Yes, I actually cooked something here in Kabul. Friends invited us over to dinner and I volunteer to bring a dish. I can't do any proper grocery shopping (i.e. markets or stores with lots of goods and produce) but we have a couple little shops that I can access relatively easily and combined with the canned goods collection that we brought from Italy, it's not so bad. Now the bad news is that I suspect I won't make my 2010 resolution of 52 new recipes from actual sources. This chickpea salad was thrown together and loosely based on several different internet recipes but since I lacked some key ingredients, I just threw caution to the wind. It turned out pretty decent but I really could've used more spices (my Penzey's shipment is en route).
Now I'll address the food situation while I'm here. We have a cafeteria that serves three meals a day. They always have a salad bar, popcorn, sandwiches and some fruits. They also have a hot buffet with all kinds of different foods included a dedicated section to fried foods (ranch bites, buffalo chicken bites, onion rings, crummy pizza, etc). The non-fried section is hit or miss but usually not too bad. How can you really complain when you don't have to cook, anyways? The heavy foods don't really appeal to me (especially in summer) but it certainly inspires creativity. Sometimes, when there's something good and simple like grilled chicken, I'll grab an extra piece to throw on a salad the next day. There's a cafeteria for the local Afghan staff also (well, not "for" them but targeted to them) that prepares Afghan food on workdays (Sun-Thurs) for lunch. I haven't been yet but will definitely go soon since I'm eager for a change.
Chickpea Salad:
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed
4 medium tomatoes, diced
3 medium cucumbers, diced
olive oil and white wine vinaigrette dressing, to taste
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