 The first time I had proper, delicious kale salad was in Ubud, Bali. I've tried kale salads before, but loathed all of them - the dressing never seemed to match the sturdiness of kale, and the kale were so tough it felt like I could choke on them.
This particular kale salad not only solves that, but it also sent me to a borderline kale obsession. I love how the creamy, tangy tahini dressing compliments the slight bitterness of the kale, and because the vegetable is blanched and massaged, they're not too sturdy to consume at all. Add some chickpeas for some protein, and you've got a simple, healthy lunch for a sunny day. This recipe makes a plate of salad. What You Need Green kale 1 handful ready-to-eat chickpeas 2 tbsp tahini 1 tsp dijon mustard 2 tsp apple cider vinegar dash of salt 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil What You Do 1. Boil some water in a pot big enough to submerge the kale in. Add a dash of salt. 2. Add the kale into the pot, for about 3-5 minutes, or until the leaves have softened but not mushy. At the last minute, add the chickpeas to warm through. 3. Drain the kale, leave to cool while you get on with the dressing. 4. In a bowl, whisk the tahini, mustard, vinegar and salt together. Slowly add the olive oil until you get a thick consistency (the watery kale will loosen this up more). Check for taste. 5. Back to the kale. Remove the big stems, and roughly chop the leaves into 1 inch pieces. It's a salad, y'all. It doesn't have to be precise. 6. Transfer kale into mixing bowl, add chickpeas, and drizzle in the dressing. Mix them with your hands. Massage the leaves. This will soften the leaves more, and ensure that it's really marinated with the dressing. 7. Transfer to a nice plate. Best enjoyed with a nice drink. You deserve it, cos you're eating a salad, for God's sake.  If you live in Malaysia or Thailand then it's pretty common to see this dish pretty much in every Thai or Malaysian-Thai hybrid eateries - I mean, it is the mother of all steamed fish recipes. It's spicy and acidic in the best way possible, and you'll keep eating it even as your stomach develops an ulcer and that your tummy feels a weird kind of warm afterwards.
Although there are so many restaurants that do this well, sometimes when I am in hermit-mode, I like to make this at home and eat it at my leisure without the need to put on pants. The key to this recipe's success is that the fish has to be FRESH. SUPER FRESH. Otherwise, don't do it. What You Need: 1 medium-sized, FRESH AF seabass, scaled, gutted and cleaned (dude just get the fishmonger to do it) 1 handful leafy Asian greens 1 tomato, quartered 4 cloves of garlic, peeled 5 bird's eye chili 1 inch ginger 3 large limes, juiced Equal amount of fish sauce to the lime juice 1 tsp sugar 1 tbsp chicken stock Some chopped coriander What You Do: 1. Get your steamer out. Lay our the vegetables, and place the fish on top of it. Stuff that fish with quartered tomato. Steam that fish for 15-20 mins. 2. In a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic and chilies together until you get a coarse paste. 3. In a small pot, heat the chicken stock, 1 cup water, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and the garlic-chili paste until everything is mixed and heated through. Check for taste. It should be sharply acidic, with a nice balanced taste of fish sauce, and some heat. Add more of any of the ingredients if necessary. 4. When the fish is thoroughly cooked, remove the plate onto the table. Pour over the sauce onto the fish. 5. Garnish with the copped coriander. 6. Enjoy, but also don't foget the Gaviscon/Tums for later, just in case.  Fish scares the shit out me. For one, I come from a household where fish is usually eaten with rice, and so any other variation is not as familiar to me. Second, they are so damn delicate. Unlike chicken or meat, they break easily in the pan, and if you buy them at the wrong places they tend to smell fishy and downright gross.
