Crispy Butterflied Chicken with Lemon and Thyme 脆皮檸檬蝴蝶烤雞

I love roast chicken and I spent a lot of time searching and trying different ways of roasting them. Many years ago, I was watching the Martha Stewart Show, and she happened to butterfly a chicken by browning it in a pan, then finishing it with some lemon juice and garlic. After that, it became one of my favourite ways to prepare it. Over the years, I lost the recipe and added my own little tweaks and changes to what I had remembered, but I've always kept the idea of lemon and garlic in there. Normally, I use regular lemons for this recipe, but since I bought a lot of Meyer lemons lately, I thought I'd use them for this recipe and share it with you. The chicken is butterflied and browned in a cast iron pan first, then goes into the oven to continue cooking. The result is a nice crispy skin with very juicy and tender flesh. Butterflying the chicken easily shortens the roasting time, so your hungry belly doesn't have to wait too long.(￣▽￣) The juice of the chicken, the garlic, the thyme and the lemon all blended together make for a really yummy gravy. It's truly a simple and delicious way of enjoying chicken! Bon appétit!

Black Sesame-Oat Porridge 燕麥芝麻糊

This porridge is actually based on a traditional Chinese sweet dessert porridge that is normally a mixture of blended black sesame seeds and rice. Here, I'm using oats instead of rice, and I make it less sweet than the traditional one. Black sesame seeds are extremely nourishing, and contain a great amount of protein, vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, and more. By blending the two together with a little bit of soy milk, you get this really creamy and thick texture with a rich sesame flavour, just like the traditional one, plus more health benefits from the oats, walnuts, and goji berries!

 

Two Eggs Two Ways 雞蛋兩吃

Inspired by the halfnhalf eggs (fried egg whites + scrambled eggs) from Weekendbreakfast on Instagram, I made a fried egg and topped it with scrambled eggs (made from a leftover baking mixture of egg whites, some egg yolks, and a little bit of cheddar cheese). It was so yummy with the combination of crispy fried egg, the creamy runny yolk, and the soft curd of the scrambled eggs! If you're a true egg lover like me, you must make this, and also check out Weekendbreakfast for more breakfast inspiration!

Stir Fried Veggie Beef and Green Peppers in Taiwanese Shacha Sauce 沙茶青椒素牛肉

It's hard to imagine I'd write a recipe using green bell peppers since I've refused to eat them most of my life! Mom used to make this dish (with real beef or pork sometimes), and I would always pick out the peppers. In fact, I hated any peppers. So how did I learn to like it? To be honest, I don't quite understand it myself! (?・・)σ I was watching a Japanese drama, which happened to be about food several years ago (are you surprised???). In one of the episodes, someone cooked a pork stuffed green pepper dish, which looked very delicious to me, and that was it! From then on, I decided that I like green peppers. Actually, I'll even correct myself, and say that I now LOVE green bell peppers! Isn't it funny how your mind can just change like that one day?

Chicken-Taro Meatballs and Tofu Hot Pot 香芋雞肉丸油豆腐粉絲煲

Lately, I've been missing the Chinese hot pot. My mom often made it for the Chinese New Year or on cold days. Unfortunately I can't have it at home because I don't own a portable stove for the table (due to not having enough storage space). I decided that I'd make a hot pot dish that is similar to the traditional one I grew up with, but is done on the stove, and with fewer ingredients. Instead of the fish balls (which are very difficult to find here without all the msg and chemicals) or thin slices of hot pot meats, I made these really yummy and unique taro-chicken meatballs to replace the fish balls, and it still has the cellophane noodles and the tofu I love, plus three other ingredients (because six is the lucky number for Chinese!). Everything is cooked in the same broth like the traditional hot pot, so in the end, all the flavours come together. I didn't even have to season the broth much at all! It was sweet and flavourful all by itself! I hope you make this during the Chinese New Year, and I wish you all a happy and peaceful sheep year!

