~ Spicy Tuna Bread Salad

Adapted from:

Allrecipes

Description:
Crispy bread cubes tossed in spicy sweet tuna and celery dressing~

Ingredients:
1 green chilli, blanched and sliced
1/2 stick of celery
1 hardboiled egg, diced
1 tbsp miracle whip
1/2 can of tuna chunks in water, flaked (~70g)
Pepper
1 slice of wholewheat bread, cubed and toasted crisp

Spring onions (garnish), diced

Directions:

1) Combine chilli, celery, egg, miracle whip and pepper together.
2) Toss with toasted bread cubes and garnish with spring onions just before serving.

Remarks:
Nope this is not a typo and your eyes are fine, this IS a salad. I got pretty bored of tuna sandwiches so I'd decided to come up with something novel.. Er to think of it now, I feel as though I have sort of "plagiarized" the idea from caesar salad ops! Anyhow, it was a fulfilling lunch - left me feeling satiated and an awfully pungent tuna breath!

For crispier bread cubes, coat them in olive oil before toasting till they are brown, and only toss them with the tuna salad just before serving to prevent sogginess.

Wow, the lightings and environment do make a big difference when taking pictures. I'd taken these pictures in school just before I licked my lunchbox clean:

My strawberry mango ice blended juice from engineering canteen didn't satisfy my mango cravings very well due to the high proportion of ice crystals:

~ Picante Chicken Rice Burritos

Adapted from:

Allrecipes

Description:
One Mexican-inspired burrito - tortilla housing mildly spicy, cheesy, picante chicken rice~

Ingredients (makes 1 C):
1 tbsp oil
1/4 C chopped green onions
1/2 clove garlic, minced
150 g cooked and cubed chicken meat
1/2 C diced yellow capsicum
1 1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 1/4 C chicken broth
1 C picante sauce
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
8 slices processed cheese
8 8" wholemeal tortillas

Directions:
1) Making chicken mixture: In a large skillet over medium heat, saute green onion, garlic and yellow capsicum in oil until soft; stir in chicken, chili flakes, 1/4 C broth and picante sauce. Heat through and set aside.
2) Cooking rice: In a large saucepan, bring rice and remaining 2 1/4 cups broth to a boil. Reduce heat, cover pan and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 1/4 cups picante sauce, cover and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes or until rice is tender.
3) Preheat oven to 190 deg or preheat toaster.
4) Assembling burritos: Stir chicken mixture into rice. Place one slice of cheese onto each tortilla and spoon in 1/4 C filling, off center. Fold sides and ends over filling, and roll up.
5) Bake or toast each burrito at 190 deg for 5 min, or until heated through. Store extra burritos wrapped in aluminium foil in the fridge, and toast when needed.

Remarks:
No complaints from either Mum or Bro (I inferred he liked it from the way he answered my inquiry).. so it's good? =) Dad said too much rice though but seemed to enjoy it despite being full from dinner.

Personally I found that the cheese was too overpowering and it overwhelmed the chicken rice mixture. It felt as though my efforts in preparing the mixture went down the drain. Use only half a slice of cheese for each burrito please!

Do increase the chicken chunks as well, since I've reduced more than half of the chicken from the original recipe as I was afraid that it may be too much to finish. This was such a big mistake as the chicken cubes didn't shine in this dish as they were supposed to.

Overall, this is still pretty good, and it made me view burritos in a different light :) I'm so tempted to try black bean or sweet potato burritos!

~ Picante Sauce

Adapted from:

Ladies' Home Journal

Description:
Salsa to this mild chunky tangy sauce~

Ingredients (makes 1 C):
1/2 garlic clove, unpeeled
1 C diced tomatoes
1/3 C chopped onion
1/8 C distilled vinegar
1 tbsp chopped green chilli
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
1) Cook garlic in a small dry skillet over medium heat, turning, until charred and garlic is softened, 5-10 min. Peel and mash.
2) Bring garlic, tomatoes in puree, onion, vinegar, chilli, salt and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan, breaking up tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon. Reduce heat and simmer 7 to 10 min, stirring occasionally.

3) Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Add cilantro.

Remarks:
Why bother buying preservative- and sodium- ladened salsa when you can come up with one easily? It doesn't take much to dump fresh ingredients into a pot and simmer till they soften! Ops, I was too held up with cooking that I'd forgotten to take a picture of this tomato-based sauce! Refer to Picante Chicken Rice Burritos for one of its use! 

~ Blood Donation

I felt brave today, so I went for blood donation for the first time with K's support! I tried to remain strong but the tears just rolled down when the big fat needle was pierced into my skin though it was painless. Anyway, the nursed warned that I may have a bruise since the weaker side vein was used, but I was too proud to let myself give up after getting lanced for my iron test (14.3ng/dl, decent amount!) and insisted on donating blood. Now it seems to me that I have a clogged vein, not a haematoma!

~ Okonomiyaki (Ham and Veggies)

Adapted from:

Kevin

Description:
Fluffy pan-fried Japanese pancake bursting with the goodness of veggies and savoury ham!

Ingredients:
1/2 celery, diced

1/2 C cabbage, roughly chopped

1/2 C broccoli florets, chopped

1 tbsp mixed frozen vegetables

1 small carrot, grated

3 slices of ham, cut into squares

1 egg, whisked

1 C flour

3/4 C water

Miracle Whip

Oyster Sauce

Bonito flakes

Directions:
1) Combine all veggies and ham together in a large bowl.
2) Mix water, egg and flour together, and stir the batter into the veggies.

3) Heat oil in pan, and ladle in an appropriate amount of batter.

4) Cook the pancake on medium heat till brown on the underside, around 10-15 min. Do not flip the pancake or cover the saucepan.

5) Drizzle with miracle whip, oyster sauce and top with bonito flakes to serve.

Remarks:
"No sauce, no nice!" This was what Bro proclaimed after having 2 of these Japanese pancakes for lunch. I couldn't believe him as the pancakes smelled so good when they were in the pan, till I'd put one forkful into my mouth and true, it was rather bland =(. Most probably this is due tot he fact that I'd replaced dashi stock (which I do not possess and I wasn't in the right mind to think of using chicken stock as a substitution at that point of time) with water for the batter.

We do not keep stock of any mayonnaise or okonomiyaki sauce, so I've substituted them with miracle whip and oyster sauce, and this turned out surprisingly well. Bro liked the combination of sauces, and guess what, he didn't realise the multitude of veggies hidden within (what a great way to sneak some greens into food!). Psst, do not omit the cabbage as this is the secret to a good okonomiyaki!

This simple dish can be made spectacular by adding the things you like - bacon, cheese, spinach - be creative!