Grandma's Goodie Recipe: Corn "Pie" with Yoghurt and Dill

Now, my grandma always said about this salty dish it's a cookie, or a pie, I never understood why, but maybe you will discover and let me know :) As far as I am concerned, it's so good that you can definitely think of it as a real pie :)

So here we go, you'll need:

• 500 ml of sour milk or light yoghurt
• 2 eggs
• 200 ml water
• 2 tablespoons of corn flour
• 1 onion
• dill according with your taste (a lot, in my case)
• oil, salt, pepper to taste

Health Nut #3 - Salad with Yoghurt Dressing

Very tasty, very simple and very quick! Plus, it gives you a fresh start for a Saturday morning. So you don't have any reason not to try it.

You need:

• one lettuce
• 2-3 tomatoes (you can also use cherry tomatoes if available)
• 2 tablespoons of yoghurt
• one garlic clove very finely chopped
• fresh dill
• salt
• pepper
• basil
• mint

Mix the yoghurt with salt, pepper, garlic, chopped dill, basil and mint. Tear the lettuce and cut the tomatoes into wedges, then mix itthem with the yoghurt dressing (this way the dressing will be spread equally). You can garnish it with fresh basil leaves or mint and serve it with small cubes of (feta) cheese.

To make it even healthier, add a few drops of extra virgin olive or flax oil.

Enjoy it! And have a great weekend!

Health Nut #2 - Greek Salad

 

Horiatiki salata is a perfect lunch treat in the summer. And it is indeed a summer dish in Greek cuisine. Not to mention it is a health booster and a staple in any kind of diet if you adjust accordingly the quantity of dressing. 

Ingredients (for 2 large helpings):

• 1 small lettuce (this is not in the original recipe, but I like it)
• 1 cucumber
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 150 gr feta cheese
• 20 pitted black olives
• 4 tablespoons dressing made of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and lime juice
• freshly ground black pepper and extra for garnish
• (on the side) 2 slices of crusty bread or toast sprinkled with more olive oil and 3 cloves of garlic (minced)

Health benefits:

1. The extra virgin olive oil is high in monounsaturated fats and Omega-3. 

2. The vegetables are the best source of phytoestrogen, antioxidants, such as vitamin C, as well as lycopene (in tomatoes). Therefore, Greek salad translates into an excellent dish in anti-cancer diets or to prevent and fight cardiovascular diseases.

Light Avocado and Sesame Salad: Pure Energy for All Day

Hi, this is Dana writing on my first actual post on Nomadosophy, so please be gentle and bear with one rookie's mistakes :)

So this morning I thought that it would be a good start if we ate something raw, healthy, nourishing and absolutely delicious! I will share with you a 10-minute recipe which I hope you will try as well.

 All you need is: 

• avocado
• tomatoes
• sesame seeds
• lime
• salt
• pepper
• a bit of chilli (if you like it hot)

                                                 

Chop the avocado and tomatoes in small square pieces, squeeze the limes, mix all content with salt, pepper sesame seeds and chilli and that's it!

I guarantee you that the fresh flavor of lime will fill you up with energy and good vibes for the rest of the day! ;-)

My First Home-Made Spring Rolls (Gỏi Cuốn)

I went to the local market in Binh Thanh the other day and just couldn't help buying a stack of rice papers (50,000 VND per kilo).

Vietnamese spring rolls have been a long-time favorite and I was very curious to find out if I could cook that at home. I surfed the Internet for a traditional recipe, but it seemed to me there wasn't really one. There are so many versions and I bet all of them are good! So I just looked in the fridge and used whatever I found in there:

Chop the cauliflower and onion and stir fry them for two minutes. When these are almost done, add a few drops of fish sauce and some dried shrimp.

Then drain the oil and let everything cool down. Have the carrots and the pepper cut julienne and mixed with the other fried vegetables. This stuffing made of raw and cooked vegetables has a very interesting texture and is also really healthy.

