite variety is the conference pear, because it has the best flavour and it seems to stay in an optimal state - ripe but firm - for days, while other varieties seem to move from crunchy to slushy or brown too quickly.

What else would go with the blue cheese and the pears? Walnuts, of course, and the nice green lettuce with the wavy leaves in the fridge at home. Then, at the last minute, the addition of the roast parsnip and celeriac chips leftover from last night’s dinner. (I had  parboiled handcut wedges of parsnip and celeriac and then roasted them with vegetable oil, salt and pepper). The salad was lightly coated with dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Balsamic vinegar is an attention seeker and should be used in moderation. Most people, restaurants included, use too much of it and end up overpowering the other ingredients. You need just a hint of it to add to the bouquet of flavours - I mixed equal parts of olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a jar and then used just two teaspoons of the mix for the salad. You need enough to coat the leaves, but if you end up with liquid at the bottom of the bowl, then you’ve used too much.

The salad was a wonderful mix of flavours and texture. The star ingredients were the blue cheese and the sweet, firm pear, which made a glorious combination. The walnuts, which I crumbled with my hands, were creamy and sweet, and the substance of the root vegetables was a nice counterpoint to the light, crunchy leaves.

The lettuce, parsnip and celeriac were organic from my weekly vegetable box. The pears were British grown from Waitrose, though not organic. The blue cheese is from Devon and bought from a small shop in my local area. The only imported ingredients were the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, both from Italy, though the olive oil was organic, and the walnuts, organically grown in India.

For more winter salad inspiration, I like the look of this beet salad on Sugar Plum.

Our champion representing Israel in the Global Breakfast Tournament is Avital Gertner with a Shakshukah.

Can you introduce yourself to readers of The Gooseberry Fool, please?

I am Avital and up until about four months ago I was working as an advocate in Haifa, Israel. Recently I have moved with my hubby to Dublin, Ireland and as I cannot practice law here, I have time to be creative and crafty.

What is your dish?

The name of the dish is Shakshukah. It is basically a spicy egg dish you eat with bread (rather than with a fork and a knife). The Shakshukah was brought to Israel by the new immigrants from North Africa before the establishment of Israel by the UN. The dish was received very favourably and became a traditional Israeli dish with a few adjustments over the years.

Why is it classically Israeli?

I would say the reason is twofold:
1. It is hot and spicy, like the typical Israeli character.
2. It is traditionally eaten with bread and not with your cutlery - another typical Israeli trait.

What associations does it have for you? When do you make it?

Though I wasn’t a big fan of Shakshukah back home, now that I live far far away, in another continent, it reminds me of Israel and I prepare it when I feel homesick. My mother didn’t make this dish, nor did my mother-in-law, but the different spices and the smell reminds me of my homeland.

Why do you think it’s great or deserves to win?

It represents the common Israeli person, which is what this all tournament about - a food that tastes like the people in the country it is traditionally made in. Additionally it makes a full healthy meal with vegetables, eggs and bread (for dipping).

Sounds great, let’s have the recipe!

Shakshukah recipe - Ingredients

Tomato, 1-2 diced
Bell pepper, 1 diced
Onion, 1 chopped
Garlic, 4-8 crushed cloves (depends on taste)
Chilli pepper (optional)
Paprika, 1-2 tablespoons
Cumin, 1-2 tbs
Tomato paste, 2 tbs
Eggs, 2-4 (depends on taste or number of eaters)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
* Heat a frying pan and drizzle some olive oil on the bottom.
* Add the chopped onions to the pan.
* When the chopped onions become translucent - add the chopped garlic (and chilli).
* Add diced tomatoes and bell pepper.
* When the diced tomatoes and bell pepper are hot and soft, start seasoning - add salt and pepper, paprika, cumin.
* Add tomato paste and stir together.
* Now TASTE - you cannot add more spices after adding the eggs.
* Add the eggs on top of the mixture. (Traditionally you do not scramble the eggs but keep them whole, but my husband likes it scrambled).
* Put a lid on the pan and cook on medium-low heat until the eggs settles (about 8-10 minutes).

To serve

Eat with plenty of bread (when hot). I have pictured both options - not scrambled (traditional) or scrambled. We ate the Shakshukah with a bread roll cut in half, sprinkled with olive oil and za’atar (a middle eastern herb - mixture of wild oregano and sesame seeds). It would have been better to eat it with a pita-bread, but our local grocery store ran out, so bread rolls it was.

I enjoy perusing recipe books and cooking magazines and surfing the plethora of foodie material on the web. But there is one thing that is always guaranteed to bring back my cooking inspiration and that is the ingredients themselves.

Determined to celebrate Chinese New Year in style but unsure how, I decided to head down to Chinatown and see what I could find. Before I knew it, I was browsing the aisle of See Woo Supermarket on Lisle Street. There were plenty of ingredients - such as bitter winter melon and dried fish - that I had no idea what to do with. But there were also plenty of interesting ingredients that were positively begging to be cooked and before I knew it, I had a full shopping basket and the beginnings of a meal.

