Steam vegetables with garlic oil

If you are reading this page, good on you! Most people would have been put off with the words, "Steam vegetables". Give me a steak and spare ribs anytime. We are supposed to be eating healthy so you can't get healthier than steam vegetables.

But we have been caught red-handed getting takeaways last night. I blame my husband. He locked the keys in the car while we were collecting our fish and chips. And we had to call on our neighbours to come pick us up to get the other set of keys which I conveniently left at home. Did I mention that we love our neighbours?

Steam vegetables can be palatable. This recipe does not take away the sweetness of the vegetables themselves but rather enhances it. Friends love it and it always disappear rather quickly from the dinner table.

Ingredients:
1 head broccoli
1/2 head cauliflower
250 gm french beans
4 medium carrots
6 garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

Steps:
1. Cut broccoli and cauliflower into chunks.
2. Slice carrots thinly.
3. Cut off the ends of the french beans.
4. Chop garlic roughly.
5. Boil water in a pot enough to cook the french beans.
6. Place carrots and cauliflower into a steamer. After about 5 mins, add broccoli. Broccoli takes much less time to cook then the rest. Steam till vegetables are soft. You can test that by piercing them with a fork. It takes about 10 minutes or so in total.
7. Blanch the french beans in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Drain and rise in cold water to stop them from cooking.
8. Heat olive oil in a small frying pan. Once the oil has heated up, add garlic and salt. Fry garlic till they are golden brown.
9. Pour over vegetables and mix well. Serve immediately.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

Note: You can use any steam vegetables you like.

Comments

Mini Chicken Curry Pies

The thought of spices and buttery pastry simply makes my mouth water, or maybe it was that extra teaspoon of chili I added to the pie! Whatever it is, this recipe is always a hit with friends and family. Best of all, it is easy to make. Mini Chicken Curry Pies Ingredients: 1/2 Brown onion 1 Large potato 2 Chicken breast (or 500gm boneless chicken) 4 Sheets flaky puff pastry 3 tbsp Curry powder 1/2 tsp Chili powder (optional) 1/2 tsp Garam Masala (optional) 1 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Sugar 1 Egg Cooking oil Steps: To make pie filling: 1. Boil water (enough to cover the large potato) in a sauce pan. 2. While waiting for water to boil, finely chop onion. 3. Dice potato into small cubes of about 1 cm in size. Add to boiling water. Boil potato cubes until almost soft, about 8-10 mins. You do not want to cook the potato completely. Drain and set aside. 4. Dice chicken into cubes of about 2 cm in size. Add 1/2 tbsp cooking oil to a frying pan. Fry chicken until 70% cooked. ...

Guinness Beef Stew

There is a really neat legend about the humble origins of the Guinness beer. The Guinness beer is the brain child of Arthur Guinness. Back in the 1700s when medical science was in still in its infancy, people were getting illnesses and diseases just with drinking water. Ironically, they started turning to alcohol, mainly Gin which proved to be safer than their drinking water. Disheartened by the destitute caused by Gin which had plagued the city of Dublin, Arthur Guinness decided to brew a drink that not only the Irish would enjoy but will be nutritional to them. The beverage is none other than what is known today as the Guinness beer. It is supposed to be so full of nutrition that it is more like a meal! I had my first Guinness stew in an Irish pub; where else? And I absolutely fell in love with the rich, creamy texture and flavours the stew had to offer. Many years later, an Irish friend handed me a recipe for the stew and as with any good cook, I made changes to suit my taste. H...

Coffee Spare Ribs

On our trip to Martinborough, I bought some spare ribs from Scotty. Like any good butcher, he asked what I was going to do with his produce. I think he was rather disappointed when I stared at him blankly and answered I had no idea. I think half of the world's population go grocery shopping with an idea in mind what they are going to cook. And the other half is probably like me, buy and decide what to do with the ingredients later. That is how I ended up with a freezer full of spare ribs until a bright idea came along. I recall savoring coffee spare ribs in a food court many years ago in Singapore. I thought it was the most intriguing idea; who would have imagine using coffee with meat. Perhaps it was one of those incidents where the cook mistakenly added coffee to the ribs thinking it was ground spice. Like the story of the Tatin sisters from France who "accidentally" invented the Tarte Tatin. The story goes that one of the sisters burnt an apple pie that she was makin...

Michelle's world of food

Search This Blog