cooking without a recipe

I have never baked anything without following a recipe closely...the same thing doesn't seem to apply when it comes to cooking...

I don't usually follow any recipes when preparing our daily meals...unless it is a special dish...

While we were heading towards the supermarket entrance I asked my elder child what would he like to have for lunch today, he came back with, "How about pasta salad?"

And so the two us spent the next 10mins picking up the ingredients and we were soon on our way home. I had about 45mins before my younger child came knocking on the front door...the timing was just right, although I would love to take a 15mins rest instead of having to prepare lunch right away.

Here's our simple lunch today...potato macaroni salad with chicken breast, carrots, Japanese cucumbers, and hard boiled eggs. I used two separate pots to cook the ingredients so as to speed things up...the sequence of cooking the ingredients are important when you want to save time. The first two ingredients to be cooked were the hard boiled eggs and the macaroni as there is no preparation required...while they were boiling away,  I diced the carrots, potatoes and the cucumbers. Then I boiled the potatoes, blanched the carrots and cucumbers, and cooked the chicken breast. While these were cooking, I removed the shells of the eggs and cut them into chunks. Everything was drained and placed in a big mixing bowl...I added some salt, freshly cracked black pepper, dried parsley and some mayo, just enough to coat the ingredients. I even managed to clean and tidy up the kitchen counter before my son stepped into the house.

I must say this dish is good to serve as a side...somehow, something is lacking when eaten as a meal on its own. But we still enjoyed our simple lunch...although the younger boy did make a comment that it would be good if I had cooked him some soup, especially when the weather was nice and cooling. Will certainly remember to do so the next time...