Rainbow seafood pasta salad

Before posting the photos I shot in Penang, I would like to begin my 2009 posting with a food recipe.

Do you like salad? I never have a chance to made one so far as my Emperor is not supportive enough for this idea. But after all the Christmas and New Year festive celebrations, I desperately need one now. Remember what I mentioned in my last post? It is my 2009 New Year resolution! As we know, another festive celebration is approaching - Chinese New Year. During this period, we will have to attend family reunion dinner and friend and relatives' open house. All the yummilicious stuff are awaiting for us!! If I don’t seriously watch my diet now, then I have to prepare to upgrade my clothing size after CNY. Oh, no! please don't let this happen to me!!!!

Today I would like to share with you a light, simple and healthy recipe I found from my favourite cookbook - “Children’s healthy & fun cookbook”. Although this was my 1st attempt in making salad, to my surprise, my son could accept raw vegetables such as baby butterhead. He loved eating it so much. I guess it was because most of the ingredients used in this salad were his favourite (ie tomato, corns, raisin and prawns) and the thousand island dressing provides extra flavour to the salad.

This salad is very versatile. You can mix and match any ingredients using your own creativity. Below is my own modified version that is enough to serve both my son and me for today’s lunch.

Ingredients:
60g pasta shells – cooked and drained well
4 large prawns – cooked and peeled, cut each prawn into 4 portions
1 medium size tomatoes - removed seeds and chopped into cubes
½ ear of large sweet corn – steamed or boiled, kernel removed from cob
1 small Japanese cucumber – removed seeds and chopped into cubes
Handful of black raisins and sunflower seeds
A few leaves of baby butterhead (cut into strips)

Other ingredients you may consider:
- small tomatoes (ie cherry or roma tomatoes), carrot, avocado, lettuce leaves, cooked egg, pine nuts, chicken (instead of prawn), tofu (instead of prawn for vegetarian)

Dressing (thousand islands sauce):
4 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tsp lemon juice (start with 1 tsp)
2 drops of Tabasco sauce (optional)
Dash of pepper
Sugar or salt (if necessary)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (for mixing later)

Methods:
1) Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the pasta and follow the cooking instructions on the packet. Drain well and leave to cool.
2) Prepare the dressing, cover with cling wrap and keep in the fridge.
3) Prepare all the ingredients.
4) Put all the ingredients into a salad bowl and mix well with the dressing. Alternatively, you can divide the ingredients between the serving bowls and then drizzle over the dressing. Serve and enjoy!

I am submitting this pasta salad to Presto Pasta Night, founded by Ruth of Once Upon A Feast, and hosted by Ivy of Kopiaste this week.

Other recommended colourful dishes:
- special egg rolls with rice, salmon and spinach
- millet porridge
- stir-fried capsicums & cucumber with stewed vegetarian mutton

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Tuna pasta

I haven’t posted any new pasta recipe for quite some time. This doesn’t mean we have stopped eating pasta. Pasta is always our family "all-time favourite " especially for my son. He eats a variety of pasta – spaghetti, angel hair, shell, macaroni, fusilli (spiral), penne, linguine & alphabet.

Good news to all the busy mommies and career women!

I am going to share a very simple pasta dish that takes only minutes to prepare. This recipe is adapted from Children’s Healthy & Fun Cookbook. I had slightly modified the recipe by adding extra vegetables to make it a wholesome meal. This is also my usual “fridge-cleaning” exercise. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone??. Hahaha!



The key ingredients for this recipe are tomatoes and tuna, the rest is up to your own creation (either add more vegetables or follow strictly the original recipe). Below are both my version and the original version for your comparison:

(My version)
Ingredients:
85 tinned tuna in olive oil (drained and broken up into chunks) – approx ½ tin
277g tomatoes (I didn’t have enough tinned tomatoes so I topped up with some fresh ones #)
80g shape pasta - I used fusilli (organic durum wheat semolina pasta)
100g red capsicum*
43g carrot*
* - other vegetables: celery, cauliflower, sweetcorns, beans and chickpeas.
1 clove garlic (crushed)
½ red onion (chopped finely)
4 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp olive oil
Dash of dried oregano & basil
½ tsp sugar (to taste)
salt and pepper
cooked broccoli (for garnishing) – Note: Vitamin C in the tomato sauce will help you to absorb the iron in the broccoli.

(Original version)
Ingredients:
200g tinned tuna in olive oil (drained and broken up into chunks)
800g tinned chopped tomatoes
275g pasta bows
2 large cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tsp tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano (optional)
½ tsp sugar (optional)
salt and pepper

# Tip on how to peel off tomato skin
– cut a “x” at the bottom of the tomato, put inside the boiling water for 1 min. Drain and let it cool off. Then peel off the skin with a knife .

