Grilled Leek with Lentil Salad

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Grilled Leek1We don’t have this kind of giant leeks in Korea, but only skinny spring onions. I was amazed how big the leek can be at the market. They taste like garlic, very spicy when eaten raw or undercooked because of sulfur-containing compounds called allicin. Allicin is anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal. Leeks have a good source of vitamins, powerful antioxidants and anti-cancer benefits. So add more leeks into your diet! For example in your stir-fry, frittata, soup, salads, terrine, etc. It is very versatile and incredibly sweet when cooked. This salad or side dish will go really well with any kind of protein or just by itself 🙂

Ingredients

1/2 of leek
1/2 cup of cooked French lentils
1 tsp of coconut oil
1 tsp of harissa paste
5 green olives halved
1/2 onion caramelised
1 tsp olive oil
a squeeze of lemon
1 tsp of cottage cheese
salt and pepper to taste
parsley for garnish

Slice off most of the green tops. Halve the leek bottoms and run under cold water to remove any grit. Steam the leeks until just soft and then set aside. Brush with coconut oil and grill them over medium heat until you get nice grill marks on each side. Meanwhile, cook the French lentils until soft. For harissa dressing, mix harissa, olives, caramelised onion, olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Arrange grilled leeks on a serving plate. Spoon cooked lentils and harissa dressing over the leeks. Garnish wish cottage cheese and parsley on top.

Grilled Leek

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Honey Glazed Salmon on Fluffy Millet

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salmon and millet2Want to boost calcium and magnesium in your diet? Here is a great vegetarian source for strong healthy bones.

First of all, yummy nutty sweet gluten-free grains yet inexpensive and easy to prepare. It is millet! If you haven’t heard of it or seen it, you can find them in health food shops or markets or online. It looks like couscous or quinoa. It is an ancient seed originally from African and Northern China. Why is it good for us? It is naturally gluten-free, non-allergenic, easy on digestion and alkylising your body. Millet is also rich in iron, B vitamins (Niacin to lower your cholesterol), magnesium (helps with migraine and heart disease), calcium, serotonin (great for your mood), fibre (helps with constipation) and protein (great for a vegetarian diet). So how do you use this awesome guys? You can add to your salad, make patties, use grounded millet in baking healthy muffins, serve stir-fry or protein with it, make stuffing or make a bowl of creamy porridge. It is so versatile!

Sesame seeds are also loaded with calcium and magnesium. Eating a teaspoon of sesame seeds a day can help provide 28% (based on a 2,000 calories diet) of the calcium needed daily. I like lightly toasting them just before use to maximise nutty fragrance and flavour.

Today, I made honey glazed salmon served on fluffy millet and corn. Fresh, delicious, nutritious and full of calcium and magnesium. Your tummy will love it 🙂

salmon and millet

Ingredients

100g salmon fillet
2 tbsp raw honey
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce

100g millet, soaked 6-8 hours
1 tsp coconut oil
100-200g water or vegetable stock
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 cup of corn
2 bunches of coriander
Himalayan salt and grounded pepper to taste
a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds

Mix honey, olive oil and soy sauce and marinade salmon for half an hour. Then pan fry for 3-4 minutes each side over medium heat. Set aside. For the millet, soak 100g of millet in water for 6-8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse off to remove the phytic acid. Heat coconut oil in a pot over medium heat. Add finely chopped onion, corn and millet. Stir for about 5 minutes until onion is fragrant and translucent and millet is well coated with coconut oil. Then add water or vegetable stock to cover millet, put a lid and cook for about 10-15 minutes in low heat until water is all absorbed. You can add more water depending on how you want your millet to be cooked (fluffy or moist). Stir occasionally. Turn off the heat, season and stir in roughly chopped coriander. Taste and adjust seasoning. Let it sit with a lid on for a few minutes before serve. Serve flaked salmon on warm millet. Garnish with fresh coriander and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds.

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Mung Bean Stew

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Aside from being one of the quickest legumes to prepare and the easiest of all beans to digest, mung beans have numerous positive health benefits. They are a good source of essential fatty acids, antioxidants, minerals, and protein. Green mung bean is known as the dosha balancing food according to Ayurveda, it cleanses the gut if taken regularly. It has significant amount of soluble fiber that helps cleanse and heal the body at multiple levels.
mung bean stew
Ingredients

1 cup of mung beans
1 white onion
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp garam masala
2 cups of water or vegetable stock to cook mung beans
1 cup of coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste

Soak mung beans overnight. Rinse and cover with water in a pot. Bring it up to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until cooked. Drain and set a side. Heat coconut oil in a pan and add chopped onion and spices. Saute for 5 minutes until soft and fragrant. Add cooked mung beans and stir in coconut milk. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Take it off the heat and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve warm over rice or with bread.

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

Chilli and Garlic Infused Oil

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Infused oil

I bought a bottle of basil infused oil a while ago from the shop. A scent from using the oil when cooking is just amazing! Store-bought infused oils can cost you fortune. So I decided to make my own using dried chillies and cloves of pickled garlic. You can make infused vinegar, honey, oils with dried or fresh herbs. As a chilli and garlic lover, I’m going for this chilli and garlic infused oil, but feel free to try with rosemary, pepper, lemon, thyme, basil, etc.

I used a handful of whole birds-eye chillies (very hot!) and a few pickled garlic cloves that I made before. Warm the light olive oil and ingredients in a sauté pan and warm over medium heat for a couple of minutes (not boiling!). Let the oil cool completely and transfer to a sterilised jar. You can leave the ingredients in the bottle or strain before using. Allow to infuse for a week in the fridge.

Please note that fresh garlic and herbs that contain any trace of water or moisture might cause a bacterial growth. So if you do use fresh ingredients, keep it refrigerated and use within a week. Or another option is using dried ingredients or preserved ingredients in a brine or vinegar solution just like what I did with dried chillies and pickled garlic. I made this for my mother-in-law 🙂 Hope she likes it x

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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