C for carrot for #AtoZChallenge: carrot sweet potato peanut pear soup meal recipe

Why do rabbits love carrots? There must be plenty of good things in carrots that we can enjoy too by eating carrots.

Perhaps it is the bunny teeth of rabbits that make us imagine that rabbits easily bite raw carrots off. However, if you happen to have lovely rabbits as your pet, you would know that rabbits actually eat mostly hay and green leaves (including those growing on top of carrots).



The humble root vegetables are represented by their orange sticks. The orange color is due to β-carotene, which our bodies convert to vitamin A. That's why carrots are good for our eyes.


Baby Ren loves biting thoroughly washed and peeled carrots to ease his teething gum. Be careful not to over feed carrots to babies, because it may cause carotenosis - a benign condition in which the skin turns orange.




Once, we had enjoyed purple carrots, thanks to Fairprice Finest.


For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 03 Thu, I lovingly present a recipe of carrot sweet potato peanut pear soup meal by ServicefromHeart. 



Servings: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
♥ 1 carrot (1红萝卜), peeled & cut into bite chunks
♥ 2 sweet potatoes (番薯), peeled & cut into bite chunks
♥ 1 snow pear (雪梨), peeled & quartered
♥ 1/2 cup peanuts (花生), soaked overnight
♥ 2 pork ribs (排骨)
♥ 8 dried scallops (干贝)
♥ 8 red dates (红枣)
♥ 1 honey date (蜜枣)
♥ 1 tbsp wolfberries (枸杞子)

Directions:
1. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for ~5 minutes. Drain and wash.
2. Bring all ingredients to boil in a pot using low heat.

For variations, substitute sweet potato with pasta or noodles to enjoy this delicious soup meal.



♥♥♥

Preparing peanuts for our meal reminds me on an American comic strip: Peanuts. Charlie Brown and Linus van Pelt appear to be kind children to me and their friendship is cherishable. Who are your favorite comic characters?



Peanuts are a good source of niacin (vitamin B3 / nicotinic acid) - good four our brain health and blood flow.

My grandmother's adviced me to drink bowls and bowls of peanut trotter soups to increase breast milk production during confinement. Subsequently, I just prepare peanut soups with visually-less-carnivorous-looking meat.

For other faster-to-prepare recipes, check also our #5minutemeal recipes. 

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140403

easy tasty sweet potato recipe by ServicefromHeart

Tender and buttery sweet potatoes make a filling meal that goes well with fragrant cilantro, sweet honey and pungent raw garlic.



I am happy that today I managed to shop for red sweet potatoes from Malaysia at Cold Storage Novena. In term of easy-to-peel shapes, I prefer sweet potatoes sold at Cold Storage than at NTUC Fairprice, though the latter sells cheaper.



Eating humble root vegetables like sweet potatoes always reminds me on humility and versatility. In the past, our Indonesian friends brought us sweet potato chips as a snack souvenir upon returning to celebrate lebaran at kampung hometowns. Crispy companions for our chit-chats, sweet potatoes I love you! Food always remind us on family, friends and people. Every bite, every chew, and every swallow - brings all joyful memories.

Rich in vitamins A and C, sweet potatoes can be steamed, boiled, baked, mashed or deep-fried with a wide variety of ingredients. Instead of using oil for deep frying, next time I would consider (1) oven frying, to make sweet potatoes as a component for tempura and (2) a method combining of steaming and very shallow frying.

Serving: 1
Preparation and cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 3 medium (@100g) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
♥ 4 cherry tomatoes, quartered
♥ 1 strawberry, quartered
♥ 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
♥ 1 tbsp honey
♥ 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil
♥ 1 tsp sesame seeds
♥ 1 clove garlic, pressed
♥ pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Boil sweet potatoes for about 10 minutes or until tenderly soft.
2. Mix oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, pepper. Toss tomatoes and strawberries with the seasoning mixture.
3. Drain sweet potatoes well, leave to steam dry. Gently toss with the rest of ingredients.  
4. Sprinkle sesame seeds to garnish.

Tips:
♥ Don't throw away the water you used to boil sweet potatoes. Some nutrients from sweet potatoes are dissolved in it. Add the hot water to (pre-cooked, non-creamy) soup to make bowls of warm soup.* This way, we can save little gas or electricity.
♥ For variations, garnish with pumpkin seeds or chopped nuts e.g. pistachios, walnuts.
♥ Store sweet potatoes in a cool, dry, dark place. Do not refrigerate sweet potatoes, as they will dehydrate.

* For tonight meal, I mix the boiling water with six-flavor soup. Delicious! Mom advised us to start our meal with drinking soup, then wait ~15 minutes before continuing to the main course, so that our stomach will not overwork.



If this recipe takes too long, how is about other #5minutemeal recipes?

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140221

Simple and sweet dessert of sweet potatoes with yogurt recipe by ServicefromHeart

Introducing Sweet potato, a root vegetable that is different in taste and texture from potato! Sweet potatoes can be cooked in similar ways to the potato but cook much more quickly. The color of sweet potato skin ranges between yellow, orange, red, brown, purple, and beige. I first learned about sweet potato as ubi jalar (literally means creeping yam) in Indonesia.

Sweet potato is rich in dietary fiber, an ideal meal for our family member who is recovering.

Servings: 2-3
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 300 g sweet potatoes
♥ 1 tbsp yogurt (preferably Greek yogurt)
♥ 2 tbsp glucose* / brown sugar
♥ 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
♥ 1 tbsp maple syrup (optional)

Glucose powder is good to relieve fatigue.

Directions:
1. Wash, peel (under running water to prevent oxidation) and chop sweet potatoes into bite-sized chunks. Quickly put into a pot covered with water.
2. Add sugar, cinnamon to the sweet potatoes.
3. Cook over high heat until sweet potatoes are soft.
4. Add yogurt & mix. You can also use wooden spoon to mash the sweet potatoes if serving for babies.

Tips:
♥ To check if sweet potatoes are soft enough, gently pierce with chopstick or fork.
♥ Use non-stick saucepan or stir occasionally. This recipe is easy to prepare and takes ~ 5 minutes to prepare.

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipe.