Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Joys of Cilantro

Sunday.

I was absolutely NOT in the mood to set half a toe out of the house and of course, in order to maintain some form of justice in the world, laziness must entail SOME sort of sacrifice. Well, in this case, it was a sacrifice pertaining to dinner (one of the three most important meals of the day).

I didn't want to go out...but at the same time, there was almost nothing that was dinner-worthy in the house. I had a tub of pig’s brain in the freezer but I wasn’t really in pig’s brain mood. So, still adamant about staying cocooned in apartment 23, I had to pull together something from the random bits of everything I could find. Mmmm…sounds appealing already doesn’t it?

I DID just stock up on eggs…but eggs alone for dinner? How unsatisfying. This is where the wonderful Cilantro makes its grand entrance.
I LOVE Cilantro. Absolutely love it. To me, cilantro is summer in a handful. Its deep, fresh green color, strong flavor and fragrant smell spell out L.O.V.E in the mind of Dorothy. Forget scented candles – break out a few bunches of Cilantro and set it in the room. Well…at least it works for me.

I had a good supply of that happy herb in the fridge, leftover from a previous meal at home. Beautiful, beautiful cilantro. I ended up making an egg “roll” – one of the most insanely flexible meals ever. I had a bit of rice to go with the egg. But since I felt like being peasant-extravagant, I flavored the rice with a few drops of sesame oil (one of the most useful things to have in any kitchen) and topped it with a little bit of pork floss. That’s right…I’m living the high life!

I have the recipe for the egg roll below but it’s pretty much redundant since ingredients AND measurements can vary according to personal taste.


Egg Roll with Cilantro, Pork Floss and other things…


3 eggs, lightly beaten
A large handful of chopped **fresh** cilantro
A handful of shredded random vegetables (I had a bag of coleslaw veggies lying around so in they went)
A good sprinkle of pork floss
½ tablespoon light soy sauce
½ tablespoon sesame oil

Combine all ingredients. Oil (NOT with the sesame oil - sesame oil gets mixed with the other ingredients) and heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Pour about a third of the mixture into the skillet and spread evenly so that the whole skillet is covered. Wait until the mixture is somewhat set, then start rolling the egg into a single roll. Move the roll to the edge of the skillet. Add a little more of the mixture to the pan and again, spread over the pan. Wait to set. Then roll the first roll into the second layer. Repeat with the rest of the mixture until you have one giant roll.
Remove from heat. Cut the roll into even sized slices. Arrange around a bowl of sesame-oil rice.

Eat.

And to end the night, I plopped 2 large spoonfuls of plain yogurt into a bowl and topped with blueberries and fresh strawberries. Yes, random bits of everything can be very very good!