We are soon wrapping up the entering week 7 of confinement. I have been staying home and going out only for groceries every 10-14 days. I’ve been more careful with grocery shopping and been buying more diverse foods, compared to before when we would go every week. I have been trying lots of new recipes. I am also more resourceful by digging deep into my pantry and finding lost cans or bags of flour. And I am wasting less food – this is not to say that I was not eating leftovers before, but now I feel more compelled to not waste any food. Overripe bananas that used to feel icky are now prized possessions soon to become banana bread.
In these past weeks, full of 90% home-cooked meals (the rest is the occasional frozen pizza and ice cream), I am more mindful of how I eat. This is not to say that I am eating necessarily healthier, but I am becoming better at managing my food stock and I find myself trying out new recipes!
At the time of writing, I am eating out of the third banana bread made during this confinement (and I will link the super easy recipe below). And many other delicious and recipes that have made my soul happy. Note that I modify recipes a lot and I sometimes use them as rough guidelines.
Enjoy!
Easy & healthy vegan banana bread
I love this recipe because I can tweak it to my needs. I tested it with rice flour and dark gluten-free flour, with less sugar, with coconut oil and sunflower oil. I even added a Nutella dollop in the centre when I put it in the mould. I even used this recipe to make cookies.
Mille-Feuille Nabe
Now! This recipe looks and sounds delicious, and I started with the best intentions. But it seems lately that I cannot find Napa cabbage at all! I used the quantities and ingredients as guidelines. I replaced the Napa cabbage with normal white cabbage and the meat with sliced smoked bacon. The only thing I got the most right was the broth (vegetable stock and soy sauce) and the dipping sauce (soy, mirin, sugar, lemon zest). All this was served with a side of rice noodles. I do want to get my hands on Napa cabbage during my next grocery trip! Even if this recipe was heavily modified, the result was a hearty and delicious meal 🙂
Pork belly with honey garlic sauce
I am starting to love pork belly. Especially with a sauce, fresh rice and veggies!
Braised pork belly in soy sauce
This is another delicious pork belly recipe. I skipped the eggs and the tofu, but I will definitely redo it with tofu and pork. Heavenly with fresh rice!
Japanese Style Chicken and Tomato Nimono Stew
Chicken and tomato sauce stew was something my mom was making a lot, and I absolutely loved it with fresh bread. In time, I have been doing variations of it and eating it with a side of mashed potatoes. But I haven’t really thought of having it with rice. I followed this recipe exactly except I didn’t have red wine. They do say you can add the vegetables of your choice, so I added some frozen veggie mix. It ended up delicious and the miring and soy sauce gave it a special twist.
Roasted White Asparagus with Herbs de Provence
I don’t know why I was saying I am not a fan os asparagus. I recently got them in a veggie box delivery and after I roasted them in the oven, they were so good!
Baked pears with walnuts and honey
Just like with bananas, it seems that pears are not a big attraction in our household. So decided to bake them with honey, cinnamon and sliced almonds (had no walnuts). I advise to keep them in the oven as long as the recipe says – I did not and they were not soft enough. But still delicious!
Egg-free chicken nuggets
Usually, chicken nugget recipes require eggs, but if you cannot have eggs, you can definitely replace them with oil.
- Grind your chicken with spices and make small patties (or however you like your nuggets shaped)
- Brush the nuggets with oil all over and then dip them generously in breadcrumbs (or gluten-free variation)
- You can add spices to the breadcrumb mix if you like (I enjoy garlic powder to chilli powder)
- Pop in the oven at 180C for around 40 mins .
It’s important to not put a lot of oil on the chicken before dipping into breadcrumbs. If they have too much oil, the entire breadcrumbs will slip of while they cook and the chicken won’t be coated anymore when it’s done.
Apple strudel
This is one delicious recipe that was easier than expected. You need apples, sugar, vanilla essence and already made store-bought dough. The ratio apple to sugar is 10:1.
- Peel and cut the apples into chunks. Then put them into a blender to have them finely chopped (you can also chop by hand, it all depends on the texture you want your apple mix to have)
- Put the apples, sugar and vanilla essence in a pot and let them boil until everything is well-mixed.
- Let it cool and drain well the mix. There will be a lot of apple juice and you don’t want that in your strudel. I did not drain enough so I ended up with a soggy but delicious mess.
- Put the mix into the dough, roll, and pop into the oven (180C) for around 30 min (read the dough package for more info, mine said 30min for strudel).
Dalgona coffee
This one needs no introduction! We all know you need instant coffee, sugar and water in equal quantities, that you whip till you get a nice mousse. Put some ice cubes in a tall glass, pour your favourite milk and top it with a healthy portion of the mix – enjoy!