Vegetable Sandwich Spread

Wanted something to spread on bread, try this sandwich spread. You can omit any of the vegetables that you do not like. As for the portion, you don’t have to follow so closely, just make sure the vegetable don’t over power the vegan mayo, if not you will have Coleslaw instead.

Preparation: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients (makes 4)
° 4 slices bread
° 1 teaspoon round cabbage, finely chopped
° 1 slice carrot, finely chopped
° ½ teaspoon or 1 slice onion, finely chopped
° ½ teaspoon red/yellow capsicum, finely chopped
° 1 slice Japanese cucumber, finely chopped
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian salad cream/vegan mayonnaise
° ¼ teaspoon sugar
° ½ teaspoon vinegar (optional)

Method
1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Spread the sandwich spread on one slice of bread and place another slice of bread on it to complete the sandwich.
3. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together if desired.

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.

Mock Floss Toast ...

If you have ever been to Toast Box and the Pork Floss Toast made you salivate, no worry, we can easily have a Vegetarian Pork Floss Toast. Just get the Vegetarian Pork Floss from the Vegetarian Shops!

With some breads (toasted optional), spread it with veg*n mayo or margarine and pour the vegetarian pork floss over it, that’s!

I would think that the Golden Pumpkin Meat Floss (vegetarian) is much better than the Vegetarian Pork Floss which I used in the photo.

Toasted Sandwiches with Cinnamon Apple Filling

I love Apple Pie Filling very much and decided to use it to make sandwiches. In this recipe, I replace butter with olive oil. The amount of cinnamon powder can be adjusted to personal preference.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (makes 8)
° 8 slices bread

Cinnamon Apple Filling
° 400g green apples dices
° 2 tablespoons olive oil
° 2½ tablespoons sugar, or to taste
° 2 tablespoons cinnamon powder, or to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a non-stick work.
2. Add in the green apple, cinnamon powder and sugar. Stir fry for 10 minutes or until apple is soften. Leave to cool.
3. Place the cinnamon apple filling onto the bread and make toasted sandwiches according to the instruction of sandwiches makers.

Easy Homemade Eggless Kaya (Pumpkin Kaya)

So much talks about the pumpkin kaya and I remember a lovely Lady Volunteer, Kim Lan who in her 60s told me that pumpkin can be used to make pumpkin kaya and it is taste just like Kaya (Traditional Coconut Egg Jam which is used commonly as bread spread in Singapore). I regretted not asking her the exact ingredients and instructions.

Today, I did a first try and it turn out well. Traditional Kaya takes hours to made and it is very tedious. The pumpkin kaya that I did, was rather fast and save that my arm from aching (the continually stirring). The time taken to cook the kaya, depend how thick you love it to be, and pandan leaves can be added during the cooking, if desired. I found some oil at the end of the cooking, it could be from the coconut milk after continual cooking. Anyway, I discarded them. Palm sugar or brown sugar can be used too.

Doesn’t feel like making this, you can get from Nutrihub @ Cuppage Plaza, B2-25/26, Orchard.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (makes 250g±)
° 250g pumpkin (weight after peeling), cut into small chunks
° 250ml fresh coconut milk
° 2 tablespoon sugar or to taste
° 4 pandan leaves/screwpine (optional), tied into a knot

Method
1. Place the pumpkin in a heat proof serving bowl and steam for 8 minutes or until soft.
2. Pour coconut milk and pandan leaves and bring to a boil. Alternatively, omit this step.
3. Combine the pumpkin, coconut milk and sugar in a blender and blend until smooth.
4. Cook in a non-stick pan for 8-10 minutes on medium-high heat, stirring continually until the pumpkin kaya becomes thick.
5. Discard any oil from the pumpkin kaya, leave to cool and store in a jar.

Seaweed Bread Roll

Run out of ideas for making sandwiches, try this Seaweed Bread Roll! Oh, it is scrumptious!

What you need is nori, bread, lettuce, shredded carrot and Japanese cucumber, and lastly vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream.

Next, place the nori (should be much longer than the bread) on a plate. Place the bread on top of the nori. Arrange the lettuce, carrot and Japanese cucumber on the bread. Spread some vegan mayonnaise vegetarian salad cream and start to roll from one end to the other. To finish, seal with some vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream. Its that easy!

