Potato Salad with Avocado Wasabi Cream

I was looking at those ripe avocado and potatoes at home, not knowing what to do with them. Out of sudden, Sunny who I have never met before, came to my mind, I don’t know why. She loves avocado and wasabi! Usually, we would use mayo for potato salad. To make this recipe healthier, I use avocado to replace mayo. Since Sunny loves wasabi, I use it to give it a different twist. So, this recipe is for her. And this also look like Egg Mayo Salad!

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 200g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks and steamed

Avocado Salad Cream
° 1 avocado, peeled and stoned
° 1 tablespoon mayonnaise/vegetarian salad cream
° 1 tablespoon freshly squeeze lemon juice
° ¼ - ½ teaspoon wasabi or to taste
° salt to taste

Method
1. Combine avocado, vegetarian salad cream, lemon juice, wasabi, salt in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Place the potatoes in a salad bowl. Add the avocado salad cream to the potatoes and mix well.
3. Set aside to cool in the refrigerator and allow the flavour to develop.
4. Serve chilled.

Froot Loops Cereal with Soymilk/Amond Milk

Froot Loops Cereal with Soymilk/Amond Milk

I have seen my boy’s classmate having Froot Loops with Milk for Lunch in school.

Usually, just pour cold milk on and it is ready to serve.

But must it be cold milk?

It tastes yummy with reduced sugar soymilk and almond milk too.

Mushroom Bibimbap (Kids Version)

Mushroom Bibimbap (Kids Version) served with Doenjang (Korean Soybean Paste), Shredded Nori and Crispy Wonton Strips

No wastage - Soup make from water blanching mushrooms with simple ingredients added!

This recipe is actually derived from Mushroom Bibimbap! As some kids do not like spicy food, I have replaced the Gochujang (Korean Hot Bean Paste) with Doenjang (Korean Soybean Paste).

Kids love Deep-fried food which are crispy and produce a lovely sound when they munch on it. So, I added a little plate of Crispy Wonton Strips together with some Korean Seaweed. It can be eaten on its own or added to the rice.

Keep the water for blanching mushrooms, and by adding a little bit of salt, light soy sauce, before garnishing with chopped spring onions , coriander or enoki mushroom, you can enjoy a bowl of clear soup too!

Oh yeah, don’t forget to let the kids have some fun – use a BIGGER bowl, so that the kids can mix and toss all the ingredients without messing up the dinning table – learning how to “stir-fry” rice like a chef! Get the kid to wash the rice and cook it too, if they want to help out.

Preparation: 20 mins, Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
Millet Rice
° 150g rice, washed and drained
° 50g millet, washed and drained
° 400ml water

Seasoned Shiitake Mushroom
° 150g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced, blanched and drain well
Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° l½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
° some roasted sesame seeds

Seasoned Eryngii Mushroom
° 150g fresh eryngii mushroom, diced, blanched and drain well
Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° l½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° ½ teaspoon sugar or to taste
° some roasted sesame seeds

Other
° 50g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 25g pea shoots (dow miao)
° some local lettuce
° 50g enoki mushroom, base trimmed
° some toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
° Doenjang (Korean Soybean Paste), to serve

Method
1. Millet Rice: Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on. When done, leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

2. Seasoned Shiitake Mushroom: Transfer the mushroom to a big bowl or plate. Stir in the sesame oil, light soy sauce, sugar and mix well. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and set aside.

3. Seasoned Eryngii Mushroom: Transfer the mushroom to a big bowl or plate. Stir in the sesame oil, light soy sauce, sugar and mix well. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and set aside.

4. To serve: Divide millet rice into individual serving bowls and garnish with sesame seeds. Arrange seasoned shiitake mushroom, seasoned eryngii mushroom, carrot, pea shoots, local lettuce and enoki mushroom on top or on another serving big bowl or plate. Serves with a plate of Doenjang.

Mango Ice Lolly

Something simple, healthy and compassionate! When it starts to melt, it tastes like sorbet. Kids will love it, they have their fruit and at the same time stop their craving for ice cream.

