Tuna pasta salad

A pasta salad is perfect for those really hot summer days and you know me, I wouldn't be writing about it if it wasn't really easy to make.

You can pretty much make a pasta salad with anything you have in the fridge or pantry. I opted for a pasta salad which I found on Nigella's website since I had all the ingredients in the house (Pasta, tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, oil, tuna and mayonnaise). Besides, cucumbers are so cheap these days I seem to be eating them with every meal!

Here is the link to the recipe.

I doubled the ingredients so that I had more than enough for dinner and lunch the next day.
However, I used less of the oil and mayonnaise than in the recipe. It was a pleasure to drizzle my olive oil from Crete over the pasta.

The salad turned out really well and I will definitely be making this, or a vegetarian version thereof, again this summer.

P.S. I have been playing with Adobe Ideas on my iPad - that's where I added the text to my photo's. Then I made the photo collage in Adobe Elements... I'm becoming a real graphics software junkie!!

Lunch at Zussen

I joined a friend for lunch at a restaurant in Utrecht called Zussen (which translates to sisters).

It is very trendy and has a lovely interior. The restaurant has a children's play area in the basement which meant showing up with two small children wasn't a problem. Heidi was very impressed with the toys - my only problem was that it felt isolated and I did not feel comfortable leaving her downstairs alone.

The food was good and the service too. I had a wholewheat roll with buffalo mozzarella, tomato and pesto. Heidi enjoyed some delicious poffertjes.

I think this restaurant is probably more suited for after work drinks and hopefully I will get a chance to go there one evening (I can but dream...).

After lunch we strolled across the road to the Sint Willibrord Church. It was renovated not too long ago and it is the first time I've been inside.

What a beautiful church! My breath was taken away by this special place.
Definitely worth a visit if you are ever nearby.

Scrambled eggs and beans on toast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day... not!
Every meal is the most important to me.
That being said, I love toast and anything that goes on top of toast.
Scrambled egg is easy to make and tastes really good on toast, thus that was my breakfast choice for the day.

Take two eggs, scramble them with a fork and season.  (If, unlike me, you are not on a diet or watching your dairy intake then add a bit of cheese, milk or cream to your mixture just to be decadent)

Heat up a dash of vegetable oil in a non-stick pan and then add the scrambled eggs.
Once the eggs are in the pan you need to scramble like crazy for two minutes and then take it off the heat. It is very easy to overcook the eggs, and I tend to do that more than I'd like to admit.

My husband always says the trick is to take the eggs off the heat when you think it is not quite ready.

I added some Heinz beans in tomato sauce to my breakfast feast.
Let the day begin.

Sushi!

Yes, I ordered sushi from the comfort of my couch. It was because I just couldn't muster the energy to make dinner... and the sushi arrived within 25 minutes. Pretty impressive - well done Sushi Wang in Utrecht.

We ordered vegetarian sushi - my favourites are Avocado Maki, Kappa Maki (Cucumber), Nigiri Tamago (Egg) and Nigiri Inari (Tofu skins). Yummy!

I've never been a fan of raw fish but strangely enough I simply love vegetarian sushi. Especially the tofu skins... it is sweet and when you dip it into the dark salty soy sauce it is just heavenly.

If you live in the Netherlands then the best sites to order food from are:
thuisbezorgd.nl; and
justeat.nl

They have a huge variety of restaurants and in all price classes... of course I do my best to resist the temptation to order food too often but sometimes it can be a real lifesaver!

Coffee and biscuits

It started pouring with rain while we were driving around in Crete.
One minute the sun was shining and as we turned a corner on a mountain pass the rain put in an appearance. It wasn't cold, just wet.

So we decided to stop in Tsoutsouros and have some coffee.

Of course we couldn't resist the biscuits they had displayed in the little cafe. So a selection was made and enjoyed with our cappuccinos. They were buttery and sweet, just as they should be.

Heidi had ice cream, which we later lived to regret. The rental car will probably never be the same again...

As we stood on the side of a mountain, cleaning the car with baby wipes, the sun came out and the rain was soon forgotten. The incident with the ice cream will take a while yet before it is wiped from our memories.

The end of a holiday

It was bound to happen.

Holidays aren't meant to last forever... right?

We had a great time on the Greek island of Crete.
In our rental car we crisscrossed the mountains, and believe me they have lots of mountains on this island. Beautiful mountains with olive trees, hidden caves and Minoan ruins.
We even went in search of the cave where Zeus was born (allegedly) but after a day of winding mountain roads we eventually gave up, deciding that climbing into a dark cave with a 6 month old baby might not be the smartest move.

Day after day we spent hours in the sun, either on the beach or in the hotel swimming pool. The seawater is crystal clear and the most amazing blue. It is hard to describe, you have to experience the beauty yourself.

We also ate our way through countless Greek salads, olives, tzatziki, baklava, freshly baked bread, watermelon and anything you can imagine at a hotel dinner buffet. It was glorious, it was also way too much.

I am actually really excited about cooking my own food again.

The holiday is over and it is back to business.

Greek Salad

There are few things as wonderful as having a real Greek salad for lunch.
Ripe tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and a big slab of Feta cheese.
Drizzle lots of extra virgin olive oil on top, a dash of vinegar and the salad is ready.

During the last two weeks in Crete I can admit to eating a Greek salad every second day. I am not ashamed to say that it was deliciously decadent. I ordered it in restaurants, road side cafes and even at a snack bar in the middle of nowhere which had the most amazing view.

The best thing about a Greek salad is its simplicity. It is the easiest thing in the world to make and you can have it for lunch or dinner. Go for it, buy some feta cheese and make a salad today.