Steelcut Oat and Vegetable Lasgna

I just made this yesterday, totally experimental and boy was it yummy!!!  Try it and let me know how you like it. 

1 cup steel cut oats

1 large green zucchini sliced for grilling or roasting

One cup all natural marinara sauce

3 - 4 baby Bella mushrooms thinly sliced

Small loaf pan

Cooking spray

1.  Bring two cups of water to a boil in a saucepan with a pinch of salt.  Add oats and simmer until water has evaporated.  Simultaneously pre-heat oven to 425F and roast the zucchini and mushrooms with some spray and seasoning. 

2.  Spray the loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour the oats into pan and flatten the top with a spatula. Let set for 5-10 mins.  (Don't forget the veges in the oven. Roast them for 10-12 mins and have them ready for layering.)

3.  Once the oats have set, flip over on a cutting board and cut lengthwise into three layers. 

4.  Rinse the loaf pan, dry it.  Spoon in marinara sauce as the base. Take the top layer (which would have been the bottom when you first poured the oats in) and place it as the first "pasta" layer.  Place a layer of zucchini and mushrooms. Cover with marinara, place second oats layer. Repeat layering until you have the top oat layer. Cover with marinara and bake in the oven at 400F for 30mins. 

5.  Let cool and have as lasagna. 

Sri Lankan Mung Kavum

This too was a first for me but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.

Here's the recipe

2 cups of mung flour (you can make this at home or purchase mung flour at any Indian grocery store. To make flour at home, purchase mung dhal, roast it in a pan, and grind until fine. If purchasing mung flour, be sure to roast that in a wok before using for the kavum)
1/2 cup of rice flour
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup water

Batter
1 egg
1/2 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup of rice flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric

4 cups oil for frying

For the mung paste...

Sift mung flour and rice flour together. Place in kitchen-aid mixing bowl with dough hook. Start boiling the sugar to make a sugar syrup. Take off heat. Start the Kitchen Aid at level 2 and slowly start adding the sugar syrup to make a doughy mixture. The consistency should be close to bread dough. Once the syrup is mixed well with the flour, place the mixture in a flat cookie sheet and either roll it out or flatten it out until it is about 1/4" thick. Cut into diamond shaped pieces.

Make batter by combining the batter ingredients. Heat the 4 cups of oil over medium heat for 10 minutes. Dip the mung diamonds in the batter and drop in to hot oil to begin frying. Fry for 2 - 3 minutes or until they look done. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Let cool and enjoy!

Sri Lankan Kokis

So I made Kokis for the very first time and not to toot my own but it turned out pretty good! My mum and dad, who love kokis, said that I got the consistency, the shape, and taste, right on the money.

Here's the recipe
2 cups rice flour (home made) - soak 2 cups of white rice in water for 2-3 hours and blend
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 egg
1 tsp of turmeric
salt to taste
4-cups oil - for frying
Kokis Mold

Put oil in a deep pan and place on medium heat. While oil is heating, mix flour, coconut milk, salt, turmeric, and egg together. Place the kokis mold in the oil pan and let stand for 2 minutes. Remove mold and dip (not all the way) it in the batter. Be careful not to dip it all the way...it should be dipped deep enough for the batter to come up around the mold but not over. Place the mold with the batter in the oil pan. Hold for 15 seconds and start jiggling to remove the batter off the mold and into the oil. If it doesn't come off easy, use a long skewer to loosen the batter off of the mold. Once off, let the kokis fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and let cool.

I went through two batches of batter before i got the consistency and the taste right. If you don't get it right the first time, keep experimenting until you master it. Good luck.

My Tapas Party

I recently hosted a tapas/tasting party. I went all out to make some of my favorites and the friends that I entertained absolutely LOVED every dish. What did I make? Lets see...

