Power Salad

A little cafe up the road from where I work has this amazing energy salad on the menu. For a while there I would head over about 2-3 times a week and invariably end up ordering it. It is a very simple salad and incredibly easy to put together so I have started making it myself. 

The recipe below is for one serving and can easily be scaled up. I usually cook a cup of dry red quinoa and refrigerate it to use over 3-4 days. When I am ready to make the salad, I just measure out for as many servings as I am making. 

I find that just about any basic vinaigrette works well with this salad. The star of the show here is the hot smoked salmon. I am using peppered hot smoked salmon which gives it a bit more oomph but it is also very good with plain smoked salmon. 

Yield - 1 serving
Time - 20 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 Cup cooked Red Quinoa

1/2 Finely chopped Broccoli

1/2 Finely chopped Kale

2 Tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds

75 grams Hot smoked Salmon

1/3 cup Basic vinaigrette

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Salads, Seafood, Weeknight Lifesavers

Thai Basil Shrimp Stir Fry with Dipping Sauce

Remember the Thai Basil Chicken recipe I posted a while back? Of course you do. It took 20 minutes to cook and saved you from ordering in on a crazy weeknight. It was pretty good, but authentic it was not! Which is why I timidly named it "Thai Inspired Basil Chicken". See what I did there? One of the main reasons was that I used regular sweet basil in that recipe, because Thai basil is not readily available in the supermarkets here.

Last winter I started some Thai basil seedlings indoors and they have grown into a nice little bush this summer. Look at it! It has had a few trims already but it is a source of much joy in our little apartment. This ingredient is NOT optional! It lifts the dish and gives it such a beautiful distinct flavor that you (or I) will never go back to using sweet basil in our Thai dishes. 

I have several stir fry recipes on the blog. They are true weeknight heroes - fast, easy and healthy. Don't let the word "fry" fool you, with just a couple of splashes of oil and high heat, the veggies and meat cook well and retain their crunchiness - the veggies that is! Which brings me to my ONLY rule about stir fries - quick cooking over very high heat. That is all.

Yield - Serves 2

Prep Time - 20 Minutes

Cook Time - 10 Minutes

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Asian, Seafood, Weeknight Lifesavers

Chili Paneer Stir Fry

I was looking through my drafts and found this old gem. Why I haven't posted this earlier, I don't know! This is one of those meals that I put together in a jiffy by scrounging up ingredients and hoping that something edible comes out of it. I ended up with something that will make its way back on my table again and again. The whole dish took about 20 minutes to make, mainly because I turn into a hungry multi tasking beast after work on weeknights. You might take a little longer to chop but don't cook it too long. Stir fries love high heat and quick cooking. Slowing it down make them soggy and mushy - no good!

I don't usually think of making chili paneer, which is a common Indo-Chinese fusion dish. Paneer almost always turns into some form or the other of matar paneer or palak paneer in my kitchen. Primarily, this is because most recipes for chili paneer start with battering and frying the paneer, which is a bit of a culinary turn off for me. Do you really want to deep fry your cheese? I don't, so I didn't. What we ended up with was a definite keeper. It has a good amount of heat from the chilies and chili sauce. Adjust the amount of chilies to suit your palate. 

Yield - Serves 2

Time - 30 Minutes

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Asian, Indian, Vegetarian, Weeknight Lifesavers

Classic Chicken Piccata

I broke my hand, you guys! My thumb to be precise. While playing soccer. How do you break your hand while playing soccer you ask? When you are naturally uncoordinated and suck at soccer - that's how!Turns out I need two opposable thumbs to run this blog - What a MAJOR bummer, you guys! The good news is that I have a few recipes planned for you to keep you entertained while my hand heals. Easy recipes that are full of flavor.

Chicken Piccata is a classic but easy weeknight dish that I cook quite often.  The lemony buttery garlicky sauce hits just the right notes. It is delicious with pasta or with a side salad. This recipe was adapted from Simply Recipes.