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (makes 4)
° 2 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
° 125ml (1 orange) freshly squeezed orange juice or orange juice
° 2 tablespoons icing sugar or powder sugar, to taste

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Taste it, add more sugar, if necessary and blend to mix well.
2. Pour into ice lolly mould and place in the freezer until frozen for at least 3 – 4 hours.

Fried Rice with Zucchini and Carrot

I had a real tasty Ginseng Fried Rice with zucchini and carrot .

If I could get vacuum-packed white ginseng, I would use it to cook the rice. And with finely chopped ginseng, zucchini and carrot to fry the rice that had been cooked with ginseng. For our climate in Singapore, young ginseng might not be so suitable for us, unless we are staying in cold countries. So, for this recipe it is just zucchini and carrot being used.

To make it more interesting for kids, get some Korean seaweed (some small rectangle nori sheet) to wrap the rice to eat.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, cooked
° 100g zucchini, finely chopped
° 25g carrot, peeled and finely chopped
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt and pepper to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° few fresh coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Heat the olive oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the zucchini and carrot and stir-fry for 1 minute.
3. Stir in the cooked rice and fry for 2-3 minutes or until rice is heated through. Sprinkle with some water if it is too dry. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add in the sesame oil and serve hot.

Tip
1. Rice for frying must be cooked at least 2 hours in advance or the night before.

Stir-Fried Beijing Cabbage with Tempeh

Wondering what can we cooked with tempeh which has higher content of protein, fiber and vitamins compare to tofu. Here is a quick and simple stir-fried vegetable with tempeh, you can add more tempeh if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 pieces (100g) fresh tempeh, deep-fried and sliced
° 125g Beijing cabbage, cut into strips
° 50g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt and pepper, to taste

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Fry the garlic or ginger for half a minute or until fragrant.
2. Add the carrot, cabbage and tempeh. Stir fry over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some water if it is too dry.
3. Dish up and serve immediately.

Asparagus Wrap

Asparagus Wrap - It looks appealing and kids might love it! Just wrap one or few stalks of Asparagus with Spring Roll Pastry Skin and seal it with water (I used mashed tofu left over from my wonton). No need any seasoning.

Next, just deep-fry it and then served with any chilli sauce you prefer or veg*n mayo or special homemade mayo with curry powder.

This is my first try, I should have left a small bit of Asparagus, so it will not be ‘bending’ after a while.

Colourful Beetroot Rice

I got this beetroot and I throw it into the rice cooker to cook with the rice. The colour from the beetroot had made the rice so beautiful. I didn’t add any salt to it, so I can choose to mix with homemade Vegetarian Furikake (combination of Vegetarian Salted Fish, Aonoriko Seaweed and Black and White Sesame Seeds). I just garnish it with mint leaves and Vegetarian Floss. This should appeal to little kids too. What about the cooked beetroot, I used them to make a Beetroot and Banana Soymilk Shake, in this way, I save time and energy.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, washed and drained
° 400ml water
° 1 (125g) beetroot, peeled and halved

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on.
2. When done leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve hot.

Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetable with Potatoes

Kids will love this dish, frozen mixed vegetable seems palatable to them. On top of that, toasted hard roll or bread dices are so crispy. Alternatively, you may use bread croutons. By adding potatoes, this makes a wonderfully simple dish to attract the kid to fall in love with vegetables. And 2008 is the international year of potatoes – check out why potato is good for you at: www.potato2008.org

Preparation: 7 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g frozen mixed vegetable, thawed
° 150g potatoes, peeled and diced
° 1 hard roll or 1 slice bread, diced and toasted
° 1-1½ tablespoons olive oil
° salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the potatoes and fry till golden yellow or until tender.
2. Throw in the mixed vegetable and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt.
3. Toss in the toasted hard roll or bread.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Vegetable Alfabeto Soup

