Y for yogurt for #AtoZChallenge: classic yogurt salad recipe

Friends and people in Turkey, Greek, Eastern Europe, India have commonly enjoyed classic yogurt salad. I have to acknowledge Rani, an Indian stall, for inspiring me to include the classic salad as a frequent dish item in our family meals, starting in late 2013. Baby Ren's Daddy loves it a lot.



Hard-working students, ambitious career professionals, and multi-tasking mothers love how very fast and easy this recipe is to prepare.

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 29 Tue, I lovingly present a recipe of classic yogurt salad by ServicefromHeart. 

Servings: 2
Preparation time: < 5 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 1 Japanese cucumber
♥ 1 red onion
♥ 5 tbsp low-fat plain / Greek yogurt
♥ 1/2 tsp black pepper
♥ 1 tbsp fresh cilantro (coriander), finely chopped

Other optional ingredients:
♥ carrot
♥ tomatoes
♥ blueberry
♥ sesame seeds
... over 100 salad ingredients!

Directions:
1. Peel the Japanese cucumber, onion and chop into bite-size chunks.
2. Mix with yogurt and pepper.
3. Garnish with cilantro.
4. Serve immediately or put into the fridge before serving. It will taste better!



Tips:
♥ For variations, substitute cilantro with 1-2 tbsp fresh parsley or 1 tbsp fresh dill (莳萝) or 1 tsp fresh mint (薄荷).
♥ If you have more time, after chopping cucumber, put into freezer for up to 30 minutes or until just starting to freeze for crunchier cucumber.

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes, especially for salad! 

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140429

S for strawberry for #AtoZChallenge: strawberry macaroni salad recipe

Strawberries -- succulent and sweet -- are one of baby Ren's favorite. Adorned with only less than 8 front baby teeth, he has enjoyed strawberries since he turned 8 months old. We introduced a little piece of his finger size, then two little pieces, then a strawberry, which is cut into little pieces, few days later 2 strawberries and he always wants more! Since strawberries are an excellent choice for getting vitamin C, flavonoids, folate and fibers, we are happy that he appreciates strawberries. 



I love preparing baby tomatoes, also known as cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, as one of our salad ingredients. They come handy for little fingers, who love practicing pincer movements in a path of becoming future prolific guitarists or mechanics or surgeons. We also love salad as a warm meal, all rich colors, tastes and textures mixed in a bowl or a plate.

Coriander, also known as cilantro, Chinese Parsley, contains antioxidants and anti-bacterial chemicals. Coriander is stronger than parsley in fragrance, and I love it with Hainanese chicken rice in Singapore. This meal will be the first one in which I introduced coriander to baby Ren. It is funny to see a finely-chopped coriander piece on his cheek, while he points indicating he wants more of his meal.

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 22 Tue, I lovingly present a recipe of strawberry macaroni pasta salad by ServicefromHeart. This recipe is inspired by a strawberry aficionado-in-making, baby Ren!



Servings: 2 (2 adults + 1 toddler)
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5-8 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 175 g dried macaroni pasta
♥ 1/2 tsp salt
♥ 8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
♥ 1 water apple
♥ 1 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
♥ 1 tbsp sesame oil
♥ 1 tbsp olive oil
♥ 1 tbsp sesame seed
♥ 1/4 tsp pepper
♥ 1 clove garlic, minced
♥ 1 lettuce 

Directions:
1. Gently whisk dressing of garlic, pepper, oil, coriander, sesame seed. Stir until smooth.
2. Cook macaroni pasta in boiling salted water according to package instructions*. 
3. Meanwhile, wash thoroughly lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, water apple. Cut them into bite chunks (toddler-size).
4. When macaroni pasta is ready, drain and immediately combine with dressing.

* It takes 5 minutes to reach al dente, but I cooked longer so the macaroni would be softer for toddlers.

Tips:
♥ For better fragrance, lightly toast sesame seeds over medium heat. For toddler recipe, I skip this stem to minimize too much heat in the meal.
♥ Since this recipe is intended for a toddler, the taste is mild. If you want stronger taste, you can use higher quantity for dressing ingredients. ♥  Some people may be allergic to strawberries, check with doctors if white-fruited strawberry cultivars (without Fra a1 allergen) are okay for them.



Other recipes that I love:
♥ Bridget's sweet strawberry pasta (Bake at 350)
♥ Kevin Lynch's strawberry and avocado spinach salad in raspberry balsamic vinaigrette at Closet Cooking
♥ Ali Ebright's avocado strawberry spinach salad with poppy seed dressing at Gimme Some Oven 

For faster-to-ready meals, see also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,

ServicefromHeart

20140422

L for lemon for #AtoZChallenge: lemon-flavored tomato mozzarella salad recipe

Lemon is a versatile Citrus fruit, which is rich in vitamin C.



Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) reminds me on Graduation & friends forever. I am very grateful for all the friendships with wonderful, lovely, inspiring people of diverse age and cultural background. You all have opened my eyes and heart to cherish a simply beautiful life.


