Delicio Recipe List

1 cup mayonnaise 2 tbsp vinegar 1 tbsp prepared mustard 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 8-oz elbow macaroni, cooked, drained 1 cup sliced celery 1 cup chopped green bell pepper 1/4 cup chopped onion In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, prepared mustard,sugar, salt, and pepper with a wire whisk until combined. Stir in the macaroni, bell pepper, and onion. Mix well. Cover bowl and refrigerate until serving time. Yield: about 5 cups Note: File Photo

I met Rebecca from Chow and Chatter back when I first started blogging and did my first guest post for her.  We seem to share quite a lot of similarities,  both of us are married to doctors and our kids are the same ages.  She is such a lovely and sweet person and I love her Instagram stories and her travel stories as well. This recipe was inspired by a recipe from her blog which she once posted. I have made this using fresh chicken pieces and also cooked and shredded roast chicken. Either way, it's delicious. The butternut is roasted along with the bell pepper and a few garlic cloves and the roasted vegetables really help to take this recipe to a new level. The roasted butternut is used in one layer of the lasagne, along with the garlic cloves, slightly squashed up so they make a vegetable layer. In the islands, it is difficult getting parmesan cheese so I have left the option of using either parmesan cheese or cheddar cheese to finish off the lasagne.  A little spr...

  I know I know I haven't posted a recipe for a while. Been busy, both kids had science projects for their school annual science fair so was busy helping them out with it. Had a really incredible cooking session with fellow blogger Selina of Taste Mauritius . Selina was in the Maldives for a couple of days and wanted to learn some local recipes. So invited her over on a Friday morning and had a blast. At first, I was terrified of having a complete stranger in my house. But we got on like old friends, talking about food, exchanging recipes etc. Anyway, back to the recipe of the day. Kangkung beef is a well-loved recipe here in the Maldives. I wondered would happen if I turned it into a pasta dish.  I know it sounds crazy right. But it worked really well and went down without much complaint from my boys. So give it a try and let me know how it turns out. Recipe: Kangkung Beef With Spaghetti 300-350g beef tenderloin, thinly sliced 1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded, thinly sliced 1 sm...

1 lb lean ground beef 2 medium or 1 large yellow onions, sliced 1 medium white onion, sliced 1 can (16-oz) diced tomatoes 1 to 2 tsps chili powder, according to taste 1/2 cup uncooked regular rice 1 large green bell pepper, chopped 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, cook meat, onions, and bell pepper until meat is browned. Drain off excess fat. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, chili powder, salt and pepper. Pour mixture into an ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Cover and bake for 45 to 1 hour until cooked through and rice is tender. This clipart is used for reference only. It is not an accurate representation of this recipe.

I call this recipe my Air Force Macaroni Salad since the recipe was given to me by a lady who worked in a restaurant in New Mexico when I first went there as a young Air Force wife in the 1960s. 2 cups cooked macaroni 1/2 cup diced cheddar cheese 1/3 cup diced green bell pepper 3 tbsps finely chopped onion 1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing 1/4 cup chopped sweet pickle (or sweet pickle relish) 1/4 tsp salt Mix all the ingredients together. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours before serving.

If you are wondering where is the new blog she was talking about , well, it turned out to be a lot more difficult to make so I finally decided I will first have to learn a few tech stuff and just gave up.  I work alone so trying to figure out wordpress  finally took its toll and I  just stopped. Maybe someday I will get some nice techie to help me to make a beautiful blog. So for now, lets get back to my usual topic, food! I love one pot recipes and this one is the kind of meal I make when I have left over  roast chicken.  I love to make this  for lunch , and serve with some raita or tzatziki sauce.  And best of all not much to wash later. So I am a happy mum. I always keep some precooked chickpeas in the freezer, the boys prefer this to the canned. You can use either. Recipe: Onepot Chicken and chickpea Stew For 2-3 1 cup chickpeas ( precooked ones or canned) 1 cup cooked chicken( shredded ) 1/2 cup  baby spinach( or use regular spinach shredded ...

