Sweet & Sour Chicken

February 27, 2018 by thexpatdietitian 1 Comment

This sweet & sour chicken can be made with vegan “chicken” pieces or regular chicken breast…either way, it’s perfect for an easy weeknight meal!

Howdy, friends… I realise it’s been forever since I’ve passed along a main meal recipe to you. I blame this on the hungry people in my house (myself included!)- just when I think I’ve made enough to have for dinner, leftovers for lunches the next day, AND still have some in reserve for the “blog photo shoot,” it turns out I’ve underestimated my household appetite once again. …

Parmesan Eggplant Bake

April 26, 2017 by thexpatdietitian 4 Comments

This hearty parmesan eggplant bake is quick enough for a weeknight supper, oozing enough with cheese for the kids to accept the eggplant underneath… and delicious enough to be at extreme risk of being eaten before the photo shoot is done… gulp!

Did you ever notice I don’t post too many main dish recipes? Yeah, there’s a reason for that. For one, despite the best of my Meal Planning 101 intentions, dinner planning still usually begins at 4pm with me…

Spicy Tofu Wraps with Citrus Tahini Dressing

March 7, 2017 by thexpatdietitian 2 Comments

These spicy tofu wraps with citrus tahini dressing just might be the solution to all your lunchtime woes…

Lunch is sometimes a problem, do you get me? Like, breakfast is a no-brainer (good thing at 5:45am!) and dinner… well, I usually have some idea of what I’m going to cook. But lunch… it’s usually the meal where I wind up standing in front of the open fridge and just hoping for inspiration. Anybody relate?…

Creamy Chana Masala

November 4, 2016 by thexpatdietitian 2 Comments

After returning from KL earlier in the week, I couldn’t get Indian food off my mind. I think I told you in my last post that I didn’t get enough… so I just had to make my own when I came back!

I’ve been making this chana masala almost every week for awhile now, and we haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I adapted it from my beloved “Oh She Glows” cookbook by Angela Liddon. Angela is an amazing young entrepreneur in the world of vegan cuisine, and if you haven’t checked her out, you should.

Of course I made a few tweaks to the recipe, because I can’t leave any recipe alone, even my own. …

My Mother was Right About Everything

October 10, 2016 by thexpatdietitian 8 Comments

This evening I channeled my mother by walking into my kitchen at 5:15pm without any idea what I was going to make for dinner. I opened the refrigerator door and stood perusing its Tupperwared contents, seeking inspiration. A few chunks of leftover roasted pumpkin… no. Newly made coconut kefir… good, but no. Half a box of barely-good-the-first-time leftover Vietnamese from the weekend… definitely not.

But then I spotted a big zucchini, some (relatively) fresh homemade pesto and cooked quinoa,…

How to Make Seitan

August 6, 2016 by thexpatdietitian Leave a Comment

Looks a bit like steak, hey??

I’ll be honest, I wait as long as possible before going to the grocery store after I arrive back home to Manila. It’s just not a pleasure like it is in the U.S. You ex-pats know what I’m talking about… Luckily for me, I normally keep enough food in my pantry to sustain us through at least 4 typhoons and 18 minor power outages. Therefore, it’s been fairly easy to raid the cupboards to see what “main dish” I can whip up to go along with all those fruits and veggies I purchase at the local market every Saturday (where it is a pleasure to shop!)

This time, it was seitan… often called “wheat meat”… It’s vegetarian protein made from vital wheat gluten. …

Tempeh Sliders with Chipotle Ranch Dressing

August 3, 2016 by thexpatdietitian 2 Comments

Do you ever have food nostalgia from what you ate on vacation? I do.

I sigh over all those US raspberries… blueberries… cherries… Haas avocados… Ezekiel brand English muffins… tempeh…

WHOA… hold the phone… what the heck is TEMPEH?? I know, right?? I ate it for the first time about 2 years ago, and was put off of it for about a year. Tempeh is made from cooked & slightly fermented soybeans, and pressed into a cake or patty. It’s firmer in texture than tofu and has a nutty (and slightly fermented) flavour. (Maybe this is what put me off the first time… that flavour… I didn’t marinate it at all and you really should.) But once it’s properly marinated, it’s delicious, and I’d say kind of addictive….

Roasted Eggplant & Zucchini Casserole

May 23, 2016 by thexpatdietitian Leave a Comment

One of the difficult things about food blogging is that sometimes I make a super-fantastic dish like this roasted eggplant & zucchini casserole… but it’s 6pm, dark outside and my family is clamouring for dinner. And then look what happens to it…

I never intended to blog this casserole; in fact, it’s a brand new recipe. But it was sooooo good (and so easy!) I wanted you to have it pronto! So if you’ll take the already-dug-into pictures as a sign of how much we enjoyed it, then we’re in business….

Chickpea Salmon Burgers with Tomato Chili Jam

May 7, 2016 by thexpatdietitian 8 Comments

My Ma used to make “salmon patties” when I was a kid, and the whole family loved them. You couldn’t help it… they were crunchy, mild in flavour, and Ma always served ketchup alongside in the cutest little pewter pitcher with a lid you could flip up and down with your thumb. I ate more just so I could use the ketchup pitcher. I know why she loved them- there were only 3 ingredients (canned salmon, saltine crackers, and egg) that she had on hand all the time. Plus, they could be whipped up in less time than it took for me and my brother to watch a Star Trek rerun on TV….

Avocado White Bean Dip

April 19, 2016 by thexpatdietitian 4 Comments

I’ve come to the conclusion that Americans must measure temperature in Fahrenheit just to be able to relate to this side of the world when we talk about the weather this time of year. For example:

Me: It’s soooo hot here… it was 36 this afternoon and with the humidity it felt like 42!

My Pa: I know what you mean… it was 36 here this morning too… but it’s supposed to get up to 42 later on today and melt all the snow we just got.

We both felt better somehow… I think!…

The Expat Dietitian

inspiring healthy living when home is across the globe