ABC Dinner

Must be wondering what ABC stands for...... Let me reveal: Asparagus Broccoli Corn..... :) Easy as ABC...... But cooking is a bit more troublesome then what I normally prepare for a meal. However, everything is worth it as the end product was delicious! I prepared this for my dinner but I would rather eat it for lunch as it occupies my stomach too much - too full!

A soup will need to be prepared first. The soup is taken from a recipe in the book"The Healthy Chinese Cookbook". It doesn't call for rice, broccoli and asparagus as its just a soup recipe. I added these items on my own as I need vegetables for my every meal and being a typical Asian, I need rice - that's why I chose brown rice, a whole grain staple! Adding vegetables to meals is not difficult at all......

RECIPE: Serves 4

• 1 skinless chicken breast fillet
• 2 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3 3/4 cups + 4 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1 can cream corn
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 broccoli
• 8-12 stalks fine asparagus
• 1 1/2 cups brown rice
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
  

1. Cook the rice using 3 3/4 cups of water.
2. Heat up the stock in a saucepan.
   
3. Mince the chicken in a food processor, taking care not to over-process. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and stir in soy sauce, rice wine, cornflour, water, sesame oil (add some pepper to taste). Cover with plastic wrap and leave for about 15 minutes to absorb the flavours.
4. Heat a skillet and Healthy Sauté the ginger for a few minutes and add into the saucepan.
   
5. Add cream corn and corn kernels to the saucepan.
6. Steam asparagus and broccoli for about 5 minutes. Do not steam too long as it will take the nutrients away from the vegetables. The vegetables should give a bright green and yet, crunchy to the bite.
7. Spoon about 6 tbsp of hot soup into the chicken mixture until it forms a smooth paste and stir. Return to the work, bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes or so till the chicken is cooked.
8. Pour the eggs slowly into the soup. While pouring, use a fork to stir the soup just like when writing an 8. The eggs should set in lacy shreds.
9. Pour the cooked rice and steamed vegetables into a medium-sized skillet. Add some minced garlic and dry stir fry till you can smell the garlic aroma.
10. Add soup to the skillet till it just cover the rice. Simmer for a minute or so and then serve.
    

French Toast Salad

Waking up feeling rather hungry, I hope to eat my breakfast fast. Oatmeal or pancakes was what I intend to make at first, but I felt like making something faster. So I thought of french toast. Just need to crack an egg, beat it, soak the bread, fry it and you are done. My final decision was not a bad one as I enjoyed the breakfast totally, together with a salad......

RECIPE: Serves 1

• 1 slice 100%whole wheat bread
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3-5 pieces of baby Batavia
• 1 small tomato, cut into wedges
• 1 mini cucumber (can be found in Fairprice), chopped
  
• 1 teaspoon mayonnaise
  
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1. Lightly greased the frying pan and pre-heat the pan.
   
2. Place one side of the bread into the beaten egg and then the other side.
3. Fry one side till the egg solidifies but not charred and then flip to the other side. Pour the remaining egg over the bread.
4. Continue over lower heat till you feel that the egg is almost completely solidified (just like in the picture).
5. Lay the vegetables in a plate bowl.
6. Mix mayonnaise and mustard together and put over the vegetables.

There you have, a satisfying breakfast which already contains 3 servings of vegetables, protein from egg and good carbohydrates from the whole wheat bread for your source of energy!

100% Whole Wheat Pita

Its a Saturday morning when I decided to make pita bread instead of my usual whole wheat bread. I usually spend my Sunday morning making bread but because I'm going for dim sum tomorrow and will not have time to make the basis of my lunch (i.e bread!) in school, that's why I made it on a Saturday morning and decide to make something different - whole wheat pitas!

I've searched the web to look for 100% whole wheat pita but most recipes contain either white flour or other flour that lets our body goes through a phase of sugar dip which results in us looking for bad sugars and carbs such as chocolates, potato chips, ice-cream and so on. To me a 100% whole wheat bread means that it shouldn't contain elements of other flour, otherwise its not 100% (it just makes sense).

Anyway, since no recipe could meet my requirements. I just had to improvise and come our with my own 100% whole wheat pitas. I'm glad the results turned out quite good although its my first attempt! Best part, not much trial and error needed......

RECIPES: Serves 3

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 3 tablespoon warm water
• 2 tablespoon orange juice
• 2 teaspoon nonfat milk powder
• 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together 1/2 cup flour, salt, yeast, milk powder and honey .
2. Add water, orange juice and oil into the mixer bowl and stir to form a dough (should be sticky at this moment).
• Move the dough out into a well-floured surface but not over-floured surface and knead.
  
3. Continue adding flour 1 teaspoon by 1 teaspoon gradually till the dough becomes smooth, elastic and pliable. The trick is to make the dough smooth and pliable with the least amount of flour.
• Note: After adding 1 teaspoon of flour, knead till the dough has 'absorbed' the flour. If it is still moist and sticky, then continue adding the next teaspoon.
  
