"Healthy" Cake

Banana-oatmeal-oat bran-yogurt cake.  Lightly sweetened with raw honey.

I may have to bake more of this and freeze them, and have them for breakfast (or for the occasional snack time).

Pork, Peppers, and Vermicelli

Lemongrass Tofu with Cabbage Stir Fry

Easy side dish: Shredded Cabbage and Red Pepper Stir Fry

Spicy Crispy Lemongrass Tofu

I like to score the tofu, so that the flavor can get inside too.  Some people like to deep fry this, but I found that the lemongrass would fall off to the bottom of the pot and burn.  Just a little bit of oil in the pan is fine for me, and I don't have to any waste oil either.  The time consuming part is to turn them on all sides to get every surface crispy.  But that's just me- I like crispness. 

Steamed fish

I have no idea what I made.  This was from some time ago.  Think this was ginger steamed fish with 3 kinds of salads and relishes on top.

Jícama Spring Rolls

One is broken.  Oh NOOoz..

One of my favorite summer food!  Loves it with hoisin dipping sauce.

Wonderfully Soft Bread

100% Whole wheat bread.  I like this bread because it's a tasty whole wheat bread and it's not hard as a brick by the 3rd day.  In fact, it stays soft for a long time!  It's also not mixed with white flour.

Used only natural ingredients: whole wheat flour, eggs, yeast, yogurt, and a bit olive oil.

Eggs and halloumi

Egg, asparagus, and fried halloumi (looks like a slab of tofu).  I didn't do too well frying the egg.

Chickpea and Black Beans Wrap

 Homemade chickpea patties, black beans, rice, and hummus wrap.  This was suprisingly very good, especially with a bit of hot sauce and pickled jalapenos.

Pan-fried chickpeaa patties, with garam masala, garlic, onions, cumin, and lots of parsley!

When you have left over noodles...

... those noodles will appear in  different forms for days and days after.  Noodle stir fry with meat, with veggies, noodle soup, noodle with fried eggs, fried noodle patties (my creation), etc.

All thanks to SOMEONE (whose eyes are bigger than her stomach), who decided to boil SIX packages of noodles for 5 people.  We barely ate half the amount.

So this is the first reincarnation of those noodles- a veggie stir fry with homemade fried tofu.  If you can fry tofu at home, it is definitely MUCH better than those in the supermarket.

Pongal with Spicy Cashews

Pongal- saffron, cracked pepper, peppercorns, moong dal (mung beans), and basmati rice cooked together in lots of water (like congee).

Toppings:  Spicy cashews and fried shallots.  

Congee and pot sticker dumplings

Warm congee on a chilly day.  Here, this congee is accompanied with homemade veggie pot stickers and sauteed cabbage and carrots.  I actually enjoyed making pot stickers, and it might be something that I'll play around with on a rainy day.

So some additional add-ins that I used and you may also like in your congee too: sesame oil, scallions, fried tofu puffs, hot sauce, parsley, thousand year old eggs, quail eggs, chicken eggs (yolk only), etc.

I used the Shanghai Style dumpling wrapper, because it's the right thickness and the right texture too.  They're crispy and chewy at the same time.

Lunch: Rolls, rolls, roll it up!

Crisp apples, creamy avocado in maki rolls.

I want some more now!

Dill Encrusted Salmon

I think one of the best herbs that go well with salmon is dill. It has a citrusy taste that brightens up the taste of that fish. I use dill often when cooking (after parsley), even in vegetarian food. Herbs just freshen up and bring a whole other dimension of flavor to a dish.

Here, before pan-frying these pieces of salmon, I seasoned and then encrusted them with dill. When cooked, the herb will stick to the fish. However, be careful not to flip the fish too many times (I flipped it once, twice the most), because the fish will break and the herb will fall off. Just fry one side for a few minutes and then repeat for the other side.

Before serving, squeeze a bit of lemon juice over them and enjoy with rice.

Lunch: Tomatoes 'n Eggs

Tomatoes, onions, and eggs. Very good with rice, and nothing complicated.

