Steamed Vegetables

Sometimes it's hard to believe that healthy things can taste great...but they do!

Steamed Cauliflower and Carrots

Steamed Vegetables (20 mins)

Cauliflower, carrots, broccoli or your favourite vegetables

Salt

1. Soak the vegetables in a tub of clean water, then wash them.
2. Peel the skin of the carrots, then slice them into french-fry shapes (see picture below).
3. Use a pair of scissors to cut off the little 'trees' of the broccoli and cauliflower. I find that using scissors is easier, cleaner and reduces the crumbly bits that fall out. 
4. Place all the vegetables on a stainless steel plate. 
5. Place a steaming rack in the middle of a wok or non-stick frying pan. Then, fill the wok/pan with water; the water level should be slightly lower than the top of the steaming rack. 
6. Put the stainless steel plate on top of the steaming rack, then cover the wok and leave the vegetables to steam away merrily for about 10 - 15 minutes or until as tender as you like. You can use a fork to test the tenderness of the veggies. 
7. Serve.

How to cut carrots into rectangular shapes (like French Fries)

ABC Soup

All nutrients in one good soup, perfect for the working person!

ABC Soup

ABC Soup for 2 (30 mins)

This is my "weekday soup", best prepared the night before and left to self-cook in my magic cooker so that by the time I come back from work the next day, it's ready to eat! For the record, the magic cooker is a pot, which has insulation to keep the heat in, just like a flask. You can use it to cook virtually anything from soups to stews to rice! The beauty of this pot is it saves ELECTRICITY and GAS, simply because it doesn't need either resources to cook your food! It virtually self-cooks - magic! Whatever you're cooking, just give it a boil over the stove for 10 mins or so and put it into the magic cooker. After a few hours, your food will turn out exactly as if you have left it on the gas continually. Mine is from Cosway, Malaysia, but nowadays I'm sure you can get this cooker from pretty much any shopping mall. 


Chicken drumsticks, however many you would like to have

2 potatoes
1 carrot
2 tomatoes
2 sticks celery
1 big onion

1. Defrost the chicken drumsticks. Once defrosted, wash them thoroughly by rubbing and rinsing it under running water. Rub the drumsticks with salt and then rinse them again.
2. Boil the UNPEELED tomatoes in a small pot of water - this makes skin removal as easy as ABC. 
3. Wash and peel the potatoes and carrots, then slice them into small cubes. 
4. The tomatoes should have been well boiled by now. Pour away the water and let the tomatoes cool. 
5. Wash the celery, then remove the fibrous bits. (Sometimes when I'm in a rush, I cheat by not doing this and honestly I don't feel much difference although my mum is inclined to disagree.) To do this, just sort of pinch a little wee bit of the end of the celery stick, then peel it, like peeling a banana. The fibrous bit will peel out and looks like a cellophane tape. Do this until you have removed as much of the fibrous bits as your patience allows you to. 
6. Slice the celery into smaller pieces.
7. For the next step, it's best to wear a pair of swimming goggles, ski goggles or whatever protective gear you have which covers your eyes thoroughly. Spectacles don't work. 
8. Remove the onion skin then slice it in chunky pieces. It doesn't have to be too small because it will crumble anyway when you boil the soup. 
9. Remove the goggles. If you didn't wear goggles, you should be unable to open your eyes now. 
10. Hopefully the tomatoes are cool enough for you to handle them. Else, just put it under cold running water to cool it. Then peel the skin with your hands. Just give the skin a little tug and it will all fall out obediently.  
11. Slice the tomatoes in half, then half it again. 
12. Put everything into the magic pot: tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, celery, chicken drumsticks and pour in 2.5 bowls of water. This scientific calculation is derived as such: 1 bowl per person, with approximately half a bowl of water extra to allow for evaporation. 
13. Bring the soup to a boil, then let it boil for another 10 minutes before placing it into the magic cooker. 
14. The next morning, before heading off to work, boil it over the stove for another 10 minutes and then place it in the magic cooker.
15. After work, just before eating, add a pinch of salt, and boil it over the stove for a few minutes. 
16. Serve.