4. Once desired texture and quality of dough is achieved, place it back to the mixing bowl and allow it to rise for an hour, till it doubles in size.
5. Punch the dough down and place it on a well-floured surface again. Cut equally into 3 sections.
6. Roll each section into a ball and allow it to rise for 30 minutes.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius.
8. After 30 minutes, take each bowl and roll out into circles about 12cm (5 inch) in diameter and thickness is about a 1/5 cm. The measurements are really based on individual preference but I would suggest not to make it too thin.
9. Place the rolled out dough into a baking sheet and bake in the oven till the pitas puff out like in the picture. This would take roughly 5 minutes.

ADDED PHOTOS:

Fusilli in Coriander-Cumin-Tomato Sauce

Being a lover of pastas and spaghettis, I couldn't resist myself to come up with a quick and easy dinner when my stomach gets empty. I looked into a recipe book and saw this easy pasta that could be put together in no time. Furthermore, its spicy, which I need to have for most of my meals! Getting hungrier by the minute after my exercise, I went to the kitchen and got my hands dirty. In about 15 minutes, my dinner was ready! After the meal, I was more than satisfied......

• 1 cup nonfat chicken broth
• 3/4 cup low-sodium tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 2 quarts water
• 2 servings of fusilli
• 1 tablespoon grated nonfat Parmesan

1. Combine the first 7 ingredients and bring to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat and then simmer.
2. Cooked the fusilli according to package instructions and time.
3. Toss the pasta and sauce together and sprinkle with Parmesan.

NOTE:

• The original recipes calls for cavatelli instead of fusilli. I just swapped it to what I have in the kitchen. You can also substitute it with spaghetti or other kind of pasta.
• I also added in black pepper chicken sausage, baby Batavia and mini cucumber.
  

PS: This recipe is taken from Sarah Schlesinger's 500 (Practically) Fat-Free Pasta Recipes.

Quinoa Salad

This bowl of salad was my dinner. It looks little but actually the bulk of vegetables really got me quite filled up. Anyway, I was not very hungry to begin with. It contains 3 colours of vegetables - green, orange and yellow.

Everyone of us should be eating the different colours of fruits and vegetables, 9-10 servings daily. This is because the different colours of vegetables and fruits contain different essentials our body needs. Many may ask what is considered one serving of fruits or vegetables, I would say just eat as much vegetables and fruits as possible. It is not very difficult to include these 2 components into our daily life.

Back to my salad.... There is also the protein factor from quinoa (the grain like looking beads in the photo). Quinoa is a very wholesome food as it contains all 9 essential amino acids our body needs. In addition, this 'grain' is rich in manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorous which means that it is beneficial for persons with migraines and diabetics.

RECIPE: Serves 2

• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon water
  1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 tablespoon nonfat chicken broth
• 1 broccoli
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 cup ginger, cut into strips
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped

Bring 1/2 cup of water to boil. Stir in quinoa, reduce heat and cover. Heat till all the water has been absorbed.

Heat the broth into a medium size skillet using medium heat till bubbles appear. Add the onion and ginger and saute until onion is lightly golden.

Stir in broccoli and carrot and continue to saute till broccoli is bright green in colour. Then add the bell pepper and quinoa into the skillet and continue to saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle vegetables with thyme and simmer for additional 2 minutes.

Pour vegetables into a plate and topped with a pinch of shredded nonfat cheddar (optional) to serve.

Colorful Risotto

My father has to eat vegetarian today and I was think of what to make for him so that he can get all the right kind of nutrients and carbohydrates without risking his blood sugar level. I came across this recipe (which I decided to make it for him as lunch) in the book (borrowed from Choa Chu Kang Community Library) titled "500 (Practically) Fat-Free Pasta Recipes" by Sarah Schlesinger. This book contains really good recipes which at a look, you'll know that this is definitely a book of health. The black pepper sausage is not part of the recipe but an add-on for my grandmother and I!

RECIPE: Serves 4

3 ¼ cups nonfat chicken broth or vegetable broth 1 medium onion, chopped 1 glove garlic, minced 1 cup arborio rice ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 can kidney beans 1 10-ounce package frozen spinach or fresh spinach from the market ½ grated nonfat Parmesan

1. Heat ¼ cup of broth in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic in broth until onion is slightly tender, about 3 minutes.

2. Stir in rice.

3. Add another ½ cup of broth. Add turmeric. When the broth is more or less absorbed, continue adding another ½ cup of broth and carry on till the broth is used up. Takes about 20 minutes.

4. Stir in beans, spinach and cheese. Turn off heat and leave the risotto in the skillet for about 5 minutes before serving.

The above recipe is given as what is stated in the book, except for kidney beans. It was originally cannellini beans. I couldn't find it anywhere. Also, I have added 2 more ingredients to the risotto - they are carrots and mushrooms. Vegetables are low in calories and so, adding them doesn't up your calorie intake too much!

My Progress...

I am currently stuck in the middle of nowhere...... I can't move forward to upgrade myself in my culinary skills as I'm taxed down by my school work.... very tied down. Can't explore new recipes----- which means I got no new experiments to try out... Aarggh!!! Can't wait for school term to end......

I also need to redesign my blog to my style but I need time! Meanwhile, I can only make use of the default template and add a few things here and there...... BORING......

So please be understanding towards the lack of experiments and the dull web page design...... :)
Oh! I admit some of the photos look really ugly but pardon me as I'm still on my way to improving my end-products and my photography skills!

PS: School's term is ending soon... Yay!