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.

Winter Melon Soup

One of the things I picked up during my recent trip to Singapore is to brew soups. As I grow older, I'm realised the nutritional value of having a bowl of slow cooked chinese soup for dinner.  It nourishes and is packed full of antioxidants.

In Singapore, my grandmother and mum cooked up a mean winter melon soup. The used a longish melon and would shred the fruit till it becomes "noodle" like- perhaps it is also called a winter squash. Here though, all i can find is the round version of winter melon. Hence I tend to chop it up in cubes.

I love the sweetness of this soup. The addition of dried oysters and scallops just brings it to another notch. Best of all, I'm sure this gets the nod from my family and in laws as a asian housewife.

Winter Melon Soup
300 grams winter melon in cubes
Reserved melon skin (Just 1-2 slices)
300 grams pork ribs
5 red dates
2 dried oysters
2 dried scallops
1 dried fig

Scald pork ribs. Place all ingredients in the slow cooker or thermal cooker. Slow cook for 5 hours or so. Enjoy!

Italian Sausage Kale and Pasta Soup

We are experiencing a slow start to winter this year or perhaps my little bun in the oven has been keeping me warm. Once the cold wind kicked in though, there was no turning back. It was cold and chilly. Rugs, boots, electric blankets and comfort food makes it debut.

When I made this soup, my family has not arrived from Singapore yet. It's something I believe my mum would enjoy, but probably not my grandmother or dad who would prefer a traditional chinese meal. A friend asked me, but won't your family become sick of eating chinese all the time? Surely variety from other cuisines are welcomed? Ask an Italian if he/she will ever be sick of having pasta, and you will probably receive a strange look. It's the same for most traditional families, a bowl of rice will never go down badly. Growing up, rice represents money. A hard working family who has a stable income will be able to provide a stable meal on the table which will consists of soup, meat, vegetables and rice.

Being exposed to a different culture and way of life in my late teens has opened my eyes to what a meal can be like. A simple soup like this fills up, heartwarming and easy. I love the use of italian sausages- with the skin removed, and meat browned to provide a dept in flavour. The kale added texture and of course- a much needed boost of vitamins and nutrients. I had some organic shell pasta on hand and placed a handful of it in there. The result was a clear but fulfilling broth.

I chose to embrace both sides. The days that we have variety, but also the traditional side. My immediate family is now with us, and I feel a sense of warmth. After all, I have not lived with them for a long period of time since I was a teenager. My kitchen has a familiar vinegar smell- one associated with confinement food. My cantonese has miraculously improved as my TV played countless TVB (Hong Kong) drama shows that my mum brought over.

It could be a while since I could make such dishes, but it's ok. I made sure I made plenty of it while I am on leave. Now, it's chinese all the way at home for the next few months. I will be taking lessons while I can!

We are waiting for our little bundle. Yes, he is taking his time to arrive but I am sure the wait is worth it.

Italian Sausage Kale and Pasta Soup (serves 4)
3 Italian sausage- skin removed.
1 red onion
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 bunch of kale washed and trimmed
Around 100 grams of pasta shells
2 tsp of chill flakes
pepper
2 litres of chicken stock
around 250 ml of water

Brown chopped onion and garlic. Add in sausage meat and cook throughly with pepper and chill flakes. Pour in stock and water and simmer. When it starts boiling, add pasta. After 3-4 minutes, blanched kale in it. Taste and season accordingly. Serve hot!

Anchovies and SoyBean Broth

Many of you know of my love for having Yong Tou Fu (YTF). Stuffed vegetables with fish paste. It's a hit when I was a kid, and even more so as an adult. There is a place near us that sells fresh YTF, and we have been eagerly buying packets and cooking them.

Well of course I can probably attempt to make the filling and stuffed them myself... but frankly, I have been too tired to do so (more on that later). Suddenly, from loving cooking, I'm starting to feel a little tired of it now. Have you ever felt that way? Sure, I still love making a special dish or meal here and there on the weekend, but these days, I'm keen to come home and rest.

My dear mother in law brought us a packet of dried anchovies from Malaysia. With some soy beans on hand- and inspiration from Tigerfish, the meal was easy.

I really like this broth. It's simple, and very tasty. I bet this will be nice with some noodles or even some meatballs, but all I wanted was YTF and broth. Oh, and soy sauce and chopped chilli.

Anchovies and SoyBean Broth 
1/2 cup of anchovies
1/4 cup of soy beans
6 bowls of water (around 2 litre)

Bowl everything together for around 1 hour or so. Add in your favourite vegetables, noodles or like me, some YTF!

Slow cooked Corn, Tomato and Potato Soup

Another of my "all in one pot" meal. Having some success with my lotus soup, I decided that soups are perfect for weekday meals. This has corn, potato, tomato, and even mushrooms. Good clean carbs with heaps of vegetables. I used pork ribs for the broth base again given my success the last time.

Oh why didn't I think of this earlier? I should know, when in doubt-turn back to childhood food!

Slow cooked Corn, Tomato and Potato Soup (serves 4-6)
2 fresh organic corn- chopped in half
600 grams pork ribs
3 tomatos chopped
2 potato chopped
3 carrots- chopped
1 cup of button mushrooms chopped
handful of black pepper corns.

Slow cooked everything for as long as you want! Serve with rice or like me.... just have it by itself!

Lotus Peanut Pork Ribs

I know. It's summer. Yet we are having lotus peanut soup. It reminds me of home. It's the kind of soup we grow up with. Slow cooked with lots of flavour, it's a clear broth with the nutrients from lotus root and ribs.

You see, when I was a child, I can never understands why my family enjoys drinking hot soup on a hot humid day. I'm not sure why singaporeans in hawker centres love having bowls of noodle soup either. Sitting in a hot stuffy hawker centre, the last thing I wanted was something steaming hot.

I was naive. Hot soup warms the soul up. It is often full of nutrients and best of all, low in saturated fat.

Back to the lotus peanut soup. Truth be told, it was just getting a little tricky coming home on time and cooking dinner on time. Because it's so hot, we find ourselves not really wanting to have a full meal at the end of the day. Suddenly, a common side dish that we have for dinner growing up became our main meal.

Lotus Peanut Pork Ribs (serves 6)
600 grams of pork ribs
200 grams of lotus
100 grams (1 cup) of raw peanuts soaked for a few hours
3-4 seedless red dates
small handful of wolf berries
1 litre of water

Blanched ribs with hot water first.
Placed everything in a slow cooker (I used my thermal cooker). I had mine from morning till night but I think it is just as good after 4-5 hours. Serve with some cut chill and soy sauce!

Bacon Creamy Cauliflower Soup

I am a big fan of pea and ham soup. The lentils, bacon, smoky flavour of the bones....it is just a hearty and flavoursome soup. Using smoked bacon bones, I managed to re-create a version of this, using just cauliflower and bacon.

Despite the title, I did not use any cream. There is no need for it. I have no idea how superb this simple vegetable that I use so regularly for stir fries can be made into creamy soups, mash and even a "rice" (by blending it). The texture and flexibility of this down to earth vegetable deserves to be acknowledged.

So as I heat up my soup, and have it on my desk... someone from the other end of the office commented "I feel like having pea and ham soup. Must be the delicious smell coming from the other end of the office"- I smiled and tucked in. Yes, it smelt like it, it tastes like it but I think... and I am a tad basis here, that it is even nicer than the original version.

Bacon Creamy Cauliflower Soup (serves around 6-8)
4 pieces of smoked bacon bones
250 grams smoked lean bacon dance
2 huge heads of cauliflower diced
1 bunch of celery
2 big red onions chopped
2 litres of chicken stock

saute onion in your biggest pot (or like me, use two pots). Add smoked bones and bacon. Once brown, remove as much bacon as you can from the pot. Add all the veges and stock. Simmer for around 20-30 minutes. Blitz the soup up. Then add back the bacon. Simmer for 5 minutes and serve hot.

Miso Carrot Soup

The weather is warming up but I'm still in a very soupy mode. There is just something comforting about soup. Maybe it's because I grow up drinking different kinds of soups, or perhaps inherently, I am reaching out for something that helps me feel comforted.

Everyone go through difficult or  challenging times. For me, a good workout, a laugh with my girlfriends, snuggling up to my hubby, reading magazines or books, baking, cooking or having a warm bowl of soup and more importantly quiet time with my heavenly father are all activities I do to make me feel better.

This soup is rich and comforting for sure. Blended carrots make such a creamy sweet soup. I totally can't get enough of eating this. I made this version with miso but I'm thinking it will do very well with a dash of sour cream.

Now, a word of warning though, be careful after blending this soup and re heating it. It can make a messy kitchen! Nothing like cleaning to make it therapeutic right?

Miso Carrot Soup (serves 6)
2 red onions chopped
1.5 kg of carrots chopped
1 bunch of celery chopped
2 tablespoon of miso paste
2 litres of chicken stock
water if needed

Saute red onions and cook till soft. Add carrots and celery with chicken stock. Cook till done and then blend the soup up. Return to pot and add miso paste. Season, taste and serve.

Miso Mushroom Soup

Sometimes, I wonder where did I get my ideas from. This came up randomly one evening when I was staring our semi empty fridge, planning for our meals the next week. I still have my little box of miso paste, and love to use it in soups- but not the usual japanese miso soup. Then I decided that I miss my mushroom soups (see how my thoughts jump?) and concluded that I can add miso paste to mushroom , blitz it up and make it into Miso Mushroom soup!


Yup. Pretty random.

Randomness aside, I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. Yes, I know! I surprised myself. Ha. I do love the heartiness of the soup and how miso gives it a depth in flavour. I add the paste at the last bit, so not to kill of the lightness of miso.

The only thing though, is that it's really difficult to photograph black soups. My photography skills needed work anyway but the lighting in my new kitchen is still a little foreign to me. ahhh. I am sure I will figure out a way to have additional white light soon.

Have you ever come up with meals using random ingredients?

Miso Mushroom Soup (serves 8)
800 grams of mushrooms
1 bunch of celery chopped
1 litre of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 red onion chopped

700 grams pork mince
2 tsp of sesame oil
4 tablespoon of soy sauce

Saute onion and garlic. Then add in mushrooms and celery. Add stock and cook till soft. Cool, then blitz vegetables in blender. Return to stove. Shape pork mince into balls and cook them in the soup. lastly, add miso paste to taste. Season with pepper. Serve!

Coconut Cauliflower Chicken Soup

There are times when people have questioned me on WHY do I need to eat clean and be on a "diet". I find that really frustrating because when does wanting to live healthier = not wanting to enjoy life and food.

The word "diet" just means food that nourish self. Over the years, it seems to have become a weight lost mantra. Some comments I received was that I shouldn't be thinking of losing weight or that I am being too restrictive in my food choices.

On the other side though, I received heaps of positive comments about what I am doing. It's very encouraging to receive comments or notes that I am on the right track.

I am in a healthy weight range. I'm not over weight or underweight. I have a desire to have a lower body fat percentage- but that's got to do with increasing my lean muscle density and being stronger. In fact, my weight at some point or another have increased while I gained more muscle fibres then gone back to my usual weight again. However, I looked leaner, as of course muscle takes up less space than fat.

The important point to note is that I am not on a restrictive calorie meal plan. I.e- i eat whenever i feel hungry, I eat normally except I limit my treats to once a week, and avoid processed food as much as possible (including grains as they have gone through processing).

It is very liberating. For the first time, I'm not overly worried about my weight, but feel more confident in my clothes and how I carry myself. I'm not into being in the gym for hours, but focus on activities that I enjoy doing such as boxing, zumba and konga. I enjoy my coffees and fruits on most days and love my dark chocolate.

