Warm Kale Salad with Chickpeas

Warm stir fried kale, cabbage and chickpeas are combined with cold crisp lettuce in this truly appetising salad that will satisfy you even on a gloomy winter’s day.

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing greeaaattt!

I have been busy with the Chinese New Year celebrations last week, which involved quite a fair bit of food to say the least.

This may explain why I am doing a post on salad. I need a break from all the feasting!

It has still been quite cold and gloomy weather-wise. On days such as this you just don’t want to eat a cold salad, right? That’s why I thought this mix of warm and cold salad might do the trick.

You basically stir fry the chickpeas, kale and cabbage together to give you a warm satisfying bite. Then you add that on top of a bed of crisp cold lettuce and mix everything together. The combination of flavours and textures is perfection!

Make this is you are sick of eating plain old cold salads.

Vegetarian Fried Rice

Straight up super easy fried rice. French beans and frozen peas are the key here.

This vegetarian fried rice really saved me one lunchtime when I was starving and had to be fed F.A.S.T.

I used Ketjap Manis here instead of Soy Sauce as I wanted that little extra burst of flavour that comes from this thick caramel like wonder-sauce. If you are unfamiliar with Ketjap Manis, it is essentially an Indonesian take on Soy Sauce and has sugar in it resulting in a very thick syrupy sauce. If you have been to Indonesia before you will notice it on every table at most eateries, it’s like a must-have sauce that goes on everything. Amazing!

Best part of this vegetarian fried rice was that I made a bit more so I had some leftovers for the next day’s lunch as well. It is so ridiculously easy and good, you almost don’t need a recipe for this, just taste as you go along.

In a way I guess I am not that fussy and don’t mind eating the same thing dish twice, be it in the same day or over two consecutive days. Are you like that too?

Banana Walnut Bread

Deliciously simple and straightforward banana walnut bread recipe made with butter instead of the usual vegetable oil.

Banana bread and banana muffins have previously been featured on Nomsies Kitchen. You can have a read of all those previous recipes here. It includes my all-time favourite recipe for Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chunks and Hazelnuts. However, I always like trying out new recipes for banana bread or muffins, I just can’t resist.

I have always wondered about the difference in using butter compared to vegetable oil in banana bread. After reading many rather lively debates and articles on the internet, my conclusion is that using vegetable oil produces a lighter, fluffier crumb whereas using butter produces a richer and heavier, albeit more flavourful bread.

This is actually my first time using butter in a banana bread simply because using butter usually calls for the use of a mixer. If I can get away without using a mixer, I will. I thought now is as good a time as any to get rid of this prejudice of mine which is truly one that is inspired by laziness and give it a go.

End result? Well, I must be consistent and stick with my earlier conclusion. Using butter definitely adds flavour, and when the bread is baking the smell from the mix of banana and butter is indeed heavenly – something that is missing from ones made with vegetable oil. The bread itself is also richer and denser than banana bread made using vegetable oil.

In all fairness, it also was not that difficult to use a mixer here. Just make sure the butter is properly softened first. You might notice that I used 3 teaspoons of Nutella in the recipe, this is purely optional. The reason I added so little was because there was all that I have left in the jar at the time.

Use this recipe if you are looking for a deliciously simple and straightforward banana bread recipe. You will not be disappointed.