Mixed Salad

This is a really nice summer salad recipe that I made before and will be making it this summer too. I was so excited to get some micro greens and a mixed bag of greens. In this salad, the greens were the star of the meal.

Ingredients:
Any salad greens
Baby tomatoes
Feta Cheese
White onions (optional)
Micro-greens (can be substituted with sprouts too)

Dressing:
Balsamic Vinegar & Honey (if you like more tart add more vinegar then honey, if sweeter then more honey than vinegar, or just equal portions if you are not picky about things)
Salt (according to taste)

Simple Summer Salad

This salad was totally inspired by what was there at home. Its an easy way to get away from having an all carb lunch (rice, pasta etc). Its refreshing to replace heavy meals with light and fresh salads once in a while. I love adding fruits & nuts to salads.

Here is my simple recipe:

Ingredients:
Lettuce
Cucumber
Baby tomatoes
Pear
Strawberry
Any salad dressing of your choice
Chicken Breast cut into strips
Olive oil
Seasoning mix: salt, pepper, garlic powder, lemon/lime juice, mint (or any fresh/dry herb at hand. Mint goes really .. realllly ...well and I recommend using it when possible...no pressure! :P), chili powder (optional)

Note: The amount of ingredients (ex. lettuce vs. fruit vs protein etc) you decide to add to the salad is entirely up to you. That's the best part about making salads.

Method:
First marinate chicken with the seasoning mix.

After 10 mins or so.... fry the strips in the pan with a little olive oil. If the strips are cut thin, the chicken will cook very fast. For beginners, you can check the 'doneness' by splitting a strip in half and checking if the meat looks white. Stay away from pink. Here is what mine looked like after cooking:

While the chicken is cooking, cut the other veggies to your liking.

Here is what it looked like when put together. So pretty!

The beginning

First post for this blog!

 I’m pretty excited to start writing about my adventures (small and big) with food. For now my main aim is to get into a better shape, therefore most of the posts would be yummy home cooked meals.

I live with my parents, but I decided to cook simple food just for myself everyday (well mostly) that will fit best with my diet regimen. 

The recipes come mostly from what I learnt from mom and various recipes that I have come across online.

The following are the goals that I have set for myself:

1. Eat healthy (home cooked) meals and in between snacks
2. Have at least two cups of green tea
3. Have lots of water
4. Weigh myself weekly and document it.
5. Splurge for one day with whatever I like, for every 5Kgs (~11lbs) lost!
6. Work out, take care of body (good manicures/pedicures//etc) and mind (spiritual, intellectual)

So for today the following is what I had:

BREAKFAST

•  Cereal + low fat milk

SNACK

•   Two cups of Jasmine Green Tea  (mmmm  :) )

 LUNCH & DINNER

• Salad

Ingredients:

>lettuce (1cup, diced, bitesize)

>carrots (1/2 cup, cut into desired size)

>cucumber (1/4cup, cut into desired size)

>dressing: crunchy peanut butter (2tbsp), chili-garlic paste (1tbsp), rice wine vinegar (1.5tbsp), soy-sauce(1tbsp), sugar(1tsp)

Method:

Cut the first three ingredients into bite size pieces.

 Mix the dressing ingredients with a whisk. Pour the dressing into a small container

(please excuse my foot underneath the table...lol...I'm still getting used to taking pictures of food)

 

Pack the salad and the dressing together.

 

•  Rice (1/2 cup, cooked)

•  Tofu with carrots and onions

Ingredients:

1.       Tofu (~1/2 cup, cut bite size)

2.       Onion (~1/2 cup, cut longitudinally)

3.       Carrots (1/4 cup, sliced as desired)

4.       Soy sauce (2tbsp)

5.       Hoisin sauce (1tbsp)

6.       Honey (1tbsp)

7.       Rice vinegar (1tbsp)

8.       Sesame oil (1tsp)

9.       Cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp)

Method:

Mix ingredients 4-9 together, then combine with the rest of the ingredients

On a pan, heat some oil. 

Add in the mixture. Cook until the carrots are soft. If you like your tofu to be more firm and crispy, fry the tofu separate from the vegetables. And then mix both after they are cooked.

And after cooking for 15-20 minutes on medium-high heat:

Im pretty excited the for first day. I cooked and  bogged yay!

I decided to start with simple recipes so that it is not too tiring and dont cause me to run away from the resolution. For a college student with a part time job, i think this is a pretty good start. Hopefully later my food journey goes on to a more adventuorous side.

Also I will document the count down to my weight loss this week on.

Week 1 weight loss: 0 kgs (0 lbs)