"As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever"

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 14 Mon, I lovingly present a recipe of an Italian classic salad of tomato and mozzarella, dressed in lemon juice by ServicefromHeart.

We cherish savoring the wonderful combination of sweet red tomatoes, creamy white mozzarella, and fragrant green basil leaves in Italian restaurants. This classic salad originated from Campania in Italy - affectionately known as Insalata Caprese (Capri-style salad) - can be quickly and easily prepared at our home too.

Mozzarella is a semi-soft cheese originally from Southern Italy. Fresh mozzarella is white and high in moisture, hence it is best consumed fast after it is made, preferably by the next day. If we need to buy an imported mozzarella, choose low-moisture mozzarella.

Servings: 2
Preparation time: ~ 5 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
♥ 250 g mozzarella cheese, sliced
♥ fresh basil leaves
♥ 2 tbsp virgin olive oil
♥ 1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
♥ 1 tbsp lemon juice
♥ 1/2 tsp pepper, freshly ground
♥ 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. To make salad dressing, mix oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper.
2. Slice tomatoes and mozzarella.
3. Arrange slices in small dishes.
4. Sprinkle with dressing.
5. Garnish with basil leaves.

Tips:
♥ 1 ripe avocado makes a wonderful additional ingredient to this recipe.
♥ To enjoy this recipe as a main course instead of an appetizer, serve with garlic toasts. 

Recipes that I also love:
♥ Meyer lemon pudding @ The Galley Gormet by Nicole
♥ Lemon Macaroon by my sister LukSunshine
♥ Baked Lemon Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce @ Cooking Classy by Jaclyn
♥ Lemon Pistachio Cupcakes @ A Night Owl by Kimberly

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipe, especially for salad!

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140414

H for honey for #AtoZChallenge: warm honey heart pasta salad recipe by ServicefromHeart

First of all, my heart goes to you all who have kindly visited ServicefromHeart and left encouragements and constructive suggestions! Thank you very much ♥



Honey - a symbol of sweetness - is as sweet as granulated sugar. To give our food or beverages a sweet flavor, I often use honey (which has antiseptic and antibacterial properties) to substitute sugar.

Honey is also a symbol of everlasting, sweet new year, and healing in some cultures.

"And thy Lord taught the Bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men's) habitations; Then to eat of all the produce (of the earth), and find with skill the spacious paths of its Lord: there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colours, wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought" ~ Al-Quran 16:68–69.

Suitable for long-term storage, as long as we minimize its access to humidity, honey is a must-have food item in our kitchen.

To prevent ants from competing with us, I immerse the honey jar in a shallow bowl containing water, just like a moat-protected mini castle.

Remember to change the water on alternate day to avoid a breeding ground for tropical mosquitoes, especially dengue-causing Aedes mosquito!

Alternatively, use the left-over of soapy water from washing dishes. 

♥♥♥

Both Winnie the Pooh and baby Ren loves honey. Many times, we love things that people whom we love, also loves.



Thank you hardworking honey bees! Without you all who diligently collect nectar from flowers, we would not be able to enjoy sweet honey.



For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 09 Wed, I lovingly present a recipe of warm honey heart pasta salad by ServicefromHeart. 

This easy to prepare recipe calls for many loving and heart-warming ingredients. It is suitable for a breakfast or bruch on the Valentine's Day, or a birthday of a loved one.



Rich in vitamin C, strawberry is a sweet companion for this salad as it forms many hearts when sliced.



Avocado adds smooth and creamy texture to this honey heart pasta. You may also be interested in a post on avocado for #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 01 Tue.  



Servings: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes



Ingredients:
♥ 1 tbsp honey (蜜糖)
♥ 1 tbsp sesame oil (麻油)
♥ 1 tsp balsamic vinegar (香醋)
♥ 1 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped (芫荽叶)
♥ 1 tsp black sesame seeds (黑芝麻)
♥ 1.5 rice-cooker-cup heart-shaped 3-color pasta (心形三色意大利面)
♥ 2 tbsp Heinz mini star-shaped pasta (小星形意大利面)
♥ 1/2 avocado (牛油果), peeled, cored & chunked
♥ 3 strawberries (草莓), washed & sliced into heart shapes
♥ 6 grapes (葡萄), peeled & quartered
♥ 6 cherry tomatoes (小番茄), washed & halved / quartered




Directions:
1. Boil pasta in salted water until al dente. Since the star pasta is much smaller, I added it later.
2. Meanwhile, mix honey, sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, cilantro, sesame seeds, cherry tomatoes.
3. Once cooked, toss pasta with the honey mixture gently to prevent accidentally breaking the heart pasta.
4. Garnish with strawberries, grapes, avocado.



Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes, especially for salad! 

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140409

A for avocado for #AtoZChallenge: warm pasta with avocado salad recipe by ServicefromHeart

I have loved avocado since I was a kid. In Jakarta, Indonesia, my girlfriends and I would once in a while enjoy cold avocado chocolate milkshake on hot afternoons! I also always love a bite of avocado inside my sushi accompanying fresh raw salmon meat.