This simple one-pot recipe is more for the kid who does not eat much vegetables. To attract them, the pasta used is alphabet pasta, they can learn their ABC at the same time. By using lots of different vegetables and tomato puree, this is a nutritious meal for the body and the mind (that ABC pasta!). Marmite is used here for Vitamin B12 which important in a Vegetarian Diet. Omit it, if you do not like the taste of marmite.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 25g alfabeto (pasta)
° 100g potato, peeled and diced
° 25g onion (optional), peeled and diced
° 50g celery, trimmed and diced
° 500ml water or vegetable stock
° 3 (150g) tomatoes, peeled and blended
° 75g frozen mixed vegetables
° 3 tablespoons tomatoes sauce, or to taste
° ½ teaspoon marmite
° 1 teaspoon sugar
° 2 tablespoons tapioca flour, mixed with 3 tablespoons water
° salt to taste
° pepper (optional), to taste

Method
1. Throw in the alfabeto, potato, onion, celery and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are softened.
2. Add in the mixed vegetable, tomatoes puree and bring to a boil. Season to taste with tomatoes sauce, marmite, sugar, salt and pepper.
3. Stir in the tapioca flour mixture and bring to a boil.
4. Serve hot.

Persimmon

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE :-)

Persimmon was my mom favorite fruit. She loved it so much but not me. Lately, I was watching the Good Food Fun Cook TV program, the cook demonstrated how to peel off the skin of the ripened persimmon and how to make persimmon puree. That looked fun and I bought some persimmon to play with and I blended it. Wow, the end product looks like ice cream, so sweet, creamy and cool.

It is such a good way to eat persimmon fruit, especially for those kids who do not like fruit or persimmon. If the kid still didn’t like this, added 60ml chilled unsweetened soy milk to each persimmon (125g) and blended it. It even looks more beautiful – pale orange in coloured and tasted marvelous.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 (125g) very ripe frozen persimmon

or
° 1 (125g) very ripe frozen persimmon
° 60ml fresh unsweetened soy milk, chilled

Method
1. Thaw frozen persimmon under running tap water or a bowl of water. Gently rub and peel off the skin. Cut the persimmon into small chunks.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Serve immediately.

Tricoloured Fried Rice

Tricoloured Fried Rice

Tricoloured Fried Rice (Mixed)

I actually plan to do up this recipe for kids that do not like vegetables or are slow eaters. Just blend the vegetables (celery, carrot and mushroom) individually and fry them with the steamed/cooked rice. You can serve them as separate mounds or mix them together to get lovely colourful fried rice. As the vegetables are all blended, it is not that visible, so kids might not easily recognize it. Garnish with some toasted nori and sesame seeds to make it more nutritious. Add some baked or toasted onion rings or French fries to make it more appealing to little kids, if desired. By the way, this rice is yummy and is not just for the kids, can be for adults too.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, cooked or steamed and divided into 3 portions
° 100g carrot, peeled, chopped and blended
° 100g shiitake mushrooms, chopped and blended
° 200g celery, trimmed, chopped and blended
° 3 slices ginger or cloves garlic (optional), finely chopped
° 1½ -3 tablespoons olive oil
° salt and pepper, to taste
° roasted sesame seeds (optional), for garnish
° 1-2 roasted nori sheet (optional), shredded for garnish

Method

Green Coloured Rice
1. Heat ½-1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Stir fry the ginger or garlic until fragrant.
2. Throw in the celery and stir fry for 1 minute. Stir in the cooked rice and season with salt and pepper. Fry about 1-2 minutes or until rice is heated through. Sprinkle with some water if it is too dry. Set aside.

Orange Coloured Rice
3. Heat ½-1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Stir fry the ginger or garlic until fragrant.
4. Throw in the carrot and stir fry for 1 minute. Stir in the cooked rice and season with salt and pepper. Fry about 1-2 minutes or until rice is heated through. Sprinkle with some water if it is too dry. Set aside.