Yield - Serves 2

Total Time - 40 Minutes

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2 comments LABELS: Poultry, Weeknight Lifesavers

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Aged Cheddar

It is October and it is officially pumpkin season in the Northern Hemisphere. All the Fall related posts on other blogs I follow have got me quite excited for the upcoming holiday season, so what if it springtime here! This week I have got a delicious roasted pumpkin soup for you. It's been a big success here at Casa Taste Chronicles. Seeing as pumpkins aren't really our favorite vegetable, it is all the more reason to believe me that it was fantastic. I wouldn't lie to you would I?

The flu season hit us quite hard this season. Both of us fell sick at the same time which wasn't great! So it's been a lot of sneezing, coughing and feeling sorry for ourselves. This soup has been a lifesaver and helped us feel much better. It was also very low effort to cook this so we managed to make it even when we weren't feeling fantastic. Who wants greasy take out when they're sick?!

I cooked this in a pressure cooker and it was a breeze. If you don't have a pressure cooker, go get one NOW! Just kidding! Just simmer the soup for a longer time and you'll be fine! 

Yield - Serves 4
Prep Time - 40 Minutes
Cook Time - 30 Minutes

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7 comments LABELS: Vegetarian, Weeknight Lifesavers

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ah! The humble 'Spag-Bol'! Call it whatever you like - Spaghetti sauce, Meat sauce, Ragu - It is a hearty dish and a favorite comfort food for many. Make a big batch of this meat sauce, portion it and freeze it for those days that you just don't feel like cooking and don't really feel like eating out. I have such limited take out options here that this is a common occurrence.  Bolognese sauce freezes really well and generally tastes better the next day if refrigerated. 

This recipe is simple but packs a punch. Here's a tip - when in doubt add more garlic. Also, more wine. Definitely more wine!

Yield - Serves 6

Prep Time - 20 Minutes

Cook Time - 1 Hour

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4 comments LABELS: Italian, Meat, Weeknight Lifesavers

Sausage and Pasta Marinara

I am so excited to welcome you to my new and improved blog! I started "Musings from the Other Side" when I first moved to New Zealand without an idea of what waiting for me on the other side of the world. Pretty soon though, it was clear that it was going to be a food blog. My little blog has grown out of its old name and un-matching URL! So, I have been working pretty hard on giving it a new design, new name and URL. It has been so much fun redesigning this blog and giving it some much needed TLC. It has felt like I have had two full time jobs this past week though! And as a result, I have had no time to cook. Umm. A food blogger that has no time time to cook? That's pretty lame, y'all! So let's fix that. 

This recipe is so easy that it almost didn't make it to the blog. But that's exactly what this blog is about. Sharing recipes that may potentially be someone's answer to "what should I have for dinner?" I cook this when I am out of ideas, out of energy and my fridge and pantry are running  woefully low due to neglect - usually towards the tail end of a busy work week, like this one. It is my alternative to take out because it takes about the same amount of time to cook as it takes to call, order and pick up something that is most likely really bad for you. Like the honey chicken fried rice from the Noodle place down the street. 

Yield - Serves 2

Total Time - 30 Minutes

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Pork, Weeknight Lifesavers

Indo-Chinese Shrimp Chow Mein

Indian Chinese Shrimp Chow Mein Noodle Bowl

When Chinese food arrived in India more than a couple of centuries ago, it incorporated the influences of Indian flavors and resulted in the most delicious marriage of cuisines - The Indo-Chinese cuisine. The Chinese community in India settled in the eastern part of the country, mainly around Kolkata - formerly known as Calcutta, the birthplace of Indo-Chinese food. Chow mein is standard Indian Chinese fare. You can swap the shrimp out for any protein of your choice - chicken, beef, pork, tofu and even paneer. Now on to the fried spicy garlicky goodness!

Yield - Serves 4

Prep Time - 20 Minutes

Cook Time - 15 Minutes

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2 comments LABELS: Asian, Indian, Seafood, Weeknight Lifesavers

Thai Inspired Basil Chicken Stir Fry

Calling this dish a weeknight lifesaver is a bit of an understatement! It takes about 20 minutes from start to finish and tastes absolutely delicious. Use Thai basil if you can find it, but regular Italian basil works too if you're not too fussy. You can adjust the spice level by changing the amount of red chilies in the dish. I wouldn't recommend leaving it out all together. For palates with lower heat tolerance, I'd suggest using one chili pepper and discarding the seeds.

Total Time - 20 Minutes

Yield - Serves 2

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Asian, Poultry, Weeknight Lifesavers

Cuban Black Beans On Rice

Don't be fooled by its humble name, beans are some of the most satisfying meals to put together for a weeknight. They are easy, healthy and hearty enough for the most die hard carnivores to not miss meat. A fantastic source of protein, beans are a vegetarian staple and true comfort food.

Though cans of beans are really easy to use, cooking beans from scratch is not nearly as labour intensive as commonly believed. I usually soak the beans overnight but there are many that skip this step, swearing by the flavor of un-soaked beans. 

This recipe is adapted from Nydia's Kichen, which incidentally has several really good tutorials on Cuban recipes. 

Yield - Serves 3

Prep Time - 10 Minutes and Overnight Soak

Cook Time - 30 Minutes

Cuban Black Beans on Rice

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Cuban, Latin, Vegan, Vegetarian, Weeknight Lifesavers

Char Kway Teow

I have been really enjoying the flavors of Southeast Asian cuisine lately. The flavors are intense but the cooking process is quick and not too complicated. "Char Kway Teow" is a Malaysian stir fry made with fresh flat rice noodles, very common on the streets of Penang . It can be described as Pad Thai's Malaysian cousin to the uninitiated (like me!). I recently ordered "Char Kway Teow" at a restaurant in Auckland called Mix Moon (very close to a certain infamous sculpture) . It was fantastic. Though traditionally it is cooked with shrimp, Chinese sausages, blood cockles and cooked in lard, the recipe I am sharing with you today is closer to what I ate at Mix Moon. I am just not sophisticated enough to cook with lard. Rasa Malaysia has a really good step by step recipe for authentic Penang Char Kway Teow that came in handy while I was trying to deconstruct this dish. 

The key to a good stir fry is a hot wok (or pan) and prepping your ingredients before hand. Quick cooking on high heat ensures that the vegetables are crisp and flavorful rather than soggy and wilty (yes that's a word). Don't overcrowd the pan while cooking. This effectively reduces the cooking temperature. Stir fry in batches. Use the freshest possible ingredients you can find. I found fresh flat rice noodles at the Asian market. Fresh rice noodles can get clumpy so loosen them up at room temperature by hand. Don't soak it in water. In fact, there should be no water added anywhere in this dish. Water is the enemy of stir fries. The noodles I got were coated in a bit of oil, which helped with the unclumping (yes that's a word too). I have used mild dried red chilies in this dish to control the amount of heat but still have the flavor of chilies. 

Yield - Serves 4

Prep Time - 15 Minutes

Total Time - 30 Minutes

Char Kway Teow - Malayasian Stir Fried Rice Noodles with Shrimp and Garlic Chives

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2 comments LABELS: Asian, Seafood, Weeknight Lifesavers

Malaysian Sambal Eggplant

I picked up some Chinese eggplants from the Asian grocery store with the very noble intention of including more vegetables in my diet. Eggplants are not my favorite vegetable, so you can appreciate just how noble an intention this was. The only way I enjoy eating them is in a baingan bharta - mashed and spiced beyond recognition. Sometimes when you are an adult you have to sneak veggies in your meals, even the ones you don't like. These long skinny eggplants though, are not ideal for bharta so I decided to try something new and exciting. Sambal Eggplant! The idea came to me in a flash - I am not sure from where. It might have had something to do with random ingredients in my fridge that needed to be used up or it might have been this flighty little bird called inspiration. Either way the Sambal Eggplant was fantastic.

Yield - Serves 2 - 3

Total Time - 40 Minutes

Sambal Eggplant

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Asian, Weeknight Lifesavers

Chingri Machher Malai Curry

Chingri Machher Malai Curry is one of those iconic Bengali dishes that needs no introduction. But to the uninitiated, it is a dish of prawns or shrimp cooked in a rich coconut curry. 

