Saturday night's dinner

Saturday night's dinner took me less than half an hour to prepare and cook, reason being that I cooked everything in the oven (grill). Note to self- I should do that more often.
I cooked salmon (7 minutes) , with some potato balls (12 minutes) and garlic bread (3minutes). I topped it up with some spinach (the green) and a lemon wedge to make it a complete meal. This was simply a quick and (no need to add) delicious meal.

Nando's paella

Yesterday I tried paella for the first time and I truly think that it might not be really authentic because- let's face it- it was from Nandos. Honestly I thought the rice tastes so so. It was good but there was seriously no wow factor. I was expecting an explosion of flavour from the look of the amazing safffon-coloured rice, but what I tasted was plain basmati rice  (and it was quite dry as a matter of fact). The flavours mostly came from the chicken (which is Nando's specialty after all). I like the diced tomatoes and capsicum on top as it brings some freshness to the dish. Still, the dish looks mouth-watering on the plate.

 

Lasagna

I can proudly say that I can make lasagna. Well, I did not make the lasagna sheets, but I think it is still a great effort at cooking everything else from scratch. While the dish itself is not necessarily hard to make, it is however very time-consuming. First, you have to prepare all the ingredients (means washing, cutting and measuring), then you can start making the meat sauce and cheese sauce. After which, you need to assemble the lasagna. Indeed, there are a lot of steps to follow. Finally, you have to wait the lasagna to bake in the oven and ultimately clean afterwards. Serious business going on for sure.
I have helped my mum making lasagna before, but making it on my own with all the prep work and cooking was quite hectic.Anyway, I was please to eat my lasagna once cooked. It was good. The only missing item was a little more of that tomato paste to give a more acidic touch, but overall, it was delicious; I put lots of vegetables in and the layers were there.
Here are pictures of before and after cooked ( unfortunately I did not have time to take pictures in between) :

 

 

 

Throwback Thursday

I'll try to make it a tradition to post pictures of food and dishes I cooked and ate during the week.

Let's start off with my soup. This is my favourite soup because it is so healthy. There is basically no oil (well yes I do not put any oil at all) and it is rich in vegetables and so easy to cook- one pot dish.

 

This was for Easter Sunday dinner. I stir-fried some portobello mushrooms, and cooked everything else in the oven, that is the salmon, sweet potato wedges and asparagus. This meal was a simply so filling and yummy. I especially liked the potato wedges, crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. A real Easter feast.

 

I have not idea what took me, but I decided to try and make paella. Paella is a Spanish rice dish with spices, saffron threads, seafood and meat. My version is obviously not 'true' to its origins since I did not put any seafood. However it was a tasty dish overall. I have never tried the real thing before, so I cannot tell. I served mine with some red lentil soup on the side.

Sago, coconut milk and pandan is a combination that I absolutely adore and cannot resist. I mean they are match made in heaven, without doubt. Notice there is a bunny silicon cup.This was my Easter dessert.

 

Throwback in the kitchen

Over the past weeks, we ate out quite a lot because I did not really have time to cook. However, I always find the time to cook during the weekend to reiterate healthy and clean eating.
I cook quinoa for the first time and I must say it is really easy to cook; you only have to add water (1 1/4 cup for 1 cup of quinoa) and let it simmer (for 15 minutes) , yes this simple. I really like the nutty crunchy texture. I can easily substitute rice or be a great addition to a light meal. Quinoa is a super food and it is rich in protein and omega 3.
I also start to cook sweet potato mash and it is so goooood. I'm extremely liking this sweet vegetable. Plus, sweet potato is very nutritious- it contains beta-carotene (aka vitamin A) which is good for the eyes and what else.
Anyway here is a recap of the past weekends meals:

Oven baked salmon, roast potatoes, sweet potato mash, pan-fried haloumi, avocado mash and rocket

Eye fillet beef steak, quinoa, sweet potato mash and mixed vegetable

Pan fried salmon, sweet potato mash, potato salad, spinach and garlic bread

Happy Easter 2014 !

Hoppy  Happy Easter. May you have a safe and blessed Easter celebration.
Meanwhile I'm trying my best not to eat too many chocolate eggs...hmm okay, I'll try better next year aha.
Anyway, let's remind ourselves the true meaning of Easter: the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fact that He raised from death, and He died to save us all, us sinners.
Let's have a thought today about its significance: that of hope and to know that God is always here and that 'life, love and justice is stronger than death, hate and corruption.'

Pizza Night

I hope you are having a great week-end. Yesterday we had pizza from Pizza Express for dinner.
Our selection was supreme and seafood.
To be honest, the pizzas taste good, but I was expecting a lil more from the crust; it was not as crunchy as I wish it would be. The pizza slices are quite big too and I was already full after 3 slices. Overall, I thought it was a slightly above-average pizza, as the ingredients/ toppings appear to be more fresh, but that said, there was unfortunately no real wow factor to it.

 

Lunch at Cai Jin Shui Bakuteh House

Hi there! It has been more than a week since I last posted and while I have not been quite active here, I have been posting some crafts here. Please do have a look.
Last Sunday, we had lunch at Cai Jin Shui Bakuteh House. It was my fourth time and I have to say that the food is good. The place is meant to be famous for its Bah Ku Teh, but in all honesty I have never tried once. So I would not be able to give my opinion in this area. We, as usual, ordered some sizzling dish and stir-frys. These can be a lil sweet at times, but the flavours are there. For lunch, we had (in order of the photos) their homemade tofu dish, pork peking ribs, szechuan beef,  the cai jin shui fried noodle and hakka youg tau foo. Overall it was a good choice of dishes and shall come back again to try other dishes.