A Bowl of Goodness

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It’s January. Everyone is talking about New Year’s resolutions, which of course include words like “diet”, “cleansing”, “getting into size6”. As a salad person, it is a shame to see people associate it with “skinny” food. Well I think it deserves more culinary attention than that. Vegetables are satisfying super healthy food that offers us a variety of nutrition, texture and flavour. Of course, just eating veggies without sufficient protein and fat will cause an imbalance in nutrition and make you feel hungry later. You don’t have to starve yourself and chew on celery to lose weight. It’s all about making little changes without killing the enjoyment. The key to health is home cooking, moderation and regular physical activities/ exercise. Enjoy your life and don’t be too harsh on yourselves:)

You need to make your food interesting for our every day enjoyment of eating. Nourish your senses! Think about flavour when savouring a mouthful (sweet, sour, salty), texture (crunchy, creamy, crisp, juicy), and nutrition (a balance of carbs, protein and fat). Add nuts and seeds to your salad for crunchiness. Need protein? Add any kind of meat, fish or tofu to your bowl. Sweet tooth? No problem. Add candied nuts, chopped dried fruits or roasted root vegetables, which has natural sweetness in them. See they can satisfy you as well as give you the requisite health benefits. Still not sure? Do your research or even ask me:) I get so excited just talking about it.

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My lunch is usually in a bowl. It is easy to prepare for a single person and means no dishes 🙂

To make this quinoa and veggie salad, I just take out whatever leftover I have in the fridge – butternut pumpkin, eggplant, sage, basil and quinoa. Simply cook them up and put in a bowl. A trick is to cook quinoa in a pot and add veggies towards the end. Then they get beautifully steamed and again no additional dishes. I add a miso dressing for extra flavour and healthy fat.

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Another example of salad bowl is Salad Niçoise with tuna. I think it is a great emergency meal when you don’t have time to go down to the shops or have no time to cook. There is not much cooking process involved in this dish except boiling egg and potato. Put together semi boiled egg, fresh or canned tuna, boiled potato, olives, anchovies and green beans on a bed of green salad. Dress with mustard vinaigrette.

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

Grilled Eggplant

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Eggplants are very popular ingredients in Korean food. Mum used to make this little side dish – cooked strips of eggplants in soy garlic sauce. It is so simple but delicious!

Following the previous post on having colourful foods, eggplant is obviously PURPLE – powerful antioxidants. Essential phyto nutrients in eggplants improve your blood circulation and nourish your brain. On top of that, it is low in calories and high in dietary fibre. It fills you up for long and is great for your digestive tract. Ah remember, all these goodness is concentrated in the skin, so do not peel and throw it away! I never really peel my vegetables unless I absolutely have to. You can use any sorts of cooking methods with eggplants – grill, bake, roast, stew, steam.

I sliced the middle section of eggplant about 1 cm thick. I made a crisscross pattern cut on one side, smeared a teaspoon of miso paste and grilled until it’s golden brown. Then garnished with cottage cheese, pink pepper corns and fresh thyme leaves. You will fall in love with this robust grilled eggplant flavour:)

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

Cooking with Kale

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I love green vegetables as raw or cooked. Vibrant colour and bitter taste. I cannot live without them!

I bought a bunch of kale from the market this morning. I use a lot of greens in cooking like spinach, broccoli, zucchini, spring onions, cabbage, bok choy, etc. But somehow I haven’t really used kale and collard that much – maybe because it is a bit hard to find at the supermarket here. I really should make a trip to the farmers markets on the weekend and explore more.

Apparently Kale is one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet. One cup of chopped kale contains 33 calories, 9% of daily value of calcium, 206% of vitamin A, 134% of vitamin C, 684% of vitamin K, a good source of copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus. Antioxidants in kale have the anti-cancer health benefits. The fibre content helps to lower blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. But, too much vitamin K can cause problems for some people who take anticoagulants. And you need to avoid eating calcium-rich foods with kale since  it interferes with calcium absorption. So it is proved that kale is a power house of nutrients!

I used half to make a sauteed kale and mushrooms with a splash of soy sauce and a teaspoon of garlic, and another half for kale chips. I’ve seen packaged ones at the health food shops, which cost fortune for a handful of kale chips. It is cheap and easy to make at home, so do it yourself! I washed and pat dried kale leaves. Sprinkle sea salt and cayenne pepper. Put in 170 degree oven for 30 minutes (check and flip them now and then so it doesn’t burn). It is light, crunch, spicy.. I’m in heaven.

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

Making Sauerkraut

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Just like Kimchi in Korea, sauerkraut is a fermented cabbage side dish which took root mostly in Eastern Europe and Germanic cuisines. I try to incorporate fermented foods in my diet such as Kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt or kefir for my digestion.

As per my previous post on Kimchi, sauerkraut as a fermented food has many health benefits.

– easier to digest and absorb compared to eaten raw
– high in Vit B, C and K, calcium, potassium and magnesium
– low in calories
– lactobacilli and enzymes improve digestion and the growth of healthy bowel flora
– soothing the digestive tract, good for stomach ulcer
– high in antioxidants (lutein and zeaxanthin)

You can buy a jar of sauerkraut from the store though it is expensive, has preservatives and is very high in sodium. So why not making at home since it is extremely cheap and easy to make? It is also very rewarding when you make your own:)

All you need is sea salt and cabbage (I’ve chosen a red cabbage, but any cabbage would do). You need to massage and knead the shredded cabbage and sea salt with clean hands in a mixing bowl until it gets wet and excess water comes out of the mixture. Pack the moist cabbage mixture and liquid into a jar and close the lid tightly. Leave the jar in a cool dark place for a few days to allow the bacteria to start fermentation. Check everyday to see if it is soft and tangy. Then you can keep it in fridge to slower down the fermentation process. It goes well with any meat dishes as well as in salads – beautiful purple colour and intense flavour!

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

Summer Salads

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I recently bought a veggie spiraliser on-line, which is great for making “pasta” (zucchini pasta here). I decided to use it today and felt like making lots of salads, so went down to the local market to get some fruits and veggies. Getting close to Christmas (nothing opens over holiday here..boo hoo!) everyone is mad shopping to stock up all the foods they need for a few days. I just realised all morning is gone shopping, making salads and cleaning up the mess that I created in the kitchen. I wish I could concentrate on reading and studying as much as I do on cooking 🙂

Anyhow after spending hours in the kitchen, I ended up making about four different salads for the weekend, which are zucchini pasta salad (photo above), roasted beetroot and pumpkin salad, potato and green bean salad, and lastly watermelon and cucumber salad with cottage cheese (photo below). I like keeping it simple. So dressing for all salads pretty much consists of apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, mustard seeds, pepper, and extra-virgin olive oil. Simple dressing like this not only has low calories but also doesn’t ruin the original taste and vibrant colours of the veggies. Just the way I like it!

I might take some of these down to the park on the weekend for a little picnic since the weather is so great here, only about 30 degrees. Despite a good weather, I’m dying to have winter Christmas with lots of snow! Ah..homesick again. I hope everyone has a safe, healthy and happy holiday.

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