Miso Noodle Soup

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Daniel and I eat quite a bit of miso soup, especially on the weekend. A bowl of fermented goodness – I can have it everyday! You can have a bowl of nourishing miso soup for main when you add noodles, vegetables, whole grains and protein to make it more substantial. It is no longer just a side dish you have with sushi. You can imagine all variations and additions to this brothy soup. Mine has green tea soba noodles, shiitaki mushrooms, leeks, seaweed, fish cakes and tofu today. There is no strict recipe. Feel free to experiment!

  • Noodles: soba noodles, udon, ramen, rice noodles, buckwheat noodles
  • Veggies: zucchini, potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, eggplant, snow peas, edamame, bean sprouts, mushrooms, spring onions…any seasonal vegetables!
  • Protein: tofu, poached eggs, poached chicken, salmon or ocean trout, fish cakes
  • Toppings: toasted sesame seeds, fried shrimp, fried garlic chips, sliced spring onions, chopped coriander
  • Tips for miso broth: I choose to use a Korean brand Deonjang, but you can definitely use Japanese miso paste. But remember miso is a lot saltier so use less. Mix a miso paste and hot water in a small bowl before you add into your soup. Simmer vegetables in the broth long enough to infuse. A touch of tamari and a squeeze of lemon or lime can brighten the flavour at the end.
    Miso Noodle Soup
Posted in: Dinner, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian

Za’atar Roasted Chickpea and Carrot Salad

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Za'atarHave you heard of Za’atar before? I’m really into spices at the moment. I recently discovered about this spice blend through other food blogs. It is Middle Eastern spice blend made from the dried herbs, sesame seeds, sumac and salt. The word refers to wild thyme herbs. It’s commonly eaten with pita bread, dipping in olive oil and then za’atar. It’s also good for seasoning meat or veggies, sprinkling on hummus, and eating with labneh (cream cheese made from yogurt). It is aromatic, earthy and tangy.

Health benefits? Sumac is rich in gallic acid. It is anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory. Amazing thyme is rich in thymol and carvacrol which is also anti-septic, anti-microbial and powerful antioxidants. It also helps with the digestive system and eliminate drowsiness and depression, improve your memory and mood by increasing dopamine and serotonin. Sesame seeds contain lipophilic antioxidants, which may prevent age-related diseases.

I’m making this salad to take to my friend’s BBQ tonight. Yes, feed some goodness to the crowd! She and her husband are off to a 2 or 3-year-long-caravan trip soon. Her husband is originally from Melbourne. So after going around up north, Broome and Alice Springs, they will eventually move back to Melbourne where we can meet up again hopefully in a couple of years time. I’m so excited for them and cannot wait to hear about all the random stories about camping. I’ve never done real camping before. We call it “Glam-ping” in Korea (Daniel will nod his head). We enjoy all fun parts like barbequing, playing games, relaxing in the tent or caravan car during the day, campfire, chit-chats at night. Then we go and sleep in hotel, which means no sharing dirty bathrooms or uncomfortable air-mattress. The hotel we stayed in Jeju island for our honeymoon actually has a package for it. There is even guys setting up the barbeque and cleaning up afterwards. Well..maybe it is a bit extreme, but sounds good to me 🙂 I should try real camping one day.

Making saladIngredients

1 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas
3 carrots
2 cups of green salad
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp of za’atar spice blend (1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 2 tsp ground sumac, 4 tbsp dried thyme and 1/2 tsp sea salt blended in a food processor)
1 tbsp of pepitas
1 stick of feta cheese

For dressing
1 tsp of za’atar spice blend
1 tsp of tahini paste
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp of e.v.o.o
a squeeze of lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Combine cooked chickpeas, sliced carrots, coconut oil and za’atar spice in a mixing bowl. Put it in the preheated oven (180) for 30 minutes until cooked, tossing them occasionally. In the meantime, make a za’atar-tahini dressing. Combine roasted chickpeas, carrots, chopped tomatoes and green salad with half of the dressing. Transfer to a salad bowl. Sprinkle pepitas and crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle the rest of the dressing on top.
Za'atar salad

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

Summer Minestrone

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Minestrone soup, meaning “big soup” in Italian, is great both in summer and winter. There is no standard recipe here. It changes from season to season using the best ingredients you can get your hands on. You can also clean up the fridge and throw in all your vegetable odds and ends. It is simply delicious and nourishing! I made a vegetarian version today but feel free to add beans or meat for additional fibre and protein.

The word minestrone means “big soup” in Italian
The word minestrone means “big soup” in Italian
The word minestrone means “big soup” in Italis great both in summer and winter. There is no standard minestrone recipe. It changes from season to season, using the best produce you can get your hands on. You can also clean out the crisper drawer of the refrigerator and throw in all your vegetable odds and ends, delicious and nourishing!

