My Iftar meals so far....

Hello everyone,

How is it going? And to my muslim friends, how is Ramadan going? I hope it is going great. I thank God because it is going way better than I thought and I am grateful. I have been putting some pictures up on my instagram (santedelavie) of my meals almost every night. I would like to share some of my quick recipes with you guys and please bear with me it is going to be a bit long :)  

There are so many alternatives to rice and with just the use of internet, you can find them and put them to test. I had cous cous, bulgur wheat which I just discovered and also cauliflower rice which my sister told me about some time ago and just recently gave it a try. They all tasted yummy! and I am glad I can find better subs for rice.

Below are some of the new things I tried and they are less than an hour! Eating healthy is so easy, you don't even know, but anyways enjoy and let me know what you think :)

Cous Cous with sauteed okra with tilapia:

I used:

• half a cup of cous cous
• 6 pieces of okro;
• a handful of spinach;
• a handful of kale;
• half red bell pepper;
• cucumber;
• 2 pieces chili pepper;
• spice to taste;

Method for the cous cous:

• Add half a cup of cous cous to a clean bowl;
• Add half a cup of boiling water and cover for about 5 mins;
• Add butter or oil and fluff it up with a fork and its ready

Method for the okra:

• In a frying pan, place okro, red bell pepper, cucumber, and chili; stir fry till it is somewhat cooked; 
• Add a little bit of maggi and salt to taste;
• Add the spinach and kale at the end and serve with your favourite side. I had mine with cous cous and it was good!

Bulgur wheat and sauteed spinach and kale with tilapia:

For this I used:

• quarter cup of bulgur wheat;
• a hand full of spinach;
• 3 mushrooms;
• less than a handful of kale;
• 6 pieces shrimps;
• 2 pieces of chili pepper

Method:

• Place desired amount of bulgur wheat in a pot of boiling water and allow to cook for about 20 mins;
• In a frying pan, place mushrooms, shrimps and chili pepper; sautee until shrimps and mushrooms start to brown which should take about 10 minutes or less;
• Add spinach and kale and leave to simmer for 3-5 mins (do not overcook, you do not want to miss out on those nutrients); at this point bulgur wheat should be soft, and you can drain excess water if need be;
• Serve with your favourite side. I had mine with bulgur wheat and I totally enjoyed it;

Cauliflower rice & vegetable sauce with grilled tilapia fillet:

For this I used:

• 2 stalks of cauliflower florets;
• one piece of tilapia fillet;
• cheese grater or food processor
• 1 stick of carrot;
• one-fourth of blended green, yellow and red pepper;
• half tomatoe;
• chili pepper;
• green onions
• garlic and ginger;
• salt and maggi to taste

Method:

• Season the tilapia fillet with a little bit of maggi, salt and suya pepper (you can season with any spice of your choice); set aside to marinate for about 30 minutes depending on how much time you have;
• Set oven to grill and place tilapia fillet to grill on each side for about 8 mins; 
• Take the cauliflower of its stem, cut into chunks and grate it. You can place it in a food processor if you have one but I used a grater because I did not have a food processor and it was not bad; quick tip: to remove excess moisture from cauliflower and have it somewhat dry, pan fry it  on low heat for about 8 minutes by constantly stirring (you could use a little bit of oil or your favourite butter but I pan fried it without oil or butter);
• In a frying pan, add a tsp of olive oil and pour in the blended bell pepper mix;
• Stir until it looks somewhat dry and go ahead to add carrots; tomatoes; chili pepper; green onions; and mushrooms; Tip: to soften carrots, place in a bowl of boiling water for few minutes. It helps soften it up and also retains the crunchiness;
• Taste for salt and maggi;
• Stir until all the ingredients are cooked;
• Serve with cauliflower & grilled fillet

I was very skeptical about this because cauliflower is not my favourite vegetable but it turned out good! I am looking forward to switching this up and doing something different. 

P.S: Most of the meals were made for just myself but you can add more of the ingredients at your discretion if you are making for more people. Also, I do not want to confine people to sticking to my measurements or ingredients hence the reason I always suggest to substitute or add to any of the ingredients listed. The whole point is to get creative while maintaining a healthy lifestyle and that is what matters the most.

I hope to get some feedback if anyone tried