Chinese/Thai vegetarian buffet spread

Trying to find delicious+ vegetarian+ Chinese/Thai + healthy + easy to make food is no simple task. We had Indian friends visiting from the motherland, and were keen to give them something different they may not be used to back home. Obviously, being vegetarian, and rather health focussed, we needed to find recipes that had enough vegetables but also good choice of herbs and condiments to add flavour. After all, we were catering to an Indian palate, which is spoiled by access to the most bountiful spices in the world.

This is the menu we came up with. The only thing is that this is probably more appropriate for summer given the number of cold starters. Let's think of a winter menu when winter is upon us!

1) Tofu salad
2) Pomelo salad
3) Cold eggplant with sesame sauce
4) Okra with ginger sauce
5) Silky squash with ginger and garlic
6) Thai vegetable green curry
7) White rice
8) Asian creme brûlée

Sunday breakfast chez Vixabs

"Sunday morning, up with the lark,
I think I'll take a walk in the park,
Hey, hey, hey its a beautiful day!

I got something waiting for me
And when I eat it, I know it'll be,
Yummy, tasty, fun, its a beautiful day!"

Apologies to Daniel Boone. He must've been such a romantic, and here I go, converting it into a foodie song! But hey, I live to eat, so what's wrong with that.

Sundays are one of the few days that we get to enjoy a slightly slower start to our day. On dry days, its a delight to sit in our balcony, enjoy the gentle mountain breeze, contemplate the hills around, listen to the dulcet sounds of our wind chime, and of course, enjoy a simple (but for us sumptuous) breakfast of fruits, vermicelli upma (mother's recipe of course!) with mango and  coffee accompanied by our weekend newspaper. Cherish the small and sinful pleasures of life - they truly are precious!

Creme Brulee with an Asian twist

Whenever I select an Asian theme for the menu for my dinner parties, I struggle to find dessert ideas that stay with the theme and yet, can be popular with my guests who are more used to the Western taste in desserts. When I found this recipe for creme brulee with coconut milk, sago (tapioca pearls), pomelo and mango, you can imagine how excited I was. Its quite a refreshing summer dessert. Uses a little cream but largely coconut milk in which the sago cooks: as a result, its not as heavy as you may expect a cream based dessert to be. Moreover, this can be prepared overnight, with just the torching of the sugar layer on top done just before serving to provide a professional finish. The recipe called for garnish with lemon/lime rind, but I found it made the dessert a bit bitter. I think it looks great even without it. A fitting end to an Asian meal. My next challenge is to find a recipe that is wholly lactose free. Perhaps banana icecream made from coconut milk is the answer to that challenge! Let's see.