Pinakbet. Eat. Pray. Love.

On any normal day, it's hard for me to think of what to cook. Most of the time, we end up just buying cooked food and Mila will just eat one of her pre-prepared meals we have in the freezer. These past few days, Mila had been getting picky and does not like her mushy food. So I decided I'll cook something fresh to start our Monday.

Mila loves her veggies and I had been craving for some so I decided we'll have Pinakbet for lunch. I used to dread cooking this because of too many ingredients I need to prepare. And I always end up cooking way more than we can consume. I try to avoid leftovers because the veggies get overcooked when we reheat it and we don't really like to eat it anymore. After a few tries, I found the best portion for us. It's really very easy to cook, not to mention very healthy too.

Ingredients

¼ kilo Liempo
1 Large Eggplant, cubed
1 Large Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd), sliced
3-4 sections of a large Squash, cubed
5 pcs Okra, cut into half
1 bundle Sitaw (String Beans), cut in 2 inch pieces
3 pcs Tomato
2 pcs Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1-2 tbsp Alamang (Shrimp Paste)
Oil
Water
Salt and Pepper

Procedure

1. Cut pork in small strips. Put it in a pan with water just enough to cover. Cook until all water is gone. Lower the heat and continue cooking to render the fat.

2. When pork is slightly brown, set it aside. Add oil if needed. Sautee garlic, onion, tomatoes. Add the shrimp paste. Cook for about 2 minutes.

3. Add the squash. After 5 minutes, add about 1 cup of water. You can add more if you want some sauce, which I do.

4. When water starts boiling, add the eggplant. I don't like undercooked eggplant so I add it a few minutes before I add in the rest if the veggies.

5. Simmer for 5-7 more minutes or until the veggies are cooked. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

6. Serve with hot rice.

Yield: 4-6 servings

As expected, Mila enjoyed her squash and string beans. She even likes ampalaya.

On a very related note, I hate seeing worms. When I cut the eggplant earlier and saw the black marks which are parts that a worm had eaten through, I passed it to Hubs to have it cleaned. Hubs said I am being too judgemental. Yup, that was his exact term. He said fruit or vegetable worms are the cleanest and healthiest because they only eat fresh produce. I guess he has a point. I still don't want to see them on my food.

Enjoy lunch!