Mayo Corn Sandwiches

Oops, in the sandwiches maker for too long, a little bit too brown!

Forget about Mayo Egg sandwiches. Try this, it is yummy too. The secret to sweet and delicious mayonnaise corn is to use fresh corn on the cob.

Preparation: 8 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 4 slices bread
° 1 ear corn on the cob, cut or peeled kernels off the cob
° 1 tablespoon vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream, to taste

Method
1. Put the corn kernels in a heatproof serving plate and steam for 8-10 minutes.
2. Remove from streamer and leave to cool. Mix well with mayonnaise.
3. Place the mayo corn onto the bread and make toasted sandwiches according to the instruction of sandwiches maker.

Bread Sushi

It is fabulously simple!

Trim the crusts of the white bread. Then place the bread on the nori sheet. Spread some vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream evenly on the bread. Place a Japanese cucumber strip on the bread and start rolling …

Oh yeah, seal the edge with some mayonnaise and cut into 3cm pieces or eat it as a whole roll.

Seaweed & Cucumber Sandwich

In fact, I wanted to make a sushi bread roll but end up having a Seaweed & Cucumber Sandwich! Oh, the sandwich bread I have is just too thick and small to roll nicely. I shall get the right type of bread next round. My seaweed and cucumber sandwich was so delicious that I could not stop eating.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 slices breads
° vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream, for spread
° 2 slices cucumbers
° ¼ sheet nori
° some toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Method
1. Place 1 quarter sheet nori on one slice of bread.
2. Evenly spread vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream on the nori.
3. Place the cucumber slices over the nori and sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
4. Place the second slice of bread and complete the sandwich.
5. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together.

Instant Mash Potato with Black Pepper Sauce !

I bought a pack of Mr. Mash (Instant Mash Potato) at Fairprice $2.45 for 120g, which is suitable for vegetarian as stated on the box. And I got this Vegetarian Hot Pepper Sauce from Friendly Vegetarian Food Supplier which cost around $3.50 per bottle.

What’s next? Whipping up a quick and easy, deliciously instant mash potato is so easy. Just add the content of Mr. Mash with pinch of salt to a bowl of hot water. Mixed well, drizzle with hot pepper sauce on it. Sprinkle some sesame seeds or spring onion or coriander leaves if desired.

If you don’t like the peppery sauce, they have another similar sauce without the black pepper.

Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Herbs Sauce

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 150g spaghetti, cooked
° 5 (300g) tomatoes
° 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° small handful basil leaves (25 pieces), finely chopped
° small handful mint leaves (20 pieces), finely chopped
° 50g onion or carrot, peeled and diced
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 2 tablespoons ketchup or tomatoes sauce
° ½ teaspoon sugar, or to taste
° salt to taste
° freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
1. Cut a cross at the top of each tomato. Place the tomatoes in a pot or wok of boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain well and peel.
2. Blend 2 tomatoes and ginger into purees. Chopped the rest of the tomatoes into small pieces.
3. Heat oil in a wok and stir-fry the onion or carrot till fragrant.
4. Stir in the tomatoes purees, tomatoes, ketchup or tomatoes sauce and bring to a boil. Throw in the mint and basil leaves. Season to taste with sugar and salt.
5. Pour the sauce over the spaghetti, sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper and garnish with mint leaves.
6. Serve immediately.

Toasted Sandwiches with Curry Potatoes

If you love the filling of the curry puff and do not wish to have deep-fried food, try out these toasted sandwiches with curry potato filling. It is simply delectable. If you intend to make them for a picnic, you will need to have a sandwich maker to seal in the filling. The vegetarian mushrooms that are used in the recipe can be purchased from Vegetarian shops. Its ingredients are mushroom stalks and seasoning. Besides curry potatoes, you can have Soon Kueh’s filling or Apple Pie filling or any other filling that you like.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients (makes 12)
° 12 slices bread

Curry Potatoes Filling
° 350g potatoes, peeled and diced
° 50g carrot, peeled and diced
° 25g onion (optional), peeled and finely diced
° 50g vegetarian mushroom or vegetarian mushroom slice (optional), finely chopped
° 1 sprig curry leaves
° 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
° 1-1½ tablespoons curry powder, or to taste
° ½-1 teaspoon chilli powder, or to taste
° 1 sprig curry leaves
° 250ml water
° salt and sugar to taste
° 2-3 tablespoons coconut milk (optional)