It is an absolute favorite and a sinfully indulgent dish. Ideally cooked using the largest possible shrimp you can find in the market, cleaned but with the heads and tails on.  When my grandmom, mom and aunts cook it, they spend an eternity coring the coconut and squeezing the milk out. The flavor of the dish when cooked this way is off the charts. Sometimes in life though, we settle for second best. This is an easier version of the dish, still with enough flavor to trigger a healthy episode of nostalgia. My cheater's way to cook this curry is to use store bought canned coconut cream and to add about half a cup of frozen shredded coconut. This adds a bit of texture to the curry and gives it a more authentic feel. And in 30 minutes, this is a weeknight lifesaver for sure!

Be careful though, this is not the healthiest of dishes, so indulge in moderation!

Yield - Serves 3

Prep Time - 10 Minutes
Cook Time - 20 Minutes

Prawn Malai Curry

               

Ingredients

1 LB Prawns (Shrimp)

1 Onion, chopped

0.5 inch Ginger, crushed

5-6 cloves Garlic, crushed

1 can Coconut Cream

0.5 cup shredded coconut, frozen

2 Bay Leaves

0.5 inch Cinnamon

4 cardamom

4 cloves

1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder

2 Teaspoons Coriander Powder

1 teaspoon Turmeric

1 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder

Salt, to Taste

Cilantro, a few sprigs

2 Tablespoons, Oil

Method

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2 comments LABELS: Indian, Seafood, Weeknight Lifesavers

Matar Paneer

Paneer, a kind of farmer's cheese is very common in vegetarian Indian cooking and is often made fresh. It is actually not that complicated to make. I will post step by step instructions for you the next time I make some. It is, however, fairly easy to find frozen paneer from Indian grocery stores for a quick weeknight meal. I recently found my old favorite, Amul Malai Paneer at the Indian store, so you can expect a few paneer recipes coming up on this blog.

Matar Paneer first! Matar (pronounced "Mutter"), meaning peas, and paneer cooked generally in a tomato based sauce. In this recipe I use yoghurt, but you can substitute it with cream or evaporated milk if you like, for a richer sauce. The yoghurt also gives this a bit of tang. The recipe matures well, i.e, leftovers taste great the next day!

Yield - Serves 4

Prep Time - 10 Minutes

Cook Time - 30 Minutes

Matar Paneer

Ingredients

2 Cups Green Peas

250 g Paneer

1 Onion, sliced

1 inch Ginger

4-5 cloves Garlic

3 Medium Tomatoes, diced

1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds

1.5 Teaspoons Garam Masala Powder

1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder

1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1 Teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder

1 pinch Asafetida (Hing)

1 Green Chili

3 Tablespoons Yoghurt

2 Tablespoons Oil
A few Sprigs Cilantro (Coriander leaves)

Method

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4 comments LABELS: Indian, Vegetarian, Weeknight Lifesavers

Pepper Steak Stir Fry with Black Bean Sauce

Stir fries are the perfect weeknight lifesavers. They are highly customizable, healthy and ridiculously easy to put together. 

There are just three things you need to keep in mind to create the perfect stir fry:

1) Prep all of the ingredients before you start cooking. So slice the meat, chop the vegetables and the herbs before you even think of putting the wok/ skillet on the stove top.

2) Cook everything fast and on high heat. This is quick work, the veggies will get soggy and over cooked if you take too long to cook them. Unfortunately, most domestic stove tops are not nearly as hot as you need them to be, so go ahead and cook it on the highest heat it will get to.

3) Do not over crowd while cooking. Refer to point # 2 above. Over crowding will reduce the overall heat distribution. Split it in two batches if need be.

Steak and peppers are a match made in heaven. The flavors are classic, simple and work fantastically together.

