Soothing soup

Just one of 'm days.

Waking up an hour before my alarm clock, unable to get back to sleep. An early morning visit from an electrician to tell me my intercom may be inter, but it's not so com. And no chance of getting it fixed. Good thing I have a balcony, cuz I'll be using it to communicate with my visitors, four floors below.

The garbage bag destined for the disposal toppled over when I put it down to tie my scarf. Rubbish and coffee grounds everywhere. Oh, and a nice smathering of garlic-laced yogurt.

On my way to the office, I got soaked. Naturally. An inbox filled with you-must-do-this-for-me-now and I'm-changing-the-info-I-sent-you-yesterday-and-you'd-better-deal-with-it e-mails waited for me inside. Again, naturally.

Seventy-five miniature crises and a nightmare planning meeting later (damn, I'm a drama queen) it was seriously time to go home and hide. Rain again on my way back and there was only one possible answer to this day: soup.

Nigella Lawson's Vietnamese chicken salad had left me with half a head of white cabbage. Perfect for Luisa's rice and smothered cabbage soup (http://wednesdaychef.typepad.com/the_wednesday_chef/2008/01/marcella-hazans.html , have to learn how to do hyperlinks). (Hey! I just clicked to test that link and noticed Luisa's Dutch oven is the same color and general shape as mine. Oooh. I'm so cool.)

Shredding the cabbage put the first real smile of the day on my face. My newly wetted knife defied the day's trend and was nothing but lovely, efficient sharpness. Waiting for the vegetables to change into a silky soft tangle was the perfect excuse for watching an episode of Dharma and Greg (what? you can't do anything trying if you have to get up and stir every ten minutes or so...) and call a few friends. (True to the day, answering machines were all I got. But, you know, at least now it is their turn to call me and I can stop feeling guilty for neglecting them.)

Then all there was left to do was pour in stock and rice, wait a bit more (ha, I got to update my must-try recipe list, seven pages and counting) and add butter and grated parmesan. (Butter and parmesan. Do your salivary glands spring into action just reading those words? Yes? Say yes? I'm normal, right?)

So what if it was still today, I over-poured the rice and the soup resembled risotto more than anything? It was creamy, soft, warm. A hug in a bowl. And just one of 'm days turned into one of mmmmm-nights.

Here we go...

The button is about to fall off the last pair of pants I own that still has one. I am not kidding- all my other pants are buttonless and stay up by zipper power alone. I'd like to think a serious flaw in my sewing skills is causing this epidemic of dropping buttons, but that might not be the only problem... So, time to give my waistbands a break.

Now, I know how to eat healthily, more or less (chocolate's always confusing- is it good (happy hormones) or bad (much fat and sugar)? and I simply refuse to believe that something as delicious as white, crusty bread can be bad for you). But putting that knowledge into practice? A whole different ballgame. Come dinner time, I can all too often be found shoveling grilled cheese sandwiches or tomatoes-in-a-can based foods into my mouth rather than well-balanced and nutritious meals. No more. Starting today, I am cooking proper food, WITH vegetables, at least every other day. I'll plan for the meals and shop in advance for stuff my open-conveniently-late supermarket doesn't have.

Buttons, fear no longer!

This week's meals:

Claudia Roden's Kibbeh from the oven with baba ganouj and cacik
Green bean salad with tuna (do cooked green beans with vinaigrette and tuna from a can count as salad?)
Quinoa with leek in mustard sauce, feta and cilantro
Steamed celery with polenta and a boiled egg
Nigella Lawson's Vietnamese coleslaw