Being back to basics means we have less package food into our panty too. When we moved into our new home, I have more containers than food in my pantry. Now that was funny. Then I went on and bought unsweeten almond milk, curry paste without sugar and coconut milk in bulk. oops. :p

So I went on, and made this soup in bulk too (to make use of my freezer space of course). Totally loved it. It's so tasty and easy- in fact, it tastes a little like pea and ham soup. Now, ham is an interesting one. It is meat after all, but is it considered as processed? I think if I am totally strict and restrictive, I would have avoided it, but given that I am more of "moderation" and "do my best to avoid" and "90% good and 10% maybe in the grey area or not so good", I think it is fine. I do try to find those that does not use nitrate or too much sugar or uses ham off the bone so it has the least preservatives as much as possible.

This cauliflower soup is creamy and filling. I went for convenience and bought a roast chicken for added protein. It's my favourite quick protein fix by the way- roast chicken from the supermarkets!

Coconut Cauliflower Chicken Soup (serves 8-10)
3 piece of gammon ham diced
2 heads of cauliflower chopped
4 leeks chopped
1 bunch of celery chopped
1red onion chopped
2 tablespoon of mince garlic
1 roast chicken meat shredded
200 ml coconut cream
2 litre of chicken stock

Crack pepper and chill olive oil to serve if desired.

Start of sauté the ham till brown. Remove from pot. Brown onions and garlic, then cook all veges till slightly soft. Adding stock and bring it to a simmer for around 15 minutes or so. Cool for a few minutes, then blend the vegetables. Return soup to pot and simmer. Add chicken and ham back till it is cooked through-around 5 minutes. Then add coconut cream. Taste and season accordingly.

Ladle and serve with cracked pepper and chill olive oil if you like. :)

Capsicum and Carrot Soup with Meatballs

Welcome to my new kitchen.

A home that we have been waiting for. We finally moved into our home around a week ago. Thankfully, and praise God that it went smoothly and we are slowly settling into our space. My favourite room(s) in the house would be our kitchen and bedroom. Kitchen, in particular feature my 1.5 oven, massive pigeon pair fridge and freezer and the ultimate.... a dish washing machine.

I am always a hand washing kinda gal, but this machine is totally a God-sent. I meant, we calculated that we saved over 30-45 mins a day by just having this aid. why we didn't have one of those earlier, I have no idea.. no wait, I do know... it is because we were on a total budget and couldn't bear the thought of spending more than what we needed to.

So much to do, so little time. As I write, I'm sitting our our dining table- would you believe we NEVER had a dining table? What a luxury right? By no means we are still pinching ourselves that we are savouring our little reward of a home from the years of thinking/saving/budgeting. It keep us grounded for sure. This home means we can actually have friends over, and family can actually stay with us (and no, it was really a space reason and not because we don't want you here!!). (just in case one of you are reading this! LOL). And a proper table to have dinner on.

These things count no? :)

It's full blown winter here now, and I find myself making more soups in our kitchen. The space helps, and having a fridge and freezer means I can properly cook in bulk and freeze. I love the our kitchen bench as it means I can spread it out as I bake or when I have multiple things going on at the same time. Take tonight for instance, I had soup simmering on the stove and a casserole cooking in the oven.

Yes. Someone told me there is never such a thing as too big a fridge and freezer. Do you agree?

The soup that I do want to tell you about today, is this heart warming capsicum and carrot soup with meatballs. Fresh vegetables blended together and simmered with a hint of chill. I love a good bite in my soup, so I decided that I could shape some pork meat balls to go with it.

I also found a very handy helper- my hubby is meticulous and actually did shape these meatballs for me. I would have just thrown it in the soup. He actually made it look pretty.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be slowly changing the focus of this writing space. Just to reflect where I am right now- 90% clean eating and 10% treats that I eat without guilt. Of course, there could be more treats than clean eating posts at times- no guarantee there. But I thought I could also share with you some of my lifestyle changes and hopefully, a few little projects around our home.

