Yummy Shortcut Breakfast

Everyone says that breakfast is the important meal of the day, but no one tells you what a chore it can be. As if you don't have enough to do in the morning what with getting things done in the house and preparing for work.  Shortcut breakfasts are sometimes the only way to go, especially when you decide on yummy combinations.

Ingredients

Store bought ready made cinnamon waffles (can make at home, if you know how)
Store bought vanilla ice cream (can substitute with frozen yogurt for a healthier option)
Fresh strawberries (can use any fresh berries and / or other fruit)

Method

Heat waffle, top with ice cream / yoghurt, sprinkle fruit and gorge! :-)

Notes

Try some hot chocolate sauce, or sugar sprinkles for some extra pizzaz

Mushroom Frittata

Every now and then I find myself alone at meal times on a lazy Sunday and I can never figure out what to eat. Usual day to day food is a tad boring for me and I'm too lazy to create anything elaborate. Plus who wants to go shopping for ingredients.

Flashback to Sunday past and I find myself staring at a sparse refrigerator. I was thrilled to find the right ingredients for my favourite kind of quick food. A mushroom frittata! Here's how I make it...

Pictures by ime ©

Ingredients

1 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup chopped spring onions
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
A pat of butter and a little more
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Method

In a pan, take a little olive oil, along with the butter and the minced garlic. Stir it around till well mixed and then put the flame on; keeping it at a minimum till the garlic softens.
Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Allow the water to release and when half of it is burnt through, add in the spring onions (retain a few for later).
Once the water is burnt off, add in the eggs and the remaining onions and stir well. Keep the heat on medium and cook till the eggs start solidifying - you may need to stir once or twice until this happens.
In the meantime, start the oven to bottom and top grills at 250 deg (please adjust for your own oven's settings).
Once the eggs are more or less solid, take a little butter on a spoon and just touch it to the edge of the eggs and the pan (makes it easier to remove the dish after cooking) and sprinkle the whole thing with some parmesan and stick into the oven.
Give it 5 minutes and do a knife test to check if the eggs are cooked on the inside. When they are just done, shift the oven to only top grill and brown the parmesan lightly.
Remove and set aside to cool for 5 minutes or so and gently remove from the pan into a waiting plate.
Dig in & Enjoy!!!

My 'what's in the fridge' Salad

Much as I would love to; there is no way I can cook everyday. Sometimes it's easier using the ready made way out. Honestly I don't think its such a bad thing. If its available, why not use it. A sudden desire for a salad some time ago and with no energy nor inclination to make a dressing, resulted in this.

Picture by ime ©

Ingredients

Half a head of iceberg lettuce

Some cherry tomatoes

Kraft Ranch dressing

Freshly ground salt & pepper

Method

Tear the lettuce by hand, wash well and soak in chilled ice water for 10 minutes. Remove and pat dry.
Wash the cherry tomatoes and mix it with the lettuce
Pour some dressing over it, and season with ground salt and ground pepper.
Eat immediately.

Notes

Last week, I felt like having a similar salad but didn't have the cherry tomatoes or the ranch dressing. My substitutes were normal tomatoes largely diced and thousand island dressing with home made mustard.

Basically - what I had in my fridge.

Cheers!

Baked Chilli Potato Wedges

Here's a dish that I learnt from a very good friend and second mother to me, Nina Kedar. Its quick and easy to make. It's baked, so not too unhealthy. Perfect for an impromptu snack or appetiser and so so so delicious. The original recipe calls for oil and red chilli powder, but I improvised a little with some delicious chilli oil that I have at home and it turned out super! Can't wait for Nina to come and try it.

Picture by ime ©

Ingredients

Potatoes
Schezwan chilli oil
Salt

Method

Wash and clean the potatoes. Slice them into slim wedges with the skin on and soak them in water for about 30 minutes. Drain the water and pat them dry.
Coat one side of the wedges lightly with the oil and place them on a baking tray (oil side up). Sprinkle some salt over the lot and put them in the oven for about 15 minutes. Make sure they don't start burning up.
Serve hot and enjoy.

That's it!!!

Stir Fried Mushrooms

The first time I cooked with whatever ingredients I had in the house, I was so impressed with myself that I wrote a blog about it and called it  Ad Hoc Cooking (click if you want to read). Today it isn't so unusual for me to do this. A few weeks ago I had a friend stopping by and I know she loves my salads. She is also a garlic and a chili freak, so I decided to make sure I gave her a little of it all. I had mushrooms in the house and this is how I stir fried them.

Ingredients

Mushrooms, 1 packet; washed and sliced
Garlic, 12 cloves; sliced thin
Ginger 1" piece; julienned
Bird's eye chilies about 4; sliced thin on the diagonal (can substitute with green chilies)
Spring onions, 4 heads & stalks; cut on the diagonal about and 1" long
Lemon grass, 1 small stick; sliced thin on the diagonal (if available)

Picture by Ulupi

Lemon zest, 2 lemons
White pepper
Salt
Oil

Method

Use a wok or heavy bottomed pan. Pour in the oil and stir in the garlic. Start the flame on slow and watch for the oil to heat.
Add the ginger, lemon zest, lemon grass and chilies and cook till the edges turn colour.
Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt and stir well. Allow the water to release and burn off most of it.
Just before the mixture loses all the water, add the spring onions and white pepper. Toss till the water burns off.
Serve hot

Notes

The same recipe works great with shredded chicken.
You can also add bean sprouts.