-Pako or Fern, cut from the tender part.

-Sliced tomatoes

-Sliced salted duck egg

-Thinly sliced red onions

-Red cane vinegar (or any kind of white vinegar)

-Salt

-Pepper

-Sugar

Procedure:

1. Make the dressing by mixing together vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper (adjust according to your taste).

2. Toss the pako, red onions and tomatoes in the dressing and lightly coat the ingredients.

3. Transfer the salad in a serving bowl and top with sliced salted eggs

*Tip: To make it special, I added a little bit of extra virgin olive oil in the vinegar while stirring to make a vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 450g lean, boneless pork cut into 3cm cubes
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• A pinch of salt
• 3 tbs. cornflour
• 30g flour
• 3 tbs. chicken stock
• 2 ½ cups groundnut oil or flavourless vegetable oil

Sauce

• 2 ½ tsp groundnut oil or flavourless vegetable oil
• a pinch of finely chopped garlic
• 1 large green pepper, seeded, de-ribbed and cut into ½ inch squares
• 1 medium carrot, scraped and sliced into strips
• 6 tbs. chicken stock
• 3 tbs. sugar
• 3 tbs. red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. soya sauce
• 2 ½ tsp. cornflour mixed with 5 tsp. cold water

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C.
2.  In a large bowl, mix together the egg, cornflour, flour, 3 tablespoons chicken stock and salt. Set aside.
3. Add the pork cubes to the egg and flour mixture and stir until the pork cubes are well coated.
4. Pour the 2 ½ cups of oil into a wok or pan and set it over high heat. When the oil almost begins to smoke, drop in the coated pork cubes one by one and fry for 5-6 minutes, regulating the heat so that the pork turns a crispy, golden brown without burning.
5. Remove the pork with a strainer and keep warm in the oven.

Sauce

1. Heat the oil in a pan over moderate heat and add the garlic, then the green pepper and carrot and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the pepper and carrot darken somewhat in colour.
2. Pour in the 6 tablespoons of chicken stock, the sugar, vinegar and soya sauce and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly until the sugar has thoroughly dissolved.
3. Add the cornflour mixture to the pan and cook a moment longer, stirring constantly.
4.  When the sauce is thick and clear, pour the sauce over the fried pork.

Chicken mince 1/2 Kg

Medium sized onions 1+ 1/2

Green chilies 2

Black pepper 1 tsp

White pepper 1/2 tsp

Oregano 1/4 tsp

Butter 2 tbsp

Chicken powder 1tsp

Garlic 6 cloves

Ginger 1 small piece

Salt to taste

White vinegar 3 tbsp

Soya sauce 2 tbsp

Chili sauce 2 tbsp

Cream 1tbsp

Buns

For coating:

Egg

Bread crumbs

Garlic powder

Salt

Black pepper

METHOD

1- Heat butter in a pan and fry 1/2 chopped onion until transparent. (don’t brown it)

2- Chop 1 onion, garlic, green chili and ginger in the food processor

3- Mix all the ingredients with chicken mince and marinade for 1 hour

4- Beat egg with black pepper, salt and few drops of oil

5- Mix breadcrumbs with some garlic powder

6- Make chicken Pattie, first dip in egg and then crumbs

6- Fry until cooked

8- Spread mayonnaise, ketchup, onion ring, tomato slices and lettuce over your bun. Place the Pattie and enjoy your yummy burger

 I remember the first day I ever heard about ‘chef salad’.  That’s right…chef salad.  I had never eaten a salad, much less a ‘chef’ one.  To me that was what some folks called their dog…short for German Chefherd.  Chef.  I was somewhere around 12 or so at the time and our family was what some would call country bumpkins.  On the other side of the “tracks” were the town folks….the rich and soofistikated.

  My sister, Susie, came home from a friends house in town and she shared a most exciting experience she had just enjoyed the night before.  But before I tell you about this let me set the scene of our lives.  We were very poor, lived in a rock house 3 miles out in the country and ate mostly what we grew or was given to us by our relatives.  Our Dad had  been killed in a car wreck and the 5 of us kids and Mom were getting by on Survivor Social Security benefits of about $100 a month and on what Mom made at part time jobs.  We were poor and ‘eating out’ was what our farm animals did….we ‘ate in’.  We took our meals around the table together as a family, three times a day, unless school was going on and then we ate in the school cafeteria and was still served by our Mom who worked there to pay for our meals.  It was the practice then to eat what was put before us whether we liked it or not or we were allowed to sit there until we did like it.   And if we never did eat it then we were allowed to go without until the next meal and so on and so forth until we were ready to eat bark off the nearest tree or eat the food God gave us.  We treated our dogs the same way but they learned quicker then we did and remembered longer.  There were no such thing as ’snacks’ unless one wanted to eat, with permission, a raw potato from the garden or wild berries that were seasonally available.  These berries were a real treat.  Dewberries that grew as large as your thumb along the dusty road, wild strawberries that were about the size of dog tick but much tastier, blackberries that could be had if one was careful and respectful of the ’stickers’ that would make you pay for your haste…. and gooseberries that grew on a bush that I remember lying under and picking them from the bottom.  They were blue when ripe and very tasty but I liked them while they were still green.  Sour!  Oh,  my gosh, they were sour!  Make me pucker just to think of it!  The personal challenge was for me to eat one without wrinkling up my face like it was caught in a car door.  Never happened. And then there were Mulberries from the tree below the house, down by the creek, that we picked from the limbs after climbing up into the tree.  While these berries were very tasty, we mostly threw them at each other rather than eating them.  This was fun because they left stains where ever they hit.  We went for the face of course…me and my cousins.  And we knew the stains on our clothes was going to bring down the wrath of our Mothers.  But ….we were boys and the fun was worth the pain. At least we thought so while we were doing it.

  All this was a wonderful treat but ‘chef salad’?  Not a clue.  Eating out wasn’t even a concept for us unless it meant eating our food at the creek with our cousins….and we didn’t know many folks that did eat at places where the food was cooked for you and you paid for it…and they cleaned up afterwards.  I only remember one cafe and up until this time nothing one would call a restaurant.  That was a French word and could have meant anything.  ”Cafe” was too but I didn’t find that out until I was in my 20s. The cafe was down town and you couldn’t help but smell the wonderful aromas coming from there and I think I got a rash once from wiping the drool away from my chin.  I left Willow Springs when I was 19 and never did eat there.  This restaurant went in at a motel north of town and this is where my sister’s story took place.

  As I said my sister, Susie, spent the night with a friend and the next day shared with the rest of us a very interesting experience she had with her friend’s family.  She told us that she had just eaten one of the most delicious meals in her entire life!  She had been taken to this new restaurant and it was suggested that she try what they called a ‘chef salad’.  She agreed and they brought out this large bowl of fresh vegetables, chopped, with cheese, bacon, turkey meat, ham, etc….all of which she had eaten before on occasion…at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner and such but never all at once and in one bowl!  And then her friend suggested that she put a sauce on it that was in a bottle that they called a ‘dressing’ with the name “Thousand Island”.  She said it had bits of nuts or something in it that looked like islands when poured on the salad.  I didn’t say it but I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about at this point and didn’t want to appear stupid by asking.  So I remained silent and just used my imagination until the day I finally ate one myself.  It was good but my imagination with her story was much better.

  I remember us kids and Mom were all gathered around while she told her story and I remember wondering what it was like to eat with the rich.  And I was jealous.  I have since, as an adult that has been this poor with a family of my own, wondered how my Mom must have felt, not being able to provide more for us at this time and us being without a Dad and we all being soooo excited about Susie eating a salad…for heaven’s sake!  Must have been a sad time for her.  She told me once that there were times of sadness but I assured her that even though we were poor, we were very, very happy!  That was true.  We didn’t have a ‘Chef Salad” sort of life but it was a very happy “Bacon and Eggs” one!.

  I have found meaningful life to be discovered in the quality of living not in the abundance of having.  God, family and friends are my ‘ Bacon and Eggs’ and my garden potatoes and wild berries!.  A whole big Thanksgiving table set with the best of things a person can stand…..and all covered with a healthy portion of love….and a few nuts!  Even the stains that we get on each other are worth it!   I’ve never really been fond of salad…..much less one named after a dog.

Cabbage and  Tofu Salad Mix together 1 cup each of shredded cabbage and tofu with vinaigrette dressing(or juice of half a lemon, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and salt). Add finely chopped green chilly if you want to make it spicy! Decorate with fresh mint leaves.

Carnival Salad You will need  200 grams of chopped tofu and 500 grams of – pomegranate seeds, finely chopped  boiled potato, steamed green peas(or french beans chopped), diced carrot, apple(red) and pineapple.  Mix the chopped  fruit, vegetables and tofu in a bowl. Season with salt and serve.
I hope you enjoy these Tofu Salad Recipes. Get going Healthy!

Those who eat a salad and fresh vegetables with salad dressing mix in the body contain vitamin C, E, B6 and folic acid levels are high. Be aware, nutrition is very important to improve the immune system and reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease and other chronic diseases.

Consumption of one serving of salad a day is very good to improve our nutritional status. Just by eating half a bowl of vegetables every day is get as many as 2,000 calories.

Reported in these studies, many Americans who do not have enough vitamins in her body, while the sources of vitamins can be obtained from eating a salad. Fresh vegetables found in salads also has excellent benefits for digestion because it contains high fiber and antioxidants for immune system enhancement.

The study also explains that the salad dressing is added in the salad is not only beneficial to flavor enhancer tasty salads, but also increases the absorption of nutrients consumed. Because not only the nutrients from vegetables alone causes the body absorbi runs fine, but some fats are also needed to act absorption of nutrients, such as lycopene and alpha / beta-carotene.

