Okay, I admit the title maybe slightly misleading — what I really mean to say is that the hands-on time for making this simple salmon dish will only take seconds, but the whole cooking time will actually take about 8 – 10 minutes (depending on the thickness of the salmon steaks).

This lazy method requires 3 steps:

• First, clean the salmon steak, pat dry with a paper towel and place onto a greased baking sheet. [This should take no more than 30 seconds.]
• Second, place the baking sheet on the top rack of the broiler and broil for 8 – 10 minutes, until desired doneness, turning over the fish once.
• Meanwhile, whip up a quick dressing to pour over the salmon once it is ready. Or, simply serve the dressing on the side as a dip. For a quick and tasty dressing that takes no more than 10 seconds to put together, try my all-time favourite combination of mayonnaise and wasabi paste (start off with equal parts of each and adding in more wasabi for a stronger taste or more mayo to tone it down). Another great variation is soy sauce with wasabi paste (as shown in the picture above).

This recipe is nothing fancy, but it promises great flavour each and every time. I use the simplest method to cook the salmon to showcase its flavour, and complement it with a quick dressing to bring the dish together. By using a little bit of creativity, you can create a new dressing every time, and alter the whole the flavour profile and give you a whole new salmon dish each time.

The little effort required to prepare the fish and the endless flavour combination possibilities make this method a winner in my books, and that is why I never get tired of having salmon for dinner!

The most unique part of this salad was its dressing. It uses a great deal of soy sauce as its base and only contains a splash of rice vinegar and sesame oil to round out the flavours. At first I imagined the dressing may be too salty but after I drizzled it onto the eggplant slices, the flavour was not overpoweringly salty at all. In fact, the dressing was full of umami flavour with a nice ting from the rice vinegar and an enticing aroma from the sesame oil.

This salad took little effort to put together, yet it was a fabulous way to showcase the flavour and texture of the eggplant. Although the dish that I made did not turn out as pretty as the picture I saw in the book, I was still quite pleased with the final outcome. I will definitely be making this dish again!

Japanese Eggplant and Spring Onion Salad

Serves 2.

Adapted from Basic Japanese Cooking.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium Asian eggplants, sliced into thin strips (I’ve also tried this with baby eggplants, works equally well)
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger (use a microplane zester, works wonderfully)
• 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons bonito flakes (I didn’t have any so I added in a pinch of bonito powder to add flavour)
• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

• Arrange the eggplant slices on a plate in a steamer over a pot of simmering water. Cover and steam for 10 minutes, or until the slices have softened. Remove from pot and drain any water that has collected inside the plate. Let cool.
• In a large bowl, mix together the ginger, soy sauce, mirin, and sake. Heat the mixture gently to cook off the alcohol (either heating the mixture in a saucepan or microwave it for 15 – 20 seconds). Remove from heat (or take it out from the microwave) and stir in the rice vinegar, sesame oil and sugar. Stir the mixture well to dissolve the sugar. (I added in a pinch of bonito powder as well)
• Pour the dressing over the eggplant slices. Top with bonito flakes (if using) and spring onion slices. Serve immediately.

Baked egg, rice and meatloaf…you must be wondering how these three components can fit together right? Oh, let me tell you just how well they complement each other to create a seriously delicious dish!

Ever since I learned the technique of making baked eggs from Mark Bittman’s Minimalist video, I have been using this method of preparing eggs much more frequently. In fact, baked eggs have become one of my top choices for breakfast, usually along with whole grain toast or oatmeal to complete my power breakfast combination.

But lately, I’ve been thinking since baked eggs are incredibly easy to make, and tastes so great, plus super healthy for me, why not include it in the other two meals as well!? So to explore that idea, I made a tomato rice with meatloaf, and cracking an egg over top and finishing off the dish by broiling it slightly in the toaster oven to cook the egg. The resulting dish turned out fabulous abd well exceeded my expectations!

I used jarred pasta sauce in this recipe, which lacked a bit of a flavour punch so I jazzed it up with some ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. If you do not have Japanese mayonnaise, feel free to omit it from the recipe. I usually like to add a bit of mayo when I do a fried rice dish to add flavour and just out of habit, I added here to boost the overall flavour.

Baked Tomato Rice with Meatloaf and Egg

Serves 2 hungry people.

