Category Archives: Lunch

I adore a nourishing bowl that is vegetable centric and also full of flavour. This bowl happens to be one of my favorites and on my menu almost every week. When I build a vegetarian or vegan meal either salads or stews, I always combine grains, legumes and vegetables to make it filling and satisfying because a bowl of veggies is just not enough and nutritionally unbalanced. Herbs and spices are a must to kick up the flavour. My favorites are cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, fennel seeds, za’atar, parsley and coriander. For a texture, you can change your cooking method – raw, grilling, steaming, braising, roasting, stir-frying, etc. Another way is to sprinkle some toasted nuts on top. It makes a meal more appealing and ,of course, adds healthy fat into your diet.

This bowl has nutty chickpeas, salty black olives, colourful vegetables, warm spices and herbs braised in rich tomato sauce. It is an ultimate hearty meal, though it could be nice and refreshing in summer with a slice of toasted bread, too. Enjoy x

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 cup of soaked chickpeas
1 carrot
1/2 white onion
1/2 cup broccoli
1/2 cup cauliflower
8-10 pitted black olives
1 bunch of parsley
1 tomato
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1-2 cups of water or vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

Cover soaked chickpeas with water in a pot and boil over medium heat for 20 minutes until cooked. Drain and set aside. Add coconut oil into a skillet over medium heat. When oil is melted, add chopped vegetables except parsley and spices. Stir with a wooden spoon until vegetables are tender and coated with all spices. Season with salt and pepper. Add cooked chickpeas along with water or stock into a skillet. You can add less or more water depending on how thick you want your stew to be. Bring it up to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until veggies are cooked for your liking. Stir in chopped parsley before serving. Ladle into a bowl and serve warm as either main or sides.

I’m so emotionally attached to peaches in two different ways. It’s a funny story to share, but Koreans take it pretty seriously when it comes to ‘conception dreams’, which means the dreams that you have while pregnant can be interpreted as the gender or future of the baby. Dreams are commonly about fruits, animals or plants. In my mum’s dream when she was pregnant with me, she was walking over the bridge and lots of peaches were floating along the stream. She was trying to pick one that turned out to be a big, pink and beautifully ripe peach. Then she woke up happy next day. Peach dream normally means a baby girl that is ME 🙂 Another story is that it reminds me our family’s summer holidays. I don’t know if it’s because of that conception dream my mum had, but I absolutely adore peaches in summer. My favorite way of eating it? Wash the fruit and eat as a whole. I know it gets pretty messy especially when you bite into ripe juicy ones.

I’m usually not a fan of adding sweet fruits into the salads. I made an exception though today just because peaches are so good this time of the year and I want to make most out of it. This salad is so refreshing and goes well with chicken, fish or tofu. Ripe sweet peaches, creamy chickpeas, fresh spinach and zucchini, salty feta cheese dressed with a simple dressing. Yum! Try it before peach season finishes x

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 peach, sliced
1/2 cup baby zucchini, thinly sliced
1 cup of cooked chickpeas
1 cup of baby spinach leaves
30g crumbled feta

For dressing
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix all dressing ingredients in a small bowl or jar with a lid. Taste and adjust seasoning. Pour over the salad and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle crumbled feta cheese.

Best thing about this season is that fresh fruits and vegetables are abundant. I couldn’t believe how sweet and tender it was when I bit into a raw asparagus. Asparagus taste so good whatever method you choose to cook either char-grilled, blanched or pan-fried, but I’m going for raw today because it tastes so divine and sweet as it is. So I decided to make this super simple chopped salad to make most out of beautiful vegetables. It is tossed up with authentic Korean dressing, which is tangy, sweet and salty – full of flavour. This dressing goes really well over tofu or fish. I added a bit of cayenne pepper for a kick to my taste but leave it out if you wish. Enjoy x

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 cup of chopped cos lettuce
1 cup of green beans, blanched and chopped
1 bunch of asparagus, sliced
1 sprig of green spring onion, finely chopped
1 cup of bamboo shoot, sliced
1/4 of yellow capsicum, sliced
1/4 of red capsicum, sliced
2 tbsp of green olives, finely chopped
2 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds

Korean Oriental Dressing

2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp minced garlic
a dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
ground pepper to taste

Wash and chop all vegetables. Place in a large mixing bowl. For dressing, whisk all dressing ingredients in a bowl or a jar with lid. Taste and adjust seasoning. Pour dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds for garnish.

Friday to Sunday is a big cook-up day for me. On Friday, my duty is cleaning up the fridge, using up all leftovers and making big salads for the weekend. Then after a trip to the markets on Saturday or Sunday, I roll up my sleeves to prepare for the following week. It has become a bit of routine for me and I’m not complaining. All you need is some time in the kitchen and planning, which I think makes your life a lot easier and healthier, of course.

Since I’m enamored by Asian flavours, Korean in particular, I tend to pair miso with anything I can get my hands on. It is so flavourful, salty and nutty. I used one tablespoon when cooking grains and another to smear on the eggplant before it went in a frying pan. As well as miso paste, this salad recipe has all my favorites – eggplant, beet greens and grains. It is super simple and quick to put together, yet satisfying and tasty. I didn’t add any salt here because miso paste and feta cheese already contains quite a bit of sodium in them. So just add ground pepper if you need and brighten up with a squeeze of lemon. A big bowl of this salad in the middle of table is very much a sharing dish. It will go well with steamed fish or chicken. Yummy x

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 small eggplant
200g of dried grains (I used soaked chickpeas and lentils)
1 bunch of beet greens
2 tbsp miso paste
1 tbsp olive oil
a squeeze of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
pepper to taste
30g feta cheese

Drain and rinse soaked grains. Cover with cold water in a pot, add 1 tbsp of miso paste and mix well, bring it up to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes or until grains are cooked. Cut the eggplant into discs and spread miso paste thinly on both sides. Heat a nonstick flying pan over medium heat, add olive oil and eggplants. Cook for 2-3 minutes each side until caramelised outside and cooked through. To assemble the salad, add cooked grains, eggplants and chopped beet greens in a bowl. Drizzle sesame oil, squeeze lemon juice, sprinkle sesame seeds and add pepper to taste. Gently toss to combine and transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese on top and more sesame seeds for garnish. Serve warm or room temperature.

This is one of my favorite summer salads. Well, coleslaw was not my thing when I tried for the first time at KFC. I know KFC! I was young still at school. My friends used to get a burger, chips, buttery biscuits and coke. I got myself a tub of coleslaw that threw me away badly thanks to thick creamy mayo. Because of post-KFC-trauma and a fear of eating anything in mayo, I never really liked coleslaw for a while. Having said that, I’ve had some beautiful slaws in Asian restaurants. Quickly pickled or lightly dressed coleslaw is just the way I like it.

This gut-friendly salad has bright rainbow colours, crunchy raw vegetables (full of enzymes!), refreshing thai flavours, super simple to make and great for a fridge cleaning day. Make a big batch and use leftovers for rice paper rolls, sandwich filling or healthy tacos. To make substantial, you can add tofu, chicken, white fish or prawns on the side.

Ingredients

1/2 red capsicum
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup chopped kale leaves
1 carrot
1 cup of bean sprouts
1 baby radish
1 bunch of coriander

Dressing

1 tbsp peanut butter (other nut butter works fine if allergy is an issue)
juice of one lime
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced lemongrass
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp coconut sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Put all dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Pour over the salad mixture and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving bowl.