Along my journey to eating to lose weight and get into better health, I discovered how herbs and spices were Mother Nature's of gift to us.  Filled with anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-microbial properties,  I was overjoyed to find that adding flavor to my dishes often meant I was also adding an incredibly boost to my health!  So the garlic, lemongrass, cilantro and chilis not only make my taste buds incredibly happy, but they do all sorts of wonderful things for my gut and immune systems too.  For those of you who like chili,  you will be happy to know that it also boosts your metabolism!

The recipe is mostly vegetarian and follows many principles of eating paleo.   The two exceptions are balancan (shrimp paste) and kecap manis (an Indonesian sweet, sticky, rich soya sauce).   These can be replaced with either soya sauce, tamari and a little sugar or honey to get a similar result.   Please adjust as you need to if you are pure vegetarian or allergic to soy and gluten.

B) Sauce
Put all ingredients (except the kecap manis) into a food processor and blend till smooth. 
Heat up a frying pan.  Pour blended ingredients in and heat gently till cooked through.  
Add three tablespoons of water. Simmer until paste changes color.  
Stir in kecap manis till well mixed.  Add back tempe and coat evenly.  Add white pepper to taste.

C) Carbs and greens
Cut pre-steamed potato and sweet potatoes into large slices or wedges.  
Reheat by pan-frying with 1/4 teaspoon of olive and a little sea salt to taste. 
(I like my potatoes to be a little browned and crunchy!)
Remove and set aside.
In the same frying pan, add remaining olive oil and sear the asparagus to desired done-ness.  
If using baby asparagus, this takes about 2 minutes. 
(The vegetables will continue to cook through in the residual heat, so remove them quickly if you want them to still have a nice bite.)

D) To serve
Place asparagus to a side of the plate.  Using tongs or chopsticks,  stack the tempe sticks on top.
Arrange the potato slices and wedges to the side of the plate. 
Scatter coriander leaves over the plate, followed by a light sprinkling of chili flake,s. 
If you like the flavor of fresh lime or calamansi, add a wedge to cut through the richness of the tempe.

#paleorecipe #homecooking #cookingwithAsianspices #cookingwithAsianHerbs #vegetarianrecipe #vegetarianprotein #easytocook #balancedmeal #healtheating #tempe #kecapmanis #lemongrass #chili #cilantro #antiinflammation #tumeric #metabolismbooster #heartymeal #complexcarbs #rootvegetables

I don't often cook with a lot of butter, but once in a while,  I do indulge in comfort food and rich sauces.   When I do, I try to balance flavors and include enough antioxidants in the meal.

Here's a dish that I made in September 2015, while on a cooking show in the Philippines.  We had to cook with the local ingredients, including fruit from the local orchard.  I was assigned Rambutans! 

Despite the richness of this recipe,  it does have health-giving properties. 

• Butter: A host of studies have shown that butter from grassfed beef is high in Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA).  CLA is a type of fat that has been studied for its weight loss enhancing properties through enhancing metabolism and supporting the body in its insulin response.  It also lowers bad cholesterol and triglycerides.  (For those of you who are interested, I have included a link to an article on CLA at the end of this recipe.  I hope you enjoy it)
• Rambutans: Besides being rich in Vitamin C and fiber, the fruit contains Gallic acid --- this acts in preventing oxidative damage in the body and helps protect against cancer. 
• Cinnamon: This spice from the bark of a tree is highly prized for its medicinal properties and flavor.  It's rich in anti-oxidants, carries anti-inflammatory properties, reduces bad cholesterol and triglycerides, while stabilizing good cholesterol.  It also supports the body's response to insulin  and is helpful for people with Type 2 diabetes.  

 A) Making the jam
Add rambutans and honey to a pot.  Add water, bring to simmer till the liquid reduces to ½ and takes on the flavor of the rambutans and a “sticky” consistency.  Set aside. 

B) Marinating and cooking the meat
Combine all ingredients and add the pork.  Leave pork to marinade for at least 10 minutes.
Remove the meat from the marinade and separate as much of the liquid, onions and garlic as possible.  Reserve the marinade. 
Heat non-stick skillet.  When very hot, add ½ tablespoon of olive oil.  Sear the pork loins on high heat.  After 1 minute, turn over and sear the other side.  Turn as needed. Cook through and remove from heat.  Place the meat onto a plate and let it rest.  When cool, cut into thick chunks. 

C) Making the sauce
To make the sauce, use the reserve marinade.  Separate the liquid from the garlic and onions. 
Add ½ Tablespoon of olive oil into the frying pan, and add the garlic and onions from the marinade.  Stir fry till fragrant.  Pour in the marinade liquid and simmer with the water. Reduce it.
As the pork is resting, it will release some of its juice.  Add the pork jucices to the sauce. 
To thicken, add in 10 grams of butter and whisk.   Strain sauce using a sieve.  Set aside and keep warm. 

