Coconut Celery Zucchini and Pea Soup

We are well and truly in winter mode. Rugs are out and hot mugs of drinks. Every week, I like to schedule in a soup for dinner.

I made this for lunch though. My friend is expecting her first child and was heavily pregnant. I thought it would be love to have a girly chat with her before the baby arrives. She and I love to exchange ideas and recipes and we had lovely conversations about using simple and down to earth ingredients rather than processed items. We laughed about how her husband still prefers sweet desserts as that is how desserts should be in his mind, and how my husband has grown to have less of a sweet tooth over time.

I wanted to make something nourishing for her. A little like our friendship. Nourishing.

There is a green smoothie and then there is a green soup. This has celery, zucchini and peas. How much more green can it get? Oh hold on, it does have red onion in it so it's not totally green. Instead of heaviness of cream, I used coconut milk for that added richness.

I picked up these vegetables from our local farmers market. The freshness shone.

Yes, of course I made extra for dinner and lunch the next day. It's a perfect plan. Lunch with a  girlfriend and dinner already done. More time for Asher for the rest of the day.

Coconut Celery Zucchini and Pea Soup (serves 6)
1 full bunch of celery chopped
3 zucchini chopped
200 grams of organic frozen peas
2 tsp coconut oil
2 red onions sliced
2 tablespoons of garlic
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of ground ginger or fresh ginger minced
2 ltres of chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 tin of coconut milk

Saute onions and garlic in 2 tsp of coconut oil. Add all spices and cook till fragrant. Add all veges and cook till they are slightly soften. Add stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend with a hand blender. Strain if you like. Otherwise, reheat the blended soup with coconut milk. Serve with Coconut Bread or a grain free bread.

Nachos

Did you see this right? Nachos? Corn chips? I had an attack of nachos one afternoon. I have to say it was influenced by my colleagues who had nachos for lunch one afternoon.

Armed with some organic corn chips, I melted some parmesan on it in the oven. Prepared guacamole. Dollop of sour cream and spring onions- lunch is served.

My hubby? Oops- another lunch without meat.

Nachos for two.
150 grams corn chips
handful of parmesan cheese
1 avocado
1/2 tomato finely chopped
2 tsp of tabasco
salt and pepper
1/4 red onion chopped
2 tablespoon of sour cream
2 sprigs of spring onion chopped


Toast corn chips with cheese in a 180C preheated oven for 10 mins. Meanwhile, mash avocado and add in tomato, tabasco, onion and salt and pepper. Transfer corn chips onto another plate. Pile it high with guacamole and sour cream. Sprinkle with spring onions. EAT!

Simple Comforts- Ham and Egg Roll

So I like to go simple sometimes  nearly all the time. After church, AR asked me "sooo..what's for lunch?" In reply, I bought bread rolls.. and said "Ham and Egg roll!"  Nothing pretentious about it, just a good old classic that is cheap to make. Besides, how can one resist the gooey egg yolk running down the bread roll?

Ok, so I jazzed up the burger by adding a slice of cheese and some chutney on it. Spicy Mango Chutney to be exact. Abit of tang on a usual ham and egg roll. Toasted of course. I like my sandwiches abit on the crisp side.

oh oh! and look at how sexy the yolk is. I couldn't help but give it a light poke....

Ham and Egg Roll  (Serves 2) 

5 slices of honey baked ham 
2 eggs-pan fried sunny side up 
2 slices of cheese
1 tablespoon of spicy mango chutney on each
2 bread roll-toasted halves

Grill half a bread roll with the cheese. Top with ham and the chutney. Place egg on top. Serve with side salad

Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Frittata

As the weather gets warmer, I return to having light meals for lunches. I love this recipe because it is so light and easy to make. Best of all, healthy and rather guilt free! One more slice for me please!

