Healthy Stealthy Breakfast

When you want to have a gluten free breakfast, it's good to remember, that you should eat some oats, yoghurt, white cheese (if you are lactose intolerant like I am), a portion of fresh veggies, like cucmber, tomatoes, or some lettuce, and if you're a meat eater, some cold cuts or ham. I had delicious italian ham leftover from Christmas, so basicaly that's my meal. And, if you want more flavour to the cheese, sprinkle some chili cayenne, and on the side, sprinkle a mix of your favorite dried herbs (basil and tarragon for me!) pour some good quality olive ol over it to refresh the taste of them. Then you can mix your cheese in the oil herbs and it's delicious. I was actually well fed for most of the day with this small plate. If you feel that this is not enough, have a soft boiled egg too.
YUM!

Easy salmon teriyaki salad

There comes a terrible time, when it's not the holidays, and you don't fit in your pants. That's when you take out the heavy guns and start eating salads in the dead of winter. Don't make it yuck. Make it at least good :)

Easy salad for next day- throw in a baggie and take to work- the sauces will marinate the hard veggies and the salad will be crisp if you put in on top in the baggie.


Type of dish: salad
Cost: medium
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 2
Time: 30min
Prep time: 10min
Baking time: 20min
Oven temp: 180C

You'll need:

a shallow baking dish, fork, cutting board, sharp knife, baggie or bowl.

Ingredients:

• lettuce of any kind,
• 2 medium carrots
• black sesame seeds
• 1/2 salmon filet, skinned, cut in large pieces
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced diagonaly
• 3 tbsp terriyaki sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce ( whatever your flavour)
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Preheat your oven, in the baking dish, lay out the salmon pieces, and pour in the terriyaki sauce. Mix around so all is well coated and pop in the oven for 20 min. In the meantime, julienne the carrots, and place it in the baggie or bowl, add the cucumber and add the oil and soy sauce. Sprinkle in some sesame seeds and when the salmon is baked, crumble the pieces on the veggies in the baggie. Let it cool down completely before puttting on top of that the shredded lettuce. Close the baggie and put in the frigde to take out before work. At work, tip the baggie over a plate, so the salad comes out reversed. Mix and eat.
If you plan on eating this at once, place everything the other way round- first in a bowl lettuce, carrots, cucmber, then the salmon, sprinkle with the sesame and pour over the soy sauce and sesame oil.
Serve!

Beef steak vs 2 "french style"

I'm commited to beef if you haven't noticed yet. It's a long process but I'll get there.
This one came out as an atempt to bring back a flavour of a sauce T. once had with his beef in Il Sole. Turns out they don't serve it anymore, woohoo, too bad. For them. Basicaly, the sauce had an amazing amount of tarragon, to which I am a slave. It's a strong, nice smelly herb that I use sometimes with a certain salad you will read about soon. Smelly in a good way, I mean. It's not that rich, I mean it's good but not fat, and I had it with a salad. Yes, green salad with nothing but olive oil and lemon juice. Disgusting.  So be more french than I was, and serve please with cooked, blanched green beans with either olive oil or melted butter. And for God's sake, use salt. I beg you.

Type of dish: main
Cost: medium, expensive
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 2
Time: 40 min
Preparation time: 5 min
Marinating time: 10 min
Frying time: 10 min at most


You'll need:
a cutting board, a mallet ( meat beater, tenderizer), a kitchen cloth ( to put under the cutting board), a piece of cling film, paper towels, a medium bowl, 1 teaspoon, a grill pan with a heat proof handle, spatula

Ingredient:

• 400 gram beef steak
• 3 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp dried crushed tarragon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• S&P
• Green beans, cooked, or green salad with vinaigrette.

Do it:
Prep your board- put a cloth underneath. Wash the meat under cold water, pat dry with the paper towels. Cut your meat in two slices 2-3 cm thick if your butcher hasn't done that for you. Cover the meat with cling film on one side and beat it like a lady (gently) with the mallet so it flattens out a bit. We don't want it schnitzel thin, just 1,5 cm thin. Beat both pieces of meat and set aside. In a bowl mix together the oilive oil, mustard, tarragon and add a pinch of S&P. Mix well and put in the meat, and try to coat well  with the mustard mixture. Set this aside for at least 10 min, best overnight and clean up your mess. Well aren't I an Anthea T. :P
Before frying your meat- if you put it in the fridge, take it out about 15 min before frying. This way it will cook faster.
Heat up on high heat your pan, and when very hot, turn down to medium high and put on the meat. Fry however long you want it to on one side ( from well done to rare, it's usually 2-3 min for rare, and 3-6 for a well done steak).Try to spoon out as much as you can of the marinade on top of the cooking meat. After cooked to your likes, set aside on cutting board for at least 2-3 min so it "sets", then serve.

Serve with the salad or green beans.

Beef steak vs 1 Asian Style

Let's call it asian style beef. 
I'm not a fan of meat, especially red. But sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah. And I come up with failure or a hit! Besides, I'm tried to cook without herbs, S&P and I hated that, so I'm trying to move around that. But the flavour is more real, not bland at all. Funny how it all comes out.
This came out great, I was actually suprised.
So let's get it started:

Type of dish: main
Cost: medium, expensive
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 2
Time: 65 min
Preparation time: 10 min
Marinating time: 45 min
Cooking time: 10 min

You'll need:
a cutting board, sharp knife, a small ziploc bag, frying pan, microplane ( that's a mini grater), spatula and dish to serve, paper towels

Ingredients:

• 400gram beef sirloin with no tendons or fat. If it has that, cut it out.( if not sirloin, get other good quality beef bits)
•  1 tbsp soy sauce ( light is prefered, but not a must)
• grated peel from 1 orange
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger or freshly minced thimb sized ginger piece
• 1/2 tsp ground lemongrass
• 1 tbsp finely chopped spring onions
• 1 tbsp olive oil or sesame oil
• 1 tsp seasame seeds
• to serve: white jasmin rice, one portion ( small bowl size)
• optional: 3 tbsp plum sauce to the mixture.( didn't have it)

Knock yourself out:
Wash the meat in cold water, pat dry with a paper towel. Cut away the tendoms and most visible fat, then cut in small slices, diagonally. You should come up with small pices the size of your thumb and as long as your thumb. Now place the meat in the ziploc bag, pour in it the soy sauce, orange peel, ginger and lemongrass, and a tiny bit of olive oil. Just a dash.  Close the bag and mash it all around, so the sauce covers all of the meat. I made this ahead and popped this in the freezer until I needed it, but that was stupid 'cause I used it the next day. Hurrah. If you aren't doing this, then let it sit  marinating for at least 45 mins. Then use.
Now, get your rice done, like the package says, cool it.
Heat up your pan on high heat. Add the oil- sesame works best for high temp frying, but we use what we have, right? When hot, throw in all from the ziploc baggie- meat and sauce. Now, stir it every few seconds so it doen't burn, add the sesame seeds and plum sauce if you have it. Fry until the meat turns a nice brown. Prepare a cup of rice on the plate, put half of the meat on the plate around the rice, sprinkle with the spring onions, and pour the sauce from the pan with a spoon, or make fancy dots with it. Still looks damn fancy.

Additonal info: This is a extremely low in calories dish, so it's good  for people dieting.