Sometimes I get tired making fried rice with left over rice, so was looking up  different ways to use up left over rice. I try to cook rice so I don't have leftovers but when I do  I always end up with fried rice. In  Hugh Fearnley Whittinstall's  Love your Leftovers   book he had a recipe for rice cakes, but it  didn't go down so well with me ,and it also meant I needed to add  half a can of beans as well. But the idea of rice cakes was still there, then I saw this cheesy brocolli rice recipe on Pinterest and thought of trying that out with the addition of canned tuna. Its a bit fiddly so you need to be extra careful  when rolling in bread crumbs, so needs to chill a bit in the fridge before  rolling in breadcrumbs. Recipe : Cheesy Broccoli and Tuna Rice Cakes recipe inspired via Pinterest. 1/2 cup finely chopped  cooked broccoli 2 cups cooked cold rice 1 small onion, finely chopped and browned in a little olive oil 1 can tuna, drained ...

Yes, finally back to blogging , but suffering from a severe cold and cough, so my mind is a bit fuzzy. So how was the holidays! Now its back to reality and the school runs and other daily activities!. You know I noticed I say a lot of times," a handful or two "of something , well I never realized this until my hubby one day  brought it to my notice. He was out doing some grocery shopping and I asked him to bring a handful of chillies, He had taken out 9 year old little guy with him. He calls me up and goes , "whose hand am I to use, my hand size,  little guy or  yours (meaning me although my little guy's hands are almost my hand size now)??" So really it did get me thinking, I mean even Jamie Oliver sometimes  says take a couple of handfuls  and I pretty sure his hands are pretty big. Pasta is a favorite in my home, I usually cook it for dinner and these days I prefer to skip the tomato sauce and stick to simple flavours.  I came up with this recipe while t...

I  saw these tuna balls  recipe in bbcgoodfood.com, where  pasta was served with these tuna balls made with canned tuna. Of course as you know canned tuna is a pantry staple in my home so I just had to give it try. The boys and hubby loved it, I tried a couple of sauces along with it, but this one , made using fresh cherry tomatoes came out the winner and didn't mask the delicate tuna balls taste. I was planning to use regular tomatoes but on my regular visit to my usual grocery shop, Seagull store I saw these gorgeous cherry tomatoes grown locally in the island of Maafahi. You can use regular tomatoes, chopped  roughly and substitute fresh basil in place of the curry leaves for a different taste. Recipe : Spagetti with Tuna Balls and Fresh Cherry Tomato sauce. For the Tuna Balls 1 can tuna, drained 2 slices sandwich bread( or 50g fresh breadcrumbs) juice and zest of 1/2 lime 1/2 small onion, finely chopped 1 egg yolk 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1 finely chopped ch...

"Mumma , Bappa ( father) wont be here tomorrow night for dinner, can you make Marmite pasta then?" asked my y little one very hopefully. As much as he ( or rather all three of us) hated his father and his numerous trips around the islands or the occasional trip abroad , one thing he has come to realise is that I make this particular pasta dish when hubby is  away. Hubby has just left for a 10 week  training abroad so as much as we are missing him, this particular pasta can only be made when he isn't at home for dinner. Why? He hates Marmite (LOL)! As a child I grew up loving Marmite, this black salty spread a lot like Vegemite. Its either you hate or love it . My husband is not a big fan of it but the boys love it and  Marmite on toast is a great food to give when the  boys fall sick  and are  not in the mood to eat. My mum used to make us Marmite drink with Marmite, hot water , ground black pepper and lime juice when we had a cold. Anyway I found this reci...

Sorry haven;t been visiting  much, my little one was down with severe vomiting few weeks back and again this weekend he came down with fever.  So have been dealing with a very tired and  annoyed 6 year old, who keeps asking why he is getting sick so often. The first time I made this was when the boys fell sick. They were getting tired of my usual sick day porridge and  I wanted something with more body than a chicken soup.  I saw this  recipe called Avgolemono , a Greek recipe, where rice is cooked in chicken stock along with lemon juice and then thickened with eggs. The eggs give it a creamy texture.  I added  some Moranga leaves for the extra vitamins.  You can use baby spinach if you like. I used the stock cubes , you can make your own batch of fresh stock or use the liquid stock they sell , we don't get them here so I just use stock cube. I used chicken meatballs, you can use left over roast or poach a piece of boneless chicken while coo...