Methods:
1) Cook pasta according to the packet instructions, until the pasta is tender but not too soft.
2) Heat oil in a large saucepan, over a medium heat. Fry garlic for 1 min. Stir in oregano & basil (if any), vegetables (if any), chopped tomatoes and tomato puree/ paste.
3) Bring the sauce to the boil and reduce the heat. Half cover the pan and simmer for 15 mins or until the sauce has reduced by a third and thickened.
4) Stir the tuna into the sauce. Half-cover the pan and heat through for 2 mins, stirring occasionally. Add some sugar to the sauce if necessary and season.
5) Drain the pasta but save 2 tbsp of the water. Return the pasta to the saucepan. Add the water and stir in the sauce until the pasta is coated.
6) Serve with grated cheese and cooked broccoli.

I am submitting this simple pasta dish to Presto Pasta Nights, founded by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast, and hosted by Inge of Vanielje Kitchen this week.

Other pasta recipes that you may like to try:
Pesto pasta
Italian pasta soup
Spaghetti bolognese

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Pesto pasta

Ingredients:
200g uncooked spaghetti

Pesto sauce:
60g fresh basil leaves
30g pine nuts (lightly toasted)
2 large cloves garlic (crushed and roughly chopped)
100ml olive oil
2-3 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper to taste

Methods:
1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain the pasta but reserve 2 tbsp of the cooking water. Return pasta to the pan with the cooking water.
2. Place basil, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor and, with the motor running, gradually pour in the oil to form a smooth paste. Stir in cheese. Season to taste.
3. Toss the pesto through the hot pasta until well combined. Serve immediately.

Tips: Peas, green beans, carrots, cauliflower or broccoli could be used to serve with pasta. Meat eaters could add some cooked chicken or bacon.

Pesto sauce can be used in many ways ie swirl a spoonful of pesto in soups, stir it into bread dough or spread it over toast!

You can also watch a video on how to make pesto and store it for later use on Make Michael Chiarello's pesto show.

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Italian pasta soup

The recipe for this wholesome and tasty soup was adapted from Children's healthy & fun cookbook (published by DK).

Ingredients:
75g pasta bows (I had replaced it with small shell pasta)
1 large onion (white)
2 potatoes
2 sticks celery
1 large carrot (scrubbed)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried oregano
1 litre vegetable stock (I used Maggi concentrated chicken stock 上汤鸡精）
400g tinned chopped tomatoes (I used fresh ripe tomatoes)
Bacon (optional) (I used veg ham)
Parmesan cheese (grated) - optional

Methods:
1. Bring a medium-sized pan of water to the boil and add the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is just tender but not completely cooked. Drain well and set aside.
2. Chop the onion into a small pieces. Peel the potatoes and cut them into bite-sized chunks. Slice the celery and carrot into bite-sized pieces.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and fry over a medium heat for 8 mins or until it is softened and golden.
4. Next, add the celery, carrot, potatoes, oregano and bay leaf. Stir well and pour in the stock and chopped tomatoes. Stir again and then bring to the boil.
5. When the soup is bubbling, reduce the heat to low. Half-cover the pan with a lid and simmer the soup for 15 mins or until the potatoes are tender.
6. Remove the lid, add the pasta and stir well. Heat the pasta for 5 mins. Ladle the soup into large bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

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Spaghetti bolognese

Ingredients:
200g spaghetti
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion (red)
2 cloves of garlic
150g of minced meat (alternatively beef or chicken)
200g of fresh mushroom (button or portobello) - chopped
5 medium sized fresh ripe tomatoes - chopped
50g carrot - chopped
½ capsicum (red or yellow) - chopped
3-4 small floweret cauliflower (or ½ celery stick) - chopped (optional)
5-6 small floweret broccoli

Seasonings:
3 tbsp tomato paste
1½ tbsp special herbs for spaghetti bolognese from Masterfood (alternatively basil/ oregano/ mix herb)
1 tbsp concentrated chicken stocks from Maggi （上汤鸡精）
3 tbsp tomato ketchup (if u prefer a stronger taste)
½ tbsp sugar
100 ml water
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan cheese to serve

Method:
1. Heat oil in a cooking pot and sautee onion and garlic until fragrant.
2. Add in minced meat to fry until browned.Add in mushroom and stir fry for a while.
3. Add in chopped vegetables (carrot, capsicum, cauliflower) and mix well.
4. Add in seasonings and mix well.
5. Add in tomatoes and mix well.
6. Bring mixture to boil, reduce the heat and simmer (with lid cover) for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent it from catching on the bottom of the cooking pot.
7. Remove the lid and continue to simmer for another ½ hour, stirring occasionally.
8. Cook pasta according to the instruction on the packet.
9. Boil broccoli until cooked.
10. Drain, toss with extra virgin olive oil and serve with the sauce, topped with the cheese if you wish.

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