Vegetable Stack with Blue Cheese

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Another vegetarian dish I made up from what I have in the fridge!I made a jar of char-grilled red capsicum and caramelised red onions last week, which lasts in your fridge for a couple of weeks. It means that you can save time when cooking and it is a great addition to other dishes.
I highly recommend preserving vegetables like this so that you can quickly grab from the fridge and make something up when you are in hurry or don’t have many ingredients in the fridge.
I always have some kind of pickles and kimchi in my fridge, never run out of it! Also it is fun to make them.
Tonight I just needed to cook some eggplant and zucchini in the pan and stack up all the vegetables in beautiful layers:) I try to have as many colours of vegetables as I can on my plate. It is good for you and looks pretty too.
As a treat, I also put some gorgonzola cheese on top. When I tried blue cheese for the first time, I was in a shock why people consume this moldy cheese which both looks and smells horrible. Seriously it smells like old socks >.< After some courageous attempts and my taste buds have developed over years, now I’m so enjoying this distinctive flavour of blue cheese and it is one of my favorite cheese. Especially French and English ones, so yummy! A good combination is blue cheese with a slice of pear, caramelised onion and walnut wrapped in prosciutto. Juste delicieux!

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Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, My recipes

Grilled Halloumi Cheese on Ratatouille

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I like all sorts of cheese but halloumi is one of my favorites when I cook vegetarian dishes.

Halloumi cheese is a semi-hard brined cheese made from a goat’s and sheep’s milk. Because it has a high melting point, it is perfect for frying or grilling.

I don’t normally put any oil in the frying pan or grill because it releases natural oil itself and gets beautifully caramelised outside.

Its unique flavour and texture is hard to describe if you haven’t had one. It’s salty and crispy outside but soft inside.

Ratatouille also, stewed vegetables, is a beautiful vegetarian dish I often cook. I chop up all the vegetables I have in the fridge such as onions, eggplant, zucchini and carrots.

Add some passata sauce, season and cook them until they are all tender. Garnish with some herbs ( I used mint last night ).

A good thing about stewing veggies like that and making a big batch of it is that you can have it as breakfast or lunch next day.

You can crack a couple of eggs on top of ratatouille and cook in the oven until eggs are slightly set but still runny inside. It would be a yummy but super easy breakfast:)

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

Power balls

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2013-12-06 10.08.322013-12-06 10.07.47

My morning routine is getting up early (well..3am all this week..damn insomnia!), going for a morning walk for an hour and having a shower.

My breakfast is mostly smoothie or tea with a couple of home-made muffins. I did try some oat porridge and muesli before, but not a big fan of it.

I have the best concentration after my breakfast, so try to get some studying and reading done.

It has been almost a month since Daniel and I started studying for French getting ready for our holiday next year.

We go to the class every Thursday night together though I find myself I have to try a lot harder to catch up with other students.

I am certainly enjoying learning new language although it is very challenging in terms of pronunciation and grammar (masculine and feminine >.<).

Taking all these into my brain requires so much energy than doing anything else.

I always have some snacks handy in the fridge.  I made a few of these raw gluten-free power balls this morning.

Simply blend a small banana, natural protein power, black chia seeds, cacao powder, cinnamon powder, ginger powder, goji berries, LSA and one chai tea bag.

Ingredients can change depending on what I have in the cupboard or my mood (?). It helps me to cut down my cravings on sweets and last until lunch time.

It is heaps better than those sweets or snacks from the packet for sure 🙂

 

Posted in: Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian

Green salad

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2013-12-06 09.47.29

It is a hot day here today. I didn’t feel like cooking or anything for lunch, being lazy in this heat >.<

So I made up this green salad with honeydew (melon), brussel sprouts and mint.

You can have some yogurt dressing or citrus dressing on top, though I just liked it by itself.

Sweet from melon, bitter taste from brussel sprouts and refreshing minty taste.

As well as the taste, this salad is so good for you.

Raw brussel sprouts have a cholesterol-lowering benefits and has a great quantity of glucosinolate which is well known for the cancer protection and detox.

These little guys also have so many vitamin antioxidants therefore it is good for inflammation-related conditions and digestive system as well.

Vegetables are so good for you and are a pack of vital nutrients. cannot stress enough 🙂

I should have listened to my mum when I was little. Eat your GREENS!!

 

Posted in: Gluten Free, Lunch, salads, Vegetarian

Purple salad

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2013-12-05 12.07.31

When people hear me saying ” I had salad for lunch (or dinner)” “, they think it is boring.

Well.. depends on what kind of salads you make. I try to make it interesting and flavorsome with different colours and texture.

One of my favorites is cabbage >.< I know it can taste quite strong when eaten raw though I quite like it with other vegetables.

I made a big batch of this purple salad for my lunch as well as dinner. Daniel is going to have it with a pork chop for dinner:)

I simply mixed red cabbage, zucchini, celery and parsley, and drizzled a light dressing made of pineapple juice and olive oil. Yum!

You can add some shredded chicken breast to add more protein, sprinkle dried fruits or nuts for different texture, and maybe brie or blue cheese might be nice with it.

I cannot wait to have some more for dinner already.

Posted in: Gluten Free, Lunch, salads, Vegetarian