The fun part is dealing with the rice wrappers. They are really fragile and have to be handled carefully, otherwise they may tear apart. Put some hot water in a pan and submerge each piece of rice paper for 10-15 seconds. The pan should be big enough to accommodate the rice paper. Dip only before making each roll and take it out when you see you can handle it easily.

Lay the wrapper on a flat surface. Begin with a small handful of lettuce or other green herbs you like in the bottom third of the piece of rice paper, then add two tablespoons of the stuffing on top, fold the sides in, then fold the bottom and roll it. Make sure you don't tug too tightly and place the roll seam side down. It looks like that:

We had them with lots of dipping soy sauce. Yes, I know we should have used Hoisin-chili sauce... but, hey! that was my first time! :)

Fruits in Vietnam

[caption id="attachment_649" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Vietnamese fruit seller. Flickr. (c) flydime"][/caption]

A staple of the Vietnamese cuisine is the freshness and diversity of ingredients. Fruits make no exception. Due to its warm climate, Vietnam produces an abundance of vegetables and fruits. There are so many kinds (unknown to many foreigners), that someone who doesn’t speak Vietnamese or English might never identify them by their proper name. Saigon Experience is going to post separate reviews for each and every one of them – description, price, nutrients, recipes, etc.

Here is a list of the most common tropical fruits in Vietnam, a short guide meant to make you familiar with what you are going to see in the streets and markets of Saigon:

[caption id="attachment_661" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Flickr. (c) lkthinh2002"][/caption]

Banana (chuối)

Flickr. (c) zenonline

Buddha's hand (phật thủ)

Corossolier - mãng cầu xiêm

Flickr. (c) Aftab Uzzaman

Custard Apple (mang cau or na)

Flickr. (c) Pedro Borla

Durian (sầu riêng)

[caption id="attachment_666" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) Yuht Nguyen"][/caption]

Green dragon (thanh long)

[caption id="attachment_667" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) larique"][/caption]

Guava - Ổi

[caption id="attachment_668" align="aligncenter" width="427" caption="Flickr. (c) Richard Wasserman"][/caption]

Jackfruit (mit)

[caption id="attachment_669" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c)maiptitfleur"][/caption]

Litchi (vai thieu)

[caption id="attachment_670" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) Fotoos VanRobin"][/caption]

Longan (nhãn)

[caption id="attachment_671" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) joyosity"][/caption]

Mango (xoai)

[caption id="attachment_672" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) Matt Saunders"][/caption]

Mangosteen (mang cut)

[caption id="attachment_673" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) manoj k"][/caption]

Palmyra fruit (trái thốt nốt)

[caption id="attachment_674" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Flickr. (c) Dan"][/caption]

Papaya (du du)

[caption id="attachment_675" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) Lorises"][/caption]

Persimmon (hong)

[caption id="attachment_676" align="aligncenter" width="449" caption="Flickr. (c) Marc D'Entremont"][/caption]

Pineapple (dua)

[caption id="attachment_677" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) istolethetv"][/caption]

Pomelo (bưởi)

[caption id="attachment_678" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) ImipolexG"][/caption]

Rambutan (trôm trôm)

[caption id="attachment_679" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) T. Chen"][/caption]

Sapodilla (sa pô chê)

[caption id="attachment_680" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) Yuht Nguyen"][/caption]

Spondias genus (cóc)

[caption id="attachment_681" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) Brian Crawford"][/caption]

Star Apple (vu sua)

[caption id="attachment_682" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) DeusXFlorida"][/caption]

Star Fruit (khế)

[caption id="attachment_683" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) Liu Tao"][/caption]

Sweet sop (na or mãng cầu ta)

[caption id="attachment_684" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Flickr. (c) davitydave"][/caption]

Sour sop (mãng cầu xiêm)

[caption id="attachment_685" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Flickr. (c) Missmeng"][/caption]

Water apple (roi or mận)