Tempura Vegetables and Tofu

After spending Friday at a work event that concluded with a "school disco" and an open bar I have to admit I was feeling a little worse for wear on Saturday morning but that didn't stop me from heading to the MASSIVE Asda in Watford that was *kind* of on my way home.  I wandered the aisles and found myself in the "world foods" aisle and in front of a packet of tempura batter mix.  At that point, deep fried ANYTHING seemed like the tastiest thing in the world so in my basket it went (along with some seasoned seaweed, shoes and the same cardigan in two colours)...

So this morning (needed a day to recover!) I raided my fridge for anything that seemed worthy of a cripsy tempura coating.

Lower Fat Quiche

I LOVE quiche but I don't love how fatty and unhealthy they can be.  Then it dawned on me...why not make them healthier myself?  So I did!  Now these are already very tasty if you just bake them in a muffin tin but I do like a bit of a crust so instead of fatty pastry, I hollowed out a baked potato and hey presto!  A non-fat "crust"!

Chicken Garlic Teryaki

When I told Mr Jones that I was going to make teryaki chicken from scratch he reminded me that he cooked the same dish for me on our first Valentine's Day together...shame on me for forgetting but that may have had something to do with him also providing me with two different flavours of Ben & Jerry's for pudding and a Kinder egg!

I always get random food cravings and always have done since I was in my late teens (no, I'm not pregnant unless I have been for 17 years....) and today I fancied some chicken, something sweet, something savoury.  I then realised that a teriyaki sauce would cover all of these plus I had everything I needed in my food cupboards because it's a really easy dish!

Thai Fish Cakes (Tod Man Pla)

Whenever I go out to eat and have Thai food, fish cakes are the one thing I HAVE to have so thought that this weekend I would challenge myself and make some myself!  The fish cakes I've had in restaurants tend to be a little rubbery and although I quite like the texture, my fishcakes are still solid but a little more flaky.  Although there's still a bit of a fishy flavour, you can really taste the lime/kaffir leaves, there's a little salty kick from the fish sauce followed by a slight sweetness.

Sushi

I have to admit that when it comes to eating raw fish I am a chicken.  I don't mind the taste but just worry with every bite whether I'm going to get ill in a couple of hours.  I'm sure the best sushi chefs make sure the fish is fresh but I live in a town that has zero sushi bars and although I'm sure my local supermarkets sell fresh fish, I can't trust them to sell fish that is fresh enough to eat raw.

So when it comes to me making my own sushi, I tend to stick to safe options which would probably horrify true sushi lovers or chefs but I'm making do with what I have!