vegetarian san choy bow

Not the prettiest dish in the world, but it's my new favourite dish.

This week, we've got heaps of lettuce leaves in our vegie box.
I don't normally buy lots of lettuce leaves myself, as they tend to wilt in a few days in the fridge, and to be honest, I thought iceberg lettuce is the most boring tasteless vegie ever.
Sorry iceberg, not your fault, I shouldn't have judged you too soon, blame the restaurants or cafes that turned you into a boring dish they called "garden Salad".
Anyway, this particular iceberg lettuce that I've got is far from boring, it tasted really fresh and crunchy!! So I searched for a non-salad recipe that uses this crunchy baby.
Holly google brought me to Zoe's recipe, from vegan easy. I don't like fake mince, so I tweaked the recipe a little bit, and came up with this recipe:

4 - 5 iceberg lettuce leaves, break carefully, don't leat them tear, wash and drain (this will act as a vessel for the tofu)
1/2 block of firm tofu
2 cups of mushroom, sliced (I used plain old buttons, but you could use fancy mushrooms as well)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tsp olive oil
a few drops sesame oil
1 tbsp tamari (or less, I don't normally measure it)
1 tbsp kecap manis
1 tsp sriracha chilli sauce
salt and pepper to taste

serve 2 - 3

heat olive oil in a frying pan, add onion and fry until fragrant
add crumbled tofu, I normally crumbled my tofu straight on top of the frying pan, but there's a high chance of having crumbled tofu everywhere in the kitchen
mix it up with the onion, add sliced mushroom and garlic, cover with a lid, and let it cook for 2 minutes
uncover, and stir for further 2 minutes
add sesame oil, tamari, chilli sauce and kecap manis
season with salt and pepper, taste, and adjust
to serve, arrange the lettuce leaves, and put the tofu mixture on top
to eat, put a squirt of sriracha sauce if you want extra hot, roll up, and eat with your hand. YUM!

rocket and parsley pesto

A lovely lady from work (a different one from last one), shared her fresh rocket from her vegie garden. It's the freshest rocket leaves I've ever tasted! I don't want them to wilt, but I really want to enjoy it longer. So, I bought myself a bag of walnuts, and googled 'vegan rocket pesto' just because I don't want to use parmesan, trying to cut back on my saturated fat intake.
The search landed me on this page from easy as vegan pie.
I made a teeny bit of changes, and omitted the raw garlic, I just can't stand the lingering taste of raw garlic in my mouth.

here's my take:

2 handful of rocket leaves
1 handful of parsley (I didn't add much, as I want the rocket to be the star of the show)
1/2 cup of walnuts, toasted on frying pan
1 tsp of miso paste (as parmesan substitute)
juice of one lemon
1 to 2 cloves of raw garlic (I omitted this, but feel free to add)
1/4 cup of olive oil
pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a food processor, and blitz away!! taste, and add something if you think it fit. blitz again for a few seconds.
transfer into a container or jar, and pour a little bit of olive oil on top.
Tore a piece of bread, take the blade out of your food processor, wipe your food processor bowl with the bread, and eat.
repeat if necessary
no waste allowed! :)

Mung Khichadi

A very lovely lady brought this dish and share it over lunch break, I fell in love instantly, and asked for the recipe.
It's the kind of food that give your tummy a warm comforting hug, lightly spiced with turmeric, a super spice that is also act as an anti-inflammatory agent. Just make sure you're not spilling the powder on to your white t-shirt.
The only changes I made is I cracked two eggs, and cover the pan to cook the eggs.


1 cup mung beans soaked over night in 4 cups warm water drained and rinsed
2 tbsp olive/canola/sunflower oil
1teasp black mustard seeds
1/2 teasp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 teasp salt (adjust to your own taste)
1 teasp brown sugar
juice of 1 lemon
coconut to garnish
fresh coriander leaves to garnish (i used parsley, it's all I have)
1 cup hot water

Preparation:
mix the soaked rinsed grain with the turmeric, salt and sugar before beginning to heat the oil.
Heat the oil in a thick based frying pan
Test if the oil is hot enough by adding one mustard seed to it, if it bursts add the rest of the mustard seeds to the oil and allow them to pop slightly.
Add the grain mix to the oil, stir mixing well.
Add some hot water to cover the grain and allow to simmer covered stirring occasionally till water is reduced to bare minimum about 10 minutes.
Serve warm with lemon juice, coconut and coriander leaves.
Can be consumed as is, or accompanied with low fat Greek yogurt or served on a bed of basmati rice or whole grain bread.