Now that Spring is here, I'm seeing more varieties of vegetables again! woohoo...

and as you are reading this, AR is bringing me out on a picnic date! YES! and he is making sushi!! (with my help of course!!! Long weekend..I love long weekends!! Short post today. ;)

Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Frittata (For 2 with tea time left overs..lol)-recipe adapted from Australian Good Food Magazine
2 tsp olive oil
1 red onion sliced
2 potatoes peeled and sliced
1 bunch of asparagus trimmed
100 grams smoked salmon slices
60 grams fetta cheese (I used normal but u can use goats cheese feta)
5 eggs
1/4 cup of soy milk (or skim milk)
Cherry tomatoes to serve

Cook onion in pan till caramelised. Par boil potatoes in saucepan with salted water. Blanch asparagus.

Preheat Oven 180C
Place sliced potatoes onto baking dish. Top with layers of onions, smoked salmon, asparagus and fetta.

Whisk eggs, milk till combined. Pour eggs mixture over dish. Bake for 45 mins till it turns golden brown! Serve with cherry tomatoes or a green salad.

Red Wine Caramelised Onion with Chickpea and Chicken Salad

what do you do when you have some red wine left? I was sautéing some red onions for a salad recently and decided to pour the rest of the red wine in the pan. I was happily surprised by the result as the onions has such a rich flavour to it! Toss it through with chickepeas and some chicken (although I reckon left over roast beef will do very well in this salad), it made a good hearty meal.

Red Wine Caramelised Onion with Chickpea and Chicken Salad
1/4 cup of red wine
1 onion sliced
1 can of chick pea
left over bbq chicken shredded
2 cups of baby spinach leaves

Saute red onions. Add red wine and leave it to simmer for around 5-10 mins till it becomes a nice sticky mess. Toss it through with some warmed up chickpeas and chicken. Pour mixture on to bed of baby spinach leaves. Enjoy!

Chorizo Prawn Salad

I think it is a huge myth that salads can't be tasty. One of my favourite Sunday lunches would be a quick salad filled with ingredients. Now, Chorizo isn't exactly the healthiest sausage around but it's strong tasting- which means less is more. I used a cold pan to fry slices of chorizo in, which helps the fat melts. I drain the fat away (although if you want more flavour, you can always retain it) and place chorizo on paper towels to further absorb more oil.

Chickpeas, grilled red onions, juicy prawns- what's not to love!  Although it's winter now, a warm salad sorts of break the monotonous meals of stewed meat, casseroles, soups...etc. It's light and hearty at the same time.

Tell me what are your favourite combination of salads?

Chorizo Prawn Salad
1 Spanish Chorizo sliced
1 red onion sliced finely
1 can of chick peas
around 150 grams of shelled prawns
2-3 cups of baby spinach leaves

Grill chorizo slices till done. Drain oil and place chorizo on paper towels. Using the same pan, grilled red onions till nice and done! Toss in the prawns and then chick peas. Add chorizos. Spoon mixture onto baby spinach. Sprinkle some black pepper of needed. EAT =)

Jacket Sweet Potato

Most of us would have used potato as the "jacket" for the filling. Well, I thought of using sweet potato one day. Just because it has a lower GI content and I love it's sweet texture. This is really easy for lunch. Just frying up some remaining mince, top it on a cook jacket potato. Sprinkle cheese and tadah.. all done!

Jacket Sweet Potato 
Whatever mince you like
2 sweet potatos-scrubbed and baked in oven for 45 minutes or so.
Cheddar cheese

Salad to serve with it.

Saute mince. Once sweet potato is cooked, top with mince and cheese!

Sweet Corn Fritters

I have been reading "Australian Healthy Food" and I come across this cute little recipe call "Super Healthy Sweet Corn Fritters". Now, anyone will know that it is rare that fritters are healthy (Especially if they are fried with heaps of oil), but I have a weakness for anything corn (i mean it!) and since it says healthy, I decided to give it a go.

I have only used polenta once, and that turned into a mess. So when I saw that this recipe calls for polenta, I went "hmmm..." not only that, it has beans in it as well!

