Spinach Pesto

These nice yummy healthy spinach pesto that you can use it to spread on sandwich or mix with your fav pasta as the sauce is so easy to make. The recipe is slightly adapted from the Woolworth recommended recipe with a slight twist to meet the preference of my eldest.

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small handful of basil (roughly 4-5leaves)
• 1 big bunch of spinach, roughly one cup
• 6-7pcs of almond (you can either used skinned or those not)
• 1 small floret of broccoli
• 3-4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Steps:

1. Wash and dry all the leaves to be used.
2. Put all the ingredients in the blender (I used only the small mini hand blender).
3. Blitz them for about 1-2mins. Open up and scrap the side and continue blitzing.
4. If the mixture is too dry, try adding a little bit more of the EVOO.
5. If you will like to use this for adult or older kids that will prefer a little bit more seasoning, you can just flavour it with some home made anchovies stock powder or chicken stock powder or even parmesan cheese powder.

Chinese Mixed Porridge

Ok, lately I had gone a little crazy with multigrain meals and just saw in the drama they are eating porridge and suddenly, I thought of  cooking porridge.

So, just went to cook some with the left over multi grain rice.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of cooked multi grain (quinoa, millet, rice and brown rice)
• 3 dried mushrooms, cut to small pieces
• 1/4 cup pumpkin, cut to small cube
• 1 piece of Y pork, leftover from braised pork the night before (cooked with minced ginger, minced garlic and preserved beans)
• 1/4 cup of beetroot, cut to small cube
• 1/2 salted egg, cut to small pieces
• 1/2 century egg, cut to small pieces
• a handful of english spinach
• 3 cups of water
• some shredded ginger

Steps:

1. Put all ingredients except for spinach and ginger in the pressure cooker.
2. Cook on high for 10mins and lower down the fire for 20min.
3. Let the pressure cooker release pressure. Once open, stir in the spinach.
4. Served and garnish with shredded ginger.

Savoury Pumpkin Muffin

Yes, another muffin recipe again. This time, it is savoury with lots of healthy goodness in it. It has pumpkin, spinach, cheese and onion. This is so yummy... taste better than the sweet version I think.. hehehe...

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self raising flour
• 1 large egg (beaten)
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1.5 cup of milk
• 1/8 cup of julienned mini red radish
• 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar
• 1/2 cup of chopped pumpkin + 1/2 cup of shredded pumpkin
• 1/2 cup of shredded spinach

Methods:

1. Preheat oven at 180C.
2. Mixed all the ingredients together except the flour. Mix till it is well blended.
3. Then add in the flour and give it a quick fold.
4. Scoop batter into the muffin pan, 24 minis here... (I lightly oil the tin)
5. Bake for 25mins at 180C.

Salad Craze

Recently, I'm on a little salad craze after watching too much MKR. So decided to do some. Here there is two different salads, roast chicken with roast sweet potatoes salad and rump steak with roast pumpkin salad.

For the roast chicken salad:

Ingredients:

• 5 pieces of chicken drumstick, minus the bottom part (that's how it was sold)
• 1 piece of medium size sweet potato, skinned and cut to cubed of roughly 2x2cm
• 2 pieces of medium size red onion, wedged to roughly 2cm size
• 1 medium size potato, cut to cubed of roughly 2x2cm
• olive oil, salt (use less coz the olives are rather salty), pepper and curry powder
• a handful of sweet peas, removed the sides and cut diagonally across
• 5 pieces of mini radishes with the leaves (washed and sliced thinly)
• half a avocado, sliced to wedges
• spinach
• a handful of crumbled feta cheese
• a handful of black olives
• half a lime juice (for the dressing)
• 1 tablespoon of honey (for the dressing)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (for the dressing)
• juices from the roast chicken (for the dressing)

Methods:

1. Arranged the first four items in the baking tray, lined with baking paper.
2. Drizzled with olive oil and sprinkle with freshly grounded black pepper and salt.
3. Sprinkle the curry powder on the chicken only.
4. Roast in the oven at 200C for about 20mins.
5. Add in the sweat peas at the last 5mins.
6. Let it rest in the oven for about another 5mins after turning off the power/fire.
7. Mixed all the ingredients for the dressing together till the honey is dissolved.
8. Mix all ingredients together in the mixing bowl along with the dressing and served.. yum

For the pumpkin salad:

Ingredients:

• Roughly 300g pumpkin, skinned and cut to cube, approximately 2x2cm
• 2 pieces of medium size red onion, wedged to roughly 2cm size
• olive oil, salt, pepper
• a handful of crumbled feta cheese
• a handful of spinach
• quarter a lime juice (for the dressing)
• 1/2 tablespoon of honey (for the dressing)
• 1/4 tablespoon olive oil (for the dressing)

Methods:

1. Similar to the above, lined the baking tray with paper and arrange the pumpkin and onions in it. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
2. Roast in the oven, 200C for about 20mins.
3. Mixed all the ingredients for the dressing together till the honey is dissolved.
4. Mix all ingredients together in the mixing bowl along with the dressing and served.. yum

Fried Spinach Fishball

Saw this read made fish paste in the market and decided to get a pack of it instead of doing it on my own (no time for that now).

Ingredients:

• 500g fish paste (the market lady uses tenggiri)




• a bunch of spinach (the stem, chopped to fine pieces, leaves to small pieces)




• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce




• 1 tablespoon of butter




• 1 tablespoon of mixed dried herbs (those u use for pizza)




• dash of pepper for taste




• 1 tablespoon of corn flour




• 1 tablespoon of chopped chilli (for color purpose)




• 2 tablespoon of oil for frying

1. Mix the fish paste, soy sauce, butter, dried herbs, pepper, corn flour, chopped chilli and chopped spinach till even.




2. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and wrap the spinach leaves in it. Form it to a ball shape.




3. Heat the pan with oil, and pan fry the fish ball. I dont like deep fry, but if you do, you may try that.

*Photo will be posted later when I get my camera card out... hehehe...

Fried Spinach Fishball