Coconut Curry

Ugh, being sick when you are far away from home is no fun. Starting yesterday, I got super tired, head and body aches, cough, the whole nine yards. Is it H1N1? (No it's not really "swine flu" and I am sick of the panic it induces) Hopefully not, but a possibility. But I have spent two days lying in bed, drinking lots of water and watching movies. I haven't really been coherent enough to get work done, so if this post is a bit strange, blame the fever.

But before I got sick, I did something I new. Usually when I cook, I have at least read a recipe, and usually just tweak it based on my tastes and what I have on hand. I am rarely confident enough to just "wing it." But I did. I knew I wanted to use coconut milk, and I went from there. The results: Coconut Curry Tofu. I didn't write anything down, or really measure, so the recipe is approximate.


Coconut Curry Tofu
Brown rice, cooked

Tofu, whatever you decide is one serving (I used silken firm)
Olive oil

1 carrot, sliced
1/2 a small onion, chopped (I had a red on hand)
1 tomato, chopped (remove the seeds first)
1 hot pepper, diced small (I left half the seeds in, but do so with caution!)
Ginger root, finely diced
Spices: curry powder, salt, black pepper,
Coconut milk (I used about 2/3 of a can)

1. Start the brown rice cooking first. Or use white. Whatever. I just like the extra protein
2. Slice your tofu, and press it while you prep the other ingredients, just to avoid excess moisture.
3. Get all your veggies chopped
4. Boil the carrots until just a little tender. You could skip this, if you like more of a crunch
5. Saute the onion and ginger in a bit of water or oil in a small sauce pot.
6. Add coconut milk and spices to the pot. Cook until for 10 minutes? It will thicken slightly
7. While this is going, chop tofu into bite sized pieces and saute in olive oil.
8. Add carrots and tomatoes to sauce pot.

Here is what my stove looked like at this point:


Tofu:


Sauce and Curry:
To finish, put your rice in a bowl, ladle on some of the veggies and coconut milk, then top with tofu!

Well, for a recipe-less and plan-less foray into the kitchen, I think I ended up with a tasty dinner!


Now back to sleep and recovery before I head off to London on Thursday! Then comes frantic paper-writing, then MEGAN IS VISITING! Slightly more frantic writing/studying, parties, then HOME!

Oh, and travel tour pictures are now posted on Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/MalleryO

Traveling!

I know you haven't heard from me for a while, but I have a decent excuse. For the first two weeks of November, my parents came to visit!!! Yay!!!! I really needed a break, and it was amazing to see them for a while; it was just the taste of home that I needed. A brief travel summary: a few days exploring Copenhagen, seeing museums I hadn't been to yet, and introducing my parents to where I have been living for three months! This was followed by an insane few days of driving then entirety of Denmark, from Copenhagen to Skagen (on the very very farthest tip in the north) and back again.

Next adventure: trains! Now I have never traveled any distance on trains, but we decided that it would be a fun chance to try it. So from Copenhagen we loaded into sleeper cars to Germany, then regular seats, and finally a bus! Where did this take us? Prague! This has been on my to-see list for a long time, and it did not disappoint: Prague is a gorgeous city during the day, but is truly spectacular at night, when the bridge and all the buildings are illuminated. (Pictures are coming soon, but they require a bit more editing. Soon, I promise!) The city is very different than any European city I've been in, it just feels more old! But even in November, the tourists were everywhere. I didn't really mind though. The Old Square was beautiful, surrounded by churches, towers, and, of course, restaurants. All the restaurants, despite the cold, had outdoor seating. Luckily, they supplied huge gas heaters and blankets. Add hot mulled wine or cider and even I was nice and toasty!

So how to follow Prague? With Budapest, naturally! Also on my to-see list, also accessible by trains. I still haven't made up my mind which of the two cities I liked better. They were similar in some ways: divided by a river, giant castle, fancy bridges, etc., but Budapest was much less touristy. I think that I could see myself going back to visit Prague but actually living in Budapest.

A word on restaurants: eating in foreign countries is difficult as a vegan. It just is. There's the language barrier, the completely foreign concept of veganism, and just not knowing where to go. But thankfully, there is happycow.net. HappyCow lists tons of veggie, vegan, and veggie-friendly restaurants and stores all over the world! Although I have found the listings to be very incomplete and often outdated, it is still a terrific source if you know that you will be traveling for a few nights and need the name of at least one source of a decent meal! So in Prague I found Lehka hlava, which means Clear Head. This is an entirely veggie restaurant, with a menu in English where all dishes are marked as vegan, or if they can be made vegan. This was quite possibly the best meal ever. Everything was so fresh, delicious and creative! I had tempeh bulgar risotto. I have never had a tempeh dish that I actually liked, but I figured if anywhere would have a good version, it would be there. Such a good decision! Even my dad enjoyed his food, though he did complain that there was too much cheese in it... it kind of sounds like he could be converted... but I won't hold my breath. I almost forgot to mention- vegan carrot cake for dessert! Eating dessert out is such a treat for me!! The next night we decided to go the Maitrea, the new restaurant associated with Lehka hlava. Same deal, but with slightly less atmosphere and options. But still, an excellent meal!
Budapest I followed another HappyCow suggestion, Napfenyes Etterem, which people said served traditional Hungarian fare, but entirely vegan! The best thing, hands down, vegan pizza! Ok, now my dad really might be converted. A pizza made with vegan cheese and fake sausage and seitan? He loved it! I stuck to the veggie pizza with cheeze, which I liked even better! But again, the best part of the meal, dessert! I got somloi galuska, which is a traditional Hungarian dessert (but veganized!) of several layers of dumplings, with rum and chocolate sauce and whipped cream and vanilla custard and and and... So. Amazingly. Good. I might go back to Budapest just to eat at that restaurant again.

But now I am safe and sound back in Copenhagen for the next four weeks, and then HOME!!!!!! (can you tell I'm excited?) Well, mostly Copenhagen. I did go to Malmo yesterday in search of Astrid och Aporna, a vegan cafe. After several hours of wandering through an industrial park (I am never ever going without a map... ever!) I found it, and was not disappointed! "Chicken" curry sandwich on homemade ciabatta bread, with yummy veggie sides and the best soy chai latte ever! It was so lovely I had to take a picture on my computer:
Totally worth the walking! (Well, today my legs don't agree with that, but oh well, sometimes I just need to tell them to be quiet and get on with life)

4 more weeks: three massive papers, two Danish presentations, one Danish quiz, one Human, Health and Disease exam, one Epidemic disease quiz, one trip to London, one visit from Megan (please?), and lots of time spent listening to Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys :D

How long until I get to be a med student again?

I found myself asking this question (once again) today in Human Health and Disease. What lead to this, you may ask? Well I will tell you: rows upon rows upon rows of various anatomical preparations, sitting in formaldehyde, just waiting for me to study them! So so so cool! Even better, they all had tons of colored pins in them, and each pin identified an anatomical structure, so you could test yourself!
Every time I see things like this (the Bodies exhibit, or medical museums, for example), I realize just how badly I want to be a doctor. Yup, the idea of baking and opening a little bakery is still somewhere in my head, but it gets pushed waaay back on days like today. I mean, how cool is being able to see exactly what is inside of you, how it is all connected, where something could go wrong, and why we evolved how we did? OK, maybe it is only that cool to me. But maybe that means that being a doctor is really what I am meant to do with my life? I am going to go with yes, at least for the moment. (and maybe specifically I should consider surgery? But that I really don't know about yet...)

In other, rather less strange, news... Rachel Spear is the best person in the world! I came home after part 2 of 3 of my Danish midterm today, and my roommate calls out, "You have some mail, its in the kitchen." I never get mail, unless it is something from the Danish government about my visa, CPR card, etc, so I was rather confused. And what is sitting there, but an envelope from my best friend! Pictures, music, and the reminder that I have amazing friends was exactly what I needed! So thank you thank you thank you yotch #1! And you all could be my favorite people too... hint, hint... I like packages, letters, anything!

Last thoughts:
1. I will be home in 55 days (holy crap!)
2. My vegan soda bread needs a little more work before I post the recipe.
3. Yankees in the World Series=happiness! also= more late nights in my future, since games usually start at 2am Copenhagen time. Oh well, totally worth it.
4. TOP CHEF! I totally forgot to post this before, but Natalie Portman, one of my favorite actresses, is going to be on Top Chef this week. And the best part, SHE IS A VEGAN!! Hahaha, I love watching chefs try to cook vegan food, they get so scared!

And of course, my parents are coming on Saturday! Two weeks of vacation, here I come. Just need to get through these pesky midterms...