I drift down from my music studio and mooch about the kitchen. I see a big clump of broccoli, beckoning to be cooked. It is no longer vibrantly verdant; another couple of days and it will be rattling down to the city refuse tip with the bin men. I take pity on it, boil some water, chop it into fragments and hoy it in the pan. I cut a couple of slices of wholemeal bread and bang them in the toaster. More boiling water is sloshed hastily into a small pan; I crack in an egg and wait for whiteness to appear, as if by magic. I plate up, putting the broccoli upon one slice of toast and the poached egg on the other.
I take my tray to the sitting room and switch on BBC News24. I have never eaten broccoli on toast before and I have to admit that I am not optimistic. I put fork and knife to work: in goes the first mouthful… very nice. It is simple but the texture of the cooked broccoli goes very well with the crunchy toasted bread. The poached egg proves to be a pleasant complement to the veg, too.
The colours of lunch
I think the colours are wonderful. The primary yellow (which in the eating comes through with a hint of red to yield a more orange yoke than is suggested in my photograph) is showcased in the white of the egg. The secondary green colour of the broccoli has a lot of yellow in it, too, although there are some parts that could qualify as Winsor Green. The toast ranges from Burnt Umber to Raw Sienna. The napkin sports lovely circles of a light Cerulean Blue; in theory this blue could be one of Broccoli’s parents. I was so absorbed in tasting and looking at my lunch that I paid scant attention to the news. Speak to you later, my dear blogophiles.
John's Quavering Pencil 
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