Vegetable Curry for Two

Many young people now are living alone, but they still want to enjoy home cooked meals. I will now share an easy instant pot vegetable curry.

Ingredients:

2 small potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 carrot peeled and cut into the same size pieces as potatoes

4 oz. tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 cayote, peeled and remove seed cut as size of potatoes

Spicy ingredients:

1/2 tsp of each of the following: turmeric, coriander powder, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, and clove powder

1 tsp curry powder, salt, and pepper

1/4 inches ginger, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 shallot, peeled and chopped

Other ingredients:

1 cup vegetable broth

1 cup coconut milk

Thickening ingredients:

2 tbs cornstarch and 2 tbs water 

Oil for deep frying the tofu

2 tbs oil for stir-frying spicy ingredients

Chopped cilantro for garnishing

Serve with rice or noodles. 

Directions:

In a small pot, add enough oil to fry the tofu until golden brown. Remove.

All the vegetables cut in the same size so they can cook at the same time.

In an instant pot, turn on the function sauté (read the manual of the instant pot). Add the spicy ingredients and cook until fragrant (about 2 minutes).

Add vegetables, deep-fried tofu, and broth. Change the instant pot setting to the pressure cook function for 8 minutes (close the lid with the sealing, follow the instructions of the instant pot)

After the pressure cooking is done, release the valve and remove the lid.

Remove all the tofu and vegetables and place in bowl. 

Add coconut milk and change the function to broth.  Combine the cornstarch and water and mix well. Add to the instant pot. Bring it to a boil.

Return the vegetables and tofu back into the instant pot and simmer for 1 minute. Adjust the seasoning at this point to your taste.

Sprinkle chopped cilantro when serving.

Chickpea Omelet

Starting your day with a healthy breakfast will make you feel better all day.  This recipe will help you to achieve this habit. This omelet can also be served as lunch or dinner. 

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chickpea flour

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1 cup water

Avocado oil spray

Seasoning ingredients:

1 tsp each of onion powder and garlic powder 

1/4 tsp each of white pepper, salt, and paprika

1 tsp baking powder

2 green onions or chives, thinly sliced

Topping or filling ingredients:

3 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced

Others like cherry tomatoes or spinach 

Directions:

Combine the chickpea flour with the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl. Add 1 cup of water and stir until the batter is smooth.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat with avocado oil spray in the pan. Pour the batter into the pan, as if making pancakes.  If using mushrooms, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of the mushrooms into the batter for each omelet as it cooks. Flip the omelet. When the underside is browned, flip the omelet again, and cook the other side for a minute.

You can cook your choice of topping or filling for this recipe. Stirfry them before adding to the omelet while cooking. 

Hot sauce or jalapeno can be served on the side.

Tip : If the batter is thick add more water . 

Semi homemade Avocado Salsa

 This is easy semi homemade Avocado salsa. All the ingredients can be bought at Aldi. I like this German grocery store because the price is reasonable and most of the products are very good. 

Ingredients:

1 cups spicy Salsa ( at Aldi)

2 small ripe avocado

1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 jalapeno remove seeds and diced

1 lime juice

Directions:

Remove the seeds from avocado and peel them . Cut avocado in small pieces and put in a bowl

Add salsa, cilantro, jalapeno to the avocado and mix well 

Add lime juice and some salt and black pepper for your taste

That is it and enjoy with corn chip or any chips that you enjoy

Vegetarian Papaya Salad

Green papaya is the Vietnamese fruit that is used to make salad at most parties. People enjoy this salad with grilled beef.  The version for vegetarian papaya salad is both easy to make and stimulates the taste buds, so it is always a favorite in the vegetarian menu of many restaurants, eateries, and family kitchens. The vegan papaya salad is not too fussy in the way of processing, but the vegetarian papaya salad still has a strong attraction. This rustic, frugal dish helps to change the way people taste when choosing to enter the world of vegans in taste and is very good for health. This recipe is low fat, crispy, flavorful, and delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 of green papaya, shredded

1 carrot, shredded.