But the thing is, fish is so much better than meat. Just as much protein, but with a lot less fat. Due to these reasons I have taught myself again and again to try and cook fish, and hey! Turns out, it really isn't all that hard or scary. Tuna tataki sounds like some fancy dish that you eat in a Japanese restaurant so fancy that you need to pay everything with a credit card and pay it off in 3 consecutive months, but no. With simple ingredients that you probably already have at home, all you need is a piece of tuna steak, which I get from my neighborhood Cold Storage for RM15. You don't need a credit card for that. This recipe makes a plate for 1. What You Need: For the tuna... 1 piece tuna steak (it doesn't really matter how big) 1 tsp dijon mustard 2 tsp olive oil 2-3 tbsp coarse ground black pepper For the soba noodles and broccoli... 1 handful soba noodles Broccoli, cut into long florets 1-2 tbsp sesame seeds 1 small piece ginger, peeled and grated 2 tbsp light soy sauce Some chili flakes What You Do: 1. First, get some water boiling in a pot on the stove. Wash and slice the broccoli into long florets. 2. Now, the tuna. Scatter the coarsely ground black pepper onto a dry, flat plate. Mix the mustard and oil, and season really well with salt. Brush the sides of the tuna with this until well-coated. 3. Now roll that tuna onto the peppercorns, so that the tuna is now crusted with them. 4. Heat a pan to high, and toast the sesame seeds until golden. Remove the seeds. 5. In the same pan over high heat, sear that tuna steak. This takes a really, really short while. Really. Like 50-60 seconds each side ONLY. Remove the fish onto a cutting board. 6. When the water begins boiling in the pot, add the soba noodles and the broccoli. Remove after 3 minutes, or until soba is cooked through. 7. Mix the ginger, chili flakes and soy sauce. Dress the noodles with it. Add the sesame seeds to the noodles. Spoon some of the dressing over the broccoli. 8. Slice up the tuna steaks really thinly, and serve with the noodles and broccoli. 9. Keep that credit card of yours for some other day.  The age-old weeknight dilemma – tired as s***t, but still want some good, hot plate of home-cooked dinner to eat while not wearing pants and watching Netflix. I don’t know about you, but I can attest based on my own experience that being a busy bee in a city can easily lure me into a pit of underwhelming takeouts that are usually unhealthy and frankly, expensive. Case in point, a plate of spaghetti vongole (spaghetti with clams) can go so wrong in so many ways. The restaurant charges you a fortune, the pasta isn’t even that great, and worse, the clams died 5 months ago with that smelly fishy smell. The truth is, spaghetti vongole is so, so, so easy to make. And this comes from a girl who would never attempt to cook anything that takes more than 5 steps. It takes literally 15 mins, and it costs a fraction from eating out, so you can finally save up for that well-deserved nose job. You need a few ingredients, and although the original recipe asks for some wine/broth for the sauce, I find that using some pasta water is definitely sufficient. On your way back from office, stop by the grocer’s and pick up some clams (preferably alive) and a couple more basic ingredients that you probably already have anyway, and you’re good to go. This recipe makes 2 plates of pasta. What You Need Dried pasta (amount is dependent on how hungry you are, tbh) 100-200 gms small clams 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced 1 large red chili, de-seeded and chopped 1 bunch of coriander, stalks chopped 1 handful of cherry tomatoes, halved ½ lemon What You Do
   Last year, one of my bigger goals for 2018 was to learn how to properly roast a whole chicken. A roast chicken is one of those things that sounds simple enough, but when you do make it you’ll realize it’s hard to achieve the criteria that makes a roasted bird perfect – crispy skin, thighs that are cooked through, juicy breasts, and of course, full on flavor. I hate bland roast chicken (I hate bland food full stop). I wanted to have roast chicken in my amateur cooking repertoire, and after a few trials, recipes and errors, I think I nailed it, guys. This one is slathered in herbs and lemony, juicy with crispy skin. You can use the leftovers in your aglio olio pasta, make a chicken sandwich, boil the bones to make stock, or top your salad. But to be honest, it’s hard to have leftovers for this one. This recipe makes one whole bird. What You Need 1 whole medium-sized chicken, cleaned 1 whole lemon 1 bunch fresh herbs – a mix of rosemary, thyme, dill, basil, whatever 2 tbsp unsalted butter 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 large onions 1 clove garlic Some rope to tie the chicken What You Do
     Reality: Either it’s a classic case of I-bought-salmon-then-left-it-in-the-fridge-for-a-little-too-long, or buying a pre-packed fillet of salmon that turned out to be not fresh enough for plain grilling. That’s normal, especially if you’re an ambitious working gal who thinks she’ll cook the week away but ended up never having the time to (read=me). In cases like these, what should we do with that salmon? Here’s a recipe for salmon fishcakes, which, when mixed with other great flavor combination, makes the whole thing taste great with no weird extra-fishy smell. Poaching the salmon makes sure the fishcakes grill easier, and mixing it with a medley of peppers, onion and carrot makes it healthy too. This recipe makes 6 fishcakes What You Need: 1 salmon fillet ½ yellow capsicum, chopped ½ red capsicum, chopped ½ carrot, chopped 1 red onion, chopped 1 cup breadcrumbs 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard (or any mustard, really) 1 tbsp. mayo ½ tsp. whole black peppercorns 1 egg What You Do:
**It's also smart to use your observation when mixing. Start small, and if it's too runny, add more breadcrumbs.    I am obsessed with all things Vietnamese! (Okay maybe just the food for now) They are always so simple and so healthy. This fish dish is a personal favourite, not to mention a hit when we made it for a girls’ night in dinner the other day. And it's so tasty, I definitely make it even when I'm not on a detox. They key is to make sure that everything is fresh – it really does make a difference to the whole dish! This serves 1 if you’re eating just fish with vegetables. What You Need: 1 fresh, medium-sized seabass, cleaned and scaled 1 handful fresh coriander 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 4 cherry tomatoes 1 lemongrass 2 small bird’s eye chili, crushed 2 slices fresh ginger For the dressing: 2 tbsp. lime juice 1tsp raw brown sugar 3 tbsp. fish sauce A few drops of sesame oil What You Do:
      There’s a local all-natural healthy meat patty in town, did you know? It’s called Jack O, and you can either get the full vegan version or the patties which are made of only 30% meat (no bones, skin, or organs) and 70% plant-based. They also don’t include any colouring or preservatives (lets face it, this is loads better than the conventional patties you're used too!) If you want to check them out (and they do delieveries!), visit their page at https://www.facebook.com/JackOBurgerBiotrampil/?pnref=story Sure, I do make my own minced meat now and then, but for other days when I'm in no mood to be the Stanford Wife, I love these kinds of alternatives. So here’s my version of Jack O’s baked meatballs, which are really delicious with homemade marinara sauce, a side of grilled vegetables or even on their own as a snack. What You Need: 1 pack Jack O Veggie Patties (full vegan or chicken) 1 cup of wholegrain breadcrumbs 1 tsp. dried rosemary 1 clove garlic 2 eggs Salt and Pepper What You Do:
 Before they go into the oven!
 Surprise! I eat red meat. Although only once or twice a week, and not necessarily every week. I’m always trying to find ways to make red meat dishes more exciting and not too heavy, aside from the usual with-a-side-of-mash-potatoes or in some heavy, fatty curries. How I grew up, my family were not very heavy meat-eaters; most of our proteins come from the sea. When I was in boarding school we were served a lot of fried meat – they were tough, ghastly looking and quite frankly, traumatising. So once in a while, if you feel like treating yourself, try a hand at making these Vietnamese grilled steak with a side of fresh vegetable spring rolls. The dipping sauce is the money here, sweet, sour, spicy and salty, and you’ll find yourself wanting to dip everything into it. Having fresh vegetable spring rolls makes it so much more guilt-free, and all these are best eaten while watching some sort of sword-fighting TV show; not sure why, but there is an excellent feel of butch-ness in the whole ritual of eating meat while watching people kill each other on the telly. This serves a very hungry 1. What You Need: For the meat 1 good piece of lean steak 3 cloves garlic 1 stalk lemongrass 1 shallot 1 tbsp. honey 1 tbsp. fish sauce 1 tbsp. sesame oil ½ tbsp. sesame seeds Salt and pepper For the dipping sauce 1 tbsp. brown sugar, 2 tbsp. fish sauce, 2 tbsp. lime juice, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 minced bird’s eye chilli, Dash of water For the fresh spring rolls Rice paper (you can find them anywhere in large supermarkets) Carrot, julienned Cucumber, julienned Lettuce, shredded Coriander What You Do:
    These days it’s always raining and life has been feeling a bit like a sob chickflick. Very few things give me comfort, and one of those that do is, well – comfort food. One of my favourite comfort food staples is always a large bowl of pasta, or more specifically the creamy kind. Unfortunately a classic spaghetti carbonara isn’t really waist-friendly. I find that using the classic cheese and yolk alone means you use a LOT of cheese and yolk, and just because I’m having a hard time does NOT mean I want to wake up the next day looking like Bridget Jones post-breakup with Mr Darcy. This recipe certainly isn’t the classic carbonara recipe – it substitutes some of the yolk and cheese with dollops of yoghurt; a much healthier option! It also introduces bright green asparagus into the pasta, and paired with a simple chopped salad (chopped lettuce, chopped tomatoes, splash of balsamic vinegar, pepper, olive oil) you’re easily getting your 3 out of 5 daily veg requirement. This recipe makes 2 servings. What You Need: For the sauce: 1 whole egg 2 egg yolks 3 tbsp. natural yoghurt 1 heaped tbsp. grated Parmesan (grating means cheese disperses better, so you use less) Juice of ¼ lemon For the pasta: Spaghetti or Fettucine 3 strips of bacon of your choice, thinly sliced 1 clove garlic, sliced 1 handful asparagus, snapped and cut into 2-inch lengths Pinch of cracked black pepper What You Do:
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