Mixed Bean Casserole

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Bean Casserole

I like bean casserole for Sunday brunch or light lunch. I made this for our lunch today. I forgot to soak beans this morning, so had to go down to the shops to get a canned bean 🙁 I try not to use canned foods but sometimes like today I have to. Boiling un-soaked beans can be a pain – taking way too long and not getting desired soft tender beans. Just make sure when you use canned beans, you need to drain and rinse thoroughly. Oh well.. I will be more prepared next time. My trick is to add cayenne pepper and preserved lemon in the casserole dishes, which gives nice kick and subtle lemony taste. It really makes a difference and gives much more flavour compared to when using just tomato based sauce. Runny egg right in the middle and melted brie cheese also adds creaminess to the dish as if I used butter to it. Delicious! Please don’t use a canned baked beans on toast for your breakfast, which is full of salt and preservatives. Make your own with your favorite ingredients!

1 can of mixed beans – Don’t be lazy like me. Soak your beans for a few hours or preferably over night. Any kinds of beans are good. Chick peas, broad beans, red kidney beans, black beans, etc
2 medium sized carrot
1/2 zucchini
1/3 green spring onion
1/2 preserved lemon, optional
basil
1 heap table spoon of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, optional
50g brie cheese
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Cook your veggies and sauce in a wok or pan until they are cooked. Transfer to casserole dish. Make a little well and crack egg into it. Put brie cheese and spring onions on top. Microwave or bake in the preheated oven (180) until eggs are done to your liking. Drizzle e.v.o.o before serve. There is not really a rule making this bean casserole dish. Use whatever you like or you have in the fridge.

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

Chicken Green Curry

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Chicken Green Curry

I’m not a curry person. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve had a few bad dining experience in Indian restaurant or I don’t like too strong curry flavour. When I went to this Indian restaurant in Northbridge years ago, Goat curry was my very first curry I had ever tried – fail! way too strong. I could even chew raw garlic and ginger and goat meat was tough like jerky >.< Then I tried another curry house where I had tandoori chicken with naan bread – fail again! dry chicken and greasy naan. So that kind of put me off a little from Indian curry. I prefer more mild version of Korean or Japanese or Thai curry. Our Sunday lunch was Thai chicken green curry. I have to admit I took a short-cut using a packet of green curry paste from the shop, which was why I felt like something missing in the flavour. Maybe more lemongrass and green chilli would have been nice although chicken breast was cooked perfectly – juicy. I served with mixed red rice and daikon kimchi.

I always mix different types of rice when I cook one because plain white rice is quite bland and has poor nutrition in it (high GI and carbohydrates). Red rice has more of a nutty flavour, crunchy texture, dietary fibre, vitamins and iron – yes, sounds better than white rice! Whole grains stabilise blood sugar level and make you full longer. So when you go down to the markets next time, try to grab some wild rice, red rice or brown rice. All the pretty colourful ones! If it is too tough in your palate or hard to digest, mix it through white rice how much you want. You just need to soak in water before cooking or take a bit longer to cook them. To make green curry more green, I used green spring onions, zucchini and coriander. Very satisfying yummy lunch in no time 🙂

I made my very first vanilla sago pudding for dessert using the left over coconut milk. So much coconut in my tummy today. It is fact that coconut milk contains high saturated fat, but also contains high levels of minerals like iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium and zinc. Saturated fat in coconut products has different structure (short and medium chain fatty acids), which means they provide good energy and nutrition to your body, but not stored as body fat. However, consuming too much of it obviously will lead to weight gain. Or if you already have high cholesterol level or a risk of cardiovascular disease, you need to limit your intake.

I like using coconut oil in stir-fries, baking and moisturiser for my skin, drinking coconut water for rehydration after exercise and coconut milk for delicious curry and dessert. So enjoy coconut in moderation for your health x

Chicken Green Curry

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

Pomegranate Pumpkin Quinoa Salad

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pomegranate

Another antioxidant rich food – Pomegranate! It’s loaded with vitamins and potassium. Researches show this power fruit buffers the effects of free radical damage, increase oxygen levels to your heart and reduce the redness of arthritis. It also reduces risk of cancers, especially prostate and breast cancer.

