Vegetarian Kunyit Curry

Yes, same set of vegetables from yesterday's Wholewheat Spaghetti & Vegetable Stir-Fry. Only this time they're in an Indonesian Kunyit Curry. 

I received a packet of wet 'rempah' from Lady C before she went away and this is my lunch for tomorrow. Yay!

VEGETARIAN KUNYIT CURRY

Carrots, sliced

Sweet Peas, de-veined

Baby Corn, sliced

Chinese ready-fried Tofu, sliced

Potatoes, cubed

1 packet Kunyit Curry paste

Salt to taste
A little Water

Put a little Water in a wok. Add in the Kunyit Curry paste and fry the spice mix for a few minutes.

Add in Potates and a little more Water. Cover the wok. Add in Water if needed, a little at a time until the Potatoes are cooked through.

Add in the rest of the vegetables and Salt to taste. Stir a few minutes until the vegetables just get tender. Take it off the heat, divide into bowls and serve with rice.

Is this the start of a healthy diet?

So... my doctor says I'm not so well and need to lose some weight. I have been on a diet of sorts to help me but after I fell sick last week and as a consequence couldn't eat properly for days, I've since yo-yoed back towards my old faithfuls i.e. sweet biscuits, chocolate and rice. 

Yesterday, I decided enough was enough. You see... during the yo-yo period I stuffed myself silly, yet found myself feeling unsatisfied, tired, too full, etc. All the things I had left behind while I was consciously watching my food previously. I didn't want this to go on, so I'm back to watching what I eat. 

I had my swim this morning, which was great but left me hungry. Scoffed two Hazelnut-Nutella Biscuits. Bad bad bad. So for dinner today, I cooked-up some vegetables to (hopefully) off-set the sweeties from this morning. 

WHOLEWHEAT SPAGHETTI & VEGETABLE STIR-FRY

Carrots, sliced

Sweet peas, de-veined

Baby corn, sliced

Chinese ready-fried tofu, sliced

A handful of wholewheat Spaghetti, cooked al dente and drained

Garlic, chopped

Red Onions, sliced

Oyster Sauce

Light Soya Sauce

Sesame Seed Oil

Peanut Oil

Almonds, toasted

First, toast the Almonds in a dry wok. Once done, remove and set aside.

Heat a little Oil in the same wok. Once the Oil is hot and shimmering, saute Onions and Garlic in it for a few seconds.

Add in all the vegetables and Tofu. Stir-fry until for a few minutes. Add a little water every now and then to prevent sticking to the wok. The water will evaporate quickly due to the high heat you're stir-frying on.

Add in Spaghetti and stir through. Again, add a little water to prevent sticking if needed. Add lashings of Oyster Sauce and Light Soya Sauce to taste. Stir through. Lastly, drizzle in a little Sesame Oil, stir through and take the wok of the fire. 

Divide into serving bowls, sprinkle on the toasted Almonds and eat while hot. 

Broccoli Salad

I suppose I should call it Let's-Use-Up-What's-In-The-Fridge-And-Larder-Salad, because that's what this was really about. A bunch of broccoli lying in the fridge; a pack of walnuts in the larder; some almost sad looking golden raisins and the bacon that I'd forgotten about.

I have also in recent days, received an 'inheritance' of sorts from friends. Part of the 'inheritance' included a bottle of Walnut Oil. I have been waiting to try with something, and this was the something. While it isn't exactly a salad that most people would call healthy, it certainly was yummy!

It is Sunday after all. Everyone is supposed to have some treat or other on Sunday before the hectic work week starts, so this was a treat to myself. This AND the five Rose Biscuits I've eaten today. Shhhh... don't tell anyone. 

BROCCOLI SALAD

A head of Broccoli

A handful of Golden Raisins

A handful of Walnuts

Some Back Bacon 

Roasted Nuts salad dressing

Walnut Oil

Cut Broccoli into florets. Blanch in hot slightly-salted water, drain and refresh in cold water. Put them  into the bowl you will be eating from. Chop and toast the Walnuts. Dice and fry the Bacon till crisp in a little sunflower oil. Place cooked Bacon on kitchen towels to drain-off as much oil as possible.  Sprinkle Raisins, Walnuts and Bacon over the Broccoli. Drizzle the salad with one tablespoon each of Roasted Nut dressing and Walnut Oil.

Eat!

A working girl's dinner

Work has been ridiculous lately. I hardly have time to bake anymore, which is a pity as baking is my ultimate cure-all for stress. These days I barely even have time to make dinner. Here's a simple, healthy thing that I like to throw together on the nights when I am really exhausted after a long day at work.

Baby Spinach, Feta Cheese & Tomato Salad

Baby spinach

Feta cheese in olive oil (ready-mixed with spices/olives/sundried tomatoes)

Tomatoes

1. Arrange baby spinach in a bowl.
2. Add cubed tomatoes.
3. Top with feta cheese and drizzle with the olive oil.
4. EAT!

Cuzinhia Cristang: Ambiler Kachang & Bendi Pas'agu

So... then I tried out what I taught were the simplest recipes in the book Cuzinhia Cristang: The Malacca-Portuguese Cookbook by Celine J. Marbeck, which I've mentioned in an earlier post. Were they really simple you may ask... well... I thought so. It took me just over an hour to prepare and cook the dishes, along with rice.

Ambiler Kachang

Bendi Pas'agu

This is the first time I've made and eaten a sambal belachan anything, and that's exactly what you see in the picture of the Bendi Pas'agu - a sambal belachan variation with dried prawns. It was lovely, lovely, lovely and SO spicy. I had a tummy ache later from eating too much and not being used to so much chilli. Still, I was a happy girl. This is best eaten on the same day it is made.

The Ambiler Kachang however, was totally scrumptious after a night's rest. Really. I enjoyed just that and rice for a simple week day dinner on the day after.