Did you know that you can find happiness in food? Double happiness even. A local noodle company sells Double Happiness noodles. What other food can make you feel so optimistic?
Soup for dinner tonight: I took a bag of three sausages out of the freezer. I buy them in bulk, split up the package and toss them in the freezer in ziplock bags.
Thaw them in a fry pan, about half-covered in water. Boil them off – remember to pierce the skins several times.
Meanwhile I boiled three litres of water for the noodles and let them boil unlidded for about twenty minutes. (That’s how long these ones take.)
I put a portion of frozen chicken stock into a pot to thaw and heat. I crush and add one garlic clove and some salt.
With all the pots underway, I wash and chop half an onion, several button mushrooms, a dozen green beans, and the rest of a very sweet red pepper. (Save the seeds for spring planting.)
The sausages are just about done now. The water’s boiled off and a meat thermometer inserted tells me they are to temperature. I let them brown, turning them as they sizzle. Add a small ladle of stock to deglaze the pan, then throw in the chopped onion, mushrooms and green beans.
I hold the pepper back because it won’t take long to sweat the flavour and I don’t want mushy pepper. When the vegetables are almost sweated, I add the pepper for a few minutes, then toss everything into the stock pot to heat on med-low for five or ten minutes.
When the noodles are done, I drain and rinse (to stop the cooking – don’t want them mushy) then portion some into each soup bowl.
Add the soup over top and voila – a beautiful, nutritious and delicious pre-workout dinner.