Yield : Serves 2 - 3
Prep Time: 10 - 15 Minutes
Cook Time : 10 - 15 Minutes

Pepper Steak Stir Fry With Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients

1 LB  ( little less than half a kilo) Steak Meat (Whatever kind you prefer)

2 Red Bell Peppers (Red Capsicum)

1 Onion 

3 Scallions (Spring Onions)

1/2 inch Ginger

3-4 cloves Garlic

1-2 Green Chiles

4-5 Tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Black Bean Sauce (fermented black soy)

1 Tablespoon Corn Starch

Salt (very little if at all)

1-2 Tablespoons Oil

Method

Cut the red bell peppers and onions into a one inch dice. Chop the garlic and ginger finely but don't mince it.  Slice the chiles and scallions. 

Slice the steak into thin strips. I asked my sous chef to cut it in thin strips and he took it as a challenge to cut it as fine as he could. Oh well, it worked pretty well!

Sprinkle and combine with corn flour and salt. Don't use too much salt because you will be dousing this with soy sauce later.

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Asian, Meat, Weeknight Lifesavers

Lechon Asado - Slow Cooker Cuban Pork

Lechon Asado is a timeless Cuban roasted pork dish. Traditionally, a whole pig is slow roasted over hot coals. This, unfortunately, is not always practical when you live in an apartment, are feeding two people and it is a weeknight. 

Enter - the lechon asado loving busy professional's best friend - The Slow Cooker (or crock pot, if you are from the south).

Get your own Crock-Pot Here

I have a love-hate relationship with my slow cooker. I love that I can come home after a busy day to a cooked meal, but I hate that sometimes it just tastes like hospital food (No disrespect to hospital cafeterias around the world). I am therefore, on a mission to learn how to cook delicious and easy slow cooker meals and post the recipes here when I have a winner. (This is a different mission from this one, I set a lot of culinary missions, okay?)

So without further ado, here's presenting Lechon Asado!

Lechon Asado served with Yellow Rice and Guacamole

Three guys from Miami are my go to Cuban recipe gurus, and this recipe is heavily influenced by their Lechon Asado recipe.

Instead of cooking a whole pig, I used pork shoulder, or Boston butt. Marinated it in a lovely garlicky citrus marinade (Mojo) . And slow cooked it for about 10 hours on low. 

Ingredients

2 - 3 Lb (1 to 1.5 kg) Pork Shoulder 

12 - 15 cloves, Garlic (The more the better!)

2 - Oranges 

1 - Lime 

1- Onion

1 Teaspoon, Black pepper

1 Teaspoon, Oregano

3 Tablespoons, Olive Oil

Salt

Method

Gather and prep your ingredients:

Clean the garlic.

Juice the oranges and limes.

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4 comments LABELS: Cuban, Latin, Pork, Weeknight Lifesavers

Yaki Udon : Udon Stir Fry Recipe

I will be honest with you. This is the first time I have cooked Japanese food. After spending two fantastic weeks in Japan a couple of months ago, and gorging on the most mouth watering food, I have made it my mission to learn to cook authentic Japanese food. I would definitely call my first attempt a success!

Before I get to the recipe, I want to share some photos I took in beautiful, vibrant Kyoto - a city of ten thousand shrines.

Omusoba at the Toji Temple Market, Kyoto

(The stunning beauty of Fushimi Inari)

(Street food, Shijo Dori, Kyoto)

Now for today's recipe: Yaki Udon. Stir fried udon noodles with vegetables and shrimp seasoned with dashi and sprinkled with a generous amount of bonito flakes. This took me right back to Kyoto with the first bite.

Ingredients

Udon Noodles - 4, 200g Packets 
Shrimp/ Prawns, shelled and cooked - 500g
Dashi Seasoning - 1-2 Teaspoons
Bonito Flakes - 1 cup
Nori Sheet - 1
Soy Sauce - to taste**
Cabbage, roughly chopped - Quarter head
Carrots, Sliced - 2
Dehydrated Assorted Mushrooms - 2 cups
Spring Onions/ Scallions, sliced - 2
Vegetable Oil - 3-4 Tablespoons

**Use good quality dark thick soy sauce, because the nasty stuff will ruin this dish.

Method

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3 comments LABELS: Asian, Japanese, Seafood, Weeknight Lifesavers