626, 625: The pasta, the pasta

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At Nature's Basket and such places, I suffer from this mild lapse of memory where I forget that I don't cook. Can't. Won't. But everything looks so tide, appealing, and inviting - the ripe plums, the little vials of sea-salt, hefty avocados, cartons of raw sugar, boxes of interesting pasta - that I think I'd love to cook and of course, I can whip up something nice.

Last night, I had a friend over. She just happened to be on this side of town and I was done with work. It would be nice to catch up. But just that morning, I'd asked the cook to not make anything. It's end of the month so there isn't a whole lot I can buy from a restaurant either. I'm not one of those proud and particular hostesses who needs to lay out a laden table but I really did want to put out something nice for my friend. There was paratha, some soya sabzi, and daal.

Then I remembered.

From the moment when I'd mistaken myself for someone who likes to cook, I'd purchased a box of beetroot pasta (that was supposed to be gluten-free, organic, etc. etc.). There was a packet of instant mushroom soup. Mom had sent across a large packet of peas and two packets of dried cranberries (which I love).

So I cooked the beetroot pasta (it takes slightly longer to cook than regular pasta) and made the soup separately with just water, some butter, pepper, and peas. Then I drained the pasta, coated it with the soup (it has become a little more runny than what I'd liked), and seasoned it with mixed herbs, some rosemary and lots of chilli flakes.

It was quite nice! I can imagine that with more veggies - at least mushrooms and leek, it would be quite a meal.

Maybe another trip to Nature's Basket is in order.


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