The result was a thick satisfying fritter. One thing though, it has more of a "grainy" texture to it-which I actually didn't mind. It could be because I wasn't using the fine polenta (Although the package did not say anything?). This dish consisted of 5 grams of fat (including salad), so I think it is a satisfying and healthy lunch altogether.

Sweet Corn Fritters 
2 cups of corn kennels
1 can of cannellini beans
1 cup of polenta
1/4 cup of flour (the recipe calls for wholemeal flour)
1 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
spray oil

Process beans and corn together. Add polenta, flour, buttermilk and egg. Pulse till combined. If time permits, sit mixture for 20 minutes. Spray pan with oil. Ladle 1/4 cup of mixture each time to hot pan. Flip it over when cooked. Serve with salad and herbed yogurt if you like (herb yogurt-mix 1 cup of yogurt with chives)

Risoni Salad with Honey Pork Patties

Having discover this cute little riced shaped pasta, I couldn't resist to make a salad out of it. I heard it is good in soups too- so might experiment with it later since the weather is getting colder.

A jar of chargrilled capsicum (I love those stuff), some lemon juice, peans and corn.. a simple salad is made. Pork mince was marinated with honey, 5spice, breadcrumbs, chili flakes, an egg, seasoning and pan fried.

Come to think of it, this meal could probably be easily done on the bbq too! Ah..things we discover afterwards!

Risoni Salad with Honey Pork Patties (Serve 2-3 with plenty of leftovers!)

1 cup of risoni cooked in boiling water as per instructions
1/2 cup of frozen corn and peas
120 gram of chargrilled capsicum
seasoning
squeeze of lemon juice 

200 grams of pork mince
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tsp of 5 spiced powder
1/2 cup of dried breadcrumbs
2 tsp of chili flakes
1 egg
1/4 cup of corn flour
pepper and salt

Marinate pork mince. Shape into patties and pan fried it.
Meanwhile, toss salad ingredients together. Serve warm.


Sharing something different with friends from Presto Pasta, founded by Ruth. This week, it is hosted by Rachel the Crispy Cook.

Spinach, Feta and Chicken Triangles

And so I am a fan of taking a few short cuts here and there. Having a few friends over for lunch, we decided to have a variety of dishes-the previous dish, honey pumpkin pecan salad was one of them. The plan for this one was to mix up some spinach, feta and chicken, wrap it in filo pastry, bake it and viola! lunch is served!

Two days before the lunch, I realised that in between coming home from church and preparing lunch in 45 minutes means time is tight! Not to mention, I am still a novice in handling filo pastry! I picture torn pastries, with spillage from the filling to the tray from my incomplete mess of trying to handle filo. So I chickened out and used spring roll pastry instead!

Surprise surprise, it was better than expected. Still with the crunch factor but not as flaky as filo of course. I think it was a tad dry and should have less chicken and more feta. Instead of shallow frying, I sprayed the parcels with some oil and baked it for 20 minutes. Lunch was served just in time!

Spinach, Feta and Chicken Triangles (makes around 12) 

1/4 of roast chicken shredded
50 grams of feta cheese crumbed
150 grams of slightly wilted baby spinach leaves
1 tsp of garlic
squeeze of lemon juice
cracked pepper and sea salt
2-3 tsp of poppy seeds

6 spring roll wraps cut in halves.

Mix mixture together. Spoon it on to spring roll wrappers and wrapped it from corner to corner to create triangles. Place them on trays. Spray with some oil and sprinkle poppy seeds over them. Bake in pre heated oven of 180 C for 20 minutes or till golden brown. .

Almond Crusted Fish Wrap

I love public holidays! ahh.. Yesterday was Anzac Day and therefore, it is a public holiday today. Somehow, hubby and I are appreciating free days like this even more recently. More time to rest, do housework, go for walks/jogs and plan our future. In fact, we had 1 hr of running and walking (I ran, he walked!) before breakfast. Surely this is the dream we have to spend quality and restful time together.

