Hoo-rayn!

Yep, it rained today...and except for the few minutes in which I walked umbrellaless to my car, that's a good thing. It waters the plants for me and means that it's cool enough to cook and to knit. Tonight's dinner:

Instant soup, bekstyle. One can of veggie broth, 2 cans of water (no, they don't make canned water...or do they? anyhow, it's just a measurement...), 8ish cloves of garlic, 1 medium onion. Cook that on medium for about 5 minutes, add 1/2 cup of quick-cooking barley, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of frozen veggies (mine were carrots, baby peas, and corn) and 1 can of rinsed and drained white beans. Cook uncovered for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, finely chop 1 Tfresh basil and -- the secret ingredient...one guess...think fast...all together now -- 1 cup romaine lettuce for each serving. Put the lettuce and basil into individual serving bowls, pour the hot soup into the bowls, and season to taste. Yes, I needed to use up the lettuce (I am so sick of salad!) but it's actually pretty good in soup...it reminds me a little of water chestnuts in that it actually stays crunchy. I doubt that it would store well though, so that's why I don't actually put it into the soup until serving time.

And then I made these a few days ago and forgot about them until now.

It's the Oasis Naan from Baking With Julia. I'm not going to bother with the recipe because it was kind of a pain, but if I know you and you want to borrow the book, I'd be happy to lend it out. If I make these again, I'll probably sub in lemon juice for the cumin...and freeze them quickly, as they turn rock-hard after about 24 hours.

And...

If you squint just right...it's a slice-of-garlic butt. (I didn't cut the notch into it...no cheating on the booty-fruity game.)

And now while I have my own undivided attention, I will ask myself random questions...and refuse to answer them. And then argue with myself. So long!