It can get pretty hot here in Maldives and  on such days I try to make quick meals so I don't end up heating up our home ( our home is an apartment in my parents house, we( my sisters and I) all have our own little apartment with my parents living in the ground floor, and each having our own kitchens.) Now this quick and easy  recipe is  pretty easy on your wallet too, you can use penne, fussili or even bowtie pasta  any short pasta is fine. Canned tuna is household staple in Maldives,  frozen veg such as brocolli or peas (even canned peas is fine), and a jar of cream cheese spread. Recipe : Quick Tuna And Vegetable Pasta Serves about 4 about 3 cups penne or  any short pasta water and salt to cook the pasta 2-3 heaped teaspoons of  cream cheese spread nice big pinch of freshly ground black pepper 1/4 -1/2 tsp red chilli flakes finely grated clove of garlic , two if small 1 can of tuna, drained and flake  in to large bits 1/2 cup frozen or canned p...

Eid at my home is usually   breakfast down stairs with my parents, and sisters and their families, my mum would task each of us with a dish and she will sit and relax and call friends and families to wish them. Kids get presents and usually play outside in the  garden , while we cooked. I usually finish early , and instead of having lunch at my parents I head to my Mum in law's for lunch with hubby and the boys along with the rest of his sibblings. Dinner is usually at my parents.  Eid is always a joyous day, everyone is in a good mood, the smell of cooking when you walk on the  street. There is always  some activity on the street   during the late afternoon, such as boduberu , bodumas  and even maali parading on the streets. I am not a fan of people throwing water bombs on the street, it was never a custom when we were growing up. Anyway to  eat with   my mussama roast chicken  I prepared a simple vegetable pilaf.  Its pretty easy ...

I have two very close friends and occasionally we get together and head out for dinner. So one time last year we headed out for the much awaited dinner night. After much debating we once headed to one of the most happening places in town,Thyme .I  had already done my homework on the place and so choose the much talked about Valhomas Spagetti, or in english smoked tuna spagetti. It was pretty good and loaded with dried chillies  that can cause you to sweat a little, or a lot. if you don't eat much chillies.  I wanted to replicate the recipe , and after much tries,  I came up with this recipe.  Serves 2 adults and 2 kids. Or 3 adults. Recipe : Valhomas Spagetti,  recipe inspired by Valhomas Spagetti served at Thyme 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 8-10  curry leaves a good helping of dried chilli flakes ( or grind a 2-3 dried chillies ) depends on how hot you like. 250-300g tomatoes quartered 8-10 black olives, pitted 250g spagetti 150g valhomas ( I used t...

This week's challenge  in IHCC  is Pantry Suppers ,  to cook something  using pantry ingredients and create any recipe of Hugh  Fearnley Whittingstall  .  I  found this really delicious recipe in the River Cottage series, where he makes a  pasta sauce using peas and cheese. Frozen peas is a  constant staple in my freezer and as well as chedder cheese and of course pasta is constant store cupboard resident as well.  Especially penne.  The only additional ingredient I used was Luncheon meat, something like a canned salami, or resembles what sometimes shown on tv to Spam. The boys loved it and I am pretty sure I will be making it  often. I didn't have any basil so used mint . Recipe : Cheesy Pea Pasta  adaptation of Hugh's Macaroni Peas recipe from River Cottage Food tube 250g  penne or any short pasta 50g butter 2 cloves garlic 300g frozen peas a few slices beef luncheon meat  or a couple of sausages (option...

