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

P for potato for #AtoZChallenge: potato salad with yogurt dressing recipe by ServicefromHeart

Potato is starchy tuberous food that we often enjoy, from french fries to potato soup. Being versatile, potatoes have been used in a wide variety of recipes worldwide. After maize, wheat and rice, potato comes forth as the world's largest food crop.



The starch of potato is a source of carbohydrate, that fuels our body. For variations in rice-dominating Asian diets, consider serving potatoes as a meal. 

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 18 Fri, I lovingly present a recipe of potato salad with yogurt dressing by ServicefromHeart. Classic potato salad uses mayonnaise and herein we substitute the mayonnaise with nutritious yogurt, especially good for growing children. 

Serving: 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 500 g potatoes (土豆 / kentang)
♥ 1 egg (鸡蛋 / telor)
♥ 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (香醋 / cuka balsamic)
♥ 5 tbsp plain / Greek yogurt (酸奶)
♥ fresh chives (韭菜 / kucai), chopped
♥ 1 scallions (葱 / daun bawang), cut into thin rings

Directions:
1. Wash potatoes thoroughly. Cook in boiling, salted water for 25-30 minutes or until tender when pierced.
2. Hard boil egg.
3. Meanwhile, wash and cut scallions and chives.
4. Mix vinegar, yogurt, pepper for dressing.
5. Drain cooked potatoes, leave to steam dry.
6. Peel dried cooked potatoes and egg. Cut into bite-size chunks.
7. Gently toss potatoes with dressing.
8. Garnish with scallions and chives.

Tips:
♥ For variations, substitute scallion with parsley.
♥ Store potatoes in dry and dark place. Do not use the potatoes if sprouts have grown because the sprouts contain toxic compounds known as glycoalkaloids.

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

Other recipes that I love:
♥ Danielle Tsi's scallop and potato salad at Beyond The Plate
♥ Luisa Weiss's Ottolenghi's potato salad with yogurt and horseradish at The Wednesday Chef based in Berlin; How is about substituting horseradish with wasabi?
♥  potato battercake of of Xiaomei Pig (小媚猪) at Weekjoy (in Chinese)

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140418

O for orange for #AtoZChallenge: orange olive recipe

Mandarin oranges (aka mandarines) are sweet, juicy and rich in Vitamin C. Often, during the period of Lunar New Year, we have given and received (exchanged sounds more appropriate here) pairs of Mandarin Oranges or tangerines. They are symbols of abundance and good fortune. 



We love simply eating the Mandarin oranges by peeling its relatively easy-to-peel skin or squeezing them into thirst-quenching 100% orange juice. Besides these options, how to make the bright enthusiastically orange-colored Mandarin oranges more appealing to our taste buds?



Black olives are pickled at full maturity. Since fresh olives are naturally very bitter and unpalatable to many people, olives are fermented with lye, brine or packed in salt to remove oleuropein.

 

My first encounter with black olives was at Pizza Hut in Jakarta. In my childhood, pizza was considered as a treat in my family because it is relatively expensive. Our Daddy and Sister* who are meat lovers, loved our pizza to be topped with more meats, while I appreciated the extra flavors that sliced olives and pineapples added to our pizza.

* She shared some interesting recipes at her Youtube Channel: LukSunshine. When I miss her, I would enjoy watching her videos.



For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 17 Thu, I lovingly present a recipe of orange olive, that can be served as a snack or a side dish, gently fusing the East and Mediterranean flavors.



Let our family member(s) or friend(s), who normally skip fruits, especially sour oranges, enjoy the nutritious and anti-oxidant-rich oranges.

Serving: 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes



Ingredients:
♥ 2 oranges / Mandarin oranges, diced
♥ 4 black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
♥ 2 stalks celery, sliced and diced
♥ 1 tbsp sesame oil
♥ 3 tbsp plain / Greek yogurt
♥ 1/4 tbsp pepper
♥ 2 tbsp nuts, finely chopped

Directions:
1. Blanch celery in salted boiling water for about 2 minutes. Refresh in cold water. Drain.
2. Mix oil, yogurt, pepper in a bowl.
3. Peel,pith and dice Mandarin oranges.
4. Toss oranges and celery in yogurt mixture bowl.
5. Garnish with olives and nuts.




We can use a type or a variety of nuts for this recipe, and I recommend pistachio for the sweet memory of pistachio gelato in Italy!

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140417

Simple and easy pasta with creamy yogurt sauce by ServicefromHeart

This recipe is cream-free but creamy enough thanks to the yogurt. 

Try different types of pasta for fun! Besides the common spaghetti, linguine and macaroni, how is about pasta in interesting shapes and sizes? Kids will surely like them. 

Two things serve as inspirations for this recipe:

♥ Looking at a container of yogurt in our refrigerator this morning, has encouraged me to think of a new meal for our family. It is always good to finish our food before their expiry dates. 

♥ I really love Guesteau's motto, "Anyone can cook", from the Disney movie Ratatouille. It is very encouraging to you and me! The movie is about Remy who is dying to become a chef and features heart-warming delicious treats to our eyes.

Servings: 2

Preparation & Cook time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients:

♥ ~150g dried pasta 

♥ 1 tbsp olive oil

♥ 1 cup plain / Greek yogurt

♥ 6 cloves minced garlic 

♥ 1 tsp anchovies (preferred) / pinch of salt

♥ 1/2 onion / red onion (optional)

♥ 1 tsp dried shrimps (optional) 

♥ 1 tbsp herbs, chopped (optional) 

♥ pinch of pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Boil water in a pot to cook pasta.

2. Meanwhile, wash and mince garlic, onion, dried shrimps.

3. Heat olive oil on a frying pan. 

4. Sautee minced garlic, onion, dried shrimps, anchovies. 

5. Over medium heat, add pasta, yogurt, herbs, pepper. Mix well.  

Tips:

♥ Try whole wheat pasta that contains minerals such as magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, zinc, selenium and manganese.

♥ You can substitute olive oil with butter for creamier texture. 

♥ Instead of weighing ~70g of dried pasta per person, I use my palm to wrap around a bunch of long pasta as a quick measurement. 

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipe.