Aubergine salad

Learnt this dish from Ben many years ago. Bet he has forgotten all about it. I think it is middle-east in origin. It is simple with few ingredients, easy to put together and yet so appetising.

Aubergine salad

3-4 aubergines aka eggplants

2 meaty tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 big red onion, thinly sliced or chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped
Flat-leaf parsley or cilantro, chopped

3 - 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoon lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Halve the aubergines lengthwise; rub flesh with some olive oil; grill in the oven until golden and soft or cook them whole over a open flame, turning frequently until soften and the skin chars.

Leave the aubergines to cool slightly before scraping off the skin and mashing the flesh with a fork. I prefer the open flame, it gives a smoky aroma to the veggie.

Add all the rest of ingredients, mix well but lightly. Adjust salt and lemon juice to taste. Delicious serve on the left-over crusty wholemeal bread.
See, we are staying good and away from meat... hopefully until CNY.

Jo

Mum's Chicken Salad

Chistmas won't be Christmas without mum's chicken salad.
Ever since I knew K, this dish is a must for this festive season.
My mum-in-law would prepare a hugh portion of this dish a few days before Christmas.
As her children started arriving home, the first thing they look for would be this Tupperware of salad in the fridge.
When I said hugh it means a 5L tupperwareful!
It would be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just an in-between-meals-snack all through the holidays.
You guess it, nobody is allow to get hungry at any time.

Chicken Salad
1 chicken, boiled, deboned and shredded
500g macaroni, boiled and drained
3 apples, cored and diced
500g frozen mix vegetable, boiled and drained
1 cup sweet pickled jerkins, chopped
1 can pineapple, drained and diced
1 can pimento, drained and chopped
250g cheddar cheese, grated
3-4 tablespoon Heinz salad cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup ideal milk
salt and pepper


Mix everything together well. Chill and serve.

Jo

Kerabu pucuk pakis

The pakis is an edible fern (fiddlehead fern) that is very popular in this part of the world. In most restaurants that serve them, they are usually fried with a sambal belacan sauce, very delicious. K did this simple Thai styled appetizer with dried shrimps. Refreshing and oh sooo good!

Pakis kerabu
2 cups pakis soft tips, washed and cut into 2" length
1 tablespoon dried prawns, washed and soaked

Dressing
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoon lime juice
1-2 bird's eye chillies, chopped
sugar, to taste

Blanch the pakis in boiling water for 2-3 minutes; rinse in cold water and drain.
Drain the dried prawns and chop or pound coarsely; fry in a dry pan without oil over medium heat until fragrant and golden.
Sprinkle a pinch of sugar on the dried prawn to caramelise and off the heat.
Mix together the dressing, adjust to suit your taste (our palates lean heavily to the sourish side); toss in well with the pakis and chilled. Mix in the dried prawns to serve.

K and Jo

Leanne's salsa

The most delicious salsa

Cut tomatoes, big onions and cilantro into small pieces

Cut lime and dig out seeds

Squeeze lime juice into vegetables

Add salt, pepper, olive oil and mix

The best salsa

Love, Leanne

Bambangan Salad

Sis. Mui brought six bambangan to the house after I gave her a bottle of the preserves (barter trade?).

Think she wanted more preserves but I have no intention of wielding my chopper again. So I made this salad instead.

Ben's wife, Lena, who is a Kadazan, served this once. I preferred this (less salt and much simpler to make) to the preserves but the fruit has to be fully ripen (can tell by the stronger fragrance) or the dish would turn out too sour.

Bambangan Salad
Peel and dice fruit (see Nonsoom Bambangan ).

To 2 cups of the diced fruit, add 1 finely chopped chilli (I also added 2 chopped bird's eyes chilli for a bit of oomph), a sprig of chopped spring onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste. Mix well.

Chill and serve with fried fish and rice. Very delicious and appetizing especially for this hot weather.

