Last week was a really busy week. Working five days a week from 8 to 5 then rushing to Gemmayze for the yoga workshop I got myself into.The workshop was from 6:30 to 9:30 but sometimes it extended till 10, and a bit more in a couple of days. Then I had to get back home, shower and sleep to get ready for the day after. I could barely do anything else. No energy to cook, or to blog, read, or even check my instagram timeline feeds.

Speaking of instagram, how many of you are getting into this #selfie frenzy?

This is getting out of control, right?

But it is trendy.

After the famous oscar selfie, #SellotapeSelfie, the #AfterSexSeflie, and our very own #SelfieRS for Road Safety (which is turning out not very safe), I decided to ride the trend wave myself and start a new craze that I’d hate myself if it picks up; #FoodSelfie.

Just this Sunday, we realized that we took an awesome selfie even before it was cool, one year ago. I had discovered my talent at taking “photos of myself with others” (before it had a name) and decided to take a photo with my sister and our best friends after Palm Sunday mass. We repeated it this year, exactly one year later and posted it to compare.

I’m not that big on selfies. If you follow me on instagram (and do follow me) you can see that photos with my face in them are few. Lately I decided to start taking some. Out of silliness and randomness. It started with the sushi selfie that unexpectedly got many likes. Is that a sign for me to be the patron saint of #FoodSelfie?

Well, I would be proud and ashamed at the same time if this picks up. I would be proud of starting something online, something silly and shallow that I laugh embarrassedly every time I took one of the selfies below while Mike rolled his eyes. And if it picks up, I would be hated for turning instagram from “share a photo of what you’re eating” to “share a photo of your face with what you’re eating”

So here they are, 4 humble selfies at different places with 4 different cuisines *hides his face*

Away from all of that, I have a recipe for you that you can make and take a selfie with. I made chicken and vegetables curry with cooked rice on the side. It was good and hearty with lots of vegetables and enough filling chicken with enough curry and seasoning to give the dish a distinctive flavor. It was maybe the first time I cook rice. I’ve seen mom doing it lots of times, and i turned off the heat when they’re done countless times, but cooking rice all by myself, this was my first. I used american rice cooked according to package instructions. I even recorded the procedure and sent it to a friend who is constantly ruining the rice. AND HE’S EGYPTIAN. They should deny him the nationality.

You may use steamed basmati rice instead of American rice.

Chicken & Vegetables Curry

For 2 persons

Ingredients

• 2 boiled boneless chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 ginger thumb
• 1 cup green bean
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 cup cauliflower
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 2 tbsp oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Water (or stock from boiling the breasts)

Procedure

• If you don’t have boiled chicken breasts, or don’t know how, here is how to do it:
• Set a deep pot on high heat with the raw boneless chicken breasts, quartered onion, chunks of one carrot, bay leaf, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and bring to a boil
• Simmer for at least an hour until chicken is cooked and vegetables has infused in the water
• Separate the chicken into large chunks and set aside
• Drain the stock from cooked vegetable and set aside. Discard the vegetables
• For the curry stew:
• Dice the onions, smash the garlic and grate the ginger and throw in a large pot with hot oil
• Cook for 10 min on medium low heat
• Season with salt, pepper, curry and cumin. Stir well until spices are fragrant
• Throw in the vegetables and stir to coat
• Add the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes
• Add 3 cups of water or reserved stock (or enough water to cover the vegetables with over 2 cm)
• Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 min
• Stir in the chicken breasts and keep for 5 more minutes then serve

Serve with white American rice or Basmati cooked according to package instructions