Healthy Grilled Fish with Baked Vegetables

Grilled fish fillet with baked vegetables - choice for the diet-conscious and easy to prepare.

PREP TIME 10 Min (excluding marination time)
COOK TIME 15 Min
READY IN 25 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course.

INGREDIENTS
2 huge fish fillets (dory or sutchi or any other similar tasting fish)
1/2 cup of orange juice OR pineapple juice
1 medium sized onion, sliced into rings
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 green pepper, cut into medium sized pieces
1 tsp turmeric powder
dash of pepper
dash of paprika / chilli flakes (optional)
a pinch of salt (approximately 1 tsp)
a wee bit of olive oil
italian mixed herbs, 2 tbsp

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour the juice into bowl/deep plate where you intend to marinate the fish. Rub each side of each fillet with the oil, then salt, pepper, turmeric powder and herbs. Coat each fillet with the juice. Throw in the carrots, green pepper and onion rings. Coat the vegetables well with the marinate (juice and everything else in the mixture). Leave the fish and vegetables to marinate for at least 30 mins.
2. Preheat your oven at 220 degree Celsius for approximately five minutes beforehand. On the baking tray which is covered with aluminium foil, arrange the green pepper / carrots on the bottom so that they create a support for the fish fillets. This prevents the fish from becoming too soggy due to the excess liquid marinate. Arrange the onion rings over the fish fillets. Pour the marinate over the onions, fish and vegetables on the baking tray. Bake for approximately 12-15 mins and check with a fork to see if fish is cooked.

TIPS
Note:

(a) Many grilled fish recipes suggest using orange juice as a marinate, and for lime juice to be squeezed over once the fish fillets are cooked. I had no limes and orange juice left, and used pineapple juice instead (with a slight tangy taste in place of lime) - it worked out fine!

(b) I don't like my fish fillets to look pasty white, hence I used turmeric for some colouring. You can leave that out if the colouring is not an issue with you.

(c) goes well with the aglio olio

Spaghetti Aglio Olio Prawn

I always loved the spaghetti aglio olio from Borders cafe - it's a simple dish really, but i enjoy the taste, more so with the fresh huge prawns the pasta dish usually comes with. Borders cafe is pretty generous with their portions, and I am a sucker for portions. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I tried to re-create the same dish with whatever ingredients I already have in the refrigerator.

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 10 Min
READY IN 20 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course.

INGREDIENTS
Spaghetti, 1/2 packet
1 tbsp salt (or less to taste)
chilli flakes / paprika, to taste
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Prawns, deshelled and deveined, a handful
2 tbsp basil leaves, chopped (fresh preferred) / OR the same amount of mixed Italian herbs
Red cooking wine, 1 tbsp (optional)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the spaghetti in boiling water (and with a dash of salt and olive oil) until al dente. Drain and set aside. Run cool water through the spaghetti to prevent over-cooking (this helps if there is a time lapse to serving after cooking the spaghetti and if the other ingredients are not ready).
2. Dribble the olive oil into the frying pan. Once oil is heated, throw the garlic in and saute for a couple of minutes (before it gets too brown). Next throw in the herbs / basil leaves and the paprika / chilli flakes. Stir frying the herbs / spices ensures that the flavours are infused with the oil. Saute for a bit.
3. Throw in the prawns and saute. Now at this juncture, if you are not into using too much oil, yet you find the stir fried mixture too dry, and you happen to have some leftover wine (in my case I had red cooking wine), you can sprinkle a little bit over the mixture and toss well. This helps to prevent the herbs / garlic / chilli from sticking too much to the pan.
4. Add in the spaghetti and toss well. Add salt to taste. Mix well.
5. Serve with a slight sprinkle of basil / herbs and chilli flakes on the top. Tastes better and prevents the dish from looking too dull.

TIPS
Note:

(a) Use larger, juicier prawns if you are a prawn lover. Duh! In my case (because I am lazy and I am sure many of you working women out there are as well), I usually have a packet of frozen cooked (or uncooked) deveined and deshelled shrimps in the fridge for my convenience. When cooking dishes like the tom yum beehoon in my previous post etc (see: http://cooking.tanejas.com/2009/07/tom-yum-bee-hoon-bi-hun-rice-vermicelli.html), fried rice or any pasta dish, I can conveniently dethaw these prawns to use. Taste wise, it ain't too bad still pretty juicy and (tastes) fresh. It really cuts short the preparation time!

(b) I didn't have basil so I used italian herbs (mixed) which has some amount of basil, rosemary, thyme and other italian herbs for that matter. Still tastes good.

