I have really been enjoying asparagus recently and I like it cooked pretty simply. On this day, I thought I would also have fish, cooked with a cornmeal crust. Super easy, super healthy!
Stir-Fried Asparagus - Serves 1 I've had a recent asparagus obsession. Asparagus carbonara, grilled asparagus in couscous, asparagus with eggs for lunch, asparagus with fish! No need for hollandaise sauce, I enjoy it quickly stir-fried.
* oil * ¼ of onion, sliced thinly * ½ a bunch of aspargus, cut into 1" sections (sliced in half lengthwise if the stalk is very fat) * salt, to taste * Italian seasoning * red dried chili flakes
Heat oil in a pan. Add onion and cook until slightly softened. Add asparagus. Season with salt and Italian seasoning. Add dried chili flakes to taste.
Cornmeal Crusted Sole - Serves 1
I often pan fry fish simply with a bit of flour. My sister mentioned that cornmeal gives a great crust and she was right. Nice, crispy and a beautiful golden colour, without too much oil!
* 2 small sole fillets
* salt, to taste * black pepper, to taste
* 1 egg, beaten * ½ cup flour * cornmeal * Parmesan cheese (optional) * oil
Pat your sole fillets dry and season with salt and pepper. Place the egg and flour in separate deep dishes. In a third dish, add a bit of cornmeal, and mix with some Parmesan. Dredge your fillets in the flour first, then the egg and finally the cornmeal mixture. Heat oil in a pan. Add your fillets and cook on both sides. Tada!
On my continued quest to eat fish once a week, I made another recipe of my mom's: fish and asparagus with a crab sauce. My mom said she tried to imitate a dish from a Chinese restaurant. All I know is that I really enjoy this and it is very easy! (By the way, I found frozen packages of basa filet much cheaper at the Asian grocery store and I thought the fish actually tasted better also.)
Pan Fried Basa & Asparagus with Crab Sauce I remember my mom making this dish with deep fried, battered fish but she makes it by pan frying it now. Deep frying could be an option for a once in a while treat.
* pan fried basa filet * oil * ½ onion, thinly sliced * 100 g (¼ lb.) crab, frozen, canned or even better, fresh! * salt, to taste * pepper, to taste * water * flour * ½ bunch of asparagus, washed and cut into 1" pieces
Pan fry a basa filet and set aside. Stir fry onion in a bit of oil until softened. Add the crab and break apart. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix a little flour (1 tsp) in water and add to the crab to help thicken the sauce. Set aside half the sauce for the fish. Add the asparagus to the remaining sauce until cooked. Add some water if it becomes too dry. Top the fish with half the crab sauce. Serve with the asparagus. Tada!
I have finally written about all the food I ate in Montréal. Well, this is sort of a transition because it's a dish I had at my mom's and replicated. For the New Year, I had resolved, as usual, to eat more healthy. One of these resolutions is to eat fish once a week. I do enjoy fish but do not eat it that often. I figured making a concrete goal would help out.
I bought a bag of frozen basa filets as my mom does. Basa comes from Vietnam so you cannot buy it fresh anyway. It's much easier to eat fish regularly when it's in your freezer, ready to eat. Anyway, when I was at my mom's she simply pan fried the fish and served it with stir fried bamboo. We ate it with rice and dipping fish sauce. Simple and easy, AND healthy!
Stir Fried Bamboo Shoots * oil * 1 garlic clove, minced * 1 can of bamboo shoots (ready sliced), drained * salt, to taste
Heat up oil in a pan. Add garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add the bamboo shoots to heat through - the shoots are already cooked. Season to taste with salt - the shoots are pretty bland.
Stir fried bamboo shoots.
Pan Fried Basa * 1 basa filet, or any white fish * salt, to taste * pepper, to taste * 1 tbsp flour * oil
Season the basa filet to taste. Dredge the filet in flour. Pan fry the filet in a bit of oil on each side. Serve with nước mắm. Tada!
I had to figure out what to do with the chicken I picked from the bones for the chicken broth I made. For my first meal, I made a pita pizza and second, I made a baked pasta dish.
Leftover chicken.
BBQ Chicken Pita Pizza I often make pita pizza. It's a great dish to throw whatever you have on. I made a tomato sauce from the leftover canned tomatoes I used in the beef stew I made. This time, I mixed some of the chicken with BBQ sauce. I laid the tomato sauce, potato slices, chicken mixture, some mushroom and onion, and finally mozzarella cheese. Perfect light dinner!