Ingredients:

• 3oz leftover meatloaf (can easily substitute with meatballs or ground beef), broken up into small chunks
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup pasta sauce (feel free to use homemade tomato sauce)
• 1.5 cup cooked rice, break up any large chunks
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon Japanese mayonnaise, optional
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

• In a large saute pan, heat one teaspoon of olive oil on medium heat. Add shallot and garlic, saute until fragrant. Add in the meatloaf bits and mix well with the aromatics. Stir in the pasta sauce, and bring to a boil. Taste the sauce to see if it needs seasoning – if so, add in the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Pour half of the sauce into a bowl and reserve for later use.
• In the same saute pan (still with half of the sauce), pour in the rice and the mayonnaise and stir well to ensure that each grain of rice is well coated with the dressing. Turn heat to low and let the rice warm through.
• Pour the tomato rice into the baking dish, and distribute the reserved dressing evenly over the top.
• Press down gently on the center and crack the eggs into the indentation. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of milk (or cream) over each egg yolk (helps to prevent the surface from getting too dry during broiling).
• Place the baking dish into the oven and broil until egg whites are no longer translucent and the egg yolks are barely jiggles, about 5 – 7 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Corn. This one word that pretty much sums up what I’ve been obsessed with lately. For the month of July, I was crazy over all the sweet berries available. But this month, as the local corn are getting shipped into my local grocery stores by the truckload, I’m going nuts over fresh corn! As BC local corn is just starting to pop up in the grocery stores in my neighbourhood and I’ve been grabbing every opportunity I can to pick up fresh corn each day and savour the fresh sweet corn.

Corn tastes great when they’re fresh (aka best consumed on the day that you buy them). I love them in every way. The simplest way to prepare corn is to remove the peelings and the sulk, and just microwave it for 4 – 5 minutes. To jazz up the flavours, sometimes I would rub on some homemade garlic butter, and broil it in my toaster oven for a few minutes (better to grill it for a few minutes, but I don’t have a BBQ grill at home, so I resort to my trusty little toaster oven instead).

With local corn in abundance, I am eager to indulge in different recipes that showcase the sweet flavours of fresh corn.  So today, I tried out Kayotic Kitchen’s recipe for a very flavourful corn dish with an exotic twist. It was really good, like a gourmet version of buttered corn. Highly recommended!

The recipe is really easy. By dressing up  fresh corn with some aromatics and spices, you instantly transfer the simple corn into an addictive, flavourful and healthy vegetarian side dish that pairs well with any form of dinner. I suggest using fresh corn since it is the star of the recipe and you will notice a great difference in flavour and texture.

Curried Corn

Adapted from Kayotic Kithcen’s Corn with a Twist

• 2 large ears corn, kernels removed (about 2 cups)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp curry powder (more if you really want a stronger curry flavour)
• 1/4 cup coconut milk, with 1/3 tsp cornstarch stirred in
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil (or butter if you like)
• A small pinch of cilantro
• Salt and pepper, to taste

• In a large saute pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add in diced onion and garlic clove and saute until onion has softened. Sprinkle in the curry powder and saute until you can smell the fragrant of the garlic clove and curry powder.
• Add corn kernels, tomatoes and stir well. Pour in coconut milk and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes or so, until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the corn.
• Before serving, stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot as a side dish or let cool and serve it as a salad at room temperature – either way, it’s absolutely delicious, a must try!

Do you like corn? What’s your favourite way to enjoy corn?

Supercharge your day with a power breakfast!

So, what is a power breakfast? It is a meal that has a good balance of lean protein and complex carbohydrates. Together this combination will keep you full longer and provide long-lasting energy needed to help you stay focused and curb any snack cravings that you may have between meals.

When I say choose complex carbohydrates, what I really mean is just stay away from the refined carbs, the white stuff: white flour, white bread, write rice. Instead, try to stick to whole grain options. They provide a lot more nutrients (namely the B vitamins and fiber) than refined carbohydrates and offer much more flavour as well. Some of my favourite whole grain choices include oatmeal, brown rice, barley, whole grain whole wheat bread and whole wheat pasta…and the list can go on and on!

Any protein consumed with carbs will slow down the digestion process and help keep you fuller. But personally, I prefer lean protein over fatty ones because I don’t like the weighed-down feeling that I get after consuming fatty meat. However, that doesn’t mean my only choices are chicken breast and fish! In fact, I actually enjoy a wide variety of lean protein options at breakfast, which of many are plant-based, such as nuts, beans and tofu. I especially enjoy noshing on nuts since they will provide a good dose of healthy fats.

A few of my personal favourite power breakfast combinations are:

• Sweet oatmeal with dried fruits, nut butter or chopped nuts
• Savory oatmeal with egg and salsa
• Bean salad with chewy barley or quinoa or wheatberry
• Toast with egg, or canned sardines and avocado
• Warm milk with a handful of nuts (perfect for when I’m in a hurry or when I’m just feeling lazy)

Making a power breakfast is really quick, simple and tasty. Plus, it can keep you full and focused until the next meal comes around. So, try some of these options today and nourish your body with a power breakfast!

Do you have a favourite breakfast option that fits the power breakfast definition? Let me know!

Use cheese with sharp flavour. By substituting in sharp cheese, for example sharp cheddar, you will need smaller portions to make a flavourful sauce. You can experiment with different combinations of cheeses to achieve the ideal flavour balance — extra-sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, or pepper-jack are good choices.

Switch to whole-grain pasta. Regular white pasta is made from refined grains that offer minimal nutrients. Make the switch to whole grain pasta for a huge boost in fiber and nutrients. Especially with a creamy cheese sauce, you will not even notice the difference since the strong cheese flavour will mask the earthy, nutty flavour of the whole grain pasta.

