Thai Olive Fried Rice is another fried rice recipe that warrants very little time to prepare. Most of the ingredients will be easily available in your cupboards or refrigerator.  The only exception will be the preserved olives in brine available in Asian supermarkets. These olives are not the usual Italian olives you find on your pizzas. They are longer and pointed towards the ends. In Singapore, these olives are found in Golden Mile Complex (2nd floor Thai Supermarket - see pictures below ) where you can find a whole variety of Thai and Vietnamese food stuffs including fresh Asian greens!

Meatless Minestrone is one of my favourite soups. Packed with vegetables, pasta and beans, it is wholesome goodness in a bowl. And it is so easy to prepare, like most soups.
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​I frequent The Soup Spoon a chain of eatery here in Singapore. It has a range of delicious soups which can be devoured with salads, wraps and sandwiches. For the longest time,  I used to indulge in mostly their  Mushroom Stroganoff - a chunky thick creamy mushroom soup served in a a bread bowl.   Yearning for a change, my girls and I tried their Meatless Minestrone and then we wondered why didn't we try this before? It was so tangy and so full of goodness. Because it was quite thick in its tomato base, it quickly filled our hungry tummies.

​I attempted to recreate their Meatless Minestrone last week. It was warmly welcomed at home. Try it on a cold rainy evening...you'll go to sleep, your tummy filled with warm nourishing soup under your equally warm blanket. With a smile, for sure! What  a simple but perfect way to end an evening ...

​Ingredients (Serves 4-6)
2 cups of small shell pasta, boiled till al dente
​4 tbsp EVOO 
​1 yellow onion, diced
​2 tsp Italian seasoning
​1 tin of diced tomatoes, blended till smooth
1 cup of cubed carrot
1 cup of cubed zucchini
​1 cup of cubed capsicum, any colour
​1 cup of sliced celery
​1 cup of sliced leek
Salt
5 cups of vegetable stock

​1/2  cup of grated parmesan cheese
​1 tin of either kidney or cannelloni beans, drained  

Method

1. ​Heat the EVOO in a big soup pot and fry the yellow onion till translucent only, not brown. 
2. ​Then, add in the Italian seasoning followed by the blended diced tomatoes. Stir well.
3. ​This will then be followed by all the vegetables.
4. ​Pour in the vegetable stock and stir. Let it come to a boil and then lower the flame and let the soup simmer for 30 mins.
5. ​Check if all the vegetables are cooked and then slowly add in the beans and the boiled pasta.
6. ​Stir in the 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese into the pot and serve garnished with parsley leaves and sliced bread on the side. 

 

I do have a habit of trying to replicate the food that I have tasted outside and have liked. Months ago I chanced upon a certain mushroom bun in BreadTalk, a bakery chain in Singapore. I loved its meditarranean taste because of the Foccacia bun base and the wild mushrooms, garlic and cheese  topping just got me hooked! I was back again at BreadTalk for a few times after. So I attempted to make the same back home thinking 'Come on, how difficult can that be??' Little did I know I would be facing a few challenges thereafter -    I couldn't find Foccacia bread that particular week I was attempting to make this, so I had to settle for Gardenia's Meditarranean Panini Bread (See Picture Below). Then I didn't know what 'wild' mushrooms BreadTalk used, so I had to research and finally decided on Cremini mushrooms. No parsley too so I had to settle for chopped cilantro just for the pictures!! [Shhhh......:)]

Despite its challenges, it turned out quite tasty and very much like the original BreadTalk's Foccacia Wild Mushroom Bun. Come to think of it, Ciabatta slices will work as well too. As long the bread base has some herbs in them...

​Ingredients ( for 4 slices)
​2 Gardenia Meditarranean Panini Bread sliced into 2 each, yielding 4 slices
​4 tbsp EVOO
1 bulb of garlic blended with a little water to form a paste
4-5 Cremini mushrooms, washed and sliced
Salt
Pepper
​1/2 cup grated mozarella cheese 
​Parsley leaves for garnishing

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350deg F or 180 deg C.
2. ​Heat 2 tbsp EVOO in a pan and fry the garlic paste. Keep aside.
3. ​In the same pan, add another 2 tbsp of EVOO and fry the sliced Cremini mushrooms with a bit of salt. Keep aside.
4. On the sliced Panini bread, spread the fried garlic paste and then the sauteed mushrooms.
5. Top with more salt, pepper and the grated mozarella cheese.
6. Place on a flat baking tray and bake for 15 mins till warm and golden brown.
7. Garnish with parsley leaves and serve as a snack or with your favourite soup.  

I can't remember how I came up with this recipe. Truth be told, i made these slices months ago while making pasta soup for my family one evening. I had photographed these slices and completely forgotten about them. Now when I was going through my blog archived photos - I came  across a couple of these cheesy garlic slices. Makes a great company to winter warming soups now that winter is encroaching into our lives again.

I loathe cold weather having experienced harsh winter while living in Bluebell, Pennsylvania 2 years ago.. It once went as low as -17deg C (or 1 deg F) ! I remember stepping out to buy groceries that bright sunny day (yes it was sunny and -17deg C!!) with my husband Anand and how the chilling wind actually hurt our faces.  Had to switfly cover my entire face with my scarf only to leave my eyes uncovered. Anyway, do try baking these easy Cheesy Garlic Slices. They will surely complete your simple soup wholesomely.
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Ingredients (for 6 slices)

• ​6 country loaf slices (bigger than regular baguette)
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 cup of English parsley
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup grated mozzarella
• Extra parsley for garnish

​Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C or 350 deg F.
2. Blend the garlic cloves, oil, butter and English Parsley and then spread over the country loaf slices. Toast in the oven for 10 mins.
3. ​Remove from oven, top with the grated mozarella cheese and reurn back to the oven for another 10 mins till the top is golden brown..
4. ​Remove from oven and garnish with more parsley leaves.
5. Serve hot wit your favourite soup and salad.

I had a taste of these delicious cookies in my brother's place years ago. Seeing my enjoyment, my sis in law Jenny gave me a whole container to take back home. It didn't last very long at my place!! Using only a few ingredients, cornflake cookies are one of the easiest cookies to bake.

I hadn't celebrated Diwali the last two years due to my upheavel to America and back. So, this year I did the whole works - murukkus, sujee cookies, cornflake cookies, marble cakes and henna art on my hands and my girls', kolam and tea lights at the front door and shopping for simple Indian outfits for myself and girls...inviting family and friends for Diwali lunch and another lunch for my close friends. It was tiring no doubt but was quite fulfilling. I wanted my girls to have lovely lasting memories of Diwali. So, when they look back in years to come, wherever in the world they may be, they would remember Diwali at home fondly.

​Ingredients (to make aound 30-40 cookies)
200gm butter
150gm sugar (this amount of sugar is fine - its not too sweet)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
300 gm all purpose flour
30 gm cornflour
​60gm cornflakes, crushed coarsely

Method

1. ​Preheat the oven to 350deg F or 180 deg C.
2. ​Beat butter and sugar till pale and creamy , roughly 10 mins.
3. Add in vanilla essence.​
4. While still beating, add in the beaten eggs one at a time.
5. ​Mix both the flours and then fold them in.
6. ​Scoop out about 1 tsp of the cookie dough and roll into the crushed cornflakes. Do not mix the cornflakes into the dough! That's what I did first time round to save time and effort and the cornflakes became soft when the cookies were cooked. It didn't give a crunchy cookie effect. 
7. ​Transfer to a cookie baking tray and bake for 20-25 mins till golden brown.  

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