Tomato Chokha and Cassava

Tomato Chokha  (Fire Roasted Tomatoes)

Well it's a week since my last post and I hope you are trying out my recipes. I wanted to share with you another wonderful trini dish known as Tomato chokha. This is versatile since it can be accompanied with Roti, Organic Pasta  or even boiled provision e.g. Cassava (Yuca).

Nutritional benefits of Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a rich source of vitamins A and C and folic acid. Tomatoes contain a wide array of beneficial nutrients and antioxidants, including alpha-lipoic acid, lycopene, choline, folic acid, beta-carotene and lutein.

For more health benefits go to Benefits of Tomatoes.

Tomato chokha is relatively easy to prepare. Like the baigan chokha preparation it may be a bit messy so you can use gloves. For this you will need the following.

INGREDIENTS  

• 1 lb garden ripe tomatoes

• Bird peppers/chillies, chopped
• 1 pimento chopped
• 3 Cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 leaves chadon-beni (bandanya) chopped
• 1 tsp salt

METHOD

• Wash tomatoes and dry individually.
• Place on grill pan over open flame.
• When dark spots appear, turn and roast until done as seen in clip below.

• Cool , remove skin and place in bowl. 
• Add salt, pepper, chadon beni and crushed garlic. It should look like this.

• Using a potato masher, crush tomatoes until well blended. For a smoother consistency you may use a hand whisk.

• Taste adjusting the salt and pepper as required and your end product should look like this.

I boiled some cassava to accompany this  tomato chokha. These flavours marry well and are simply exotic!

Hope you try this healthy dish soon.

Remember to cook with love and good vibes.

Tofu Nuggets

Tofu Nuggets

Tofu, or bean curd, is a popular food derived from soya. It is made by curdling fresh soya milk, pressing it into a solid block and then cooling it – in much the same way that traditional dairy cheese is made by curdling and solidifying milk. The liquid (whey) is discarded, and the curds are pressed to form a cohesive bond. A staple ingredient in Thai and Chinese  cookery, it can be cooked in different ways to change its texture from smooth and soft to crisp and crunchy.

Origins

Like many soya foods, tofu originated in China. Legend has it that it was discovered about 2000 years ago by a Chinese cook who accidentally curdled soy milk when he added nigari seaweed. Introduced into Japan in the eighth century, tofu was originally called okabe. Its modern name did not come into use until 1400. By the 1960s, interest in healthy eating brought tofu to Western nations. Since that time, countless research has demonstrated the many benefits that soya and tofu can provide.

Nutritional Highlights

Tofu is a good source of protein and contains all eight essential amino acids. It is also an excellent source of iron and calcium and the minerals manganese, selenium and phosphorous. In addition, tofu is a good source of magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1.

Tofu is an excellent food from a nutritional and health perspective. It is thought to provide the same sort of protection against cancer and heart disease as soya beans. Soya protein (from which tofu is derived) is believed to help lower levels of bad cholesterol (LDL). For additional health benefits of tofu please visit the following link: 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/278340.php

If you are a vegetarian or vegan, soya based foods like tofu can be an invaluable part of your diet. One of my favourite ways to make tofu is in the form of nuggets and this is very simple.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 block of tofu (cubed)
• 1 pkt Sincere's frying batter
• vegetarian chinese seasoning (no MSG)
• canola oil for frying
• hot sesame oil

METHOD

• To the cubed tofu sprinkle some chinese seasoning then add the frying batter powder.
• Add a few drops of water to bind the batter to the surface of the tofu. Roll the tofu in this until fully coated
  
• Add a few drops of hot sesame oil for added flavour
  
• Heat frying pan with canola oil
• Place tofu chunks into pan and fry until golden brown

And there you have it ...crunchy, tasty tofu nuggets which everyone can enjoy.

These nuggets can accompany almost any meal.

Remember to cook with love and good vibes.

Spinach

Spinach

Brief History

Spinach, made popular by Popeye the Sailor Man, is believed to be of Persian origin. By the 12th century, it spread across Europe and became a desirable leafy green known for good health; a reputation that stands firm to this day. The name Florentine is often used to describe dishes containing spinach (and a creamy sauce). It is thought that this name dates back to the 16th century and the Italian wife of France's Henry II; Catherine de Medici. The unverified tale states that Catherine introduced spinach to the Court of France and to honour her Italian heritage, she then decided to call any dish containing spinach Florentine.