4 oz. tofu, sliced and deep fried

Vietnamese corn chips (banh phong tom chay)

Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup sugar 

3 hot chilies

2 tbs tamarin sauce or lemon juice

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs hoisin sauce

Others:

Fried leeks or Shallots

Mints and cilantro

Roasted peanuts 

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, combine papaya and carrot.

Cut fried tofu into strips and add to the papaya and carrot mixture.

Bring 1 cup of oil to boil and fry the corn chips! 

To make the sauce:

Use the mortar and pestal to mash the sugar and chilies until forming a paste. Add tamarin sauce and soy sauce.  You can use the vegan fish sauce instead of soy sauce. Mix well. Adjust the taste to your liking. 

Pour the dressing onto the papaya mixture and mix well.

Arrange the salad on a plate topped with roasted peanuts and mints.

 Tip: 

Do not add the dressing until you are ready to eat!

Chicken and Shrimp Toast

 Shrimp toast is often found in Chinese dim sum restaurants. This dish can be found in different cuisines as well, and the ingredients are a little different in each country.  I will introduce this recipe as the taste of Vietnamese people always makes this dish as an appetizer or as a breakfast meal . This recipe is quite simple to make at home.  There are many recipes to make this shrimp toast. For this one, I want to share the easiest recipe for those of you who are single, especially when there are a lot of uneaten sandwiches in the kitchen. Other ingredients are also very easy to find. This recipe is easy and perfect for appetizers.

Ingredients:

4 slices of sandwich bread

1 oz. of ground chicken or turkey

2 oz. shrimp, shell removed

Seasoning ingredients:

1 tsp seasoning soy sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp chopped cilantro

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1/4 tsp sugar 

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbs white sesame seeds

1 cup oil for frying

Directions:

Chop the shrimp well until smooth. Add ground chicken and egg with the rest of the seasoning and mix well.

Remove the crust from the sandwich slices and cut each of the sandwich slices in half.

Wet the sesame seeds in water for a few minutes. Then drain.

Spread the chicken and shrimp paste to cover the bread. Then dip in the wet sesame seeds.

In a medium nonstick or cast iron skillet, heat ⅛ inch of oil until shimmering. Fry the bread slices in the skillet, shrimp-side down first, until golden (about 2-3 minutes).

Use a spatula to carefully turn them over, and fry the other sides for about 1 minute. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately!

Tips: 

Wet the sesame seeds to prevent them from burning.

You can use equal shrimps and chicken as your taste likes.

You can add 2 tsp cornstarch instead of egg.

Stir-fried Chicken with Holy Basil

 Thai stir-fried chicken with holy basil is a popular dish in the Thai cuisine. However, stir-fried chicken with any kind of herbs are common dishes of Asian cuisines. The sauce to use for this stir-fried dish is simple with familiar ingredients, such as soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and dark soy sauce. For Thai and Vietnamese stir-fried we do not use oyster sauce. The holy basil is not easy to find in some parts of the world. Therefore, this dish the sweet Italian basil has the taste very close to the holy basil, but not the cinnamon Thai basil. The original version of this dish is spicy, but one can cut down the spicy taste by not using too many Thai hot chilli. The garlic is another flavor that not to be missing for this dish. Serving this dish is finalized with deep fried egg and steamed rice.    

Ingredients:

12 oz. chicken legs or breast 

1 cup basil leaves

Sauce ingredients:

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp dask soy sauced

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs sugar or honey

1 tsp oyster sauced

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tbs water

Other ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup thinly sliced white onions

1 Thai hot chili and 1 red chili 

2 green onions cut into 1 inch slices

2 tbs oil for cooking

Steamed rice

Directions:

Wash and clean the chicken. Cut chicken into small cubes. Some recipes use ground chicken.

In a small bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Wash the basil leaves.

In the small food processor, blend the garlic and both chilis into a paste.

In a wok or stir frying pan, add oil. Stir in the garlic and chili paste. Cook for 1 minute and add chicken.

Stir and cook until chicken is no longer pink. Add sliced white onions and sauce. Cook for 5 minutes.

Turn the heat off. Add basil and green onion. 

The chicken and basil is ready to serve.