Fish Congee

A classic one-pot meal, you can never turn down a bowl of steaming fish congee.

Hello and happy Friday!

I hope you had a great week and are looking forward to a fun-filled weekend! I am having such a good time watching the World Cup, I tell you, I have been experiencing a lack of voice from all the shouting I have been doing at my TV. It’s a rest day from the football today so I thought I might catch up on my blogging.

Since I have been cooking for one this week, it has been really slow food wise. I cook something and it takes me 2 days to finish the whole lot. It’s good in a way, as that means I have more time to do other things. Ideally, I should be telling you that I have been uber productive and spring cleaned the house and ran a 100 miles but no, it’s more like watching football with the Kardashians and the Fashion Police in between.  

Anyway, one of my easy one-pot meals for one is fish congee. I love congee and always order it when I have dim sum. At home, I make this really easy fish congee with cod fish. It’s just putting everything in a pot and leaving it to boil. I can never refuse a bowl of this comforting congee and I hope you try it for yourself.

Note my Brazilian colours place mats!

Stir Fried Broccoli with Goji Berries

Super quick broccoli stir fry with super food goji berries!

Hello and happy Meatless Monday!

Hope you had a fantastic weekend. I had a rather quiet Sunday as dearest husband has gone away on a business trip for a week. Boo hoo. As such, I spent my Sunday doing house chores. The benefit of that is that I didn’t have to do many chores today and could potter about in my little garden.

Since I am cooking for one today, I decided to do something ridiculously easy and made stir fried broccoli with goji berries. It’s quite common in Chinese cooking to stir fry veggies with goji berries. If you haven’t tried it, do give it a go as the goji berries make the dish so sweet.

Noodles with Meat Sauce

Absolutely delicious noodles with a hearty meat sauce. Serve with some healthy kale or other veggies for a complete meal.

Hello folks.

Are you enjoying the World Cup? I know I have! Even if you are not into football, you look out for the World Cup advertisements. Some are so hilarious, while others resemble a mini movie. Definitely worth looking out for.

With summer and all the football, I need to make meals even easier and faster. So on these warm summer days, I have been cooking quite a fair bit of these noodles with meat sauce.

It’s already a quick and easy to make meal as it is. However, I like to cook up a bigger portion of the meat sauce and refrigerate the leftovers. That way, all you have to do for another (even quicker) meal is boil up some noodles and heat up the sauce. You will be able to serve dinner in less than 10 minutes. It really is all about the prep.

Here, I added some blanched kale and layered it on top of the noodles, followed by the meat sauce. Let me tell you, it’s a great way to eat your kale!

You can use any noodles you like, but I used fine egg noodles here. It also goes well with some vermicelli. I hope you try it! 

Brown Rice with Peas

A twist on cooking normal boiled rice, the added peas make this a clever way to sneak in more vegetables to your diet. 

Hello and happy Meatless Monday!

I overindulged in dim sum once again yesterday, as such, I need to be a good girl diet-wise today. I have a super healthy and easy recipe for you, that is, brown rice with green peas. It is a clever way to jazz up normal boiled rice. It is also great to sneak in more vegetables to your diet!  

You cook the rice as you normally would, just add in some seasoning and the peas. The seasoning used here is mirin, light soy sauce and salt. If you are not vegetarian you can use some chicken stock.

I usually have this with stir fried vegetables. Veggies on top of more veggies. Go for it, it’s good for you!

Braided Pesto Bread

Delicious bread baked with pesto swirls inside and topped with mozzarella cheese for a golden crust.

  

Hello!

I made this braided pesto bread yesterday and I can’t wait to share the recipe with you.

This is not a complicated recipe. For the dough I used the same recipe as I did for my Nutty Cinnamon Buns, I just halved the quantity as I am baking this in a loaf pan.

To get the shape, you just have to roll out the dough after it has risen into a large rectangle. Spread pesto over it and roll it up into a long cylinder. Then, you cut it almost in half lengthways, leaving it just joined at one end (like a pair of legs). Twist the 2 dough lengths together and place the dough into a loaf pan.

The bread tastes so good. Crusty on the outside and soft and pillowy inside. The pesto swirls makes this taste and smell even better. It is also delicious toasted with butter or more pesto. You can pair it with a soup or salad for a nice fresh summer meal.

Chickpea Salad

Super healthy salad that requires hardly any time to make. Fantastic as a side salad or light meal. 

Hello!

Today is Monday and it is definitely a salad day for me. I made one of my favourites – chickpea salad.

It’s a salad day because I had a huge Sunday Roast yesterday. Just look at that! Crisp crackling as well.

Now you know why I have to “detox” a little today.

This little salad does just the trick. It is super easy and does not require much chopping and dicing. I love this kind of salad.

I added chopped tomatoes and whole cherry tomatoes as I like how the cherry tomatoes go with the rest of the salad so I highly recommend that you add them in. This salad keeps so well in the fridge, just pack it into little containers and you are good to go!

Nutella Cream Cheese Brownies

These Nutella cream cheese brownies are so yummy and beautiful to look at, you just have to try it!

  

Hello hello!

I realised that I had some tubs of cream cheese in the fridge the other day and I wanted to use it for some baking. Dear husband of mine loves brownies so I settled upon an easy peasy brownie recipe.

It combines cream cheese, dark chocolate, hazelnuts and Nutella. Are those all your favourite things? If they are, read on!

I baked this brownie in a tart pan, I got the idea from Confectionalism, you should check out Nicole’s site, her baked goods are delicious and she has loads of great ideas too! The tart pan makes the brownie look extra beautiful with the scalloped edges.

The brownie batter is poured into the tart tin. The cream cheese and Nutella mixture is then spooned on top of the brownie batter and swirled through for a pretty pattern and delicious combination. You can further decorate it with some fruits or serve it warm with some ice cream. Am I making you drool yet? 

Vegetarian Pasta Bake

An absolutely easy vegetarian pasta bake that is packed full of chunky vegetables to fill you up.

Hello and happy Monday!

I hope you are having a lovely Monday and that you had a great weekend. It seems that my prayers for good sunny weather were answered and I managed to go for an adventurous bike ride on Saturday. It was kind of tough for me as it was rather hilly. I am not ashamed to admit that I had to push my bike up several hills as I was already feeling like that – (see photo below)

We didn’t go for dim sum this weekend though. Went to our new favourite Chinese restaurant (Blue Moon) instead. Ended the weekend by watching the new movie by Seth McFarland – A Million Ways to Die in the West. Such a wonderfully silly and fun movie!

Enough of my weekend recap and back to Meatless Monday. Today is time for a vegetarian pasta bake. Easy to make, tasty and so filling – especially for a vegetarian dish.

I cooked the vegetables and pasta together first before baking. I find that it just gives the pasta more flavour.

The melted, golden cheese on top really just caps off this delicious dish beautifully. Leftovers keep really well too. What’s not to love?