Chipotle Beef-Topped Portobello Mushrooms

Please excuse the quick kitchen counter photo. But I wanted to share this brilliant dinner. It's a portobello mushroom topped with chipotle beef chilli and vintage cheddar cheese.

After mananging to do some meal planning recently, I have been able to actually cook from a recipe instead of throwing together whatever I can find in the fridge each night. This dinner is from Weeknight Wonders by Ellie Krieger. It's nice to pick this cookbook up again after many months away from any serious cooking.

How to Cook (and Enjoy) Broccoli Stems

Broccoli is my husband's favourite vegetable and we eat it incessantly. But I can't stand the little dark, curly leaves. And I think the stems taste like ick.

Thankfully a recipe from Ellie Krieger's cookbook Weeknight Wonders has come to my rescue. I have learned how to cook broccoli stems so that they are delicious. Yippee!

There are just two tricks:
1. cut away all but the sweet, inner portion of the stem, and
2. make sure the stems get the most heat while cooking.

Beer and Beef Skillet Stew

Thanks to Ellie Krieger, I have discovered how to make a quick dinner that resembles stew. Real stew, like the kind my Grammie makes, takes hours. I do not have that time on weeknights.... Let's be honest, I don't often have that time on weekends, either. To make a quick version, here are four easy steps.

Five Minute Mango, Papaya, and Basil Gelato

I think maybe the title of this recipe is slightly misleading, depending on your grocery store access and freezer habits. If you regularly buy frozen fruit or freeze your own, then this is a five minute recipe. If you only have fresh mangoes and papaya to hand right now, this is a twenty-four hour-plus-five minute recipe. So this gelato is the reason you should become the kind of person who always has frozen fruit to hand. Or it's the reward for already being that person.

Loaded Hummus Plate

It was my pick at Eating with Ellie this week and I selected a recipe from Ellie Krieger's cookbook for this loaded hummus plate. A good homemade hummus should be in every cook's repertoire; it's a revelation compared to supermarket hummus. Here's a classic hummus recipe of mine. I also like cauliflower hummus!

Salmon Burgers

When I saw this recipe in Weeknight Wonders by Ellie Krieger, I was quite excited. You see, my husband loves burgers and I love salmon. Ha! This would be the best of both--and it was.

I adapted Ellie's recipe a little, of course, to make it grain-free. In her version, she uses breadcrumbs and an egg white to help stick everything together. In my rendition, I use almond meal (also called almond flour) and a whole egg to provide binding. I served the burgers in lettuce cups with tahini-yogurt sauce, cucumber slices, basil leaves, and carrot curls. I think next time I would make them half the size for ease of eating in the lettuce cups. Salmon sliders!

Pad Thai Salad

I like Thai food because of its fresh flavours. I love the zesty lime, crisp carrots and bean sprouts, and the crunchy peanuts.

As I was making this pad Thai salad I realised that it's actually quite similar to the coleslaw with which I grew up in Canada - the base is just shredded vegetables. Then there's a sauce and some add-ins. (And almost all of my cooking has a formula not unlike this.)

As I was slicing the mint and basil for the pad Thai, my mind was constructing this table. Suddenly the superiority of pad Thai salad over coleslaw became obvious!

Carrot and Cashew Soup

I was intrigued by this soup recipe in which the cashews are blended into a carrot soup. It reminds me of things my vegan friends do. Cashews seem to do everything creamy in the vegan world. For example, my friend Michael blends it up to make cheese as the basis for cheesecake. Also, he blends up cashews with water and vanilla extract to make a cream for breakfast parfaits. Cashews can be made to make ranch dressing. So why not use cashews in soup? You don't have to be a vegan to enjoy new uses for an ingredient!

Beef with Parley Pesto and Sauteed Vegetables

People are always asking me how I eat complete meals with no carbohydrates. First, I answer by pointing out that vegetables are carbohydrates, and actually I only avoid starchy carbs such as pasta, bread, and grains. Secondly, I make meals like this: full of veg and filling, too, thanks to the protein and fats.

Simple Kale Salad

Kale is a luxury good in Singapore. The only kind I can buy is organic kale imported from the USA, with a commensurate price tag. Because it is not very wallet- or earth-friendly, I buy it rarely. But the urge struck and so I wanted to make something that let the kale stand as the star of the dish.

This is a simple massaged kale salad. It's so simple you don't need a recipe for it. Chop up some kale leaves (ribs removed). Mix a vinaigrette with equal parts oil and vinegar. I used white whine vinegar this time. Then massage the kale with the dressing in a large bowl for about a minute by rubbing it in handfuls in your hands. Add some garnishes, like raisins plumped in hot water and toasted sunflower seeds. Voila, a simple kale salad that showcases the leafy green in all its glory.

Pork Banh Mi Lettuce Cups

Anthony and I spent a weekend in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam a couple of years ago. Today's Eating with Ellie recipe is Vietnamese Pork Banh Mi sandwiches, and it brought back memories of our trip.

Courgette, Corn, and Tomato Sautee

Fresh corn looses its sweet flavour soon after harvesting. I read (in The Vegetable Bible) that corn is past its best only a few hours after it is picked. I guess this explains why frozen corn often tastes so good. It is frozen immediately after harvest, thus preserving both nutrition and taste.

Tandoori Chicken Wraps

Think about the sensory perception involved in eating tandoori chicken wraps. You smell the spices and the ripe tomatoes. You can see the many colours and the steam coming off the chicken. You hear the lettuce rustling when you put your fingers in for a handful. And you feel the filling inside the flexible wrap when you're eating it. You taste the many flavours one at a time as you munch your dinner.

Cherry Tomatoes with Asian Greens and Garlic

I was having the kind of work day which I wished would end. I love my job is so many ways--I'm a teacher and I love my students and my subject. But I really don't like marking student notebooks. It's an essential part of my job and so I do it a lot. But I was having the kind of day in which success at marking had to be be achieved by comfort eating chocolate at the same time. Ugh.

By the time a class set of books were marked, I think I had eaten four mini bars of mint chocolate and three mini packs of M&Ms. My stomach felt awful but I was so relieved to be finished. I packed up and left from a twelve hour day. Dinner could be simple, since my husband was not going to be present. In the end, all I wanted to eat was a bowl of vegetables. Do you have days like this?