Rating: 8/10

I’ve eaten a lot of Thai food. I mean, living in Thailand for ten months will do that to a person if you know what I mean. So when I’m in the mood for a real Thai dish, this is not what I would sit down with. I would, on the other hand, spend hours in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove, and end up with a million dirty dishes. I would then spend just as much time cleaning up the whole thing as I did making it. Which is okay some days, but not so much on others.

Don’t buy this product if you are hoping for an authentic taste of Thai. Don’t judge Thai food by the way this particular product tastes. Don’t hope to find some miracle food inside this cardboard housing, it just isn’t going to happen.

But when it’s a cold day, and a home sickness I can’t explain takes over me, I will, without hesitation, pop one of these in the microwave and eat every last bite. It’s easy to make, easy to clean up, and it tastes good. Like I said, if I’m going for something more exquisite then I will put the time and effort in that is necessary, all the other days? Let’s just say I have six boxes of this in my cupboard.

I was motivated this morning and popped over to Tom’s to get some eggs for an omlette. So, while searching through my refrigerator I found the asparagus I had bought to go with the salmon, though I hadn’t used it. Inspiration hit and this is what I ended up with.

—

Ingredients:

+ eggs (as many as you’d like)
+ asparagus (leftovers if you have them)
+ lemon juice
+ garlic
+ pepper
+ salt
+ oil
+ butter
+ cheese (I use feta, but parmesan or swiss would go really well too)
+ tomatoes (optional)
+ biscuits

Preparation:

1. First things first, steam the asparagus in a steamer or in the microwave. Add a little salt and pepper (lemon pepper if you have it) and sprinkle some lemon juice over top while it steams. I like to cut my asparagus into one inch pieces and go from there, but this is a preference issue. This shouldn’t take more than four minutes or so.

2. Get your biscuits in the oven. I usually buy them in the tubes and stick them on a pan so it takes ten minutes, give or take a few.

3. While your asparagus is steaming start melting your butter. Now, here is another personal insight. I like using oil and butter in my pan with eggs. It gives a healthy (albeit fatty) and full flavor. But if you’re aiming for something a little more healthy stick with the olive oil and you’ll be just fine.

4. Add the garlic to the pan and let it simmer a little. You want to make sure the flavor really gets out there. Here you have the option of using some tomato. I, personally, do not like cooked tomato, so I leave mine on the side, but feel free to lightly sautée it with your garlic.

5. Add your eggs. I usually end up with a dish of scrambled eggs with stuff in it, rather than an omlette, but how you cook your eggs is up to you.

6. Once the biscuits are done, cut one in half and put a little butter on each side. You want to make sure it’s warm and the butter melts before adding your eggs.

7. Put the eggs on top and add a little feta. I had some basil and tomato feta that was fabulous, but any flavor will work.

And there you have it. A simple, but elegant breakfast for any morning of the week.

I’m one of those people that loves to cook. I mean, I love it. Even when I come home, after a long night of cooking, I want to make myself some dinner. But every now and again I get lazy- we all do, don’t even deny it- and a frozen dinner, or peanut butter and jelly sandwich seems to be enough. And all of this is just fine with me, until you end up with something like this:

Home Cooking in Minutes!, you say? Bah! I’m insulted. Seriously insulted. To say that a box of frozen, over processed, additive infused pirogies can come anywhere near the level of cheffery a normal person could is seriously demeaning. When was it that we go so lazy that this sort of instant gratification, home cooked meal in a box, “all the flavor without the effort” style eating became popular?

Do you remember having that happen? Maybe I’m just lucky in that my Mom and Grandpa used to make dinner, from scratch, for us almost every night. My mom even made our salad dressings. I feel fortunate to have had those sorts of real home cooking from an early age, and I can see now how much good it has done me.

So out with the frozen junk and in with the good stuff. I won’t harp on this particular issue again, but I did have to get it out in the open at least once.