The Real Mushroom Soup & salad for dinner

Posted on May 18, 2010 in Cooking, Diplo TUMMY | 0 comments

The Real Mushroom Soup & salad for dinner

As part of trying to be healthier and losing weight, we are starting our soup-and-salad-for-dinner diet. Note I’m not saying the menu is fat/meat/carb free, but it’s definitely healthier than our usual rice or potato loaded dinners. If there is oil I try to make it olive oil, and if there is meat, I try to make it leaner pieces and grilled with a brush of olive oil.

Tonight menu:

Recipes below.

My favorite juice

FRESH APPLE JUICE

  • Core 2 medium apples, split into quarters and chop up into smaller chunks (you can peel them if you prefer to, but I leave the skin on because most of the fiber of an apple is in the skin)
  • Place in a tall plastic container and add a few drops of lemon and about a cup or two of water (this depends on how watery you want juice to be)
  • Puree till smooth using a hand blender
  • Add a little powdered sugar or in my case Tropicana Slims low calorie sweetener to taste and mix
  • Serve over ice with a mixer

I am not sure why the pic in his recipe looks much paler than mine. The mushrooms I used perhaps?

THE REAL MUSHROOM SOUP by Jamie Oliver

  • I used whatever mushrooms I had: dried brown mushrooms, fresh button mushrooms and a lot of shiitake
  • I didn’t have fresh thyme so used a half the amount of dried thyme, because the flavor is usually more concentrated when it’s dried
  • For the bread, I used plain white bread because I ran out of wheat bread. I placed a small amount of butter-substitute in a pan and toasted each side
  • I garnished with cilantro instead of parsley because it has more flavor and it goes really well with mushrooms. I should have shredded them finer though so as to spread the flavor evenly over the bowl of soup.

Love how the sweetness of the grapes cuts into the tanginess of the dressing

SALAD

  • Wash and spin lettuce, then shred
  • Peel and cut carrots thinly
  • Halve cherry tomatoes
  • Take the stalks of seedless red grapes
  • Toss everything together and serve
  • On top I also crushed some grilled sukiyaki. These were brushed with olive oil and grilled until crunchy and the fat is cooked off.

MUSTARD & RED WINE VINEGAR DRESSING

  • 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 level tsp iodized salt
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

* This is a slight variation on Jamie Oliver’s mustard & herb vinegar dressing in “the Naked Chef Takes Off”

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Jamie Oliver’s Pukkolla SCORES!!!

Posted on May 18, 2010 in Breakfast, Cooking, Diplo TUMMY | 1 comment

Jamie Oliver’s Pukkolla SCORES!!!

Continued from my post yesterday, Healthier breakfast with Jamie Oliver’s Pukkolla.

Last night, I left the mixture  covered in milk with grated apple overnight in the refrigerator. According to Jamie Oliver letting it decompose overnight makes the milk smoother.

Before serving this morning, I added a little milk (it’s a bit thick from the fridge), bananas, fresh berries and a little honey to taste.

TUCKING IN AND EATING: We did banana slices this morning, but hubby and I agree that it would be much better if they were mashed. Unfortunately we need to find sweeter berries! These were from Grand Lucky Supermarket. They looked ripe but weren't sweet at all - nothing a little honey couldn't fix though!

This is definitely going to be part of our breakfast recipes shortlist. It’s so good! And healthy to boot! Very high in fiber so quite filling. I had a cup worth and I felt full for hours after. I actually ate lunch at almost 1pm because I was still feeling full.

I am slowly converting the hubby to oats. He used to say he only liked oats in his beer, but now that’s no longer true. *wink*  AND Jamie Oliver still has perfect scores in my book!

See the complete recipe of Jamie Oliver’s Pukkolla here.

P.S.

Anyone know where I can get sweeter berries in Jakarta without breaking the bank?

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