Homemade Bruschetta

Homemade Bruschetta - The lazy cook's way, a non-fussy recipe with simple home ingredients.

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 10 Min
READY IN 20 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as an appetizer.

INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp salt (or less to taste)
1 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
2 tbsp chopped basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Around 4 slices of white bread

DIRECTIONS

1. Ensure that you remove the seeds and juice from the tomatoes before chopping them up. There will be less excess liquid in the bruschetta mixture.
2. Mix salt, basil, pepper, garlic and the olive oil. Toss the mixture over the tomatoes and mix well. Try to refrigerate for at least half an hour in the freezer, these will allow the tomato and basil flavours to blend better.
3. Great to go on baguette loaves, but in my case, we simply use the usual bread slices (and removed the crust).
4. Spoon a moderate amount of the bruschetta mixture on the bread and toast in an oven.

TIPS

Note:

(a) There are many variations of preparing homemade bruschetta. Once can also toast the bread beforehand, and just spoon the cold bruschetta mixture on top before serving. In my case I preferred to toast the bruschetta alongside with the bread (which doesn't take long to toast anyway).

(b) I prefer not to use sugar, you can use though as it's in most traditional recipes.

(c) It will be more authentic of course if you serve your bruschetta on baguette slices instead of the squarish bread slices as I did for mine, but there is really no compromise taste wise!

Homemade Chicken Burgers - Healthy Grilled version

If you have been following my last post, you will have probably anticipated that this would come soon. Since the homemade beef burgers were so yummy, I couldn't resist trying out making these chicken burgers no more than 1 day after assembling our homemade beef burgers which were a hit with my husband and I. Feeling guilty from the consumption of a huge, thick & juicy patty of red meat just the day before, I decided to scale this down a notch and have it grilled, instead of pan frying, like I did for the beef paties. Minimum oil was also used, which meant our bread was toasted plain in our oven. We expected something really plain tasting, but the result surpassed our expectations. It was wholesome, filling and really satisfying, coupled with the fact that this meal comes with far less guilt than our home made beef burgers for two reasons: 1. white meat is healthier than red meat, duh; and 2. this is a grilled not a pan fried version, so less oil was used on the whole.

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 15 Min
READY IN 25 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course. You can serve it with salad on the side - in our case we served it with coleslaw on the side.

INGREDIENTS

For Chicken Patties:
-Minced chicken (arond 330 gm)
- handful of coriander leaves, fresh and chopped
-1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 egg, beaten (*could have been 1/2 egg see below)
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup (*could have been 1 tbsp see below), 1 tbsp Linghams chilli sauce
- a dash of ground pepper
- 1 tbsp chilli powder or paprika
- 1 tbsp chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard (optional, I intended to put this in, but omitted it in my cooking)

To assemble later:
- Hamburger buns (2-3), cut in half
- Lettuce
- Tomato
-Dijon mustard and tomato sauce, 1 tbsp of each and mixed in a small saucer at the side
- Cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. With your hands, mix all the ingredients listed for the chicken in a bowl. Mix well.
2. Divide the mixture into 2 patties. Form each patty into a burger shape, compress with your hands. You can leave it in the freezer for around 10 mins plus. It will help the patties stay together. I notice that the chicken patties were more liquefied than the beef patties made previously, and it was hard for the chicken patties to stay together, hence it's almost a must to put the chicken patties in the freezer before cooking. See the asterisks * above that are bracketed, on hindsight, less egg / tomato sauce should be put in to ensure that the mixture is drier.
3. Preheat your oven at approximately 200 degree celsius for around 10 mins. Place the chicken patties into the oven and cook for 10 plus minutes.
4. Toast the hamburger buns on the side without any oil.
5. Assemble the hamburger buns - you can use your creativity at this stage. For ours, we added some sauce (mixture of dijon and tomato sauce) at the bottom of the bun, just a wee bit, place the patty on top, then a slice of a tomato, then half a slice of cheese on the hot patty to melt the cheese, then a lettuce leaf, and finally the top of the hamburger bun.
6. Viola! The hamburger is done.

TIPS
Note: Beef is a tastier meat on the whole than chicken, and I find that adding more chilli flakes helps a lot in this case. You have your own homemade healthy version, somewhat skin to Macdonalds McSpicy, but without the guilt!

When your patties cant appear to stay together, it may be worthwhile considering cooking the patties in the oven instead of pan frying them. You will manage to salvage your patties whilst making a healthier meal.

