Ladies’ lunch at Avorio Italian Restaurant
As I said in my interview with Mrs. O in her blog, Livin’ La Vida Lanka, it’s important for expat’s housewife to have girl friends. I am lucky enough to have found a great set of girl friends who are also pinoy, (mostly) housewives and who have common interests and activities.
Read MoreMushroom and Feta Salad – one of our favorites!
Even though hubby doesn't usually like lemon-y dressings, he loves this because the dressing compliments the saltiness of the Feta perfectly. Recipe to follow!
Grilled Chicken and Penne Salad
The easiest grilled chicken recipe EVER after the jump!
Read MoreCoriander Chicken Salad
I spruced up an ordinary salad by adding Coriander Chicken, one of our favorite dishes at home. You can view the Coriander Chicken recipe here. Lettuce and grapes are the perfect compliment to this dish! For dressing I use the unused coriander mixture or I just spray a little sesame oil + garnish with toasted sesame. If these aren’t available, your good ‘ol Extra Virgin Olive Oil + Balsamic vinegar will do – use sparingly as there is a lot of flavor in the chicken already.
Scrumptious Couscous Salad
Because I was having oh-so-sinful Erica’s Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Bombs I wanted something vegetarian and healthy for the main course. I should’ve looked closer because it IS healthy in terms of high fiber content, veggies and using good fats (EVOO) but it’s a lot of calories because of the amount of olive oil used. It is super yummy though, so between this and a fried chicken, I was better off eating this! My husband even said, “I can’t believe I’m liking a vegetarian meal!” He usually doesn’t like couscous & complains when there is no meat on the table, but not this time! =)
The recipe was from New-style Salads, another Periplus Mini-cookbook) and below is my adaptation.
Prep time: 20mins, Cooking time: 40mins, Serves 2 (but seriously it was good for 4!)
- Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced
- 1/4 cup almond chips
- 1/2 carrot, sliced
- 1 eggplant, sliced
- Olive oil spray
- 1 cup couscous, prepared as instructed in the packaging
- 200g chickpeas (half a can) drained and rinsed
- 1 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Dressing
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- a pinch of chili-flakes
- 1 cup chicken stock (I used a cup of water + Maggi chicken cube)
- 3 dried bay leaves
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Heat your grill (I was using an indoor smokeless grill)
- Coat the veggies by spraying them with olive oil then season with salt and pepper to taste, then place on the grill until golden (I like mine a bit burnt)
Grilled my carrots first because they take the longest
- Toast the almonds using a dry pan until lightly golden
okay I may have burn some of it hehe
- Place the grilled veggies in a bowl with the couscous, almonds, chickpeas, spring onion & cilantro and toss well
Dressing:
- Place cumin in a dry pan and gently toast for a minute or until fragrant, turn the heat off and toss in the chilli and the garlic
- Place the chicken stock in a pan with torn bay leaves & boil for 6 mins or until reduced to 1/4 cup of liquid
- Remove the bay leaves and place in a bowl with the lemon juice
- Wisk the oil in with a fork
- Season to taste with salt and pepper
I like to serve the dressing separately because different people like different amounts of dressing. And if there is any left overs (and there was a lot) then the salad doesn’t get soggy.
Voilà!
Thai Prawn Salad
In an effort to lose weight, we try to eat soup & salads for dinner every day. Try being the operational word. I wanted to mix it up a bit, so one night I did a Thai Prawn Salad. Okay, so it still has carbs in the shape of vermicelli noodles, but it’s still healthier than one of our fried, rice/potato-laden meals.
The recipe is from this booklet by Yummy Magazine called Meals in Minutes (10-, 25-, and 30-Minute Everyday Dishes) and is indeed very easy to make. Picked it up in National Bookstore last December when I was in Manila. Below is my version of the recipe. We love anything sesame so this is going to be a repeat dish.
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 200 g Chinese vermicelli (sotanghon)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 inch piece of ginger, chopped finely
- 1 small dried red chili, deseeded
- 450 g prawns, peeled, with tails intact (okay mine were shrimps, not prawns)
- 2 cups snow peas
- 8 pieces baby corn, halved lengthwise
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- Salt to taste
For dressing
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 6 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Salt to taste
- Place noodles in large bowl then cover with boiling water. Soak for 5 mins.
- Drain noodles & place in cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain well & set aside.
- Combine all ingredients for the dressing in a bottle, cover tight & shake.
- Heat oil in a wok, then saute half the garlic & all the chili. Add prawns & a small pinch of salt. Cook until they change color, about 3 mins.
- Stir in snow peas, baby corn, sesame seeds, remaining garlic & another tiny pinch of salt. Toss lightly to mix.
- Serve noodles hot (with the noodles blanched until ready to serve) or cold by chilling the noodles before topping with prawns & dressing.
- Arrange the drained noodles on a serving platter. Top with cooked prawns and drizzle with dressing.
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:
- Fresh apple juice
- The Real Mushroom Soup by Jamie Oliver
- Salad with Mustard & Red Wine Vinegar dressing
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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