Spicy Thai-style bbq chicken wings with home-made yogurt sauce
Creamy roasted garlic mash potatoes topped with braised short ribs
Roasted potato rounds topped with creme fraiche and caviar
Cajun shrimp with cucumber cream in cucumber cups
Olive Tapanad on french baguette rounds
Sliders
Endive leaves topped with Thai chicken saute
Mini caprese salads (mini mozzarella balls, grape tomatoes, olives, and basil)
Toasted baguette rounds topped with smoked salmon
And a few other dishes

And then came the desserts...

Mini, individual, chocolate mousse cups
chocolate covered strawberries
mini trifles
mini cheese cakes

Coffee & Tea

I will be posting recipes soon.

Sri Lankan fish patties

Baked, healthy, easy, delicious....

1 can of mackerel or three cans of tuna. Any type of browned ground meat also works. 
1 large onion chopped
8-10 green or red chillies (hot peppers) finely chopped (substitute leeks if heat not preferred)
2 large potatoes
salt and pepper to taste

1 pack of northern style wanton wraps (can be purchased at a Hong Kong/Asian/Chinese market
tsp of turmeric
tsp of crushed chillies
1 Tbsp of oil

1 cup of oil

Boil and peel the potatoes, rough smash and set aside. Saute onions, green chillies (leeks) with salt, pepper, turmeric and crushed chillies. Mix fish, potatoes, and onion mixture together. Place a tea spoon of the mixture in each of the wonton wraps, brush the edges of the wrap with water, fold wrap to seal. 

Preheat oil until hot enough and  ready to fry.  Fry and annoy. 

Healthy Meal #2 - Shepherd's Pie

Did you know that Shepherd's pie is made of lamb as the base and cottage pie uses beef? Since I am not using either of those meats, perhaps I should call mine a turkey farmer's pie as it is made of extra lean turky mince.

Lets get started.

For the base...
Meatless Shepherd's pie
2cups morning star farms soy chunks
1 medium onion chopped
1 Lb bag of frozed peas and carrots
1 Tbsp of onion powder
1 Tbsp of garlic powder
4 cloves of garlic minced
salt to taste
2 tsp of olive oil
1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp of all purpose flour

For the topping...
1 medium head of cauliflower boiled until very tender 

1/2 cup of steel cut oats
1 16 oz can of cannalini beans
1/4 cup of low fat parmasan cheese

Saute the onions, minced garlic and cook the soy chunks. Add onion and garlic powder to the meat and continue to cook until slightly brown. Add the bag of frozen peas and carrots. Continue to cook for another 15 minutes.

Remove soy from the pan and deglaze the pan with the vinegar.  Add to soy chunks. 

Blend the boiled cauliflower, beans, oats together to make a paste/purée. 

Place the soy preparation as the base in a Pyrex dish.  Top it off with cauliflower and bean mixture. Bake for 30 mins..  Remove from oven, let stand for 30 mins. Enjoy!

Healthy Meal #1

In my quest for simple, healthy, and most importantly delicious food, I have managed to create quite a number of healthy alternatives to popular dishes.

I have created my own healthy versions of fettuccine alfredo with shrimp, cream of broccoli soup, Shepherd's pie and others. My husband and I are both foodies and what we eat must have taste...good, delicious taste.

I will be posting some of my creations on this blog. So try my recipes and let me know how you like them.


Fettuccine Faux-fredo with Shrimp
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Two medium yellow squash
5 oz tofu (add more to thicken the sauce if preferred)
20 peeled and de-vained medium shrimp
8 cloves of garlic (less if you're not a garlic lover like me)
1 Medium onion chopped
1/2 cup of mushrooms chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Lb whole wheat fettuccine

Cook the pasta as instructed on the box. Drain and set aside.

Bake (wrapped in foil) or microwave (in a bowl) the squash until it is tender. Squash needs to be fully cooked and almost falling apart. Put the squash, tofu, 2 cloves of garlic and 2 tsp of olive oil and blend until everything is liquefied. Set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in saucepan, add onions and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes. Add shrimp and mushrooms and cook for 7 minutes. Add salt to taste. Add the squash/tofu sauce. Mix and let simmer for 10 minuites. Stir constantly.

Serve pasta into a bowl, ladle sauce over pasta and enjoy.