I made this dish a few weeks ago when fish was on sale. It was shark-which was probably the worse decision I made that day. The fillet,although fresh was tougher and thicker. Later, I made breaded fish using dory and it was sooo good. Nevertheless, I thought of using almond meal as the crust as I had some in a bag that I wanted to finish using. Love the crust for sure but will add more seasoning. I served it in a tortilla and salad leaves.

Almond Crusted Fish Wrap (Serves 4) 

4-6 small to medium size fish fillets.
around 1 cup of almond meal seasoned with pepper, salt and some paprika.  
2 eggs lightly beaten
spray oil

Salad leaves, avocado, cucumber and chopped tomato mixed with some lemon juice.

Dip each fish fillet into the egg mixture then coat it in the almond mixture. Heat fry pan till hot and spray with the spray oil. Pan fry fish on each side for around 4 minutes till cooked. Serve wrapped in a tortilla with the veges and some chili or tomato sauce.

Pizzas- Pear and Pinenuts

I blogged about this before. Making pizzas at home and/with guests is easy. Best of all, your guests can be involved in the process of it. In fact, we are going on a road trip on Friday! and this pizza is on our menu for one of the dinners as we travel from Adel to Mel.

Bakers Delight came out with a fairly new range of their pizza bread base a few months ago. For around $4ish, we get 2 pre baked bread base. Just for fun, and because I thought it would be a simple dish for our vegetarian guest to join us in AND also that my meat lover husband get to have his meat base pizza.

I rolled the base as thinly as I can. I like my crust crisp. Good thing is that this base has plenty of dried oregano sprinkled on it plus some cheese. A tasty crust for sure. 

With generous slices of pear, handful after handful of morezella and cheddar cheese.. not forgetting pinenuts, this is a winner combination. One that I would have NEVER thought of before trying it at Little Creatures Brewery.

Pear and Pinenuts Pizza
1 Pizza Base (you can also see how I did mine previously here)
1 pear sliced thinly
around 1 cup of pizza cheeses such as mozzarella and cheddar.
around 1 handful of pinenuts.


Roll pizza base as thin as possible. Sprinkle some cheese on it. Place slices of pear on it, top with cheese and then with pine nuts. Bake for around 15-20 mins in a pre heated 200C oven.

The adventures of the Thosai Part 2

Many readers will recall reading my flipping woes. If that is one kitchen skill that I would like to master better, is FLIPPING!

So nearly 1.5 years later, I plucked up my courage and decided to try flipping thosai again. Our vegetarian guest who is Malaysian will probably appreciate a dish similar to street food in Malaysia I thought.

First take- Batter was too thick!

Second take- Batter was in good consistency but I turned it too soon and it broke.

After 20 tries later...


I have ONE decent looking one

that have a few cracks in it.. but at least it resembles a soft version of thosai (Although I was aiming for a crips one :( )

Of course..I served it with vegetable curry!

At least the curry was good! (thanks to A1 curry paste.. ;p)

Chicken Burger with Tomato Kasandi Sauce

It is amazing how a simple jar of sauce can change the taste and appearance of a humble chicken burger. I discovered the wonders if chutney or relishes just 3 years ago- which even the hubby raised his eyebrows when he realized that his girlfriend had NO knowledge of an important condiment of the Indian cuisine. I was just disappointed by the time lost of not discovering the sweet/savory goodness soon enough.

My understanding of the Tomato Kasandi is that it is a type of relish cooked slowly with love in a bed of spices. I tasted generous amounts of mustard seeds and of course plenty of the tomato flavour. My favourite is still the Goan cuisine-you might recall my excessive use of that Spicy Mango Chutney sauce in everything such as this and this. This is like another obsession- the Tomato Kasandi Obsession. And trust me, it is a good one. 

I paired it as a ganish to the burger and boy did it take it to a different level. No more paying $20 for a chicken burger I say! Just give me some chicken mince and a $6.99 jar of tomato Kasandi and we can have it at home too!