Dark Brown Coloured Rice
5. Heat ½-1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Stir fry the ginger or garlic until fragrant.
6. Throw in the mushroom and stir fry for 1 minute. Stir in the cooked rice and season with salt and pepper. Fry about 1-2 minutes or until rice is heated through. Sprinkle with some water if it is too dry. Set aside

7. Place some toasted nori on each individual serving plate. Mix the tricoloured rice well, if desired. Scoop the different coloured rice onto the plate. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and serve hot.

Tip
1. Rice for frying must be cooked at least 2 hours in advance or the night before.

Homemade Popcorn

Green Tea Popcorn (matcha powder and icing sugar) / Caramelized Popcorn

It is so easy and simple to make popcorn at home. I bought a packet of raw popcorn (400g) for around $1.10 and within a few minutes I can enjoy my fresh popcorn. If you like it plain and healthy, there is no need to add anything (salt, butter or syrup). For a quick one, just toss with maple syrup or golden syrup. For a butter flavour variation, melt some non-dairy margarine plus some salt and mix well with the popcorn. This recipe can also be use as one of the kid activities during rainy days or school holidays, with a adult supervision!

Preparation: 2 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g raw popcorn
° 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
° 50ml maple syrup, or to taste

Method
1. Place the oil in a large sauce pan or wok. Pour in the raw popcorn and stir with a wooden spoon to mix well, ensuring all the raw popcorn are coated with oil.
2. Place the lid on the sauce pan or wok and set to medium heat. After 3 minutes, you will hear the popcorn starting to pop, do not remove the lid. Shake the pan or wok occasionally to prevent the popcorn from burning.
3. When the popping noises have slowed down and hardly any popping, off the fire. Stir in the maple syrup and ensure the popcorn is well coated.
4. Transfer the popcorn to a bowl and serve.

Simple Corn Salad

The simple recipe of corn salad again is to use fresh corn on the cob. Remove the kernels from the corn on the cob, stream and mix well with vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise. Frozen corn can be used but the result is not that desired.

Preparation: 2 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 ears corn on the cob, cut or peeled kernels off the cob
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise

Method
1. Put the corn kernels in a heatproof serving plate and steam for 10 minutes. Mix well with vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise.
2. Serve chilled.

Cup Corn

The secret to sweet and delicious cup corn is to use fresh corn on the cob. Remove the kernels from the corn on the cob, stream and season with non dairy margarine and salt. Frozen corn can be used but the result is not that desired.

Preparation: 2 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 ears corn on the cob, cut or peeled kernels off the cob
° 1 tablespoon non-dairy margarine
° salt, to taste

Method
1. Put the corn kernels in a heatproof serving plate and steam for 10 minutes. Mix well with margarine and salt.
2. Serve hot.

Popeye’s Fried Rice

This is a simple fried rice recipe but it tastes real good with the fresh spinach. If you have little darlings that do not like vegetables, this Popeye’s fried rice with finely chopped spinach and mushrooms is for them. Just tell them when Popeye squeeze open a can of spinach and eat in one big gulp, he would transformed into a muscle-bound hero, to save his pencil-thin girlfriend – Olive. Spinach will make them strong!

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, cooked
° 100g fresh spinach, finely chopped
° 6 button mushrooms, diced
° 50g king oyster mushrooms, diced
° 1-1½ tablespoons olive oil
° salt, to taste
° roasted sesame seeds (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok over medium heat and stir fry the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes.
2. Throw in the spinach and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the cooked rice and season with salt and pepper. Fry about 2 minutes or until rice is heated through. Sprinkle with some water if it is too dry.
3. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and serve hot.

Tip
1. Rice for frying must be cooked at least 2 hours in advance or the night before.

Simplified “Yu Sheng” Salad

This salad is inspired by the raw fish salad which is commonly served during Chinese New Year in Singapore. This recipe calls for ingredients like the carrot and white radish shreds that are used for the dish. As for the dressing, oil is replaced by using water and salt is totally being omitted. The simplified combination of plum sauce, lime juice, water and sugar work just fine. Feel free to add any ingredients like green mango shreds etc to this dish to make up your own special salad.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 100g carrot, peeled and finely shredded
° 100g white radish, peeled and finely shredded
° 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
° 1-2 tablespoons peanut power or finely crushed roasted peanuts

Dressing
° 2 tablespoons plum sauce
° 2 tablespoons water, boiled and cooled
° 1½ tablespoon (3 limes) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice
° pinch of Chinese five-spices powder, or to taste
° ½ teaspoon sugar, or to taste

Method
1. Mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2. Put all the vegetables in a salad bowl, drizzled with the dressing. Add sesame seeds, peanuts powder and toss well. Serve immediately.

