pesto with gusto!

I love cooking. I enjoy food. A lethal combination. It wasn't always like this. There was a time when I believed solving physics problems to be much easier than cooking food. How does one know how much salt or chilli or spice to add or in which order?

They say necessity is the mother of invention. I learned cooking during my first job - out of sheer need... since then I have overcome my dislike for sambar and rasam (the staple diet in the hostel mess) and also for idli (our common lunch item when in school).

These days I eat about anything and everything as long as it is vegetarian. As I said I enjoy cooking but there are days ... like the weekend.

During the week, it is easier. I decide the menu upfront and then go make the dishes. Done.
have no idea what happens when weekend arrives. The fridge is full of vegetable but my head is empty of any ideas. I just dont want to cook. I wish there were angels who would make lovely food and serve it. What dreams!

My husband loves cooking and he enjoys food. That makes it two of us. But the weekend problem does not get solved. The options are
1. Go out and eat
2. Open the freezer and take out some frozen curries and parathas
3. Hope and pray somebody would invite you for dinner or lunch
4. Make your own

Indian restaurants in this area are not great. I get the feeling they take out frozen stuff and heat it and serve us. Italian - am tired of the pasta and pizza. Plus, I want fibre and dont prefer the white flour, well maida ot the tons of cheese they put. Chinese - we there are a couple of places and my liking varies from time to time. Sometimes I like to go - sometimes I feel the smells are too strong. Thai - we love Thai food and there is one place out here and it is not great. Option 1 gets ruled out.

My husband loves to stock up the freezer. Says it is for the rainy day. For an emergency. Initially, I scoffed at the idea but over time I have realized the benefits. The frozen stuff is actually much better than the restaurant food the Indian places serve. When you are too lazy to cook this does serve as a good alternative. So I dont complain too much and in fact have become a partner in crime. We both buy frozen stuff now when we go to NJ. The prices are nearly double in this place as far as Indian is concerned.

Well, it is not always that prayers are answered. There are those occasions when someone invites us and we have a great time ...

But then there are those other times ... when nobody is holding out invitations and we just have tomake our own food and eat it.

S makes good pesto sauce. He would brag about it but I never believed him. He even grows basil in a small pot at home. He has made tomato pasta sauce many a time and it is great. Pasta - I am not very fond of. A few weeks back he wanted to make pesto sauce and pasta and I reluctantly agreed.

The pesto sauce was so amazing - it has since become a craving. The following week we got whole wheat pasta instead. This seemed like a good idea. Saturday evenings with pesto. But I had to do something about the pasta. And then I remembered the Mediterranean sandwich - the one with roasted veggies and pesto sauce and feta cheese.

So this week, when I went for my weekly groceries I went and got the basil+pine nuts, feta cheese, zucchini, rainbow peppers, eggplant and whole wheat bread. I sure compliment and praise S for his culinary skills and his great pesto sauce ... it's like a dream I tell him. Out of the world!

Well, for some weeks, till I get bored of the pesto, our Saturday evening dinners are an easy guess...pesto with gusto!