Chicken Burger with Tomato Kansandi Sauce (serves 4)
300 grams of chicken mince
1 grated carrot
1 tsp of garlic
1-2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
lots of freshly grinded pepper
dried chili flakes
2 tsp of mixed herbs
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs
Squeeze of lemon juice 
1 egg
2-3 tablespoons of corn flour

Marinate chicken mince with everything. Shape into burger. Heat grill to very hot. Grill burger on each side till done. Serve with multigrain bread roll, salad leaves and generous tablespoon of sauce of your liking

Classic Bacon, Egg and Tomato (BET) Toasted Sandwich

The Aussies love their BLT-Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato. Simple and classic. What I prefer though, is to fry up some lean bacon, a runny fried egg together with tomatoes on fresh turkish bread. Simple yet classic- I call it the BET (Bacon, Egg and Tomato!) toastie. :p

Love our Sunday lunches!

Bacon Egg Tomato (BET) Toasted Sandwich
Eggs
Lean bacon (I used weight watchers)
2-3 roma tomato sliced
Turkish bread.

Fry up some bacon and keep warm. Mean time, fry eggs till cooked but egg has not set.
Toast bread. 

Arrange bread with tomato, bacon and egg. Squeeze some bbq sauce over it. Dig in!

Smoked Salmon Omelette

A typical Sunday for us starts of with a light breakfast and then church. Then, I come home, ring my parents to catch up on the week followed by lunch. The afternoon events can be hazy as time seem to go quickly but we try to have a quiet lunch together each week.

Sunday lunches for us are usually light but fulfilling. I am a HUGE fan of cafe food and would not hesitate to re-create some of my favourites in our home kitchen. Burgers? Wedges? Breakie? Toasted Turkish Bread- all my favourites at home.

I am, however, frequently in search for ideas that is healthy as well. I chose to make this smoked salmon omelette because 1) We love smoked salmon and can never have enough of it, 2) It's light, 3) Eggs are not that expensive so that balanced off the cost of smoked salmon and 4) It's quick!

We had that with toasted bread. Then, we sit outside in our spanking new patio, read newspapers and chatter away.

Ah.. Simplicity of life.

Smoked Salmon Omelette

4 eggs
2 tablespoon of milk
freshly milled pepper and salt

100 grams of smoked salmon
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
Chives

Beat eggs with milk. Season. Heat a pan with some oil, swirl (u can choose to use butter). Once the pan is hot, add eggs. Remember to swirl so that u get some crispy sides. After 5 mins, when the eggs are nearly set, add in smoked salmon and mushrooms. Sprinkle some chives over it. Attempt to fold omelette into half. Swirl a little. Wait for 2 mins. Turn heat off and let pan sit on the stove for another 3 minutes or so.

Serve with toasted bread and sprinkling of chives.

3 ways to Chapati Pizza

A couple of months ago, Philadelphia cheese had a promotion on their cookbook- buy 3 tubs and get 1 cookbook for free. Pretty good deal hey? I'm have a soft soft heart for bargains so couldn't help resist buying 3 tubs of cheese even though I know it will take us really long to finish it. Baking a cheesecake could be an option but I wasn't in the "mood" to do so. Besides, there was a time factor with the planning of our honeymoon + renovations taking place approximately the same time. 

Thankfully though, the cookbook turned out to be a winner. It featured little recipes that are pretty easy to make (all using Philadelphia cheese of course) but certainly provided me with a different perspective on the humble cream cheese. Pizza- no a problem, Pasta- sure! Patties involving cream cheese-yummy, What about crepes and cream cheese- can be done.

While adapting their "Chilli Prawn Pizza" and "Spanish style Chorizo Pizza", I came up with 3 versions in our old kitchen. I used chapati bases- you can choose to use mini pita breads if you wish.

Chilli Seafood Pizza (serves 2)
1 pizza base of your choice
2 tablespoon of philadephia cream cheese
100 grams of marinara mix
2tsp of dried mix heaps
1 tsp of dry chilli flakes
a handful of rocket leaves

Preheat oven to 180C. Line tray with foil or baking paper. Spread cream cheese on pizza base, place prawns all over the pizza and sprinkle mixed heaps and chilli flakes on it. Season with salt and pepper if you wish. Bake for 15 mins. Cool and then top with some rocket leaves.