Instead of using cream, substitute in lower-fat milk. Any lower-fat milk will work, but I would highly recommend buttermilk. Buttermilk is naturally very low in fat but it retains a very creamy consistency. Adding in part-skim milk, such as 2% or skim, will compromise the richness of the sauce, but when you use buttermilk, creamy consistency will be retained. Plus, the tangy taste from the buttermilk will actually bring out the cheese flavour even more!

Add goodies to the cheese sauce. There are many ingredients you can add to enhance the dish’s nutritional profile and jazz up its flavour at the same time. Pureed cauliflower makes a great secret ingredient in your cheese sauce; it will make the sauce thicker and more creamy without adding in a huge amount of calories. Adding beans will bulk up the dish and add in a high-protein, high-fiber nutritional punch. Another yummy addition would be vegetables. Try tossing in a good handful of colourful vegetables, such as broccoli, red bell peppers, or mushrooms to make the dish more appetizing (plus, this will boost your veggie intake for the day!).

These four simple changes will trim unnecessary calories from the traditional macaroni and cheese without cutting out the signature creaminess and cheesiness. Next time when you make mac and cheese, try to incorporate these substitutions to slim down your dish and turn it into a lighter, healthier and smarter food option!

Snacks are important to me. Having small snacks throughout the day helps to keep my hunger pangs in check and maintain my energy level up to  stay focused and alert. However, not all snacks are created equal. Some snack will provide the energy-boosting, hunger-fending benefits, while other less nourishing options will tend to leave me tired and feeling sluggish, which makes me more vulnerable to making more poor choices for the remainder of the day. So, knowing how to choose snacks sensibly can make or break my healthy eating resolutions. Fortunately, through trial and error, I  have discovered different wholesome and scrumptious snacks options and here are my top 5 picks:

Yogurt + Fresh Fruits

The combination of tart yogurt with sweet fruits can be a very refreshing and satisfying treat. I enjoy adding in a drizzle of honey, and a layer of granola to create a delicious, fresh fruit parfait! Often I also throw in a handful of frozen mixed berries to mimic frozen yogurt, but you can add in any fruits you like, such as apples, bananas, or tropical fruits. When choosing yogurt, stick to low-fat, plain yogurt since flavoured kinds often have a lot of added sugar. If you find the sour taste of plain yogurt a little too overwhelming, you can stir in a spoonful of fruit jam for a boost in flavour and sweetness.

Crackers + Cheese

Cheese with crackers is a well-balanced snack. Carbohydrates will provide the energy needed to get you through the rest of the day and the protein from the cheese will slow down digestion and help keep you fuller for longer. Try buying whole wheat crackers for a chewy and nutty flavour. To make this even more interesting, try buying more flavourful cheese, such as sharp Cheddar, or go for Brie cheese for a creamier mouthfeel, and experiment with Blue cheese for an sharp, intense experience!

Fruits & Vegetables + Dip

Fruits and vegetables may sound like an unflattering snack if you have them plain. But when you pair them with a dip, the combination becomes a lot more exciting. Pairing veggies with a low-fat Caesar salad dressing is the classic combination. To get a taste of Middle Eastern flavour, try dipping vegetables in hummus. Or, if you’re looking for a spicy kick, go for a spicy bean dip. Experiment with different vegetables and different dips to discover your favourite combo. Dips don’t always have to go with chips, try them with vegetables for an extra nutritional boost in antioxidants, fiber and other good-for-you nutrients.

Cereal + Nuts + Dried fruits

Preparing your own trail mix at home can be very easy — simply toss together your favourite dry cereal with a handful of nuts and/or dried fruits. Nuts are packed with healthy fats, protein and fiber. Adding in some dried fruits will add sweetness and introduce more fruits into your diet. Pack in some dry cereal to add crunchiness and bulk up the trail mix. Simply have trail mix on its own as a finger snack or try using it as a topping for your yogurt.

Popcorn

Popcorn can be a very healthy option depending on what topping you put on it (hold the butter!). To get the whole grain goodness, skip out on the microwavable popcorn and prepare your own. Simply put in a quarter cup of popping corn into a 1L size Tupperware container and place a large microwave cover on top (ideally use a cover with air vents to let steam escape). Microwave it in the same manner as you would with microwavable popcorn. Once the popcorn is ready, you can spray it with cooking spray or drizzle lightly with butter and add a healthy pinch of salt and pepper to flavour it up. Making your own popcorn is simple, fun, fresh and cheap — don’t ever spend your dollars buying those overpriced bags of microwave popcorn anymore!

I always carry one or two healthy snacks in my bag so whenever I hear my stomach growl, I am well prepared to treat myself to a delicious and healthy snack. By doing so, I will avoid getting too hungry and save myself from mindlessly wandering toward vending machines, coffee shops or the junk food aisles in grocery stores. Keep a few of these tasty and nutritious snacks in your bag and around your office, and you’ll quickly discover that eating healthy during your coffee breaks can be a breeze!