Second Valentine’s Dinner with Friends

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Dinner party1I love throwing a dinner party, cooking for loved ones. Tonight I cooked for my dearest friends and their partners since it might be the only time we all are free. I have only a couple of months until I go to Korea. One friend’s parents are coming here in March and staying for over a month. Another friend’s family comes over to Perth as well in April. And we might be moving to Melbourne anytime soon so I wanted to have a nice dinner with them before we all get busy. I thoroughly enjoyed great company tonight. Love you all xxx

CrostiniCheesy Bread
Hummus, Grilled Cheese, Chilli Chutney on Rosemary Bread

Orange SaladOrange Salad: Soak sliced red onions in cold water for 30mins. Slice Oranges and arrange them with red onion and green salad. Combine rose water, white wine vinegar and tamari sauce for dressing. Sprinkle pistachio nuts on top.

Grilled VeggiesGrilled Veggies on Bean Salad with Tahini Dressing: Grill chopped eggplant, red capsicum, sweet potato, mushroom and zucchini. Put them on cooked French puy lentils, canellini beans and green salad. Drizzle a tahini dressing made of tahini paste, water and apple cider vinegar. Sprinkle hazelnuts and season before serve.

Lamb and CouscousRoast Lamb with Couscous Salad: For couscous salad, combine cooked couscous, chopped parsley, capers, sun-dried tomatoes and pepitas. Season with salt and pepper. Put slices of roasted lamb on top and garnish with crumbed feta cheese and pomegranate.

Vanilla FlanVanilla Flan: Combine 1 can of condensed milk, same amount of milk, 3 eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Coat caramelised sugar at the bottom of the flan tin. Pour the flan mixture into a tin and bake in water bath for 1 hour in the 160 degree oven. Cool it down and set in the fridge for an hour or more.

Posted in: Dinner, My recipes

Eggplant and Soba Noodle Salad

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Eggplant Salad

Slim purple-black eggplants, so called Japanese eggplant is the one I used to eat in Korea. It is sweet and tender when it is cooked unlike Western fat ones that can taste quite bitter. I went down to the veggie shop with my hubby this morning and a bunch of them was on special. So I decided to make a nice salad for lunch. I clean the eggplants in cold runny water, cut them in half length wise, cook in a pan with a teaspoon of coconut oil for a few minutes each side until it’s tender. Serve on green tea soba noodles and coriander. Drizzle soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds on top. You can definitely add some protein to this, but simple ingredients really shine in this dish. A beautiful lunch served in a minute x

Posted in: Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian

Jat-Juk

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Pine nut porridge
You might not have heard of this soup before. So here I am writing about it.
Jat-juk is a Korean porridge made by boiling finely ground soaked rice and pine nuts in water. We have a variety of porridge as rice is a staple. This pine nut porridge is by far one of the best because it is creamy, rich, nutritious and easy digest. Pine nuts in this porridge add protein, magnesium, vitamin E and vitamin B2. My mum used to make me this when I was a baby since it is easy to swallow and plain flavour. When I was sick with flu or stomachache as well. Porridge is the best just like westerners have a chicken soup. It is great to add a sprinkle of good quality salt and toasted nuts on top as well.

Ingredients
1 cup soaked rice (preferably over night. if you decide to use brown rice, soak longer)
1/2 cup of soaked pine nuts
5-6 cups of water
salt to taste
toasted nuts for garnish

Wash the rice clean until the water is clear. Soak rice and pine nuts in a separate bowl. Grind soaked rice and nuts separately with a cup of water using a food processor or blender until you get a paste. Pour out the rice paste into the heavy pot and bring it to boil. You have to keep stirring for about 10 minutes or so making sure it doesn’t stick to the pot. Then pour the pine nut paste into the pot and simmer for another 20-30 minutes. It is done when you get a hot oatmeal consistency. Serve hot or cold with salt and toasted nuts on top. Enjoy x

Posted in: Breakfast, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian