Grilled Vegetarian Ham and Cheese

I first came across this very tasty flavour at the teahouse of the Buddhist Temple in Mississauga, I kind of like the flavour of this soy-based fake ham, and did like the combination of the ham and cheese (though I suspect that they might have used fake soy-based cheese too; I didn't, the cheese I used was a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar, but you could use your favourite cheese). You can get vegetarian ham in any Chinese supermarket, it comes in a long log, from which you can slice off a chunk to use in any number of recipes.

Grilled Vegetarian Ham and Cheese
1 thick slice vegetarian ham, cut into thin wedges
handful shredded cheese
2 slices bread
butter or oil

Butter 2 sides of bread. Place one slice, butter side down, on a plate. Place sliced vegetarian on top of bread. Pile shredded cheese on top. Place other slice of bread on top, butter side out. Grill for 5-6 minutes on panini grill on high, or on medium heat on a heavy frying pan, flipping after 2-3 minutes, when bottom is golden brown.

Naan Chicken Pizza

My best friend bought a convection toaster oven recently, and it came with a pizza stone, so he suggested when I visited him on the weekend, that we try and make pizzas. Having seen the new President's Choice Naan Chicken Pizza and not yet tried it, it is sitting in my freezer currently, I thought that we could do something similar. I suggested that we buy some naan, the delicious Indian bread, and cover it with sauce, he suggested black bean salsa instead, which worked, some pre-cooked chicken, some feta cheese, some cut-up cherry tomatoes, and some asiago cheese. The toaster oven cooked this in about 8 minutes at 450C, on convection bake. They turned out quite tasty, though you have to make sure to drain the salsa a little bit, otherwise they turn out soggy.

Spaghetti with Sweet Cherry Tomatoes, Basil and Oil

I adapted this from a recipe by Jamie Oliver, his had marjoram and garlic, also good additions. Too, I added chicken, Jamie's recipe being originally vegetarian. Either way, it is quite delicious and easy to assemble, a good quick nutritious meal for a busy night.

Spaghetti with Sweet Cherry Tomatoes, Basil and Oil
1/2 lb. dried spaghetti
10-12 ripe cherry tomatoes, red and yellow
1 good handful of fresh basil, leaves picked
5-6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp hazelnut oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 chicken breast, grilled and sliced
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Put your pasta into a large pot of salted boiling water and cook until al dente (7-9 minutes). While it's cooking, halve the tomatoes and put them into a large bowl, squishing several of them to get the juice out. Add the basil, olive and hazelnut oil and balsamic vinegar. Season to taste. Grill the chicken till done, 4 minutes per side. Drain the pasta, and while still steaming hot, mix well with the tomato mixture, check the season, add the cooked chicken and serve.

Shrimp and Chicken Greens

This is the salad that I have been making for lunch recently, though I added frozen cooked shrimp along with the chicken breast. The salad greens are a mixture of baby spinach, baby arugala, baby romaine and a mixture of mache, radicchio and frisee, you could use your favourite greens, and I buy different greens as the mood strikes. To this I added cut up tomatoes and cut up cucumber, with the peel still on, and some cubes of feta cheese. The chicken and shrimp, both already cooked, I stir-fried until they were crispy and hot. The dressing I used was a hazelnut oil vinaigrette. Quite delicious.

Mama Shrimp Creamy Tom Yum Flavour Noodles

Tom Yum soup is a popular spicy dish in Thailand, with shrimp and tomato and mushroom, and chili powder to provide the heat, I had some on the weekend, very delicious. This instant noodle product from Thailand attempts to recreate the flavour of this soup, and does an admirable job, though it is a creamier version than the one I had on the weekend. Like all instant noodles, it is very easy to make, just add about 500 mL of boiling water to all the ingredients, the noodles and the spices, and let it sit for three minutes. To make it even better tasting, and heartier, add some extra ingredients, like cooked shrimp, or cut-up tomatoes, or other vegetables, or cooked meat. Makes for a good lunch, especially if you like the heat of chilis.

Nong Shim Instant Udon Noodles

My beautiful Thai friend showed me this interesting variation on the instant noodle packages found everywhere; this one is Korea in flavour, though manufactured in China, and is quite spicy, and thus, in my opinion anyways, far better tasting. The package consists of three parts, the udon-style noodles, which are thicker than those found in other competitors, a Powder soup packet, which contains the spices that give it its zing, and the Vegetable soup packet, which contains dried seaweed, dried mussel, dried squid cake, dried chives and dried carrot. Much like any of the other versions, this is easy to make. Boil some water, add the contents of the package, and boil for 5 minutes. I added some frozen cooked shrimp that I had to give it a little protein, but you could add almost anything; she suggested I add tomatoes, something she likes.

Bacon-Egg Sandwich

This is bacon and eggs the way I like it, the eggs cooked 'hard'; I don't like sunny side-up style eggs, really I don't like eggs runny at all, a preference I share with my Dad, who has always asked for his eggs 'turned over hard, break the yolk'. This wouldn't be bad either, if you put a little cheese or chopped tomatoes on top, before you folded it. Bacon is normally fairly salty, so add only a little salt to the eggs.

Bacon-Egg Sandwich
3-4 slices bacon
3 eggs
sea salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
2 slices toasted rye bread

Whisk three eggs, adding salt and pepper. Add bacon to cold frying pan and fry on medium heat until nearly done. Add eggs to pan, spreading out eggs into thin layer. Flip over when eggs are cooked through on bottom. Cook till eggs are stiff. Fold over, then fold again. Put between two slices of toasted rye bread. Enjoy.

A Quick Lunch

Being too hot these days to make elaborate meals, I decided to make a quick lunch not from any recipe, that turned out quite good. I just fried up some butterflied chicken breasts, sprinkled with some Chinese five spice powder, then assembled a sandwich on toasted rye bread, with a Havarti cheese slice, and a farm fresh vine tomato bought at the farmer's market sliced thickly, sprinkled with salt and a little dried basil. Yum!