Along with delicious pizzas and pasta dishes, Minestrone Soup originated in Italy. It can be either thin or a thick soup made with vegetables often with the addition of pasta or rice (gluten free), sometimes both. Common ingredients of Minestrone Soup are onions, celery, carrots, zucchini and stock.   You can substitute with gluten free pasta, sweet potato or quinoa for the carbs.

Why is it called 'minestrone'? Minestrone means 'big soup' in Italian thanks to the multitude of vegetables thrown in. Minestrone is made differently across Italy depending on available ingredients and seasons.  It is a very healthy soup that will keep you full for a long time. For my version, I have added kidney beans as well for protein to keep us full longer. Toast a few vegan garlic bread and you have a complete meal which will be devoured in minutes!

Ingredients (Serves 2 generous portions)

1. I cup cooked rice ( if using pasta, 1 cup large elbow pasta, cooked till al dente)
2. 2  tbsps EVOO and 1 tbsp vegan coconut butter
3.  1/2 (half) yellow onion, minced
4. 5 garlic cloves, minced
5. 1/2 (half) small carrot, peeled and sliced thin
6. 1/3 (one third) large zucchini, sliced into small cubes
7. 1 tsp chilli flakes
8. 1 tsp dried pasta herbs
9. 2cups of marinara pasta sauce
10. 750 ml vegetable stock
11. 1/2 (half a can of kidney beans)
12. 6 Basil leaves, chopped fine
13. Salt per preference

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get hold of a delicious vegan cake? As vegan cakes lack eggs, butter and milk to create that soft pillowy texture of the regular cakes, finding one which is delicious and soft is not easy. Many a times, I have bought vegan cakes and brownies but only to get home to a dry crumbly one which is not worthy of its name at all. So I decided to attempt to make one of my own albeit trepiditiously. I'm more of a cook not so much of a baker.

I came across this following recipe in veggie desserts and it turned out quite good. My vegan girls loved it and it didn't last long in the fridge! The ganache was totally lick-worthy but I felt the cake itself could use more sugar and moisture as it was a little dry. The following recipe yieds a 6x3 inch high cake which can be cut into 10 reasonably sized slices. 

Ingredients 
Cake Batter 
300ml (1 and 1/4 cups) unsweeteened dairy free milk - soy milk, almond milk)
1 tbsp lemon juice 
150 gm (2/3 cup) vegan butter or margarine
3 tbsp golden syrup/maple syrup
2 tsp instant coffee granules

2 and 1/4 cups (275gm) plain flour
1 cup ( 225gm) caster sugar
4 tbsps unsweetened cocoa
2tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Chocolate Ganache
1/3 cup (75gm) vegan butter 
1 and 2/3 cups icing sugar
4 tbsps unsweetened cocoa 
2 tbsps water 

Method
1) First, preheat the oven to 180 deg C or 350 F. Lightly grease 2 round baking pans of 6x3 dimensions.
2) Get a small bowl and mix the lemon juice into the dairy free milk. Set aside to curdle into buttermilk consistency.   

3) Next, get a small pot and melt the vegan butter on low heat. Add the coffee granules and golden syrup. Stir till mixed well, switch off fire and let it cool 

4) Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl.

5) Now, mix in the coffee butter mixture and the curdled dairy free milk into this sieved flour mix. Mix well but don't over mix. 

6) Your batter should be of slightly thick consistency.  

7) Pour the batter into the 2 prepared baking tins and bake in the oven for 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely. 

8) For the ganache, whisk all the ingredients in a bowl.

9) Slice off the top layer of one of the cakes so that the ganache can be applied evenly onto a flat cake. Start icing the top of the sliced cake. Sandwich with the other cake and spread the icing over the top of the cake. Freeze it for 30 mins to an hour to set the ganache.  

10) Serve with a hot cup of plain tea to enjoy it to the fullest.

Baby Eggplants in Tangy Tomato Gravy was a hit in my Diwali gatherings in Oct and Nov last year. It is my mom's quintessential dish and I must say it is quite a flavourful one After receiving several requests for her recipe, I decided to post it here. I have tried to make it numerous times but without success. Today's version, however, seemed close to what my mom churns out for us whenever we request for our gatherings and celebrations. Choose baby eggplants as they can be fried whole and they present well but other types of eggplants can also be used as well. If you are using other types of eggplants, please note that they should be cut into 2 inches. I have used coconut milk to give the gravy its thickness and also to keep it vegan but you can substitute with cooking cream.

Ingredients (serves 4 as a side dish)
500gm baby eggplants
​2bsp canola oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 large tomato, cut into medium sized chunks
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tsp chilli powder

Tamarind Tomato Mix
1 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 2 cups of water
1 tsp coriander powder
3/4 (three quarters ) tsp cumin powder
1/2 (half) tsp black pepper powder
1/2 (half) tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt (or to your preference)
1 tsp brown sugar

2 tbsps coconut milk
coriander leaves for garnishing
​

Method
1) Wash and cut the eggplants but not all the way through so it still remains intact at the stem. Soak in salted water for 10 mins. Then, drain away and rinse twice in plain water. This is to remove any bitterness present in the eggplants.

2) Prepare the tamarind tomato mix while the egglants are soaking. Dissolve 1 tsp of tamarind paste in 2 cups of water. Throw away any seeds and skin residue and only keep the tamarind solution. In this solution, add all the masala powders, tomato chunks, salt and sugar.  

3) Deep fry the eggplants. This is not very healthy but I'm posting a very authentic recipe to show how it was orginally done. Please do try shallow frying or airfrying. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside. 

4) Take a skillet or a flat pan and heat 2 tbsp canola oil. Fry the onion and curry leaves for 2-3 minutes. Add in 1 tsp chilli powder and be careful it doesn't burn. 

5) At this point, add in the tamarind tomato mix and let the mix boil for 5- 10mins till the liquid is half in quantity.

6) Once the liquid has reduced in quantity, add in 2 tbsps coconut milk and stir. Followed by the fried eggplants. Its important you don't stir the eggplants too much as we are keeping them whole. Stirring them too much will dissolve them into the gravy.

7) Serve warm garnished with coriander leaves. Goes particularly well with Vegetable Korma and plain basmati rice.

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.