Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Yummy vegetarian summer rolls

It was a particularly hot day here in M-town and I really didn't feel like cooking anything after work, or rather turning on the oven and making the apartment even hotter. So I figured some summer rolls would be a great idea, plus T-Rex can also help roll them.

I made vegetarian version for Meat-free Monday and had an addictive spicy peanuty dipping sauce to go with it. I think I crave the sauce more than the rolls.

Here's what you will need.

Ingredients:

• Rice paper
• Vermicelli
• Carrots
• Cucumber
• Mint
• Basil
• Spinach/Lettuce
• Hard tofu
• Peanut butter
• Hoisin sauce
• Fresh chilies

Directions:

• Start by julienne the carrots, cucumber and tofu
• Cook the vermicelli according to the direction on the package (soak in hot water) and then drain
• Get a big bowl and fill it with cold/room temperature water for the rice paper, if you use hot water the rice paper becomes too soft and tears very easily.
• Lay out the damp (but still "rigid") rice paper on a plate/board and add a handful of the noodles to the lower third of the paper, top up with the other fillings and herbs, be careful not to overload, else it's very difficult to wrap it up.
• By this time, the paper would have soften enough, fold the bottom up, then the two sides and then just roll it up. TaDa!
• For the sauce, I usually use a ratio of 2 spoons of peanut butter to 1 spoon of hoisin sauce, top with hot water to your desired sauce consistency and add fresh chopped chili to your spice level, I added about 4 chilies.
• Enjoy! You can try other cooked fillings as well, maybe smoked salmon, prawns, chicken slices. Be creative :)

Tortilla de Potatas

Finished product - yummm

So the other day, when I woke up late on a Sunday and wasn't sure what to eat for brunch. I remember I still have a couple of potatoes left over and a dozen eggs. So I decided to try my hand at the Tortilla de Potatas.

It looked pretty simple with only a few ingredients required.

Here's what you will need:

Ingredients:
Potato sliced thinly (I used my mandoline)
Onion, sliced
Garlic
6 eggs, beaten with a little bit of milk
Salt and Pepper
Grated cheese
 a few leaves of Basil

Directions

• Pan fry the potato slices in hot oil until they're crispy but not burnt
• Remove potato from pan, cook the onion garlic in some oil until brown
• Add back in the potato, layer them evenly around the pan
• Pour in the beaten eggs (seasoned with salt and pepper)
• Cook it for a bit til the egg mixture is firm
• Add grated cheese to the top and put the pan in the grill until golden brown
• Top with pieces of fresh basil

Dinner for 1

So I'm determined to post a bit more this year than I did last year....and one of the recipes I'd like to share is this ridiculously easy Berlotti Beans with Tomato Stew. With Melbourne's crazy weather, one day it's 30 degrees plus but then the next drop to the teens. A hearty bean stew sure warms your body and soul when it's suddenly very cold. But this would still be great during warmer weather.

Easiest Stew Ever!

 

The original recipe recommended 20 minutes cooking time, but since I did this in my slow cooker it didn't even count. I chucked everything into the crockpot in the morning before I head out and I am greeted by a delicious aroma when I open the door in the evening when I get home. This just made me so happy and so little efforts involved.

So Healthy and economical

 Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups dried Berlotti Beans rinsed well (no need soaking overnight)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 diced onion
• 2 diced carrots
• Allspice
• Rosemary
• Mixed herbs
• Chili powder
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 Stock cubes
• Chopped Parsley

Directions:

• Dump all but the parsley into the slow cooker, cover with water and leave it on high/auto
• Go to work/play/sleep
• Ta da, all ready when your house seems slightly smokey (in the bbq way, not the burning house way)
• To serve, top with chopped parsley

Vegetarian Baked Eggs with Mushrooms and Tomato

Sunday Brunch....my favourite meal of the week.

This is the time I can get up leisurely, make a cup of coffee and peruse over my fridge and pantry and decide what to start my week with. Sunday is the beginning of the week right?

I've already made the big breakfast with scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomatos and avocado on Saturday, so figured I'll mix it up a bit.... I've made pancakes the last couple of Sundays....I Looove Pancake. But yeah time for a change... so browsing through foodblogs...I came across these little baked eggs in muffin tins. Score!

Yummy Baked Eggs

Here's how I made mine:

Ingredients:

• Sliced bread (white or brown or whatever you have)
• Desired number of eggs
• Tomatos, chopped
• Mushrooms, chopped
• Spring Onions, chopped
• Parsley, chopped
• Tasty Cheese, gratted
• Butter
• Salt and Pepper

* Feel free to subsitute filling with what you like, say....BACON!!!