Note to self: It's really tempting to do burgers up as well for the next weekend, but my husband and I resolved to have homemade burgers as a treat on a monthly basis, not more. Let's see if we can hold ourselves up to that!

Homemade Beef Burgers

My husband loves ordering gourmet burgers, be it at the likes of Spruce, Brewerkz, Botak Jones, Blooies etc, but it never occurred to me to make my own burgers at home. Last weekend, whilst browsing through The Sunday Times, I was pleasantly surprised to see some recipes for homemade beef and chicken burgers. I had the cooking itch once again and decided to follow through, of course with some improvisations along the way. I added certain ingredients which I thought would make the beef patties taste much better with some minor research done on the internet. I am not much of a burger person, but my husband is and he absolutely loved what I cooked that day. To repeat the words of The Sunday Times, "Do try this at home!" It was absolutely satiating...

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 15 Min
READY IN 25 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course. You can serve it with salad on the side - in our case we served it with russian recipe on the side. It's one of the recipes on this cookblog.

INGREDIENTS

For Beef Patties:
-1 packet of minced beef (arond 330 gm)
- handful of coriander leaves, fresh and chopped
-1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 tbsp Linghams chilli sauce
- a dash of mixed italian herbs
- a dash of ground pepper
-3 tbsp of rolled oats (optional)
- 1 tbsp chilli powder or paprika
- 1 tbsp chilli flakes (optional, if you wish for a slightly spicier taste)

To assemble later:
- Hamburger buns (2-3), cut in half
- Lettuce
- Tomato
-Dijon mustard and tomato sauce, 1 tbsp of each and mixed in a small saucer at the side
- Cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. With your hands, mix all the ingredients listed for the beef patties in a bowl. Mix well.
2. Divide the mixture into 2 or 3 patties, in our case, as we preferred the beef patties to be thick, we divided the mixture into just 2 patties. Form each patty into a burger shape, compress with your hands. You can leave it in the freezer / fridge for around 10 mins plus if you have some time in between but this is not strictly necessary. It will help the patties stay together.
3. In a wok, heat some cooking oil and fry on low heat for 3-5 minutes on each side. Pierce your fork through the patties to ensure that they are cooked (not sticky) and browned. Be careful not to burn these. Slightly charred is all you need!
4. The hamburger buns can be toasted either in a toaster or over the stove. We sprinkled a slight dab of olive oil (just a couple of drops on the white of each side of the bun) and place the buns on our dry pan on low heat, toasting them for around 3 minutes.
5. Assemble the hamburger buns - you can use your creativity at this stage. If you like pickles, add pickles by all means. For ours, we added some sauce (mixture of dijon and tomato sauce) at the bottom of the bun, just a wee bit, place the patty on top, then a slice of a tomato, then half a slice of cheese, then a letture leaf, and finally the top of the hamburger bun.
6. Viola! The hamburger is done.

TIPS
Note: I heard worcestershire sauce can give a delicious flavour to barbequed meats. Add a dash of this to the beef patties mixture if you have this at home. I didn't, but my bun still tasted delicious.

I find that Lingham's chilli sauce has a very distinctive taste, but you can substitute with any other brand of chilli sauce instead, the herbs and spices added to the beef patties will help to make up for the flavour.

The mixture of Dijon mustard and tomato sauce is not necessary if you don't mind your burgers dry. The beef patties turned out pretty tasty.

If you prefer melted cheese, just add your cheese over the beef patties when they are cooked but are still on the hot pan for about a minute, just before you take the patties out of the pan.

For a healthier version, the patties can be grilled over a griller or baked in your oven instead of frying them over a pan.

Note to self: The burgers were so delicious we wolfed them down at one shot. Considering the total costs of this meal (i.e. minced meat etc., but noting we could use the remaining sauces and had some existing sauces), the meal caused us less than 8 dollars! And a gourmet burger could easily cost you at least 15 bucks these days in a western food restaurant. Fast food joints don't count, the beef patties certainly arent as wholesome as these!

Kind of eager to try doing up chicken burgers next week!

Tom Yum Bee Hoon / Bi hun / Rice Vermicelli

A Thai inspired dish. An alternative way of using tom yum paste (other than for cooking soup). Tangy and spicy taste - yummilicious!

