Sunday 25 January 2015

Miso Aubergine Steak on Roast Veg

My sister and I have been having some fun with the BBC Good Food recipes and especially enjoyed this one! It's surprisingly filling and full of flavour...


For 4 people we used:
  • Two aubergines
  • One sweet potato, cut into chunky slices (with skin left on)
  • Sugar snaps
  • One garlic clove
  • Broccoli
  • Yukata organic brown miso paste
  • Pinch of rock salt
  • Olive oil to drizzle
  1. Preheat the oven to 180c
  2. Peel the aubergine and cut in half. Put in a roasting tin and spread the miso paste all over the top.
  3. Surround the aubergine with the sweet potato, sugar snaps and broccoli. Pour 225ml boiling water.
    Sprinkle the salt and grate the garlic over the veg, then it place in the oven for 30 mins.
  4. Then pour 125ml of boiling water into the tin and roast for another 20 minutes. (we changed this from the original recipe so it did not burn as we used half an aubergine per plate)
  5. Slice the aubergine into wedges and place on top of the potatoes and veg. Drizzle with olive oil.
  6. Enjoy!
We changed the recipe slightly; for the original: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/miso-roasted-aubergine-steaks-sweet-potato

Friday 2 January 2015

My Top 5 Favourite Books

1) The Colour Purple by Alice Walker:

my review: http://em-loves-reading.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-colour-purple-by-alice-walker.html

2) I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb: 

Malala Yousafzai is one of my biggest inspirations for obvious reasons. Reading this book left me in  awe of not just her courage but how she refuses to be intimidated by violent and threatening behaviour and that through such difficult times she still retains her beliefs. A quote from the book that struck me hard was, "I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children.".
A more thorough review that I read on good-reads before I read the book is: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/740859770?book_show_action=true

3) A Song Of Ice and Fire: A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin:

The 'A Song Of Ice And Fire' collection is my favorite series by far but if I had to choose a favorite book from the series it would definitely be the most recent one. This is mostly because Part 1 is largely set away from Westeros, so it points the focus on some really interesting characters that were not focused on as much in the previous books. Also, part 2 explores the character, Theon Greyjoy in more depth which I love as I find him the most intriguing to read about.

4) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee:

An absolute classic! Some parts of this book leave me feeling amused, while the rest causes an odd mix of happiness and overwhelming sadness. It's full of lovable characters like Atticus, calpurnia and Scout. Whereas some other characters are incredibly, incredibly frustrating!

5) Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

I am really interested in psychology, especially looking into the minds of psychopaths, so I found this to be a particularly fascinating read. What I found most intriguing was Dexter's calm and collect response to situations that would leave most people completely freaking out! My favorite element to the story is the references to his 'dark passenger' as he talks about 'it' in third person which really emphasises his inability to control the need to kill.