Before Christmas, not only did I want to use the leftover chicken, but I wanted to use the most leftover I could before going to my mom's. I still had leftover tomato sauce, half a tomato, mushrooms, full fat milk and cheese. Sounds like the perfect ingredients for a baked pasta dish!
* oil
* 1 onion
* flour
* mushroom
* tomato sauce
* full fat milk
* shredded chicken
* sundried tomatoes, sliced thinly
* salt and pepper, to taste
* pasta, cooked and drained
* mozzarella, grated
Stir fry onion in oil.
Add a bit of flour to thicken the sauce.
Add the mushrooms.
Once the mushrooms are cooked, add the tomato sauce and a bit of milk.
Add the chicken, sundried tomatoes and pasta.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Pour into a baking dish.
Top the pasta with the grated mozzarella.
Bake (or broil since everything is already cooked) until the cheese is melted and golden.
Tada!
Leftover mushroom.
Stir frying the onion, mushroom and tomato.
The pasta would probably be good as is.
I wouldn't use so much cheese but I can't let it go bad, can I?
I have been in a bit of a funk lately. A cooking funk that is... When I mentioned it to my mom, she mentioned I should have some broccoli. What a coincidence! It also happened to be the feature ingredient for this month's Weekend Wokking! Then I discovered sea scallops were on sale at Fortino's. Throw in some noodles and I have a perfect dinner!
Broccoli is probably one of my favourite vegetables. I eat it on a regular basis. I like broccoli mainly stir fried, and in soup form. I have to admit I do not love it raw, except in small quantities. I am picky about how my broccoli is cooked. I like broccoli when it is still very crunchy. I am always greatly disappointed the rare times I forget and overcoook them, becoming mush.
Stir Fried Broccoli on Pan Fried Cantonese Noodles
Pan Fried Noodles
* water
* a handful of Cantonese noodles
* oil
* salt
Bring water to a boil.
Add noodles into the water and let it soften for a few minutes.
Drain the noodles.
Heat up some oil in a pan.
Add the noodles into a pan and spread into a thin layer.
Season with salt.
Let the noodles brown slightly.
Flip the noodles and brown the other side.
Note: If you're making this dish for a big crowd, cook a larger amount of noodles in water. Pan fry one serving of noodles at a time. If you're worried about keeping the noodles warm, place in the oven at low heat.
Pan fried noodles.
Stir Fry Broccoli with Scallops
As I mentioned, I don't like to overcook my broccoli. I usually blanch them first so when I stir fry them, it's just to toss them in the sauce and I'm not cooking them. You can really add whatever vegetables you like. I like a variety of vegetables (cauliflowers, snow peas, carrots, mushrooms) but it's not so conducive to cooking for one. As for protein, you can use beef, chicken, tofu, shrimp, etc.
* 100 g scallops
* salt and pepper
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* ½ small onion, sliced
* 1 head of broccoli, cut into pieces and blanched
* ½ can baby corn
* oyster sauce
Season scallops with salt and pepper.
Heat up oil at high heat.
Add the scallops and cook on both sides for 1-2 minutes - overcooked scallops are chewy!
Remove and set aside.
Frying scallops. Hmmm!
Blanch broccoli for 1-2 min in boiling water until cooked but still crisp.
Drain and set aside.
Heat up oil in a pan. Add onion and garlic. When softened, add the broccoli and baby corn.
Add a few gulps of oyster sauce and mix.
Add a bit of water. (I never bother but you can mix in some cornstarch into the water to thicken the sauce.)
Add the scallops and mix.
Serve atop the noodles.
Tada!
The featured ingredient: Broccoli!
Stir frying the broccoli and baby corn.
Broccoli, baby corn and scallops on pan fried noodles.
I made the same dish again with the remaining broccoli, and some beef instead of scallops!
Penne with Sausage and Swiss Chard - for 1 serving * ½ cup dry penne * salt, to taste * 1 tbsp olive oil * 1 garlic clove, sliced thinly * dried chili peppers, to taste * 1 spicy Italian turkey sausage, removed from its casing * Swiss chard, sliced in 1" sections
Bring water (with salt) in a pot to a boil. Add pasta. Meanwhile, heat up olive oil in a frying pan. Brown the garlic slices. Add the turkey sausage. When the sausage is cooked, add the Swiss chard and mix. Add the dried chili peppers. Add the pasta, with a bit of the cooking water if it looks dry. Season to taste. Tada!
