Four sad vegetables and their story

As I left Toronto, my parents reminded (via phone) that I could take some food back with me. I grabbed some pasta (because I was out of pasta) but I allow opened up the refrigerator to salvage some food that was just going to sit their until it got thrown out. I felt like a real humanitarian, saving those vegetables (though I guess they probably would've prefer a slow rot than a fast burn). I retreived an old cauliflower, a fragment of a red onion, part of a cabbage and a piece of celery that was actually holding up pretty well.

I decided I would turn these into a meal. Unfortunately, it did not end as well as I hoped. I decided that you, the reader, might be tired of my 3CSBOOS (curry/cumin/cayenne/small bit of other spice, pronounced three cees booze) method of cooking so I decided to do some experimenting.

Four Vegetable Experiment

1 onion, chopped

The four vegetables above (say 1/4 cabbage, 1/2 red onion, medium cauliflower and 1/2 celery stack)

1 carrot, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp vineger

1 teaspoon chili paste

1 teaspoon black bean paste

Rice

Start cooking the rice – I used my rice method. This gives a 20 minute opportunity to cook the vegetables on medium-high. I added the onions to the pan and started steaming the cauliflower. 5 minutes later I added the red onion and celery. 5 minutes after that, the carrot. 5 minutes after that the garlic, cabbage, steamed cauliflower and sauces. I cooked it for 5 minutes until the rice was done.

Serves 2

So what went wrong? In a word, blandness. Now, I liked the vegetables fine but there was no kick. I had made a rocky mistake and underspiced, fearing an outcome that was too salty or too vinegary. But all is not lost! Note the "serves 2". Tomorrow, I will reheat the leftovers and add more flavourings. Hopefully, it will be a better dish.