Tomato Seafood Prosciutto Pizza (serves 2)
1 pizza base of your choice
1 tsp of tomato paste 
2 strips of prosciutto
50 grams of marinara mix
1 tablespoon of cream cheese

Preheat oven and prepare tray. Spread tomato paste on it and place seafood evenly. You can use a knife to cut the prosciutto into strips but I just use my hands to do that. Dot the pizza with cheese. Bake for 15 mins. Serve with cracked pepper.

Spicy Tomato and Prosciutto Pizza (serves 2)
1 pizza base of your choice
1 tsp of tomato paste
2 strips of prosciutto
1 tomato chopped
1 handful of rocket leaves

Preheat oven and prepare tray. Spread tomato paste on pizza and sprinkle diced tomato on it. Place prosciutto strips and mushrooms. Bake for 15-20 mins and when cool served with rocket leaves.

Stuffed Ham and Couscous Capsicum

I try to have vegetarian meal or at least a meal that has more veges than meat a few times a week. I have previously thought that vegetarian meals are boring and stayed away from them. I mean, how much fun can grilled vegetables be right? noo Wrong...

My first encounter of stuffed capsicum was at the Country Road Cafe on Murray Street. Yup, it is situated in Country Road (the clothing store) itself. I love how couscous and cheese stuffed in capsicum can be so flavour some. Given that juicy big red capsicum are in season, I thought I would give it a go in our kitchen.

I had a packet of instant Anisley couscous left and used that instead. Hubby wants some meat so I shredded ham and toss into the mixture of couscous, feta cheese and cashew nuts. Top with some cheese and it was a satisfying meal for two.

Today marks my last day of work for the year! HOLIDAYS for meeeeeeeeeee.. WoohoO!

Stuffed Ham and Couscous Capsicum

2 big red Capsicum
1 packet of Anisley spice sensation couscous cooked as per instructions
1 50 grams packet of honey baked ham shredded
20 grams of crumbed feta
1/4 cup of cashews
1/4 cup of cheddar cheese

Cut Capsicum into half and wash the seeds out. Dry with paper towels.

Line trays with baking paper. Pre heat oven to 200 C.

Mix couscous, feta, ham and cashews together. Spoon mixture into capsicum cups. Sprinkle with cheese.

Grill for around 15-20 mins.
Serve with a salad

Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon Toasties

Oh a fiery hot 37C day in Perth today. Summer is officially upon us!

And of course, in my crazy faze of wraps, I placed some smoked salmon, cream cheese and spinach on one and here with a nice simple tomato spinach salad, and lunch is served.

Over the next week or so, our kitchen is undergoing a BIG revamp! Can't wait to share what our lovely kitchen looks like soon (And show you how we manage our HUGE HUGE mess!!) ARGH...

Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon Toasties
100 grams smoked salmon
3 wraps
cream cheese spread
spinach

Wrap it up and toast!

Apple Pancakes

Lunch does not always have to be savory. One random weekend, I decided that we will be having apple pancakes and ice-cream for lunch.
My logic:
- Let's skip the main and go straight to sweets. More calories can be allocated to sweets.
- It's healthy! see... we have apple.
- We need to finish our raspberry ice-cream in the freezer.

The disappointing thing about this recipe is that it isn't exactly light and fluffy. It did hit a good spot and made an excellent sweet lunch!

Apple Pancakes

1/2 cup self raising flour
2 tablespoon of caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg whisked
1/3 cup milk
2 apples peeled and grated (but I chopped!)
ice cream to serve

Combine flour, sugar and cinnamon in bowl. Add egg and milk. Whisk till smooth. Fold in apples.

Heat frying plan over low heat. Pour 1/4 cup of apple mixture (a ladle) in pan. Great spread out with back of spoon. Cook pancakes until bubbles appear on surface. Turn over. Cook for anotner 1-2 mins till done. Serve with ice-cream.