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 180C
• Saute the mushrooms, tomatos and spring onions in butter
• Spray the muffin tin with oil (I forgot to do it and was a bit difficult to get them out afterwards)
• Smash the bread with your palm/fist to flatten it a bit and then smoosh it into the muffin tin
• Fill each bread cup with the coked veggies
• Topped with some cheese
• Crack an egg into each cup
• Put in oven and cook for around 15 -18 minutes until the eggs are cooked to desired consistency
• Scatter some chopped parsley on top and serve!

I also squirted some Siracha Chili Sauce on top heh

Breakfast and Brunch

Breakfast and Brunch - definitely the most important meal of the day. Well especially Brunch since that's 2 meals in one and usually the highlight of my weekends.

Shashuka with Feta

This morning I was having a craving for poached eggs in a spicy tomatoey sauce - Shashuska. It's a popular Israeli dish that can be eaten at brekfast/lunch or dinner, but usually doesn't have cheese, but I'm a rebel! heh

I've made it once before and it was great. But alas, my fridge was empty :( and needed to make a quick trip to the local fruit and veg shop for some ingredients

Ingredients

• Onion
• Garlic
• Capsicum
• Can of diced tomato
• Eggs
• Chili
• Cumin
• Salt & Pepper
• Parsley
• Feta (optional)

Directions

Cook the diced onion, garlic and capsicum, add in the can of tomatoes, season, cook uncovered to reduce the sauce and then crack in eggs, cook til eggs are almost ready, top with feta and parsley. Served with toast

Vegetarian Frittatas

 Vegetarian Frittatas

These gorgeous little frittatas are made with so much veggies, they're really good for you - plus it's low carbs!
Basically cook mixed veg (onion, garlic, capsicum, mushrooms and spinach) and then add in beaten eggs, fill the muffin pan and topped with feta of course and bake in oven. Perfect snack and great for picnics!

Weekend Brunch

More Brunch

Here's just some other breakfast I made, the poaching technique is coming along  

Falafel Wraps

Mr Shy Guy had this packet of falafel mix in the pantry for a while and I've always wanted to try make them, so with the Gumbo dinner cancelled. I guess tonight was the night.

I've made tabouli and the wraps before in my previous life working in the cafe on campus, but have never tried making the little balls of delicious crunchy bites.

Mr Shy Guy added his own twist to the wraps with shredded carrots and fetta cheese and these were some welcome additional flavours :)

Ingredients:

• Parsley
• Spring Onion
• Cous Cous (instead of cracked wheat)
• Tomato
• Olives
• Lemon Juice
• Salt &  Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Falafel mix
• Fetta
• Hommus
• Carrots
• Pita Bread
• Chili Sauce

Directions

• Add water to falafel mix in a bowl, let it sit for 10 mins while prepare the tabouli
• Chop up all the fresh ingredients, prepare cous cous as directed (Add hot water to them in a bowl) and mix everything together :)
• Form little patties of falafel balls and pan fry them in hot oil
• Spread hommus on pita bread, add tabouli, carrots, feta cheese, cooked falafel and chili sauce and roll into wrap
• Optional to grill them under sandwich press, tada!

Vegetarian Risotto

So Mr Shy Guy is still sticking to his "vegetarianism"...*exasperated sigh*, just making life a tad bit annoying really. I've only cooked meat once so far in my 3 weeks here.

So I decided to make Risotto for dinner and trying to figure out a good recipe, I remember reading about Leek and Zucchini Risotto somewhere and thought I'll give it a go. Only thing is when I went to look for the recipe again, I couldn't find one I like so I decided to wing it. Here's what I ended up with:

Vegetarian Risotto

- Arborio rice

- Onion

- Zucchini

- Leek

- Red Pepper

- Grated Parmesan Cheese

- Salt and Pepper

- White Wine

- Vegetable Stock

Directions

Cook vegetables in pan with some butter, add rice and slowly add in liquid.

Continue to stir until all the liquid's been absorbed

Season to taste and serve with cheese

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Vegetarian Brunch

Fail fail fail, I just can't seem to get the hang of poached eggs, am seriously contemplating on getting one of those kitchen gadgets/device that makes the job so much easier. Tempting tempting tempting, but no, cannot! Promised Mami that as part of Bloctober, no buying of random kitchen utensils. uuuugh.

Yup that's right, I'm doing Bloctober, another Hangover-free month! It's only been 1 week so far.

So this morning with Mr ShyGuy and DirtyWrestler around, I wanted to make a hearty breakfast for us all. Good thing there was haloumi in the fridge, it's been described as Steak for vegetarians. heh and I couldn't agree more. I made some garlic mushrooms and roasted tomatoes to with with it all. But unfortunately I just couldn't poach the eggs and Mr ShyGuy had to help me out.