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a tad of water to form curry paste.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan, add the curry leaves and fry for half a minute. Stir in curry paste, fry until thickened and fragrant.
3. Stir in the potatoes, carrot, onion, vegetarian mushroom and stir fry for 1 minute. Add in the water, coconut milk and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Alternatively, add the potatoes, carrot, onion, vegetarian mushroom, water, coconut milk and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stirring occasionally.
4. Season to taste with salt and sugar. Stir and cook till the gravy had dried. Set aside.
5. Place the curry potatoes onto the bread and make toasted sandwiches according to the instruction of sandwiches makers.

Steamed Huat Kueh (Fa Gou)

Traditional Huat Kueh! I bought a packet of Red Man Huat Kueh Mix. Instead of using coconut milk or milk and food colouring which was indicated on the packet. I replaced with unsweetened soy milk and green tea powder or black sesame powder. You may use paper cup or plastic cup for the steaming but I think to be more environmentally-friendly, little teacups would be better. Alternatively, make huat kueh by using 250g of self-raising flour, 200g of black sugar and 250g of coconut milk. I have yet to test out using wheat flour and soy milk and self-raising flour with soy milk. Remember, always bring the water in the streamer to a boil before steaming for a more satisfactory result.

Ingredients of Red Man Huat Kueh Mix: Wheat Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Vanillin.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (makes 10-12 pieces)
° 500g huat kueh mix
° 300ml unsweetened soy milk
° 2-4 teaspoons green tea powder or black sesame powder, or to taste

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in bowl. Mix well to form a batter.
2. Grease the teacups and pour in the huat kueh batter.
3. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place the teacups in and steam for 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the cup.
4. Serve with brown sugar and grated coconut.

Nonya Kueh: Pulut Inti (Glutinous Rice with Caramelized Coconut Topping)

The process of making this kueh can be simplified by using the rice cooker instead of steaming the glutinous rice. To make the filling, it is fairly simple and need no expert. Just get some fresh grated coconut and good quality gula melaka, you will have a tasty filling. Traditionally, the blue coloured rice is the result of using the extract of the blue pea flower. In here, I used food colouring. A better alternative is to use fresh pandan juice to cook the glutinous rice.

As for how to wrap this kueh, it is up to individual, using banana leave or plastic to wrap, or stack on a tiny square piece of banana leave. Another way is, use the plastic bag (15.5cm x 10cm), made a slit on one side, open it up to form a cone, place the coconut filling first, follow by the glutinous rice, pressed it and wrapped it like a little present! It is yummy but do not eat too much if you are watching your weight (I have reduced half the amount of coconut milk and replaced with water in this recipe!).

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (makes 16)
° 400g glutinous rice
° 200ml water
° 200ml coconut milk
° ½ teaspoon salt
° 4 pandan leaves (screwpine), tied into a knot
° blue food colouring (optional)
° banana leaves or plastic wrappers, cut into 12cm x 15cm rectangle

Filling
° 80ml water
° 125g gula malaka (palm sugar), chopped
° 4 pandan leaves (screwpine), tied into a knot
° 150g fresh grated coconut

Method
1. Wash the glutinous rice and place in a bowl with enough water to cover. Leave to soak for 4 hours or more. Drain thoroughly.
2. Place the glutinous rice, water, coconut, salt and pandan leaves into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on. When done, leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Sprinkle some blue food colouring and mix well.
3. To make filling: combine pandan leaves, chopped gula melaka with water in a small pot and cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Discard pandan leaves and add in the grated coconut. Mix well, stir occasionally and simmer until the liquid dry up.
4. To assemble: Place 1 tablespoon of glutinous rice in the middle of a plastic wrapper and top with 1 teaspoon of caramelized coconut filling and fold into a pyramid shape.
5. Serve warm.

Steamed Banana Cake

Steamed banana cake usually calls for rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar and salt. I have a packet of waffle pancake mix (‘Red Man’ brand) and some ripe bananas. So, I make some steamed banana cake.