Jo

Pomelo and prawns salad

Pomelo and prawn salad

Found this little fellow at our regular fish stall, along the Lintas highway from the airport. So fresh, couldn't resist and bought 2 kilos..
Decided to share the pomelo I saved for myself and made it into this simple yet most mouth-watering salad, especially for a hot day. We first had this salad years ago when my late sis-in-law made it. She was one of those amazing cooks who can whip up a delicious meal with seemingly nothing in hand. Not quite sure about the origin of the dish but judging by its ingredients, it has to be either Thai or Vietnamese. We didn't have a recipe for it, just went with our taste buds. I thought the two stellar ingredients needed very little enhancing except for a squeeze of lime and a dash of fish sauce. To make it look better in the blog, sprinkle some crushed peanuts, fried shallots and cilantro for garnishing...

Since started blogging, we have adapted to the use of measuring spoons and cups. So the ingredients we used were listed down and here goes :

Pomelo and prawn salad

Serve 4

2-3 cups pomelo flesh, in chunks

10-12 medium sized prawn

2-4 bird's eyes chilli, crushed

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

1 stalk lemongrass (only the white inner flesh), sliced finely - optional

1/2 kaffir leave, sliced finely - optional

a handful cilantro leaves, chopped

Dressing

2 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon fish sauce (or less, if need to cut down on salt)

1 teaspoon sugar

For garnishing:

2 tablespoon shallots crisps

2-3 tablespoon peanuts, toasted and coarsely crushed

cilantro aka coriander

Poach the prawn in boiling water for 1-2 minutes (depends on the size). Do not overcooked the prawns. Peel (but leave the tail intact) and gutted.

Mix all ingredients together with the dressing. Adjust to one's taste by balancing the lime juice and the fish sauce. Chilled. When ready to serve, dish into individual serving bowls and garnish. Serve as starters (or as light lunch, like I did). Try it, so easy and so delicious.

It turned out so lovely, just couldn't stop taking pictures (lucky this is a cold dish - it took me quite a while to wrap up the photo session!).

..... feast for the eyes

Jo

Green mango salad

mangoes at the backyard

Was wondering what to cook one evening when these mangoes hanging on the tree caught my eyes!! Recalled a Thai dish of mango salad and I have all the ingredients needed. Not going to wait for the mangoes to ripen I guess....

Mango salad with fish

Recipe: Green mango salad

Ingredients:
4-5 green mango, peeled and shredded
1-2 shallots, sliced finely
2-5 chilli padi (birdseye chillies), crushed
Sprigs of coriander, chopped roughly

1 tbsp. lime juice - optional (I added because our mangoes were not very sour)

2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. roasted unsalted peanuts (coarsely chopped) - to garnish

Method:

Mix all ingredient together and leave in the fridge to chill. Garnish with peanuts to serve (I forgot to garnish - that's why you can't find any peanuts in the pic!)

Served it with fish fillet-- deep-fried with simple coating of salt, pepper and cornflour.

Love, Jo

Simple salad and grilled fish

Simple salad

Shave some parmesan cheese on top, shred some left-over steamed chicken meat or sprinkle some lightly toasted pine nuts (or whatever nuts is available). All the above thrown in together with the salad will make a delicious complete meal.

parmigiano reggiano

the secret weapon - garlic soaked in olive oil

halved the olives

Literally, half of these ended up in Leanne's mouth before they could get 'dressed'.

With romaine lettuce, rocket, olives, red pepper, cucumber, tomatoes and whatever we find in the fridge.

Recipe: Salad dressing

Ingredients:

2 tbs. chopped garlic (best if soaked in olive oil for a day or two - K swear that is the secret to a good dressing)

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil (get the best you can- for salad, it makes a lot of difference)

3-4 tbs. red wine vinegar (can be substituted with balsamic vinegar, lemon juice or vinegar)
1 tbs. honey
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put all ingredients in a bottle, shake well and chill. Mix onto salad only when ready to serve.

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Simple grilled fish

Season fish with coarse sea salt, freshly ground pepper and olive oil. Place on a backing tray and grill in the preheated oven at 200C for 15 minutes. For this simple dish, the fish has got to be really fresh or you will get the 'fishy' taste. (Add some chopped garlic if fish not too fresh or frozen).

Squeeze some lemon juice on top and serve with salad. A healthy, no-carb meal!!

Love, Jo