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 15 Min
READY IN 25 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course

INGREDIENTS
-100g bee hoon (rice vermicelli / noodles /sticks, bihun)
- 1 tbsp tom yum paste (Woh hup brand), mixed with 1 cup of hot water, blend well
- 3 lemongrass stalks, cut to 2 inch lengths, make slits on the stalks to release the aroma
- 1 can of straw mushrooms
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic
- a handful of prawns (around 10), deshelled & deveined
- 1 bell pepper, cut to small wedges
- lime for garnishing (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Soak the rice vermicelli in water for at least 20 mins, until the noodles are rather soft. Drain and set aside.
2. In a wok, heat some oil and stir fry the garlic & lemon grass stalks till fragrant. Add bell pepper and mushrooms and stir fry for about a minute or two. Then add the prawns, stir fry till everything is cooked. Set the cooked vegetables and prawns aside on a plate.
3. Leave the lemongrass in the wok. Saute for a while. Stir in the tom yum mixture at this stage. Leave to simmer at low heat. Add the rice vermicelli into the wok. The rice vermicelli does a good job of soaking up the excess liquid. Once the excess liquid has been soaked up and the rice vermicelli is rather dry, throw in the previously cooked vegetables and seafood.
4. Serve rice vermicelli on a plate. Squeeze in a wee bit of lime juice if you desire a tangier taste!

TIPS
Note: For people handling lemongrass for the first time, I found this link especially useful: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipesstepbystep/ss/lemongrasshowto.htm. This link will prove most useful if you are preparing tom yum soup as well, but note that in this recipe, the lemongrass has to be cut into 2 inch sticks instead.

Some people may prefer the rice vermicelli to be cut up into smaller more manageable strands for consumption. By all means use a pair of scissors to cut it into shorter lengths before throwing it into the wok. In my case, I left the rice vermicelli as it was.

The Tom Yum Rice Vermicelli prepared based on the above recipe gave a very subtle Tom Yum taste, which was my preference. Not too overpowering for a Rice Vermicelli dish. The amount of paste to water ratio can be varied depending on individual preference.

Try this recipe. You won't regret it :)!

Vegetarian Mapo Tofu

Mapo Tofu with a vegetarian twist. Idiot proof way of cooking a simple tofu dish at home.

REP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 15 Min
READY IN 25 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 -3 a side dish. Serve with hot steaming rice.

INGREDIENTS
Tofu, 1 packet (cubed)
Dried Red Chillis, 1 bowl, cut into edges
Button mushrooms, 1 can (sliced)
Garlic, 2 cloves (finely chopped)
Lee Kum Kee Mapo Tofu sauce, 1 packet
Spring onions, to garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Saute garlic and dried red chillis in a frying pan. Add in the sliced button mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms are cooked.
2. Switch to low heat. Add in the Lee Kum Kee Mapo Tofu sauce. Add in the cubed tofu and simmer.
3. Once tofu is hot from inside out, chop some spring onions to garnish and serve.

TIPS
Note: Use minced chicken / pork instead of mushrooms for a more authentic mapo tofu dish.

Drain the water well from the tofu before cooking so that the tofu will not be broken up too easily. It is preferable to use pressed instead of silken tofu.

Be careful to gently stir the tofu pieces in the sauce so that you don't end up breaking up the tofu pieces into mush!

Simple Asian Noodles

A fuss free meal for hungry kids. Asian noodles served in western homes.

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 15 Min
READY IN 25 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: Serves 2 as a main course

INGREDIENTS
Pasta Spaghetti, 1/2 packet
Dried Red Chillis, 1 bowl, cut into edges
Mixed vegetables, 2 cups
Onions, 1 medium (finely chopped)
Garlic, 2 cloves (finely chopped)
Chilli powder, to taste
Tomato puree, to taste
Soya sauce, to taste
Garlic chilli paste, to taste
Garam Masala, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil water and cook pasta (adding oil and salt) until the pasta is al dente. Drain and set aside. Boil water and cook mixed vegetables. Drain and set aside.
2. Next, heat up the oil on low heat in a wok or pan. Fry the garlic and the dried red chillis. Add in the onions and fry till the onions turn translucent. Add in a dash of chilli powder and garam masala. Throw in the cooked mixed vegetables at this juncture and saute.
3. Add in approximately 2 dollops of tomato puree and some garlic chilli paste. Taste the mixture. Add in more chilli powder / garam masala /soya sauce / garlic chilli sauce if desired. Mix and fold in the pasta spaghetti.

TIPS

Note: If you are able to get the normal greenish-yellow chinese noodles, by all means use that! The above recipe was inspired when I tried something similar in a relative's house in Melbourne - I was surprised to learn that spaghetti was a good substitute for chinese noodles.