Put the lime juice in the blender and with the machine running, slowly drizzle the canola oil into the canister. Add the olive oil in the same slow manner, increasing the speed toward the end of blending.

Add the shallots, mint, honey, lime zest, salt and pepper and pulse for about 2 minutes, or until blended. There will be visible pieces of mint and lime zest in the dressing, which is fine.

Salad

• 2 cups spring greens salad mix
• 1 bulb fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 2 large oranges, peeled and cut into sections
• 1 avocado skinned and cut into cubes
• 1 carrot shredded
• 1 to 2 small radishes shredded
• 1 cup crumbled goat cheese

In a large bowl, toss the greens with the fennel.  Add the orange sections, carrot, radish and toss. Add the avocado and goat cheese, toss lightly. Serve with honey mint salad dressing.

I usually clean out my fridge of expired foods and near empties about once a month. It was about time to do it for this month, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the “Stop Wasting Food” article I read a few days ago. So, I decided to look around see what I would normally toss and figure out what, if anything, I could do with it. Here are some of my own findings and the examples mentioned in the article:

1. Lemons, oranges, grapefruit, and other citrus fruits - 

 Whether eating whole or juicing, a lot of flavor is being thrown out in the skin of the fruit. The zest can be stored in a freezer bag to be used later as garnish, flavoring for desserts and savory dishes, and flavoring for drinks. One idea from the article was to place the zest in an ice cube tray with a little water; bam, instant flavorful ice cubes for mixed drinks, aides, and water.

2. Broccoli, mushroom, cauliflower and herb stems- 

Many people like to eat the head, but not the tougher stem part of broccoli and cauliflower. The trimmings, instead of being tossed, can be used for many separate meals – vegetable stock, slaw, veggie juice, and soups. They can also be battered and fried in place of french fries. One other idea that will help stretch your meats is to add the finely chopped stems to meat dishes like spaghetti, meatloaf, and hamburger steaks.

3. About to expire fruit -

Maybe you don’t want to eat those last two or three browning bananas today. Instead of tossing your bananas,  you can cook them over low heat with some water or fruit juice until they’re softened and thickened. Use the fruit mixture to add a burst of flavor to oatmeal, cookie dough, bread dough, muffin dough, yogurt, smoothies, toast, and so on. This freezes well and defrosts for use in just a few minutes.

4. Just expired or about to expire eggs-

Eggs can be safely hardboiled several days after they’re expiration date.

5. Limp spinach-

Limp greens may not make the best salad, but they do add an interesting flavor to pesto sauces and dips.

6. Stale oatmeal and bread -

With the bread, make sure it doesn’t have mold. Otherwise, both oatmeal and bread make great binders for casserole dishes like mac and cheese and meatloaf.

7. Near empty condiment bottles -

You see that there’s not enough to use of the product, but you still can see a little around the sides and bottom of the bottle or jar. I found a bottle of stone ground mustard and a tube of garlic paste like this in my fridge. I cut the garlic tube and scraped the tid-bits into the mustard and added a little olive oil and vinegar to the bottle. Instant, tasty vinaigrette dressing.   

8. The leftovers from bell peppers, onions, carrots, celery, etc..-

This is something that I’ve always done, but figure that many don’t. My grandmother, who grew up during the great depression, taught me to save the leftover pieces of these common cooking ingredients – the hull of the onion; the rib, top, and core of the bell pepper; the leaves and end of celery; the top of carrots; etc. Most people discard these parts. However, these can be boiled down to make a great base for anything from gumbo, stews, and soups to sauces and dressings. Of course, the resulting base must be strained if you don‘t wrap the pieces in a cheese cloth.

I would love for readers to add their own waste not, want not ideas!    

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Russian salad

1 Carrot diced
2 Potato diced
1 cup Peas diced
Mayonnaise as required
2-3Tsp fresh cream
Salt
1 tsp Icing sugar (or normal sugar)
1 pinch White pepper
Black pepper
2 pinch Mustard powder
Kishmish

All vegetables should be in equal quantities. Boil till done and plunge into cold water and then strain. Mix mayonnaise and cream.
Place in a bowl and add black pepper, kishmish, salt and remaining ingredients. Add the mayonnaise mixture, and mix well. Serve on a bed of lettuce. Sprinkle with a touch of crushed chilles and a few drops of chillie sauce.

Hope its simple to understand.

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon mixed mustard 

1 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

1 hard cooked egg chopped

3 Tablespoons vinegar

Pick crabmeat over carefully and combine with all remaining ingredients. Replace in crab or shallot shells. Top with Ravigote recipe follows and garnish with parsley and cut lemon with pimento strips.

Ravigote Mayonnaise

To 1 cup mayonnaise add 1 Tablespoon tarragon vinegar, 1 teaspoon each,  finely minced capers and parsley, 1 teaspoons grated onion and a dash of cayenne