Its Biryani challenge for this month at the Muslimah Bloggers group.  Everyone loves a good Biryani so when it was announced we had to cook a Biryani , I wanted to make something that was related to us. Biryani is a well loved dish at my home, I have eaten Biryani versions at  Sri lanka, Malaysia, Singapore  and of course the best ones at Karachi ,Pakistan.  But one of the first Biryanis I tasted was back home ,here in Male'. It was long time ago, during Eid , one of my father's distant relatives who lived here in Male' sent us a package of  Biryani as per tradition of sending  friends and family sweet and savory treats on Eid day.  It was so tasty that the taste still lingers in my mind.  I tried various recipes from the various local cook books I had and for this challenge I decided to try one I found in this book called Karunayaa nulaa kehkun, ( means cooking without tears) a recipe book compiled by the late   Mohamed Amin Didi , who was ...

Eggplants, Aubergine , Brinjals , whatever you may call them, I love  them.  I love their slightly meaty taste. I saw this eggplant pilaf once but I adapted it a bit so I can use  easily available ingredients. I added a can of tuna just so there was some protein , you  can leave it out if you want to make this  vegetarian or serve it along with some griled fish , chicken or meat dish.  I served this up with some raita . Recipe : Eggplant Rice Pilaf recipe adapted from the recipe Greek eggplant and rice pilaf. 175g eggplant, cut into bite size cubes 1/2 a red bell pepper, cored,  and cut into bite sizes 2 tomaotes, chopped 1 small onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic,  finely chopped 8-10 curry leaves 1-2 chillies, slit into two  lenght wise 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/4 tsp ground chilli powder 1 heaped tsp tomato paste 1 /2 tsp garam masala 1 1/2 cups basmathi rice 2 1/2 cups  water 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube * use fresh or packed liquid ...

Or  should I call it Pilaf? Hubby thinks it tastes just like a biryani, I told him its a lazy version of Biryani,where everything is dumped into one pot. Yes ! I know! I love one pot recipes.  Eid is coming up,  the previous Eid or Eidhul Fithr is the Eid that celebrates the  end of Ramadhan or the muslim fasting month. This upcoming Eid , Eidhul Adha is to celebrate the end of  Hajj day and also known as the Festival of Sacrifice .  In Maldives Eidhul Adha is  celebrated with quite the merry ment. Male city gets quite deserted as everyone heads to the islands  to celebrate . So life in male city becomes quite tolerable then LOL, So I am  looking forward  for Eidhul Adha .    Hopefully it wont be a rainy day, it has been raining  a lot these past weeks, not that I am complaining, I love the rain, except the boys missed a few swim lessons.  As I mentioned in an earlier pos t they don't go to an indoor pool,  the...

When Jamie Oliver's 30 minute and 15 minute meal cook book, came out  and  after watching the series on television I wondered if he knew that not all of us come equipped with a dish washer, because if I was to use the food processor , the  4 pans I will spend another 15 minutes washing everything and wiping them.  Now don't get me wrong I love Jamie Oliver , but  you know what I mean right? For me, my 30 minute meal has to come from  one pot recipes, so I have to spend less time washing up. This delicious spagetti dish came to me after I saw this recipe on Pinterest ( yes I know I seem to get a lot of inspiration from there these days and you can also find my pins there was well). Anyway this really cool recipe uses one pot, everything is bunked in together and all that's left to do is wait for it cook. I mean how easy is that!!, and just one pot and a wooden spoon and tongs to wash!!. of course there are the four serving bowls and forks but still..... Rec...

My mind has gone blank these days.  And now with Ramadhan month over, its back to normal which means  the school runs and swimming lessons for the boys.  So by the end of the day I can hardly keep my eyes open ,let alone think on what to write. Anyways , I  did a recipe of Curtis Stone recently, and since its  Curtis Stone theme these days at the IHCC , I  am posting it here. Its a lovely and simple pasta dish and most of the vegetables used are roasted first in the oven and then pureed to a sauce. Roasting gives it a really lovely flavour. Since we don't have chorizo, I used regular beef sausages which went nicely with the pasta. Even my usually bell pepper hating little guy didn't seem to notice that there was bell peppers in the sauce. Recipe:   Pasta with sausages and roasted Tomato sauce, recipe adapted from Curtis Stone's Spicy Penne  with Chorizo and Roasted Tomato Sauce 6 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges 1 /2 red bell pepper, left whole 1 on...