Chicken-Taro Meatballs 香芋雞肉丸

Whole Wheat Cranberry-Oat Scones with Almonds 全麥蔓越莓杏仁司康餅

I love cranberries in breakfasty things, whether it's a muffin, a scone, bread, pancakes, or waffles, you name it! For Valentine's Day last year, I did a cranberry heart swirled cheesecake for Foodie in Quebec City, so I wanted to do something different this year but still with cranberries. I thought, why not start the romance right from the morning?! I love surprising my hubbie with a nice homemade breakfast in bed, even when it's not Valentine's Day. You can easily make this dough the day before and refrigerate it until use. It'll give you the perfect scone texture you're looking for: crisp on the outside, moist and flaky inside. I love the texture of the oats and almonds mixed together, plus a little tartness from the cranberries. It"s so delicious, you wouldn't believe it contains no butter! So what do you say?

Cranberry Vanilla Butter 蔓越莓香草奶油

I'm a true butter person! I put butter on almost anything I can think of. I also enjoy making different flavoured butters to go with my breakfast bread. It's not just about the flavour; I also love transforming that pale yellow hue into something colourful and flavourful. Maybe I'm obsessed with colours, or perhaps deep down I believe the colour can bring out the flavour even more. Since pink is one of my favourite colours, I thought I'd make a pink butter for this Valentine's Day. It's innocent, romantic, cute and playful! I'd tried one before with fresh cranberries, but this time, I wanted something that has a really smooth and silky texture, with a unique flavour. Then it struck me: cranberry vanilla butter! A perfect breakfast accompaniment for your sweetie this holiday. To get that texture I wanted, I decided to make a cranberry vanilla sauce first, then blend it together with butter. It was so luscious with a hint of orange and vanilla, and the colour turned out to be perfectly pink and seductively pretty!

Edamame and Soba Noodle Bowl with Dulse and Nori 毛豆與海苔蕎麥麵

This was another very quick and easy dish that I whipped up during my terrible flu. It's simple, but still rich in vitamins C, B, K, protein, amino acids, and minerals, which gave me the energy I needed to fight the flu. It took me literally just 10 minutes to make it, with almost no preparation at all. It's super light, delicious, and would make a perfect quick lunch for anyone who doesn't have time. If you have an extra few minutes, steam some vegetables to serve with the noodles, which would make your meal even healthier! So keep some frozen shelled edamame, buckwheat noodles and dried sea vegetables in your house. You never know when they'll come in handy!

Lemon, Honey and Mint Tea 檸檬蜂蜜薄荷茶

As we all know, lemon and honey are both very good for sore throats. I used to make this tea without mint, but we happened to have a bunch of leftover mint in the fridge, so I decided to try it with mint this time. Not only does it have a soothing effect for the throat, but it also adds a nice flavour to the tea! Besides the mint, I used a little bit of ginger as well because it's warming, This is the perfect tea if you have a sore throat or cough with fever. Drink it throughout the day while it's hot. I hope it helps you as it did for me.

Cabbage, Tomato And Shiitake Congee 高麗菜蕃茄香菇粥

If you don't have a rice cooker at home, I urge you to invest in one. My Japanese rice cooker practically saved my life while we had our terrible flu! I'm sure you all know how difficult it is to get up when you're sick, not to mention having to cook! But because of my rice cooker, I didn't have to spend much time or energy. All I had to do was to throw all the ingredients in the rice cooker, and let it do its job. How easy is that! This recipe is the perfect dish for emergency situations or when you just don't have tim to prepare a meal. It's light, delicious, and warming, plus it offers you plenty of vitamins A, C, K, minerals and antioxidants! Next time you're feeling under the weather, make this congee and it'll make you feel better!

Dark Velvet Hot Chocolate Overnight Oatmeal with Toasted Pecans 濃純黑巧克力熱可可燕麥粥

For all you chocolate lovers, this is the "it" recipe for your morning! I originally started out making this breakfast for my hubby (a hopeless chocoholic), but I confess, I even ended up loving this myself. I know you might be thinking that this looks like a dessert, and how can it be healthy?! Well, that's exactly what I wanted it to look like, but did you know that cocoa powder is one of those super foods? It's packed with fiber, iron, magnesium, and antioxidants. It can be beneficial for high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and also acts as an anti-depressant. If you're able to find raw cocoa powder, it would be even more nutritious.