Dinner was inspired by a couple of things. First, I saw Anthony Sedlak on The Main making Mushroom Crusted Red Snapper. Mmmm, I cannot resist a mushroom recipe! Second, maybe it was fate but I found a huge pack of mushrooms (mainly fresh shiitake mushrooms!!) for $1.49 at Fortino's. I also found two packs of asparagus bundled up together for $1.99. Perfect for dinner!
Bake in the oven around 300C, until the bread cubes are golden.
I rarely make croutons at home but I should. They turned out really well!
Mushroom Topping
* oil
* onion, chopped small
* garlic, minced
* mushrooms of your choice, sliced
* dried thyme * Marsala wine * croutons
Heat up oil in a pan.
Stir fry onion and garlic until soft.
Add mushrooms.
Season with salt, pepper and add some dried thyme.
Add some Marsala wine.
Turn off once the mushrooms are cooked through.
Mix the mushrooms with some croutons in a bowl.
My $1.49 pack of mushrooms.
Croutons and mushroom mixture.
Fish
* oil
* salt and pepper
* fish fillet
* mushroom mixture
Season the fish with oil, salt and pepper.
Press some of the mushroom mixture on one side.
Broil in the oven until fish is cooked.
The tilapia filet is hidden by the mushrooms, but it's there!
With the leftover mushroom mixture, I made myself a mushroom pizza! I had leftover pesto from the previous week. I added a generous amount of mushrooms, some sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella. Mmm mmm good!
I found myself running out of ideas as to what to cook. I find I tend to get lazier when I cook for myself. I tried to get inspired by shopping at the Hamilton's farmer market. I found a bunch of basil and decided to make pesto. This was a rather weirdly spontaneous decision since I may have made pesto once before in my life.
I also find that when I cook for myself, I tend to go back to eating low fat ingredients. So I'm back to eating whole wheat, high fibre, brown, low fat and skim foods.
Pesto I needed some pine nuts but realized at the supermarket that it is quite expensive; $5.99 for a tiny pack!! Since I am budget-minded these days, I decided to replace them with pistachios. My Weight Watchers cookbook (yes, I have two!) suggests adding vegetable broth to reduce the amount of olive oil. I did not have vegetable broth but would definitely try it next time.
* 1 bunch of basil (about 2 cups, packed) * 2 Tbsp pistachio nuts (walnuts are good too) * 2 Tbsp Parmesan * 3 Tbsp olive oil * salt, to taste
Throw everything in a blender or food processor and hope everything is processed (I had some issues with G's blender). Tada!
Pasta with Pesto, Grilled Chicken and Vegetables I was initially thinking of making pasta with pesto and really colourful vegetables. I really enjoy it at restaurants and it seems so simple to make. So I decided to grill some vegetables and stretch them out into 2 or even 3 meals.
* 1 portion of pasta of your choice * 3 tbsp pesto * olive oil * dried herbs of your choice * vegetables (zucchini, red peppers, broccoli, carrots) * ½ chicken breast
Cook pasta. I added some broccoli at the last minute. Save some cooking water.
Grill vegetables with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, herbs.
Season chicken with a bit of olive oil, salt, herbs, paprika, hot chili flakes.
Grill chicken and slice.
Toss pasta with pesto and a ladle of cooking water.
Add vegetables and chicken to pasta and mix.
Zucchini with oil and seasoning.
Grilling vegetables. Pita Pizza
I often make pita pizza, using a whole wheat pita for a healthier choice. It's a quick dinner and it satisfied me. I love pesto on pizza and as my sister would say, a ri-DONK-ulous amount of (low fat) toppings. You can use whatever you want though.
* pesto * whole wheat pita * toppings of your choice * mozzarella (it doesn't have to be low fat...) * oregano * dried chili flakes
Cover pita with pesto. You can see chunks of unprocessed pistachios.
I covered my pita with pre-cooked slices of potato and low fat spicey turkey sausage...
... then the grilled vegetables and some onion...
... and finally some sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella, oregano and dried chili flakes.
Bake until cheese has melted. The final product without any guilt!
I was able to use the grilled veggies for a third meal: spaghettini with meatballs in a tomato sauce. I also threw in some pesto in an omelette for lunch. The possibilities are endless!
