Baked Tilapia with olives, capers, tomatoes and lemon juice

This is a yummy dish that was inspired by a dish I see all the time at the hotel I work in.

Simply place 4 tilapia fillets in a casserole dish, sprinkle with sliced black olives, chopped tomato chunks (2 tomatoes), a handful of capers, and the juice of one whole squeezed lemon. Salt and pepper the fillets liberally. I added some hot pepper flakes, but that's optional.

Bake fish at 450F until fish are cooked through.

Vegemite in the USA

Heard of vegemite? It's Australian and very good for you. It's a bread spread, and I find it best on toast with margarine. You have to spread it very thin, because it has a very strong flavour. It's hard to describe to someone who hasn't tasted it, like cola, but the best way I can come up with is this: it's salty, almost soy saucy, yet creamy at the same time.

It has lots of iron and Vit B12 in it, and folate too. I tried it on toast with an egg just to see how it would taste:

Dal curry

Ingredients:
1 cup red lentils
chopped cilantro
1 chopped tomato
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 curry leaves
curry powder
salt
chillie powder optional
1 Tbsp oil
1/4 can coconut milk

Add oil to a saucepan, heat. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves and COVER POT (the seeds pop like popcorn). You will smell a roasting smell, which are the mustard seeds. Once these turn black, add tomato, onion and garlic. Cook this mixture down, so the flavors are concentrated (meaning cook the water out of it, until it's semi-dryish). Meanwhile in a separate pot, boil the red lentils in about 2 cups water, adding more water as needed. be careful as lentils tend to bubble over if not watched and stirred.

When lentils are cooked, add them to the cooking tomatoes/onions etc, and stir well. Add curry powder, coconut milk, and a little water if mixture is too thick (this dish is like a thick soup). Add salt to taste, and if you want it hot add chillie powder too. Add chopped cilantro at the end of cooking and let cook for no more than one minute.

Voila, dal curry. Serve with rice or naan.

Niki's notes: Red lentils are actually orange in the bag and yellow when cooked.
I made this dish simple without many chilies etc because I ate it with my biryani (see below) which was hot.

the tomatoes etc cooking:

Vegetable Biriyani with mint and cilantro raita

Biriyani Ingredients
2 cups of basmati rice
8 pieces broccoli
8 pcs cauliflower,
1/2 cup peas,
1/2 cup chopped carrots,
1/4 cup corn,
1/2 chopped green beans,
2 tomatoes
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
2 cups yogurt
chilli powder
curry powder
turmeric powder
cardamom powder
5 cloves
pinch mustard seeds
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped mint
salt to taste
enough oil to coat bottom of large frying pan

Add all ingredients with oil except rice and yogurt. Meanwhile, boil rice.
simmer all vegetables till cooked in the spices. Then add yogurt and simmer for a couple more minutes. Add salt to taste, bearing in mind you are going to mix this in with rice.Once done, mix the rice in with the vegetable mixture (make sure rice has cooled down).



Raita ingredients
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup each of chopped mint and cilantro
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin

Stir all ingredients well.

serve rice with raita on the side.

I apologize for the spices not having amounts. I just cook by eyeballing everything, so just do that.

Vegetarian Pad Thai Egg Noodles

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked egg noodles (skinny noodles)
1/2 cup sliced green beans
1/2 sliced bell pepper
2-3 basil leaves
1/4 cup crushed almonds (peanuts, cashews...your favorite)
1 small onion
1 tsp crushed garlic
2 Tbsp olive/canola/vegetable oil
1 Tbsp chili oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp pad thai paste

Boil noodles for about 2 minutes (slightly undercook). Strain and keep aside. Add oil, chopped onion and garlic to frying pan, and saute for about a minute. Add the rest of the veggies and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes. Add noodles and stir, breaking the clumps up if they stick. If the noodles are sticking, add a little more oil to help break the clumps. Add the nuts, pad thai paste, lemon juice and soy sauce (soy sauce/lemon juice to taste, add more or less if you like). Toss and stir until all ingredients are completely and evenly combined.

Serve with hot sauce if you like that kind of thing (I do!).

The hot sauce I used is Cluck U brand (don't knock it) 911 sauce. It's made from habaneros, one of the hottest peppers you can find. SO GOOD!!

With the hot sauce:

Simple fruit and almond salad

The soup was so rich, I needed a refreshing cleanse. So for dinner tonight I had chopped strawberries, kiwi and a cocktail grapefruit with whole roasted almonds. The fruit refreshed and the nuts were very satisfying and filling.

If you've never had a cocktail grapefruit, it's delicious. Only a hint of that grapefruit bitterness, and very juicy and sweet.

Vegan Dad's Leek, Onion and Potato Soup

I tried this recipe out, and it was decent but not something I'd make again. Not that it was a bad recipe - It's great - but it just doesn't appeal to my taste, that's all.

It took over 2 hours to make. I finished at midnight, and I had worked that day and then went and spent an hour in a hot jacuzzi (not something I do often, my life is not one of leisure and luxury :) ), so cooking was taxing. But here it is:



INGREDIENTS
Serves 6
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp margarine
- 2 medium yellow onions, halved and sliced
- 5 leeks, white and light greens part, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups red wine
- 6 cups water or veggie stock
- 2 tsp sage
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- salt and pepper to taste (heavy on the pepper)
- 4 medium idaho potatoes, peeled, small dice
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled, small dice
- 1 15 0z can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

METHOD
1. Heat oil and margarine in a large pot over medium heat. Add in onions and and saute for a few mins until they begin to soften. Then add in leeks and garlic and mix well. Once things are sizzling along, reduce heat to med-lo and cook, uncovered, for 45-60 mins, until onions and leeks become a nice golden brown. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking.
2. Add wine to the pot and stir to deglaze. Add in water, spices, soy sauce, potatoes and beans. Bring to bubbling, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 30-45 mins, until potatoes are soft but not mushy. Adjust seasoning to taste and serve.

Niki's notes: This recipe is from Vegan Dad, whose blog link is to the right ===>
I changed it up a little. For instance, his called for oregano and marjoram, and I used bay leaves and thyme as I had none. See his recipe for the original. His picture is also better :)

For the record, this is how cluttered it gets when I cook:



And that's a good day.