My cooking process usually begins with opening the fridge to see what’s inside and make my decisions from there. But the act of opening the refrigerator door, much less even thinking about or looking at its contents was enough to make my entire system turn itself upside down! If I was able to get past those obstacles, the smell of food cooking was just too much to bear. And if I could get past all of that, actually enjoying the meal became a feat of accomplishment!
I can easily understand my body rejecting things that aren’t good for it, but all was able to tolerate was plain pasta with lemon juice. Sometimes, and I mean sometimes, I could crush a few cherry tomatoes into it. Shave a little parmesean on the top, and it’s a really nice light summer lunch – morning sickness or not! You would think that I would crave all of my favourite nutrient packed fruits and vegetables, but that just wasn’t the case. The ultimate goal was to get something down that would stay on my stomach and potentially not have much flavour if I did happen to ‘return’ it later on
But you (and Mister Cooking for Love) will be happy to know, firmly seated in our second trimester, I am cooking again!
Mark has been really great, and even cooked his famous SpagBog (Australian for Spaghetti with meat sauce) several times, never complaining, and happily took my suggestion that he order takeout for himself. He even made the most wonderful powdered chicken broth soup, served lovingly to the green woman in bed at 6:30 pm a number of times!
Perhaps the biggest insult to him is that the smell of dish soap absolutely set me off! This was not something I conjured up just to get out of doing dishes. I went through countless bottles trying to find one scent that didn’t absolutely repel me. I searched pretty much until my super sniffer calmed down a bit and smells no longer made me ill. He is such a gem, and endured all of this with a smile!
My first second trimester meal was the biggest dish of love I have ever made. It didn’t really matter what it was, I was just so happy to be cooking – and enjoying it!! I made roasted vegetable tortilla soup and tostadas. They took ages to make, but were delicious and so very worth it because Mark, the little Roo, and I definitely deserved it!
Tortilla soup
For the soup, start with boiling a whole chicken in a full pot of water until the meat falls off the bone. To the water, add a spice mixture consisting of the following, pulverised with a mortar and pestle:
Dried pasilla and ancho chiles, Achiote seeds, Epazote, Garlic, Paprika, Red pepper flakes (to taste), Sea salt
Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot, and reserve the stock in a bowl.
Light a fire in the grill, and roast red sweet peppers, summer corn (it was the end of summer by the way), and tomatoes outside on the grill. For the peppers, you just want to get a really nice char on the outsides, so you want the flame on the fire to be high, rather than the radiant heat of coals. The corn will go from a pale yellow to a deep buttery yellow as it cooks, and it’s nice to get a little char on some of the kernels as well. Score the tomatoes so they don't explode. They have to be watched very closely, as they cook quite quickly, and will turn to mush if you cook them too long. Remove them from the heat just as they start to split.
Once the peppers are roasted, you’ll need to peel the skins off. This can be done several ways – I find the easiest is to cut the end off the peppers and then slice in half. Clean out the seeds, and run under cold water. With your hands, rub until the skin is removed.
Remove the kernels of corn from the cobs by running a sharp knife down the ear, shaving off the kernels as you go.
In a large pot, sautee 1 large chopped yellow onion, 1 cup celery and 5 -10 minced garlic cloves with a little olive oil. Add these ingredients one at a time, starting with the celery (will take the longest to cook), followed by the onions and finally the garlic. Salt them as they cook, and remember, you simply want to sweat them, not brown them.
Cut the roasted red peppers into ½ inch squares and add to the pot. Next, add your roasted tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes, or until all ingredients are cooked through, and then add your stock leftover from roasting the chicken. NOTE: As I am allergic to corn, I only added it to Mark’s bowl as a topping, but you could easily add your corn at this time.
While this is simmering, it’s time to come back to that ugly chicken sitting on your cutting board. With two forks, remove the skin and discard. Then begin shredding the meat by pulling it from the bone until the chicken is clean. You’ll have a mixture of light and dark meat. If you have any large pieces, cut down into smaller bits with a knife.
Add to simmering soup and cook for about 30 mins on medium heat. Season with more of the mixture from above if needed.
Serve in a bowl, and squeeze ½ lime over the top. The lime will become too sweet and sometimes even bitter if you cook it into the soup, but squeezing over the top of the soup when it’s served gives the dish a nice citrus tang that compliments the deep smoky flavours of the roasted vegetables. Garnish with any combination of fresh avocado, roasted corn, sliced dried peppers, cilantro, shredded chicken, tortilla strips, and a wedge of lime.
Tostadas are also a nice complement as a starter
Enjoy!
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