Chicken & Mini Farfalle Pasta Salad
This chicken and pasta salad would be a nice pasta salad to make use of whatever leftover chicken you’ve got in the fridge. Having said that though, I actually didn’t use leftover chicken here but I just want you to know that you could easily use leftovers. And this is just a different version of the other pasta salads I’ve made before. I just added chicken here and used raspberry vinaigrette instead of Italian dressing. And of course, different pasta.
Mini Rotelle Cold Pasta Salad W/ Cheese & Sunflower Seeds
Summer means a lot of things. One of them is making cold pasta salads. I suppose it’s ok to make them during winter too but it is usually during the Summer that I get to indulge in whipping up different kinds of cold pasta salads. They’d go with any grilled meat entrees, including kebabs, satays, burgers, just to name a couple. Pasta salads prefect to serve as side dishes during the summer parties in the backyard or as lunch for the family on regular days. This Mini Rotelle Cold Pasta Salad W/ Cheese & Sunflower Seeds is basically another version of Pasta & Broccoli Salad W/ Golden Raisins and Sunflower Seeds but without the golden raisins and chopped fresh broccoli. I added chopped eggs instead.
15 Cinco de Mayo Recipes
Are you getting ready for your Cinco de Mayo party? Here are 15 ideas you could make to make your fiesta even more festive. You don’t have to make all 15 of them of course. I personally would pick the 7-layer dip, salmon tacos, and mexican lasagna for my own Cinco de Mayo party. Plus Margarita of course. Oh and Tequila shots. Ay Papi! Advance Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! Enjoy the dishes and let me know how you parties turn out.
Salads, 2 Ways
I actually “made” this fruit salad very early on this month but I neglected to post it here since I already posted it in my Facebook and Twitter. I got so excited to show off what a beautiful fruit salad I “made” that I forgot where it was intended for. Anyhoo, I said “made” coz there’s really no making process that went on. All I did was buy watermelon, grapes and strawberries, cut the watermelon in half, then scooped out cute rounded balls. I tossed them with sliced strawberries and whole grapes. A perfect fruit salad for the Summer.
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Spicy Pork Binagoongan W/ Napa Cabbage
Pork Binagoongan is NOT one of the Filipino dishes that I make often. Truth be told, this is probably the 2nd time I’ve made it in my married life of 14 years. The first time I made it was years ago that I can’t even remember the exact year. I do remember though that I turned it into a filling for lettuce wraps. Yup, no rice. My husband would be surprised about this info too. This time around though, I ate the pork binagoongan with rice. Hey, why not, right?
After I cooked and consumed this Spicy Pork Bingoongan W/ Napa Cabbage dish for lunch the other day, I googled how other Filipinos cook it. Most of the recipes I’ve read call for big chunks of pork, simmered for a while, some in coconut milk, and some even cooked the pork chunks on the crispy side before adding the shrimp paste. I thought, well, that explains why I don’t cook this dish often. I know nothing of how to make it authentically, hah. I just sliced a pork steak in cubes, then sauteed them with garlic, ginger, tomatoes, green onions, and for a vegetable factor, I added slices of napa cabbage. VOILA!
Catfish Fillets In Creamy Coconut Milk Sauce (Ginataang Hito)
I had 9 full ziploc bags of catfish in my freezer after my husband’s fishing trip last Thursday. So far I’ve made creole catfish nuggets out of the stomach fillets. The other night I cooked up another bag of the fillets by simmering the fish in coconut milk. It was soooo good. Anything simmered in coconut milk always turns out well, right? This Catfish Fillets In Creamy Coconut Milk Sauce is not an exception.
Fried Rice W/ Smoked Sausage & Cilantro
To make the fried rice as good as the ones from your favorite Asian restaurants the trick is to cook the rice the night before. Line foil on top of a cookie sheet. Spread the cooked rice on the pan, breaking the chunks of cooked rice as much as you can. Then store the pan of rice inside the fridge to cool down overnight.
Mushrooms Cabbage Shanghai Lumpias
I made these Mushrooms Cabbage Shanghai Lumpias during Super Bowl along with bacon-peas fried rice and shrimp & veggies stir-fry. I laughed at the irony of cooking Asian dishes on the most American day in America. I’m a “rebel” that way, I guess. Anyhooo, if you’re asking why these are called Shanghai Lumpias or Lumpiang Shanghai, my answer is, I really have no idea. They could just as easily be called lumpias or eggrolls. But I grew up with the term lumpiang shanghai whenever these skinny eggrolls were served at our table so I gravitate towards that name when I make them now.
Perhaps, it’s the skinny form of the eggrolls. Instead of folding up the sides after putting the filling in the wrapper, these are just rolled all the way leaving both ends exposed. Maybe that’s why. Seriously, I don’t know. In any case, here’s how I made these skinny lumpias, 
Tofu & Zucchini Fritters
To go along with the dumplings I made for dinner a couple of nights ago, I decided to make fritters out of a block of tofu and 2 zucchinis. I used the batter from the sesame chicken to continue the Asian theme I was going for. You could serve these as either appetizers, snacks, or lunch. Or dinner with dumplings as well.
| Tofu & Zucchini Fritters |
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 cup of cornstarch
- 3/4 cup of water
- 2 tbsp of baking powder
- salt and pepper
- 2 zucchini. cut lengthwise
- 1 block of firm tofu, cut lengthwise
- Combine the egg, cornstarch, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Whisk everything together to form the batter. Dip the tofu and zucchini slices in batches.
- Heat oil in a pot. Deep fry the battered tofu and zucchini slices, in batches as well.
- Drain the oil in a paper-lined platter.
- Serve the tofu and zucchini fritters with a soy sauce, scallions, and lemon juice dip, alongside dumplings.
Christmas Gifts From Your Kitchen
There really is nothing wrong with giving food items as Christmas Gifts. And it’s even more special if you make the goodies yourself. Christmas time is baking time so it’s always a good idea to double or triple your baked goodies so you have enough cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls, or cake pops for the family, relatives, friends, neighbors, Teachers, mailman, or whomever else you want to give a gift to this Christmas. Here are a few goodies from my kitchen that you can also make. There’s still plenty of time to get the ingredients and make all the treats as pretty as can be.
Click on the highlighted text to get the recipe for each item.
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Apple-Cinnamon Rolls
- Peach Marmalade Cinnamon Rolls
- Twisted Cinnamon Bread
- Plain Or Chocolate Chips Cinnamon Rolls
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Toffee & Chocolate Chip Cookies
- White Chocolate Chip Brownies
- Cake Pops
- Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Buttery Gooey Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Or you can always make fruitcake.