Sunday Crepes

It's been over a year since I last made crepes, I think. I made these again a few weeks ago, and they were very good with chili sauce and herbs. The cucumbers were there to cool me down, in case I couldn't handle the spice. :D

NO, no! Actually, you eat crepes with cucumbers, mustard greens, and herbs. I love having them with mustard greens, because you get the different kinds of spice in just one bite. Hot and sour from the Sriracha-garlic-lime sauce and a peppery wasabi taste from the mustard greens.

The crepes were awesome, but I made too much... Took 3 days for 2 people to finish them. I think I'm all creped out 'til next year. Too bad I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the meat crepes my sister also made side-by-side on the stove next to me. Those meat crepes had minced pork, shrimps, bean sprouts, and mung beans in them. She, too, was sick of crepes, still having to finish them 5 days later. Next time, we'll scale back the portions. :)

Lunch: Spicy rice, sauteed spinach, and soupy soup

Spicy basmati-saffron rice and sauteed spinach with tofu curds.

Kabocha soup with soft tofu.

If I am to choose between a kobocha squash or a butternut squash, I'd definitely go for the former. The texture and the taste is far better than a butternut in my opinion. It is sweeter and has a 'toothy' bite to it, like a drunken noodle would have more of a 'toothy' bite than a pad thai noodle.

You can cook a kobocha squash into a savory soup, or make into a sweet dessert like Asians do. Leaving the skin on is also better, because it has lots of nutritional content. If you make a savory soup out of it, then make sure to watch it when you're cooking it. It tends to fall apart and dissolve into the broth if you cook it too long, to death.

When shopping for one, be sure to look for one that is small or medium size, but dense and heavy in feel. The ones that feel light doesn't really have a good smooth sweet taste to it, maybe because it hasn't ripen fully.

Lunch: Vietnamese Quiche and Buttercup Soup

Vietnamese steamed quiche with minced pork.

I made this to have with a crab and tomato noodle soup. Some people eat it with rice. Vietnamese quiche are not as heavy as American or French, filled with lots of cheese. This one was just mixed with pork, but I can also make it with mushrooms! I used to loooove putting in shrimp paste, which would make the house smell for hours! Not anymore.. ^-^

Buttercup soup with tofu and Vietnamese rice paddy herb.

The herb's flavor is really complex and hard to describe. But it adds a depth to soups, especially Vietnamese spicy and sour fish soup. You can find this herb easily in Vietnamese groceries, and even Chinese supermarkets too. Just remember to use them fresh.

Braised Bitter Melon, Tofu, and Plantains(!)

I love bitter melon, I love tofu, and I love plantains! So, why not the three together in a pot?

It's actually very good, with the right seasonings, by yours truly. :D The key is to choose a slightly ripe, but not too ripe, plantain. This way, it'll not be mushy in the pot.

Crispy Warm Beans and Spinach

One of the simpliest, and best side dishes ever. All you have to do is boil some beans until soft (ahead of time), drain them, and crispy them up in a pan with a bit of olive oil. This recipe is versatile too! Use any greens you like. The original recipe called for kale, but I only had baby spinach on hand.

I like to season it a bit- with garlic powder (or fresh garlic in hot oil), salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Just don't add any sauce of any kind. That would make the beans soggy. You can add an herb too, if you like. But it's sooooo good simply with some rice, and maybe a fried egg? ^-^

It is the texture that make this dish good. The beans become crispy on the outside, yet warm and soft on the inside. Crispy bits of beans also break off and cling on to the spinach. I think a drizzling of toasted sesame seed oil at the end would make it good too, but I didn't do that last time. Try it out!

Lunch: Curried Cauliflower and Tofu

Cauliflower tends to be bland, so not many people like it... :( That's why you gotta season the heck out of it to make it tasty! I love just sautéing cauliflower with some curry powder, chili flakes and spices to make it tasty and healthy. You don't need to deep fry it, although a veggie tempura would be good too. The important thing is not to cook it to a mushy death. Keep it crisp!

I always think that if a cauliflower head and a broccoli head were to battle each other on the nutritional level, the broccoli would win. Broccoli just seems more powerful and almighty. But cauliflower is very nutritious too!

Low in fat, high in dietary fiber, folate, water and vitamin C, and possessing a very high nutritional density (whatever that means).

Lunching with some rice, cauliflower, and crispy lettuce.