D) Serving
Place pork loin chunks onto the serving plate.  Spoon sauce over around the pork.  Top with the rambutan jam and sprinkle over black sesame seeds.  For a “Black and White” effect, the dish can be accompanied with white asparagus, white rice, mashed potatoes or cauliflower gratin.  If you do want something lighter to balance out the richness of the sauce,  you can use cauliflower rice for the "starch" --- I will show you how to make cauliflower rice in another food recipe, coming up soon. 

E) Tips and Adaptations
If rambutans are hard to find, you can make this dish with 1 green apple.  Simply remove the skin and slice it into 6 slices. 
If you are not a fan of pork,  you can replace the pork with two pieces of duck breast. 

#eatfattogetthin #CLA #ConjugatedLinoleicAcid #CinnamonBenefits #RambutanBenefits #ComfortFood #HeartyDishes  #eatinganimalproteininmoderation

For more information about CLA,  please click on the link: www.leanhigh.com/cla

If you're anything like me, my day is usually packed and home-made meals need to be quick and easy. When I eat,  I also like my meal to look pretty as a mini-reward.  Here's my take on an old favorite -- Thai Red Curry and Rice -- as a fun, fusion dish. 

This dish is balanced with proteins, carbs, lots of colorful veggies and anti-oxidants.   Tumeric not only gives the meal lovely color but has wonderful anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer properties.  I love sneaking it into many of my meals.  The chili and spices don't just taste great, but they can raise your metabolism too!  And there is coconut in this dish -- enough has been said about this wonder food. 

Preparing this dish may look a little more complex, but it's actually much easier than it looks. Here are a couple of tricks:  

• Trick 1:  Batch make your staple carbs like mashed potatoes or rice.  Freeze some so that you can easily defrost and add them to other recipes.  
• Trick 2: Use store bought prepared pastes and spices.   
• Trick 3:  Some vegetables are easier to wash than others -- courgettes and bell peppers take just seconds to rinse and cut  into chunks.
• Trick 4:  Cook in parallel.  This recipe allows you to make the curry sauce and bell peppers first, and while they are stewing,  go ahead and start preparing the chicken and additional vegetables. 
• Trick 5:  Save the left over sauces and freeze them in an ice-cube tray or small container.  They can add instant flavor to other dishes or can be turned into quick soups for other occasions.

I hope you enjoy experimenting with this recipe.  Happy Cooking! 

A) Prepare curry sauce and stew bell peppers 
Curry sauce: Add oil to a sauce pot.  Heat gently.  Add curry paste.  Use a wooden spoon to stir fry on low heat.  When fragrant (usually 2-3 minutes),  add 2 table spoons of coconut cream.  Stir fry for another 2 minutes.  Add remaining coconut cream.  Bring to a simmer.  

Add water, bell peppers,  fish sauce,  sugar and lime juice.  Crumble the stock cube into pot. Bring to a full boil for five minutes and stir.  Cover with a lid, turn off the flame and leave to peppers stew for 10 minutes.  Remove bell peppers and set aside.  Keep sauce warm.    

B) Prepare Chicken and Vegetables
Chicken: Dry and coat lightly with  tumeric and chili/paprika, salt and pepper.  
Heat a frying pan.  Test if it is hot enough by sprinkling a few drops of water --- it is hot enough when the water drops turn to steam almost immediately.  
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add chicken breast with skin side down to get a nice sear. Leave for about 2-3 minutes.  Lift cleanly with a spatula.  Turn and cook the other side for 3 minutes.  Turn back over to skin side down, reduce heat and leave lid on, for another 3 minutes.  
Take breast off the pan.  Rest on a warm plate. 

Vegetables: Place onion rings into a skillet with 2 tablespoons of oil.  Caramalize onions slowly. 
When brown, add in courgettes.  Cook for 2 minutes.   Set aside.​

C) Assemble and plate 
Place a layer of mashed potatoes or boiled rice on the bottom plate. 
Next, add layer of vegetables and onions.  Follow with 1 chicken breast, then bell peppers. 
Using a large spoon, gently pour  3 tablespoons of the curry sauce around the stack of food. 
Finish with coriander leaves and drizzle a little more olive oil if you'd like. 

D) Tips and adaptations
For fish lovers:  replace chicken with salmon
For vegetarians:  replace chicken with thick wedges of tempeh.  You can lightly panfry these or cover in the spice mix and heat in the oven.   Replace the fish sauce with temari or seasalt.  Replace the chicken stock cube with a vegetable stock cube.

#Homecook #SelfTaughtCook #CookingWithLove #AsianSpices #Fusionflavors #CookingwithHerbs #CookingWithSpices  #GlutenFreeCooking #GlutenFreeRecipe #DiaryFreeCooking #DairyFreeRecipe ​ #BalancedMeals #ApplyingThePlate