I ended up making a stir-fry vegetable and noodle dish with crisp tofu and mock cuttlefish (vegetarian, made from yam). The recipe is very simple and the beauty of it is that you can really use whatever vegetables and protein sources you like and it goes equally well with rice or noodles. As an accompaniment I bought Chinese soft drinks - a red date, longan and lotus seed drink and a ginseng bird’s nest drink, both of which basically tasted of sugar and water. For dessert we had fresh lychees, soft peanut rice cakes and caramelised cashews. An oriental feast!

The recipe is below - or if you are looking for inspiration on how to celebrate Chinese New Year in London without cooking, then see here instead.

Ingredients

Vegetable or groundnut oil, 3 tbs
Sesame oil, 1 tsp
Chinese rice wine, 1 tbs
Chinese vinegar, 1 tsp
Soy sauce, 2 tbs
Honey, 1 tsp
Chilli sauce, 2 tsp
Lemon wedge
Garlic, 3 cloves, crushed
Ginger, 1 tbs grated or finely chopped
Red chillies, 2, finely chopped with seeds removed
Spring onions, 3, outer skins and ends removed, cut into three lengths and then sliced lengthways
Broccoli, 1 head, cut into small flowerets
Choi sum or other Chinese greens, 2 handfuls, sliced lengthways
Carrot, 1 medium to large, sliced into sticks
Chinese mushrooms (I used Golden Lily mushrooms and Chinese Crab mushrooms), 150g
Chinese beansprouts, 1 handful
Tofu, 2 packets (440g), cut into
Can of vegetarian mock cuttlefish with mushrooms and bamboo shoots, 283g (10oz), drained
Fresh noodles, 400g

Method

Press liquid out of tofu with a paper towel and cut into 1-2cm cubes. Heat oil in the wok (or a deep-sided pan). Add the tofu, chilli, ginger and garlic. Stir until the tofu is golden brown and crisp on the edges.
Meanwhile, steam the broccoli and choi sum until it is just tender and bright green. Submerge in cold water so it retains its colour.
Remove the tofu from the pan. Add the carrot, mushrooms, spring onion and cuttlefish. When the vegetables are half cooked, add the rice wine, vinegar, soy sauce, chilli sauce, honey and sesame oil, and squeeze in the lemon.
Add the noodles, broccoli, choi sum, beansprouts and tofu and warm through. You might need to transfer it to a bigger pot or bowl in order to mix everything thoroughly. Adjust the sauces and flavourings to suit.
Serves 4-6.

Today is Chinese New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Rat. It might not sound too appealing but the Year of the Rat is actually one of the most auspicious in Chinese astrology because it is the first of the cycle of twelve. Legend has it that the rat was the first to arrive when the Jade Emperor invited the animals to a party. Apparently this year we can look forward to more peace and prosperity than 2007 - then again, don’t they say that every year?

Chinese New Year is a great excuse to cook up a feast - or to head to Chinatown and chow down some festive fare. Last year I threw a party and made a Kylie Kwong noodle dish with mock duck, and lots of dim sum. But this year, it’s just the two of us and I’m light on inspiration.

Should I make something? Please send me links to any fantastic recipes you want me to try. Or should I brave the crowds and head for a Chinese restaurant? What’s your favourite? I can only go to restaurants in London but if your recommendation is in another town or city, let me know about it anyway.

Post your suggestions in the comments and I’ll report back on the results.

This week’s recipe is for three bean soup, once again from Olive magazine’s 30 Low-Fat Recipes booklet, free with the February 2008 issue.

This doubles as an entry for the Well-Seasoned Cook’s My Legume Love Affair challenge.

Three bean soup

20 minutes * EASY

chicken or vegetable stock, 500ml

broad beans 2 handfuls, fresh or frozen

green beans 2 handfuls, trimmed and chopped into lengths

cannellini beans 400g tin, drained and rinsed well

basil a handful of leaves, roughly chopped

parmesan grated to make 2 tbsp

- Heat the stock in a saucepan until simmering, add the broad beans and green beans and cook for 2 minutes, add the cannellini beans and cook for a further 2 minutes. Season.

- Stir in the basil and parmesan.

Serves 2.

PER SERVING: 227 kcals, protein 18.7g, carbohydrate 28.4g, fat 5.2g, saturated fat 1.9g, fibre 10.8g, salt 2.31g.

Road test

A note on ingredients: I used Jürgen Langbein vegetable stock, Waitrose cannellini beans, and Waitrose parmigiano reggiano.

Method: This was exceptionally easy and quick - if anything, it probably took closer to 15 than 20 minutes.

Results: Simple and tasty, though not amazing.

Verdict

This was not very exciting but I might make this again, because it is so simple and most of the ingredients live in the store cupboard. It is also very wholesome and genuinely low fat. It is intended as a starter but it does satisfy as a main with some toast as an accompaniment, or perhaps a salad or a dessert.