These juicy little guys are a great snack as it is – so yummy popping in your mouth. You can also make juice. Pomegranates are one of the few fruits where juice is as beneficial as the fruit or seeds. I recommend using on salads like me, which not only gives a lovely presentation but also provides a beautiful sweet and acidic flavour. I warn you, though, when you cut open pomegranates and take all these seeds out it will stain your fingers, clothes and kitchen bench. I was so excited about cutting and squeezing the fruit, and next thing I realised was it’s a little late to wear my apron. Oh well.. it’s fun cleaning all up after cooking too, isn’t it? >.<  To prevent all this mess, you can soak pomegranates in the bowl of water and work in the bowl, removing seeds from the flesh. All seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl, so you need to drain well afterwards.

pomegranate salad

I used butternut pumpkin, quinoa, shredded green and purple cabbage, red onions and green salad today. It looks so vibrant and colourful!

Examples of other salads that go well with pomegranates? Think about 3 things – colours, flavour and texture.

I think it goes well with…
– roasted sweet potato, pine nuts and green salad
– prosciutto, caramelised pear, blue cheese, roasted pecan
– Mediterranean cous cous salad
– shaved fennel and orange salad
– wild rice, feta cheese and green salad
– apple, walnut and kale salad

Need protein? Try with…
– duck
– chicken
– prawns
– cheese, especially pan-fried halloumi cheese

There you are.. there is plenty to try if you didn’t know how to use pomegranates in your food. Personally I don’t think you need salad dressing here. Just season and drizzle a good quality of e.v.o.o. I’m going to add Moroccan spiced chicken breast to that salad for dinner tonight. What is your choice? x

 

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

Purple Carrot Salad

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IMG_0091

I felt like something sweet and spicy salad today and came up with this little sexy salad made of beautiful dark purple carrots. I just love the colour of purple carrots. We already know carrots are high in vitamins, especially vitamin A for your eyes, plus a good source of dietary fibre. Purple carrots have extra antioxidant power because of unique anthocyanins, which combat free radicals in our body. It tastes earthy when eaten raw but cooking them creates amazingly sweet flavour. Well steaming and quick stir-frying minimises losing all the goodness in them, but if you choose to boil, make sure cooking the whole carrots without slicing them. As I mentioned before, try different colours of foods on your plate. Why not trying purple carrots instead of their orange cousins today for extra antioxidant boost:)

I sliced 3 carrots and caramelised in a pan with a table spoon of coconut oil. Then cooked further with a knob of  grated ginger, a teaspoon of cumin, fresh thyme, sage leaves, maple syrup and a little bit of cayenne pepper for a kick. It’s so delish with tahini dressing. When you make tahini dressing, keep checking until you have a right consistency and a balance of sweet and sour flavour. I used tahini paste, apple cider vinegar and maple syrup here. It goes quite well with carrot salad.

tahini and carrots

 

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

His and Hers

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Food blog10

Asian flavour in a bowl tonight. Daniel’s had soy braised beef on green tea soba noodles, and mine was tofu patty instead for vegetarian and gluten free. I haven’t had red meat for a long time and white meat sometimes, though I feel totally fine since I’m trying to have more legumes, nuts and tofu.

One of the problem nutrients in some vegetarian diets is Protein. Well.. the other nutrients include iron, vitamin B12, zinc, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids. Protein is vital to many physical functions such as growth and maintenance, digestion (all enzymes are made of protein), production of some hormones, immunity, fluid& electrolyte balance, pH balance and energy. Protein requirements are 56g a day for adult men and 46g a day for adult women.

If you don’t consume animal protein, you need to make sure you have 2-3 serving of lysine foods a day. Examples are…
1/2 cup of cooked lentils, peas, edamame, tofu, tempeh, garbanzo, kidney, pinto
1/4 cup of peanuts or pistachio
3oz of soy meat
1 cup of soy milk or cooked quinoa

Tofu is one of my favorite ingredients. I eat about 3 times a week. Tofu has been found to be a great source of calcium and vitamin E. Consuming tofu regularly helps to lower bad cholesterol, alleviates symptoms related to menopause, and lowers the risk of cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Isoflavones found in products even scavenge free radicals preventing premature aging. So you should eat more tofu! 🙂

You can use tofu as a meat substitute in cooking – steamed, stir-fried, pan-fried, grilled, etc. If you find it a bit blend, obviously add your favorite spices and sauce to it. I personally like it by itself with some vegetables. As to my previous post, you can even use tofu for desserts like cakes and pudding.

Posted in: Dinner, Lunch, Uncategorized