Spinach belongs to the chenopodiaceae family (also known as goosefoot), a family of nutritional powerhouses including beets, chard and quinoa. It shares a similar taste profile with these two other vegetables; the bitterness of beet greens and the slightly salty flavour of chard. One of the varieties available in Trinidad is shown below. This is what I used.

Nutritional Highlights

Spinach is available all year round and is well known for its nutritional qualities. It has always been regarded as a plant with remarkable abilities to restore energy, increase vitality and improve the quality of the blood. There are sound reasons why spinach would produce such results, primarily the fact that it is rich in iron. Iron plays a central role in the function of red blood cells which help in transporting oxygen around the body, in energy production and DNA synthesis. Spinach is also an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C and folic acid as well as being a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2. Vitamin K is important for maintaining bone health and it is difficult to find vegetables richer in vitamin K than spinach. Others include kale broccoli and green cabbage.

A 100g serving provides:
23 calories	3g protein	0g fat	4g carbohydrates	2g fibre

The dark green colour of spinach leaves they contain high levels of chlorophyll and healtho promoting carotenoids ( beta carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin). These phyto chemicals have anti-flammatory and anti-cancerous properties and are especially important for healthy eye-sight, helping to prevent macular degeneration and cataracts.

Spinach has good levels of iron, but not quite as much as originally believed as rumour has it researchers placed the decimal point in the wrong place! It is important to note that there are two forms of dietary iron: 'haem' iron and 'non haem' iron. Haem iron is found in animal products and is the most efficiently absorbed form of iron. Non haem iron is found in plant foods (such as spinach) and is a little harder for the body to absorb in comparison. However vegetarians, those who experience iron-deficiency aneamia and those who are pregnant are encouraged to include green leafy vegetables such as spinach as part of a balanced diet.

Having reviewed the health benefits of spinach it is time to show you how i made this lovely dish.

INGREDIENTS

• Washed Spinach leaves (be generous because it shrinks down very quickly due to high water content)
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1 pimento, chopped
• 1 celery, chopped
• Pinch of salt
• coconut oil

METHOD

• Heat pot
• Add a few drops coconut oil
• Add onion, garlic, tomato, celery and pimento then stir.
• Add spinach leaves and pinch of salt.
• Stir again, cover and leave to simmer on a very low heat. 

         Spinach cooks very quickly in its own juices.

   The end product should look like this.

   This spinach compliments sada roti very well. Enjoy!

2 Minute Veggie Soup (Funsee Soup)

2 Minute Veggie Soup (Funsee Soup)

Well after the spicy curry for lunch yesterday I decided to tone it down a bit for dinner with a delicious vegetable soup I think most of you will like.

I prepared the veggies ahead of time (while making lunch) and kept them in the fridge for later. These included carrots, christophine, poku mushrooms, sweet pepper, broccoli, and patchoi leaves. A bundle of the following noodles were used.

  

This soup is real quick and easy to make.
Basically the equation is:

Boiling Water       +     



=

Afterwards I added some vegetarian oyster sauce and sesame oil. I then garnished with chopped chives and let it stand for a minute.
This soup is light , healthy and great for dinner time.

Enjoy!

Remember to cook with love and good vibes.

Stir Fried Caraillee

Well it's dinner time again and found 2 caraillees on the kitchen counter just staring back at me. This bitter melon (also known as bitter gourd) resembles a cucumber but with ugly gourd like bumps on  the entire surface.

As the name implies, this vegetable is a melon which is bitter to the taste. There are actually two varieties of caraillee: One grows to approximately 20 cm long, is oblong and pale green in colour. The other is the smaller variety, which is less than 10 cm long, oval and has a dark green hue.

Both types contain seeds that are white when unripe and turn red when ripe. The vegetable turns reddish-orange when ripe and increases in bitterness and is very healthy.

http://healthybodydaily.com/dr-oz/dr-oz-5-best-cures-from-around-the-world/

Quick Nutritional Facts About Caraillee

• Very low in calories
• Dense with precious nutrients
• Excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, B3, C, magnesium, folate, zinc, phosphorous, manganese, high fibre content
• Rich in iron
• Contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli
• Contains twice the calcium as spinach
• Contains twice the potassium as banana

Thus taking all of these facts into consideration I decided to prepare Stir Fried Caraillee which is really quick and easy.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 caraillees, washed and sliced 

• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 very small onion 
• 1 very small tomato chopped
• 1 pimento chopped
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• pinch of salt

METHOD

• Heat skillet and add oil.
• Add onion, garlic, tomato, pimento and stir.
• Add chopped caraillee and salt.
• Stir, cover tightly and simmer on very low heat.

