Thursday, May 29, 2008

Some stuff I have been up to the past week...

I haven't posted in a while...a combination of being busy, lazy and a little under the weather has put me off the computer. I have been cooking and snapping pictures but just not posting them online. I'm a little tired now,  so I will let the pictures do the talking:


Easy vegetable soup made after a meeting ended pretty late at about 10 p.m. So, I just used a can of vegetable soup and added spinach (from the lasagna), baby corn and carrots to it for added nutrition. Toasted some bread with herbs and ate it for dinner.

This Western food idea came about because I bought an avocado for the 1st time in my life and it was seating in the fridge for about a week. Fearing that it would rot, I decided to make guacamole out of it. By the way, neither have I eaten an avocado or guacamole before. However, after peeling the skin, I realised that the avocado was very unripe. Not at all soft. So, without much choice I went ahead and did the guacamole and decided to use it as a salad and make some western food. I used 'mock chicken nuggets' and toasted some bread and made some vegetable side dish. The guacamole was quite tasty but I didn't like the avocado taste.. a little eggy (maybe because it was unripe). The 'nuggets' were disgusting.. tasted a lot like MSG and the bread and vege were nice. Except for mock mutton nothing else seems to come close to the real thing!
Something else that I cooked over the week, was a vegetable kuay teow. I decided to keep it pale by only using light soy sauce. Quite tasty.

For an added vitamin C boost, I made a kiwi-orange juice. Pretty delicious.

And a couple of days ago, I made a meal of rice and vegetables. Here's a close up of the dishes:

Tumeric Okra (Ladies Finger)

Marinated Tofu with Snow Peas and Carrots

Potato Curry (Lack of inspiration)

Recipe for Marinated Tofu with Vegetables (for Melissa) (original recipe adapted from here

This recipe is an estimation, please adjust it according to taste. any vegetables can be used.

2 pieces of firm tofu (or more)
Enough dark soya sauce  to marinade the tofu
1 tablespoon of vegetarian oyster sauce (or to taste)
2 stalks of celery
10 snowpeas, vines removed
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 a thumb size of ginger, minced
1 stalk of spring onion, chopped
Some oil
Pepper to taste

Method:

1) Cube the tofu into preferred size. Marinade it in dark soya sauce + water for an hour or more. Turning it around occasionally to ensure even marination. 
2) In a wok, heat some oil and lightly fry the tofu until a crust is formed. Remove and let it sit on some kitchen towels. (This is optional. If you prefer a lower fat version, do not fry it.) Note: Frying marinated tofu can be annoying because it tends to stick.
3) Remove excess oil and in the same wok, saute onions until soft. Add chopped garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant.
4) Add vegetables, pepper, soya sauce and oyster sauce to taste (I used the left over marinated soy sauce. But if you prefer something lighter coloured, use light soy sauce) 
5) Once the vegetables have cooked to your liking, add the tofu and stir fry it for a minute.
6) Stir in some spring onions and use the rest as a garnish (Try not to leave this out, it adds a nice flavour to it)
7) Eat!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Halimah, the first-time-buy + unripe-avocado-thing happened to me too a few months ago! Haha.

Now, I have learnt that avocados will not ripen properly in the refrigerator. It's best to keep them at room temperature until they yield a little when you press them gently. Then, we can store them in the fridge for up to a week.

I prefer those that are slightly overripe and mushy. When we have cravings, it's a good substitute for other unhealthy fatty foods. Still, moderation is best.

Your kiwi-orange juice looks 95% like the passion fruits I bought at Fairprice, $2 for 6. Really fragrant.

Anonymous said...

The above is from *thebabycat*

Halimah Ilavarasi said...

I love passion fruit... I think they are in season now rite? I have to go to NTUC to pick some of them up... My hubby doesn't like them very much but I think they are so flavourful and smells awesome.

Hahah! Thanks for the tip about the avocado. I left it in my fridge too... and was worried it will ruin! hahah.. only to find out that it was so unripe... I'm not giving up on avocado yet... Will possibly buy and keep it on the counter top! hahaha

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if passion fruits are in season but I bought 12 of them just a few days ago at Fairprice. Also available at Sheng Siong.

*thebabycat*

Halimah Ilavarasi said...

hi babycat,

I went to NTUC a few days ago too.. but did not see it...Saw it in Sheng Siong but didn't buy it. Think I will scout NTUC again tonight....

Baking my first vegan brownie now.. will let you know the results soon :)

mustardseed said...

BOO. Give me your marinated tofu with carrots and snowpeas recipe. Please. i'll reward you with vegan brownies. (:

Halimah Ilavarasi said...

okie mel, it is up...

anyway i ordered VCtoW and My sweet vegan. My bro coming back from USA this month so can't wait to get my hands on it :)

mustardseed said...

VCTOTW???? GIMME!!! I want that book. So bad. So so bad.

And my sweet vegan...hey halimah watch out though, that book calls for alot of vegan margarine and maple syrup. You don't appear to be vegan so I assume you may just use butter? For me it's a pain in the asparagus cause Earth Balance margarine (best marg EVER) is VERY expensive here.

About the maple syrup, if you want the real thing, you pay $10 for 250ml.

And awesome tofu recipe(: