Wednesday 24 February 2016

table for one


Before I could even bake a batch of pineapple tarts, the Chinese lunar new year is already over!

This year, I was terribly late in preparing for the Chinese new year. I couldn't even complete my spring cleaning chores. Nevertheless, we didn't miss any of the family gatherings and feasting and were never short of any new year goodies.




As the festive season is over, now is the time to try to clear the leftover goodies! For the past two weeks, I have been helping myself to one mandarin orange a day, but there are still a dozen or more left in my fridge. There's also leftover bak kwa despite having been diligently helping myself to a slice or more every time when I feel like having some 'bak kwa sandwich'.



With some broccoli and cherry tomatoes, I pulled together the usual festive goodies into a one dish meal for my lunch...mandarin orange and broccoli salad.



It was a quick and easy meal with minimal cooking. I only need to chop the bak kwa into small bits before toasting it on a frying pan and blanch the broccoli. The unsalted cashew nuts which I bought from the dried goods stall in the market were already baked and ready to eat. They look plain and raw but trust me, they are really tasty and a much healthier option than those which are salted or fried.



I prepared a very light salad dressing just to bring the ingredients together. It was a simple mix of 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise (I used Kewpie Half Salad dressing which has 50% less fat than the usual kewpie mayo), 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar and half teaspoon of Sriracha chili sauce just to give it an extra kick. The dressing is so light that the mayonnaise was almost non existence.

I wouldn't say this is a healthy meal since it contained half a slice of calorie-laden bak kwa (3 slices of bak kwa is about 7 bowls of rice!!), but the other ingredients did help to balance up a little. The overall combo is to my liking...savoury, sweet, tangy and juicy...a very satisfying meal on its own.  I had this two days in a row, and I would certainly make it again even long after the festive season is over.


11 comments:

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Veronica said...

Healthy or not, I think I love this delicious salad of yours with all the goodies in it. Thanks for sharing.

PH said...

Your salad is so colorful and it looks very delicious!

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krishna said...

very good and healthy salad..

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Faith said...

Hi, I was looking through your blog after doing a search for reviews on Bosch oven. I'm considering getting the one u use. Have u written a review on that oven? I can't the blog post, if u have written any review on it. How do u find the oven? Understand that the features are basic. But u manage to come up with so much yummy food with it. Impressive!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Faith, I didn't manage to do a review. So far my oven is working well (for me) as I only need the very basic functions. The heating is even (no hotspots) and the oven temperature is stable. Are you looking at any special features? Let me know if you have any specific questions, I can provide my feedback on the specific areas.

Unknown said...

good post

Hind's Feet said...

Thanks for replying. I have a few qns:
1) The temperature knob is manual. Is it hard to adjust to your desired temperature? Or do u need an oven thermometer to help u achieve the exact temp u need?

2) It comes with 1 grid & 1 pan. When u want to bake 2 layers, can it still be done?

3) It doesn't come with a roasting rack. So u get your own rack & put it on the pan? I've not done roasting in my current counter top oven. So I'm not sure how it's done.

4) After roasting a chicken, was it hard to clean the oven? It doesn't come with self cleaning function. So I'm wondering if the cleaning is massive.

Thank u so much.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Hind's Feet,
1. I have no issue with the manual knob. I use an oven thermometer to make sure that the oven is preheated to the correct temperature before I put in the bakes. I will still use a thermometer even if the oven comes with a digital temperature control.

2. The pan can be used as a baking tray. For 2 layers, I will use a baking tray and set it on the grid/rack, and the other tray I will use the pan.

3. I use a roasting pan which comes with a rack. Sometimes I don't use the rack, just place the chicken on a bed of potatoes/carrots/sweet potatoes which works like a rack.

4. There will be oil stains on the oven walls. I clean with dish detergent but there are still stubborn stains. I got use to the stains after a while ;) Fortunately, the walls are black, so stains not so visible. Nowadays, I will put some water in the roasting pan as I learned that it will help to reduce oil splatter. You can google to read about tips on roasting.

hope this helps :)


Hind's Feet said...

Hi, yes the information is very helpful. Thank u so much. :-)