• Cooking time is 7-10 mins

Tastes delicious and goes well with regular sada roti. For lunch you can try it with dhal, rice and mango amchar.
Remember to cook with love and good vibes.

Stir Fried Saime

Stir Fried Saime

It’s really wonderful when you can grow your own produce in your backyard. This morning my dad picked some saime so I decided that would be on the menu for breakfast. Straight from the garden into the pot! You can’t get it any fresher than that.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb saime washed and peeled

• 1 very small onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1 pimento chopped
• Pinch of salt

METHOD

• Heat non-stick skillet. (This eliminates the use of oil)
• Add onion, garlic, tomato and pimento then stir.
• Add saime and pinch of salt.
• Stir again, cover and leave to simmer on a very low heat. 

         Saime cooks very quickly in its own juices.

• It usually takes no more than 8-10 minutes to cook.

Presto!!! It's finished

So all in all it’s a relatively simple dish to make. In fact the actual cleaning of the saime takes the longest. To save time you can pre-peel the saime the night before, refrigerate and use when required. Again this dish goes really well with roti.

Have a blessed Thursday and remember to keep it healthy!

Stay tuned for more Stir Fried veggies.

Remember to cook with love and good vibes.

Baigan Chokha (Eggplant Dip)

Baigan Chokha (Eggplant Dip)

So it's Wednesday, the middle of the week and I wanted something light but nutritious to eat so I opted for baigan chokha (eggplant dip). Eggplant is indeed very healthy for the body so I try to include it in my diet on a weekly basis in some form or the other.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-great-reasons-to-eat-eggplants.html

Baigan Chokha is a very popular Trini dish and can be eaten with any variety of roti. Sometimes i even have it with multigrain CRIX. It's really very simple to make. 

For this i used the following ingredients:

• 3 Baigans (eggplant)

• Bird peppers
• 4 Cloves garlic
• 3 leaves chadon-beni (bandanya)- this is optional
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 pimento chopped
• olive oil

Now comes the fun part . It may get a bit messy so I used gloves.

METHOD

• Make a lengthwise slit in each baigan.
• Insert peeled garlic and bird peppers into this slit.
• Lightly rub down baigan with oil and roast on open flame, turning until cooked thoroughly.

• On Platter remove stem, slit open and scoop out roasted baigan. Place in a bowl.

• Add  pimento, chadon-beni, salt, more peppers if desired and grate the onion in the bowl.

• Add olive oil and whisk briskly with fork, crushing any whole peppers and garlic as demonstrated below.

I must say the end product was awesome!! I totally enjoyed the exotic smoky flavour.

Remember to cook with love and good vibes.

Curried Mushrooms And Aloo

Curried Mushrooms And Aloo

To accompany the Roti on Father's Day we needed a vegetarian curry dish ( because when in doubt you can never go wrong with curry). Curried Aloo (Potato) was the first option however, my mom decided it was best to take it up a notch and incorporate fresh mushrooms in the dish thereby resulting in her famous Curried Mushrooms and Aloo. The mushrooms simply add a new dimension  to the meal which is very easy to prepare. It basically follows a similar procedure to regular curried aloo.

For this dish you will need the following ingredients.

3 Medium sized potatoes, washed, peeled and quartered                                            

1 lb fresh mushrooms wiped clean with tea towel & chopped                                             

1 hot pepper

1 bunch thyme (optional)

1 medium sized onion chopped

1 head garlic – ½ peeled + ½ amount crushed

1 bundle chadon-bedi blended with peeled garlic and water

1 tbsp organic coconut oil

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp geera (cumin) seeds

1tsp salt

METHOD

• In separate bowls season potatoes and mushroom with blended liquid seasoning and set aside.

• Heat large skillet and add oil. When hot, add geera seeds until popped.
• Add chopped onion and stir, then proceed to add the crushed garlic.
• Add curry powder and stir until it gives off a good aroma. It must grip the bottom of the pot.

• Add potatoes, salt, hot pepper, thyme then stir.

• Cover tightly and simmer for approximately 7 minutes.
• Remove lid, stir and test to see if it is cooked properly. If still firm add a little hot water and finish cooking.
• When potatoes are tender, add mushrooms, stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

NB: Canned mushrooms may be used instead of fresh mushrooms.

It's ready to serve and goes well with Roti or Basmati rice.

Bon Appetit!!!
Remember to cook with love and good vibes.