Change is exciting no? :)

Capsicum and Carrot Soup with Meatballs (serves 6)
1 kg of carrots peel and chopped
5-6 red capsicum
2 red onions chopped
1-2 tablespoon of garlic
4-5 chili padi
1 bunch of celery chopped
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 ltre of chicken stock

Meatballs
600 grams of pork mince
2 tablespoon of almond meal
1 egg
salt/pepper
2 tablespoon of crushed pistachios

greek yogurt to serve.

Marinate and mix pork mince. Set aside.

Saute onion, garlic and chill in a huge pot (or two pots if you are me) with tomato paste. Add in celery and cook till soft. Cook through other veges. Simmer with stock for around 10 minutes till cooked through. Cool and blitz it through hand blender or blender and return to pot. Meantime, shape meatballs and dropped into soup to cook.

Serve with a tablespoon of greek yogurt.

Lemongrass Coconut Chicken and Leek Soup

Moving. I'm not sure if I am a fan of it. I actually don't mind the packing and unpacking bit- it's quite cathartic...culling old stuff.. re organising things... But only if I have the time! Meals become a hassle and I'm not sure where my baking dish went! (Talk about organisation. LOL)

Which is why we are having so many versions of soups these days. The more things I can cramp into one pot the better I say. Then I start filling my fridge and freezer with containers and we survive on them for a long time.

This is my mixed up version of chicken and leek soup. It has a little thai influence in it- aroma of lemon grass and some coconut milk (which means it isn't too good for freezing or keeping but oh well). I grated some ginger and it provided a lovely warmth to the body in this lovely cold weather.

This is only the start of our move. In the next few weeks, you will be reading some of my pre-prepared posts. It's exciting. and I can't wait to cook in our new kitchen.

Lemongrass Coconut Chicken and Leek Soup (Makes enough for at least 8 serving)
2 leeks chopped
2 red onions chopped
1 tablespoon of garlic
2 stalks of lemon grass, inner bit chopped
1 knob of ginger grated
2 red chill chopped
1 roast chicken meat removed
2 cups of button mushrooms chopped
3 carrots chopped
1 bunch of celery chopped
2 litre of chicken stock
.5 litre of water
1/4 cup of coconut milk


Saute leek, onions, garlic and chill till soft. Add lemongrass and cook till soft. Add all veges and cook till soft. Add stock- simmer for 10 minutes or so and add chicken. Taste. Simmer with coconut milk. Taste and season.

Broccoli With Chicken Soup

I am finding it such a challenge to make green soup looks more appealing in photos. It looks like slush to me! I can assure you however, that I am having fun blitzing vegetables into soup and adding chicken or other forms of meat into it. It's such a quick and easy meal to have on a rainy night.

Plus, I cook them in BIG batches. Yes, I'm not sure how my hubby puts up with me on this, but he is now used to having soup for 4 meals in a row. Luckily, he hasn't turned green yet! This is what happens when life gets a little crazy sometimes! Hey, a meal is better than no meal right? ;P

Broccoli remains one of my favourite vegetables as I do like the crunch factor. In a soup, I love how it makes the soup feels thicker without the need to add cream or milk. It is almost like a jazz up version of a chicken and vegetable soup. I used a store bought roasted chook which means, all I needed to do is to tear the meat from the chicken and toss it through the soup when it simmers for the last 15 or so minutes.

I also think it is a good way to use left over vegetables. I made another similar version using baby spinach leaves but with cumin and basil. Certainly no one batch of soup tastes the same!

Broccoli with Chicken Soup (makes enough to freeze!)
2 heads of broccoli
2 red onion chopped
2 chili padi chopped
3 tablespoons of garlic
2 zuchinni chopped
3 red capsicum chopped
4 carrots chopped
2 litre of chicken stock
1 litre of water
1 roasted chicken with meat removed

Saute onion, chill and garlic till soft. Add in all veges and cook till it softens. Add stock and simmer. When done, blitz it up in a blender. Return to pot, add chicken and simmer for another 15-20 mins. Season, taste and season again. Serve hot!