For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 01 Tue, I lovingly present to you an easy salad recipe of warm pasta with avocado.

Servings: 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 150 g dried pasta
♥ 1 ripe avocado
♥ 1 water apple
♥ 1 red onion
♥ 1 tbsp sesame oil
♥ 1 tbsp sesame seed
♥ 1/2 tsp mixed herbs of basil, oregano, garlic, thyme, red bell peppers, parsley

Directions:
1. Cook pasta in boiling salt water according to package instructions. Stir occasionally and let boil for recommended time.
2. Meanwhile, peel and pit avocado, cut it into bite size. Quickly coat avocado dices with sesame oil to prevent them from turning black (getting oxidized).
3. Cut water apple and chop onion. Mix with avocado.
4. Drain pasta and mix with other ingredients.
5. Garnish with sesame seeds and herbs.

Avocado is also a favorite choice for vegetarian dishes for its high fat content. Fat sounds scary but there are good fats around. Let's learn how to add heart-healthy mono-and polyunsaturated fats to our diet. Most (~67%) of avocado's fats is monounsaturated fat (oleic acid). Avocado is also rich in folate, which is good for pregnant mothers and their babies.



Avocado sounds like Avogadro constant to me. Its value is equal to 6.02214129×10²³ mol⁻¹, and it represents the number of constituent particles (usually atoms or molecules) per mole of a given substance. The Avogadro constant is fundamental to understanding both the make-up of molecules and their interactions and combinations. Imagine all the particles in the molecules of our food! Too much for me but I appreciate them.

Water apple is also known as water cherry, rose apple, pearl jumbu, jambu air. In my childhood, I enjoyed it as an ingredient for rujak in Jakarta, Indonesia. In this recipe, the sweet and crunchy water apple contrasts the soft and creamy texture of avocado.

For this meal, I used the Gomitini pasta of Colavita brand of Italy. I bought this pasta from NTUC Fairprice as it was on promotion at the same price as the house-brand one. I was also attracted by the time it takes to cook, only 5 minutes! So, I decided to give it a try. It will be better if the plastic packaging is more durable.

Tips:
♥ To determine if an avocado has ripen, it should appear brown in skin color and yield to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed.
♥ Keep a small bottle of dried mixed herbs in our fridge, it comes very handy! For better flavor, fresh herbs are still the best.
♥ If you have extra time, lightly pan toast the sesame seeds for better fragrance. 
♥ Since raw onions have strong smell, it is a good idea to rinse our mouth after this meal, especially if we are going to chat with our family members, friends or colleagues.

Recipes that I also love:
♥ Indonesian-style avocado milkshake with black coffee
♥ Avocado, Grapefruit & Shrimp Salad
♥ Cucumber & avocado salad
♥ Kinpira of capsicum and water apple   

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140401

A list of over 100 salad ingredients

We love salad. Eating greens is good for our health. I favor eating food produced locally (or at least regionally). This way, our food is relatively fresh and we also support our farmers and food producers. When I write this post in early 2014, we are currently living in Singapore. Whenever possible, I try to buy Singapore products, or regional ones, e.g. greens from Malaysia, cherry tomatoes from Thailand, long beans from Indonesia. 



On another spectrum, I also believe in eating food with recipe inspired globally. In my childhood, the concept of salad is probably nearest to lalap (an Indonesian dish). Consuming lalap with fried chicken or fish, steamed rice and a pinch of sambal terasi chili is really a treat to our taste buds. Commonly used ingredients for lalap include cucumber (timun), tomato (tomat), cabbage (kol), lettuce (selada), long bean (kacang panjang), papaya leaves (daun pepaya), sweet potato leaves (daun singkong), basil (kemangi). It is the basil that gives the fragrance. 

Then, when I lived in England, I grew to appreciate salad even more. My favorite greens include rocket leaves and baby spinach leaves. Crunchy and refreshing salads are fast to prepare and heart warming companion to bowls of steamed rice or roasted meals.

Salad can be colorful and offers a wide range of tastes and textures. At first, the thought of salad directly implies a cold meal, but salad can be served warm - or as a yin-yang mixture of cold and hot, featuring fresh vegetables topped with hot fish, toasted nuts, or tossed in a warm dressing before serving. I really love meals that incorporate different temperatures!

See a little spreadsheet note of mine on ingredients for salad. There are more than 100 ingredients we can choose from to mix and match! Whenever I come across inspirational recipes, I would add on to the spreadsheet. Ingredients in bold are those that I often use for our homemade salad.

For the upcoming #AtoZChallenge that I am taking part in April 2014, I am going to prepare blog posts on food (many of them are delicious ingredients for salad), to tell a little story about these wonderful food choices to baby Ren and hopefully other children will love them too! Storytelling of food can indeed increase the appeal of salad and food to children.


Check also our other #5minutemeal recipe, especially for salad!

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140210