Comfort Food - Banana's and Custard with Melty Chocolate

There are times when you should never go shopping. 

Everyone says that you should never go shopping when you're hungry. To be honest, I've found that this isn't too much of an issue for me. Usually - what's appealing to me in the grocery store when I'm hungry is anything you can smell - which is usually the same as anything that's hot. 'Baked in store' is  usually what draws me in - and I don't actually buy that much from the bakery section. Especially as I usually buy my bread when it's on reduced, and so it's been taken to the refrigerated section. If I am buying something from the bakery section - it's usually because I have a specific end result in mind and so I normally know exactly what I'm getting, and so there aren't many impulse buys. 

And anyway - we all know what smells good in the bakery section are the sweet pastries, and I don't actually even like them all that much and so they're not that hard to resist.

What I found out last December is that you should never go grocery shopping when you are studying. A lot of things found their way into my basket that I'd managed to resist all semester. (Yes, I'm looking at you vegan yogurt, permissions, snow peas, avocados, fresh peppers, fresh broccoli, and beetroot.) 

What I found out on Friday? You should never go shopping on the way home from sitting an exam. Especially one you've sat just after moving into your new apartment properly. And when your finger is so numb from writing you won't actually be able to hold a knife properly when you get home (I wish I was joking - it took several days to go back to normal. It's still slightly numb if I press it.) 

So this time it wasn't to bad. 

Except at least last time most of what I bought was healthy - you know - fruits and veggies. 

This time? 

Super noodles. Curry flavor. You know - those ones that come in a blue foil packet with a flavor sachet that is 110% salt and 5% yellow food colouring? And vegan custard (why? I have custard powder at home. And that isn't full of sugar.) 

Several other things did make their way into my basket as well. The flour and banana that I had actually gone in for. 

For canned spaghetti which was 12p each or 3 for £1. Yes, you read that right. Please, if anyone is able - explain that one to me. My brain is physics-addled. I just can't make it add up. 

Seriously - I have no idea why those noodles made their way into my basket. Probably because they require no cooking- and are warm and savory. But I am really not proud. But last time I had an exam I went straight to bed and forgot to eat - at least this time I remembered to eat. Maybe. Are super noodles an improvement? 

I know why the custard came home with me. Plainly - who doesn't like custard - nobody that's who. Well - I never liked school dinner custard - but that was lumpy. 

And what better way to eat custard than with bananas (apart from apple crumble obviously)? Bananas - that's fruit right? That cancels out all the bad stuff. And it tastes good. What is it about bananas and custard that taste so good together? Apart from the fact that it's NOT fish fingers and custard?

And I had the perfect finishing touch already in my kitchen - chocolate.

The best way to eat bananas and custard (I have found from many trial and errors) is... heat the custard. Put it over the banana. Then top with chopped up chocolate, and leave it for a moment until the chocolate melts and forms a sort of chocolate sauce.

Sorted. Totally. And its fruit.

Yay me. 

Roasted Mediterranean Carrot and Celery Salad

So last night I got all my work done early so that I could write a blog post. Cause I love y'all. And I kind of have a backlog of things that I need to post. It's the curse of the killer lab report...

And then I spent SO LONG sorting out all my photos that.... no recipe was posted. I mean... I have no clue why I don't just sort out my photos on... I don't know... a weekly basis? Then it would take me.... tops 10 minutes. And it would be a lot less confusing and stressful. 

As it is it took me.... well long enough to listen to the ENTIRE and UNABRIDGED Alice in Wonderland audiobook. (As read by Scarlett Johansson - which was VASTLY better than the version I had as a child. I think it's only available on Audible - but if you have Audible I recommend that you go check it out!) 

So yes. It took a long time to sort them out. And I still haven't sorted them all out. I have big virtual piles of photos to sort through dating back from.... August. I REALLY wish that I was joking. And the worst thing about the whole situation (apart from the fact that it's not finished)? I probably wouldn't of done it if it wasn't for the fact that my iPod had used up all it's storage space. That's what having roughly 3000 photos does to storage space.... And I couldn't sacrifice either Frozen Free Fall or the Disney Tsum Tsum game.... so obviously it was my photos which needed to be sorted out. I mean... I think I had about 30 of one photo - just so I could find the PERFECT angle... 

The whole experience was also quite embarrassing... I realized just how many posts have been photographed.... but have never gotten to the stage where they have been published. Which is a shame because a lot of them are from summer/September when I had REALLY GOOD LIGHT. Something which I can barely remember it was so long ago.... 

This recipe is one of those. I can also tell you exactly when the photos are taken - because this was the dish I took to my universities VegSoc the first week I went...

So that was the middle of September. I know - long time no see. 

But better late than never - right?

This 'salad' (it was salad week) is based on one of the dishes from my favorite Mediterranean buffet. I mean - it's also the only Mediterranean buffet that I know of - but don't let that change anything for you. The actual dish was served warm (simply roasted veggies) and kind of greasy with olive oil. Greasy with olive oil is the kind of thing that's nice when served fresh out of the oven and warm - not so nice when eaten cold as a salad, so I scaled the oil back here. I also wasn't sure what herbs are used in the original dish - so I just went with two of my favourites. Try and slice the veggies diagonally - and get the slices as long as you can - they're much better for eating with your fingers that way! Lastly - I served it cold. I'm not entirely sure at what point you can call "roasted veg" a "salad" - but I'm gonna go with when they are cold.

I actually went to that buffet a few months ago for the first time in years. To be honest; it wasn't as good as it used to be. But this salad still tastes just like I want it to - so who needs to pay extra to have someone make it not as good? (Also it's like a 4 hour train ride away now I'm at uni).

If you want to serve it warm as a side dish - that's perfectly fine - but this is really good mixed together with other salads - either super simple just lettuce leaves and roasted carrot and celery, or a more complex mix of whatever salads you can get your hands on (leafy, veggie, grainy, pulse based etc). The flavors are distinctly herby - but they don't overpower or clash with other flavors - so go on and go crazy with the mixing!

Roasted Mediterranean Carrot and Celery Salad

Serves 2-4

• 1 cup carrot sliced diagonally 
• 1 cup celery sliced diagonally
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• several sprays of olive oil - or about 1 teaspoon

• Preheat the oven to 200C/390F
• Wash and prepare the vegetables. It's up to your own preference whether you peel the carrots or not (I'm not sure how you would peel the celery so I would advise against it!) 
• Mix everything together in an ovenproof/baking dish. I used an 8x8 pan
• Place in the oven and bake (roast) for about 30 minutes. The veggies should be soft - but not crispy/burnt or falling apart
• Give the veggies another mix before allowing to cool (or eating immediately). Remix before serving/taking a portion. 

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