Summer Minestrone
Ingredients

1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of coconut oil
2 cups of chopped tomatoes or canned
1 carrot
1 potato
1 cup of cauliflower
1 cup of broccoli
1 tsp of harissa
1 bay leaf
2 cups of vegetable stock or water
salt and pepper to taste

Cook chopped onion and garlic with coconut oil in a pan until softened. Add other ingredients and stock to the pan. Bring it to boil and then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning in the last minute. Ladle the minestrone into the bowl. Drizzle olive oil and squeeze a lemon on top. Serve with bread if you like.

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

Carrot Muffins, Mediterranean Pasta Salad, Summer Green Salad

\ Leave a Comment \ by

LunchI had one of my friends over for lunch today. I was cooking like a storm, multitasking in the kitchen, which thankfully worked out okay today. She works at the bakery, from 3am to 10am, a bit odd shift. She says she is used to it now though it must be hard getting up that early to go to work when everyone else is still sound asleep. Well I sometimes get up that time and enjoy that hours of quietness, but not for work. She came quite hungry because she had a piece of bread since she got up this morning. Yes, I need to cook some nice food and feed her. I made carrot muffins, Mediterranean pasta salad and Summer green salad for her. We had chit-chats over lunch and coffee for about 4-5 hours. You just lose a track of time when you are with girl friends 🙂

Tiny little seeds are loads of energy-packed nutrition. Flaxseeds among them are one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids and lignans. To get the full health benefits, it must be grounded before eating. You can either buy a bag of flaxseed meal which is what I do or you can grind yourself at home.

Flaxseed meal has a rich nutty flavour and numerous health benefits including fighting against inflammation, protecting against heart disease, cancer and diabetes, controlling blood pressure and cholesterol and providing more dietary fibre.

It is also a great egg replacement in vegan baking, called flax “eggs“. A flax seed egg has half the calories of a large chicken egg and much less fat. It is not going to be exactly same as using eggs, but combining flax seeds and water (or non-dairy milk or juice) 1:2 ration will form into a gel, which helps to combine other ingredients together. Use in baking as you would one egg. You can also make a big batch and store in the fridge for up to a week. I made carrot muffins today using flaxseed meal. Recipes follow…
Lunch2Healthy Carrot Muffins

Ingredients

2 grated carrots
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
100g milk
150g self-raising flour
1/2 cup of oats
50g brown sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
1 tsp of baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp of molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all wet ingredients in a bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes to all flax “eggs” to set. Then add grated carrots and dry ingredients and stir. Spoon the batter into the muffin tray and bake in the preheated oven (180) for 20-30 minutes.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Ingredients

100g cooked pasta
1/2 cup of chopped spinach
1/2 cup of chopped sun-dried tomato
1/2 cup of chopped green olives
1 tsp of rinsed capers
1/2 cup of lettuce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp e.v.o.o
salt and pepper to taste

Summer Green Salad

Ingredients

1 cup of cooked lentils
1/2 cup of peas
1 bunch of broccolini
1 bok-choy
strawberries
1 tsp of tahini paste
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Cook French lentils in hot boiling water for 20-30 minutes. Rinse and drain once it’s cooked. Steam peas, broccolini and bok-choy until they are cooked al dente. Place lentils and vegetables on the plate. Arrange halved strawberries on top. Drizzle a tahini dressing over the salad.

Posted in: Baking, Dinner, Lunch, My recipes, salads

Eggplant In Two Ways

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Stuffed eggplantStuffed Eggplant

Ingredients

Halved eggplant
250g ground beef
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup cooked quinoa
1 tsp of coconut oil
1 tsp of soy sauce
1 tsp of cumin
50g feta cheese
1 tsp of pepitas
tahini sauce (1tsp of tahini paste, 1tsp of honey, 1 tsp of water, 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook finely chopped onion and garlic with coconut oil in a skillet. Add ground beef, soy sauce, cumin and pepper and cook over medium heat until cooked. Take off the heat and combine with cooked quinoa.  Cut eggplants in half lengthways. Using a spoon, scoop flesh from the eggplant halves. Spoon the beef mixture into eggplant and place in the preheated oven (180) for 20 minutes or until eggplant is cooked. Sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese, tahini sauce and pepitas before serve.

Eggplant soupEggplant Soup

Ingredients

1 cup of eggplant flesh
1/4 cup of quinoa flakes
water or stock
1 mall onion1 clove of garlic
1 tsp of cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp of thick yogurt and coriander for garnish

Cook chopped onion, garlic and the flesh of eggplant with coconut oil in a skillet until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add water or stock and 1/4 cup of quinoa flakes. Keep stirring and cook over low heat until you get a porridge consistency (you might need to keep adding water or stock little by little). Take off the heat and cook it down slightly. Then blend until smooth using a stick blender. Add a dollop of thick yogurt and coriander before serve.

 

 

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