It is extremely simple and easy, as the pancake premix contains most of the ingredients, I just need to add water, coconut milk and mashed banana. To make the cake look nicer, you may add some yellow colouring, but I choose not to. You may even garnish with some desiccated coconut if desired.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (makes 8-10 pieces)
° 200g waffle-pancake mix
° 100ml water
° 100ml coconut milk or fresh unsweetened soy milk
° 2 (300g) ripe bananas, mashed

Method
1. Combine the mashed banana, flour, water, coconut milk in bowl. Mix well.
2. Grease a heat-proof ware, pour in the cake mixture and cover with plastic wrap or banana leave on top.
3. Steam for 25-30 minutes or until it is springy. Set aside to cool and cut into small squares.
4. Serve smaller serving.

Simple Veggie Sandwich

This is a quick and easy veggie sandwich to prepare. Toasted the breads, it definitely taste better. If you like more veggies, add some fresh crisp lettuce and crunchy onions. Eggless mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream can be used as spread or just squeeze some on the veggies and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on it.

Preparation: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 slices breads
° non dairy margarine (optional), for spread
° 4 slices cucumbers
° 2 thick slices tomatoes

Method
1. Evenly spread margarine on one slice of bread.
2. Place the tomato slices, slightly overlapping and place the cucumber slices over the tomato slices.
3. Spread margarine on the second slice of bread and complete the sandwich.
4. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together.

Hokkien Mee with Tomato and Chilli Sauce

Anyone can whip this up easily without any problem at all. Basically, just blanching hokkien mee in boiling water for a minute, mixed with sauce and oil. It is simple yet delicious and goes well with a bowl of simple hot soup, which can be tofu and seaweed soup or any soup that you like.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g hokkien mee, blanched
° 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
° 1 tablespoon chilli sauce
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° a small handful fresh spring onion or fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method
1. Mix hokkien mee with tomato sauce, chilli sauce, olive oil and spring onion or coriander leaves. Toss evenly. To serve, divide hokkien mee between serving bowls and serves hot.

Dried Wonton Noodle (Penang-Style)

Dried Wonton Noodle (Penang-Style)

Dried "Mee Bok" Flat Noodle (Penang-Style)

Dried wonton noodle tossed with a simple homemade sauce. Top with some blanched vegetables and crispy fried wonton or Wonton in Soup and serve with a small bowl of wonton soup and pickled green chilli.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 pieces (150g) fresh wonton mee
° 1.25 litres water
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1 teaspoon vegetarian oyster sauce
° 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
° 100g Chinese flowering mustard (chai sim), cut into 5cm length

Method
1. Place the Chinese flowering mustard in a pot or wok of boiling water and blanched for 1 minute. Set aside.
2. Loosen and rub the noodle lightly with your hand to remove any excess flour coating.
3. Place the noodle (one at a time) in the boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain the noodle thoroughly and place in a serving bowl. Add oil, salt, vegetarian oyster sauce, dark and light soy sauce. Toss well to mix.
4. Transfer to individual serving dish, top with Chinese flowering mustard, crispy fried wontons.

Tip
1. Only olive oil can be consumed as it is. To make ginger oil or garlic oil, heat the ginger slice or chopped garlic in vegetable oil until light brown.
2. Alternatively, cook the noodle following the packet instructions. Discard the water for cooking noodle if it turned “cloudy and starchy”, it will affect the texture of the cooked noodles.

Dried Wonton Mee

Dried Wonton Mee

Dried Mee Bok (Flat Noodle)

Plain wonton noodle are tossed with oil and soy sauce for an economical meal. Quick to prepare and is ready in a moment.

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 piece wonton mee
° 750ml water
° ½ -1 tablespoon olive oil
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
° salt and light soy sauce to taste
° fresh coriander leaves or spring onion, chopped

Method
1. Loosen and rub the noodle lightly with your hand to remove any excess flour coating.
2. Place the noodle in a pot or wok of boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain the noodle thoroughly and place in a serving bowl. Alternatively, cook the noodle following the packet instructions.
3. Add oil, salt, light soy sauce, coriander leaves or spring onion to the noodles. Toss well to mix and serve immediately.

Tip
1. Only olive oil can be consumed as it is. To make ginger oil or garlic oil, heat the ginger slice or chopped garlic in vegetable oil until light brown.
2. Blanched vegetables can be added, if desired.

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.