Kimchi Fried Rice with Chicken Pieces

Kimchi fried rice is one of my favorite comfort foods. It's flavorful and really easy to make since it just simply involves combining ingredients. And it's highly personalized as well because you can throw any ingredients you want while making it! As for me, I usually add egg, any meat of my choice, or tuna. I sometimes add Hoisin sauce too if I'm in the mood for something sweet and spicy. But for this afternoon, I decided to include more vegetables.

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 1/2 cup cooked rice

1/2 cup minced carrots

1/2 cup green peas

1/3 cup onion, minced

1 cup kimchi (I'll be honest and say that I don't know how to make this yet, my mom is the one who provides it)

1 cup cooked chicken, chopped

1. Put oil on a hot pan.

2. Sauté kimchi and chicken pieces for 5 minutes on high heat.

NOTE: Kimchi undergoes fermentation and eventually gets refrigerated, so it's recommended to place it on the pan before the other ingredients to make sure that it's cooked very thoroughly.

3. Add the vegetables all at once. Let them stay for 10 minutes on low heat.

4. Add cooked rice. Let everything stay for another 5 minutes on low heat.

5. Done! 

As I mentioned before, Kimchi fried rice is a flexible meal. You can add literally any ingredient you want, as long as the Kimchi and rice are there! 

Creamy Tomato Spaghetti

I've been craving for some creamy tomato spaghetti and luckily, I have all the ingredients I need in the fridge! There are only 3 main components for this dish: tomato, spaghetti, and milk/cream. The full list of ingredients and procedures are below.


1 fresh tomato, chopped
1 cup = 140 g spaghetti (already cooked)
1/2 cup milk/cream
4 tbsp Parmesan
3 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper


1. Cook the chopped tomato for 5 minutes to let its juice out.
2. Add the milk/cream onto the chopped tomato. Let them simmer for another 5-6 minutes. Stir occasionally. Make sure they're mixed well and the milk/cream is thick, you wouldn't want it to be watery.
3. Add the cooked spaghetti and cook for 3-5 minutes.
4. Transfer to a plate or whatever you want to eat it in.
5. Add grated Parmesan.

Voila!

A Way Healthier Alternative for Mayonnaise

We always use Mayonnaise for different purposes: dressing, spread, dip, etc. But we also know that it's really fatty so we often think about what healthier alternatives we could use instead. According to this Buzzfeed article, Avocado can serve as a healthy substitute for Mayonnaise. I strongly agree but recently, I realized that there's another healthy alternative: Pesto. 

Pesto is an Italian sauce that you can make easily. You just need fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Sometimes people add cheese and nuts too. You simply have to mix them all in a blender or food processor. But just a little trivia: Italians in the olden times used to mince the ingredients manually using mortar and pestle. This is where the word pesto was derived from, it came from pestare, which is Italian for 'to crush' or 'to pound'.

I always make Pesto and serve it with almost anything because it effortlessly turns any simple dish into something more special, both in taste and in presentation. I mix it with eggs to make a Pesto omelette. I serve it with Tuna to make a healthier sandwich/taco filling. I spread it onto Cream Dory to add flavor. And of course, it's the best when you have it with pasta. That was the first and original use of it anyway. See? There are indeed a lot of ways to include Pesto in your own recipes! If you want to make it even more healthy, you can lessen the oil and don't add any other fatty ingredients like cheese and cream. Based on my experiences with it, I can totally recommend it as a healthier alternative for Mayonnaise. Try it!

How about you? Do you have another healthy substitute for Mayonnaise? I want to know!

Homemade Tomato Dip Recipe

We often see various branded tomato dips in the groceries, but we can actually just make it in a few minutes in our own homes! The ingredients are simple and so are the steps.

2 tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup of chicken stalk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 crushed cloves of garlic
1/2 minced onion

1. Chop the tomatoes according to your desired size. For me I like it not too small and not too big, just the right size for chewing.
2. Sauté your chopped tomatoes along with your crushed garlic and minced onion for 5 minutes.
3. Add your chicken stalk and tomato paste and let everything simmer for another 5 minutes.
4. Add salt and pepper.
5. Pour to a bowl and dip away!