superfood fatigue and quinoa fritters

I have been feeling a little despondent about cooking lately, not as enthusiastic as I'd previously been. Over the weekend a name was put to how I'm feeling- superfood fatigue.

I'm getting tired of doing the superfood dance. I have seen enough kale to last me a lifetime. But I'm definitely not alone. Maybe how I'm feeling has driven my reading, but at the moment there are a few people having a diet crisis, questioning the longevity of the paleo/vegan/elimination/sugar-free lifestyle. Have a look here and here and here for some really interesting insights into people dealing with the big, daily issue of what and how to eat.



Luckily, that's not my problem. I am mostly on board with the anti-inflammatory regime and the food list that accompanies it. My problem is that I am tired of coming up with new recipes for new foods. Always creating and experimenting to see how far I can push a recipe or ingredient. I'm tired of not really having reliable, familiar, go-to recipes to pull out of my bag of tricks when a bit pushed or weary. It's because of the season change- I am a bit lost, and looking for those old favourite comfort foods to bolster me through this transition, but due to one thing or another, they are off the list.
Porridge- no.
Toast dripping with butter- no.
Endless pots of milky tea- no.

The 'easy' is missing. Those tried and true recipes, the simple dishes that are a part of life, are gone. The baking, the puddings, the batters, the pastry and pie dishes now require some re-jigging. Or total replacing.

My personal rule with food is no substitutions. I will not take a dish I love and take out all that I love about it and sub in other foods in an attempt to replicate the original dish.
Won't. Do. It.
Because quinoa is not oats.
Because almond milk is not milk.
Because egg replacer is most certainly not egg.
Because rice flour will not make bread.
Like I have said before, if you can't eat sandwiches, then you'd better find something else.

While I was feeling despondent I noticed some leftover quinoa on the stovetop. 
I was thinking about eating some cake. (It was a 'sod it all' kind of a day.)
I fossicked about in the fridge, found some spinach and spring onions that needed dealing with, and a smudge of goat cheese hiding behind the kids yoghurt. Wandering back inside after collecting two eggs from the henhouse, I picked a few sprigs of flatleaf parsley that I hadn't noticed taking off in an unattended pot. There was a tired lemon in the fruit bowl.

I turned on the pan to wilt the spinach. While it was heating up, the quinoa, crumbled cheese, sliced spring onions and chopped parsley went into a mixing bowl. I grated in some lemon zest, salt and pepper. Once I'd wilted the spinach I roughly chopped it, and that went into the bowl, with an egg. I stirred until it glued together. Then I put on the kettle, because I really was going to have a piece of cake. The pan was still on medium-low, so I splashed in some olive oil and dolloped in heaped spoonfuls of mixture. I stood, inhaling the sizzle of oil and eggy, oniony, melting cheese. I turned these little fritters that I had unexpectedly made and waited until they were golden and crusty. Lifting them out of the pan, they were a little more fraglie than I'd anticipated, which totally didn't matter, as they were hot, soft inside and crunchy around the egdes. I ate three before I'd remembered that I was feeling tired of superfood. I'd forgotten all about any cake. Before I'd even noticed that I had made a no-recipe-superfood-habit lunch, they were all gone. There are no photos.

Delicious. Lunch. Of superfoods.

Another day handled. But I'm giving the kale a rest for a bit..