Lentil Soup with Pata

 Kulinarya March Challenge:  Vegetarian Dish

  This is my first entry ever, however I am so happy and humbled!  Everyone here have been so gracious in sharing their specialties.   I got inspired by Cusinera's entry about Mung beans.  I have been avoiding the dish for quite sometime now, my kids don't like the texture ones it's cooked, they only like the liquid part,  only if bacon is sauteed with it.   Me, I love munggo, specially if there's "ampalaya" leaves.   Only if I can be vegetarian, but i can't and i don't plan to, yet.   I cook for my husband, four kids and my employees, so I usually put meat or fish on any vegetable dishes I cook.  Sometimes, even though I cooked for everyone, I would still make a salad just for my self.  

   For days now I've been seeing a pack of  Lentils, which my mother sent for my birthday from Milan. 

Today it was my daughter's birthday.   While planning to cook something for "meryenda" or perhaps dinner I decided to cook this for lunch.  

Supposedly, this entry is an all veggie.   This can be, however, this is how I did this.

Lentil Soup

1/2 Kilo of Pata

250 g Lenticchie (Lentils), pre-soaked in water (1 hour)

1 big sayote, cubed

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Boil or pressure cook the Pata or Pork Legs.  Once the meat is soft and cooked, put the garlic and onion.   After 5 minutes put the lentils, without the water.   This will take about 30 minutes to cook.  Try to taste the lentils if they are soft enough outside and a bit hard inside, put the Sayote cubes.  Season to taste.

Sounds easy to make.  But everything including timing has to be considered.

Well guess what my husband liked it and so does my kiddos.

Banana Heart Fritata

     An Experimental dish.   I first knew it at my daughter's school during their Nutritional month activity.   They made a burger out of banana hearts, however not most of the children liked it.   Maybe it was because of how it was cooked, or the ingredients used.
    However, as an experiment, it turned out to be fantastic.   My kids loved it, without them knowing it was "puso ng saging" (banana heart in Philippine translation), hahaha, tricky mommy am I?...  As a mom, I do want my kids to eat healthy foods and let them be adventurous in their eating habit without resorting to junk foods.
     This goes so well with any adobo variation, veggie salad and other veggie stews or soup.
So without further ado, here is how to make this.

Banana Heart Fritata

2 pcs medium banana hearts
1 onion large, chopped
3 eggs
chicken coating mix
salt, pepper and spanish paprika for seasoning

To do:
   Boil the banana hearts, careful not to over boil, once the outer red skin has turned very light, you can remove it and wipe off excess water.  Chop.  Mix with the other ingredients, onions, chicken coating mix, seasonings and eggs.   Mix well, I use my bare hands to do this, make sure hands are sanitized.
  Heat about 1/8 cup of cooking oil on a frying pan, and fry a spoonful of the mix.
  Works well as an appetizer, and goes well with any other dishes!

Crusty Parmessan Round Eggplant and Spicy Bunga ng Malungay

 

Crusty Parmesan Eggplant

 

Spicy Bunga ng Malungay with Tahong (Mussels)

Round Eggplants also known as aubergines.

You can also use the regular elongated eggplants.

For the Crust or breading mix...

Version 1:   Mixed Bread crumbs and Parmesan Cheese

Version 2:   Garlic Flavored Coating mix.

Dip sliced eggplants in 1 beaten egg.

Then cover with the breading mix, either version.

Then fry on hot oil, medium pan. When brown on both sides, remove from pan and serve.

For the vegetable,  saute garlic to brown, put in shelled tahong, then put in the vegetable, add a few water and flavor with half a  teaspoon of soy sauce.   Season with salt and pepper, then put in the sliced chilly pepper.  Count  10 seconds remove from fire.   Serve.

Dinner for Six + Four, Chicken Feet Adobo and Sauteed Ampalaya

"Bitter Melon also known as ampalaya, the dreaded fruit or vegetable.   In my family I was the only one who eats this.   But I had to make them, 'coz it is best for health...hmm..."

One time I went to the market not knowing what to buy for our dinner, to make it crazier, I only brought with me a mere P 150 on my pocket.   Pondering what i can buy with this amount, I came to the end of the market, when I saw people crowding a spot.  The boy was ever so magnificently and really fast, cutting the nails out of the chicken feet scattered over the table.   To my amazement, a kilo of it was only P 30 so I bought 3 K.   Near it was a tindera with basket full of ampalaya, I got a big one at P15 and finally I bought P30 worth of ground pork with my suki, butcher.    That still leaves me P15, and I  bought bananas with it.

I have to feed  four kids who eats like someone will steal their food, and a husband who is a bit picky, and three men (big eaters as well) every meals of my everyday life.   The biggest challenge is how to stay sane while budgeting for food, the fun part is preparing it for all of us!