Winter season in Singapore? How unlikely but its happening right now. Siingapore located right on the equator is facing winter like temperatures...a cool 23 deg C ! Its so unusual for a country in the tropics which faces average temperatures of 33-34 deg C. Singapore and the surrounding regions are in the Northeast monsoon period which sets around mid Nov and lasts till March which brings in all the rains and winds at this time of the year.

This cool climate has seen restaurants selling soups a higher patronage. Even at home, we are all craving for hot soups to warm our insides. Just the other day, my older daughter craved for tomato soup and not being a fan of the Campbell version which is laden with preservatives and tastes so artificial, she ventured into the kitchen to make her own home made version. It was fortunate we had in stock all the ingredients she needed.  

Ingredients (Serves 2)
2 tbsps EVOO
4 shallots, sliced thin
800 gm canned tomatoes 
1 cup water
1 tsp dried oregana
Salt and chilli flakes
2 large basil leaves, chopped fine
A swirl of cashew cream (see tip below)

Method 
1) Heat a saucepan and add in the olive oil. Fry the shallots for 3-5 mins. 

2) Now, add in the canned tomatoes and 1 cup water.

3) Now add in the dried oregano, salt and chilli flakes and let it come to a boil. Reduce the fire and simmer for 5 minutes.

4) Add in the basil leaves, simmer for 5 more minutes.

5) Blend the mix to a thick soupy tomato mix.

6) Garnish with a dash of pepper, more basil leaves and a swirl of cashew cream. Cashew cream can be made by soaking a handful of raw cashew nuts in hot water for 15 mins. Then blend to form a thick vegan cream. 
(Recipe No : 225)

I love rice. Period. If you ask me to go even two days without rice, I would go crazy. Its basically because I'm Asian and for all Asians, rice is a staple food. But the only catch is that too much rice, even brown rice, tends to lead to flabby arms, love handles, belly fat which doesn't seem to go away no matter how hard I tried. So, for the past 3 weeks I have reduced my rice intake to only 2-3 tbsps at every meal. Just so that I can trick my mind to believe that I am still eating rice! It seems to be working so far albeit rather slowly though I am often hungry. So I decided to try alternatives to rice firstly quinoa and after reading countless recipes on cauliflower rice, today I tried using that as an alternative.

My first reaction after I cooked Fried Cauliflower Rice? I went WOW! It was so delicious. And I mean out of the world delicious! I wished there and then that my travelling husband was there to try it. He would have been totalled blown away as well. Do you know what's the best part ? I could eat as much as I want!! They are no carbs here. Just the goodness of cauliflower, mushrooms and spinach! Next time I ought to add tofu to get my protein fix as well. I bought prepackaged cauliflower rice but you can easily make your own by processing cauliflower into little rice-like crumbs.

if you are amazed by the higher quality of the photos in this post as I am, I have to give credit to the camera feature of the latest Iphone 11... amazing HD quality! It even beat my DSLR camera!!

Ingredients (Serves 1-2)
1) 2 tbsps oil and another 2 tbsps oil
2) 5 cloves garlic, minced
3) 250gm white button mushrooms
4) A small piece of red capsicum sliced thin
5) 3 cups baby spinach
6) 300gm cauliflower rice
7) Salt, pepper and chilli flakes
8) 2 tbsps chopped scallions for garnish

Method
​1. First heat a medium sized pot and fry the garlic in 2 tbsps canola or any other veg oil.

2) Add in the salt, pepper and chilli flakes.

3) Add in the mushrooms and red capsicum strips at this juncture. Let them simmer till they are soft and cooked. 

4) Your next step would be to add in the spinach. Let the whole mix cook on low to medium heat till all the water evaporates. 

5) In the meantime, add 2 tbsps of canola oil into a skillet pan and fry the cauliflower crumbs for 5-10 minutes till its golden brown.  

6) Once all the water has evaporated from the mushroom mix and the cauliflower rice is cooked, pour the mushroom mix into the skillet pan.

7) Mix and stir fry the cauliflower rice and the vegetables. Once all mixed well, taste for seasonings and add accordingly.  

8) Serve warm with chopped scallions as garnish.