Corn on the Cob

This is a healthy snack. How to cook corn on the cob? You can steam, boil, microwave, bake or grill. How do you like your corn on the cob? Butter, salt, pepper, chilli powder or just spread some vegetarian salad cream or egg less mayonnaise. You may even experiment it with other spices and discover something new.

Preparation: 2 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 ears corn on the cob
° 700ml water
° non-dairy margarine or olive oil
° salt, to taste
° black pepper, to taste

Method
1. Place the corns and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 8 minutes or until the corns are tender. Remove and drain.
2. Put the corns on the plate, use a brush to brush some margarine on it. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

Spaghetti with Tomatoes Sauce

Spaghetti with Tomatoes Sauce with carrot, onion, mushroom and vegetarian ham

Spaghetti with Tomatoes Sauce is a simple pasta dish, so delicious and healthy. The great amount of fresh tomatoes used is to reduce the ketchup sauce used and to increase the intake of fiber for a healthy diet.

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 3)
° 12 tomatoes
° 2 fresh shiitake mushrooms, coarsely chopped
° 1 slice vegetarian bacon or ham (optional), coarsely chopped

° 2 vegetarian monkey head mushroom(optional), coarsely chopped

° 150-200ml water
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 2 tablespoons ketchup or tomatoes sauce
° 1 teaspoon cornflour (optional)
° 300g cooked spaghetti
° salt and light soy sauce to taste

Method
1. Cut a cross in the top of each tomato. Place the tomatoes in a pot or wok of boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain well, peel and mash tomatoes with a fork to make purees.
2. Heat work with olive oil, add the bacon/ham, mushrooms and stir-fry till cooked. Stir in the tomatoes purees and water, stirring occasionally and cooked till it boils. Season with sugar, pepper, salt, ketchup. Mix cornflour with a bit of water and add to thicken the sauce if required.
3. Pour the sauce over the spaghetti and serve immediately.

Tip
1. Carrot, onion can be added, if desired.

Fried Wanton with Tofu Fillings

Deep-FriendWantons of different shapes - candy shape, triangle and big square.

Deep-Fried Wanton in 'candy shape' with vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise.

This is a simple to made excellent party snack using tofu. Serve these crispy wontons with chilli sauce.

Preparation: 15 mins Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (makes 40 pieces)
° 2 packs (40pcs) wonton wrapper
° 1 (225g) firm tofu (beancurd), washed, pat dry with kitchen paper and mashed
° 1-2 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
° ½ carrot (optional), blanched and chopped
° 2 spring onions or coriander leaves, chopped
° ½ fresh chilli (optional), chopped
° 1-1.5 tablespoons self-raising flour
° 1 tablespoon corn starch
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° sugar, to taste
° salt, to taste
° pepper, to taste
° oil, for deep-frying

Method
1. Combine the mashed tofu, mushrooms, carrot, spring onion/coriander leaves, chilli, flour, corn starch, sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper and mix well. This is the wonton filling.
2. Lay a wonton wrapper in front of you. Place a bit of filling in the middle. Fold up the wonton diagonally, making sure the end meet. Press down firmly on the ends to seal.
3. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or wok and fry in batches until golden brown.
4. Remove the wonton with a slotted spoon. Drain well on kitchen paper and serve as soon as possible to ensure they remain crispy.

Tip
1. Put wontons in oven or microwave for 1-2 minutes if they lose their crispiness.
2. 1 small mashed potato can be added, and self-raising flour can be removed.
3. Mashed potatoes can be used instead of firm tofu.