El Niño. Long hot and dry season; delayed and short rainy season. We’ve been through it so many times that one would think we should be used to it by now. But it gets worse every time.
Daytime temperature sores to the high 30s but the heat index is more extreme. From late morning until mid-afternoon, it goes as high as 47C. And weather forecasters (if they can be believed) predict that it will be even hotter in May.
We stay indoors with the AC on. Last month’s electricity bill was already up by twenty per cent but I bet that’s cheaper than getting hospitalized due to heat stroke, stroke or even a heart attck.
Meanwhile, our herb and vegetable garden has taken a hit. The fruit trees will survive but most of the herbs have already withered and died. Even the pot of oregano. I’ve often heard it said that only a complete moron would be incapable of keeping oregano alive — that it’s practically impossible to kill — but it died anyway.
So, microgreens
Since the garden has become inhospitable, Alex is raising vegetables indoors. She’s done it before with mung bean sprouts but, this time, she’s experimenting with other vegetables. That’s red mustard in the photo above.
As for our meals, we keep them simple. The other night, for instance, we had crispy tuna fillets and a side dish of green beans.
A simple side dish
The trimmed green beans were spread in the steamer basket that goes on top of the rice cooker. Cooking them at the same time meant there was only one source of heat in the kitchen. Less dizzying while cooking; less trapped heat after cooking.
While the beans were steaming, I prepped a simple dressing by whisking sesame oil, soy sauce and calamansi juice. 1:2:3 ratio. For the amount of green beans I steamed, I measured half a teaspoon of sesame oil, a teaspoon of calamansi juice and teaspoon and a half of soy sauce.
When the beans were done, they were tossed gently with the dressing. To serve; the steamed green beans were topped with fried shallots and garlic.
