A bowl of bright summer flavours that's suitable for all the favourite seasonal vegetables.

Salad	Oregano Vinaigrette
100 g Tuna fish in olive oil 1 Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces 80 g Cucumber 1/2 Tomato, cut into wedges 10-12 Olives, cut into rings 50 g Feta light (or regular) Onion Salt & pepper to taste	2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil 1 tbsp Lemon juice 1/2 tsp Dried oregano

1. Cucumber peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks. Flake tuna with a fork. Mix all the vinaigrette ingredients thoroughly.
   
   
2. Place the lettuce and cucumber in a salad bowl. Arrange the tomato wedges around the dish. Top with the olive rings, tuna, feta and onion rings.
   
3. Chill and serve with the prepared dressing and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Agedashi Tofu are deep fried tofu pieces accompanied with a soya based dipping sauce and they are usually served as an appetizer. If you cannot find mirin and dried silver pomfret, then use medium-dry sherry and anchovy instead. Some food police would tell you that this is then not a traditional Japanese appetizer, nevertheless, the dish does taste delicious and good enough for me to recommend it. I love every bite of this crunchy and soft Tofu.

	Dipping
200 g Regular firm tofu 100 g Cornstarch 1 tbsp Seaweed, shredded Frying oil	20 g White radish, minced 5-8 g Fresh chillies, finely chopped 2 tbsp Soya sauce 1 tbsp Mirin (sweet rice wine) 1 tbsp Dried sliver pomfret 1 tsp Sesame seeds, toasted 1/2 tsp White vinegar

1. Cut the tofu into 3-inch squares or any desired patterns. Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small pan and bring it to a boil.
2. Heat the oil to very hot for frying. Coat the tofu squares with cornstarch and deep-fry them until golden brown and crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels.
3. Place fried tofu squares in a serving bowl. Pour the prepared dipping sauce over. Garnish it with shredded seaweed and parsley if desired.

These crunchy, easy-to-make snacks are fantastic on their own or can be used as a garnish or tossed in salads.

100 g Sugar 2 tsp Inverted sugar syrup 40 ml Water 1/4 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract 200 g Walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Spread walnuts in a single layer over a baking tray. Roast for about 10 minutes until the nuts start to turn brown.
   
2. Mix sugar, inverted sugar syrup, water, and salt in a heavy sauce pan. Stir over low-medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring it to a boil until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage about 113C/236F.
3. Remove from heat and immediately stir in vanilla. Add in roasted walnuts and stir to coat well. Turn out on parchment paper and separate the walnuts with a fork. Cool completely before store in airtight containers.

Florentines are a wonderful holiday cookie, but delightful all year round. Austrian bakers are attributed with creating these cookies although their name implies an Italian heritage.
Florentines are a delicious mixture of candied fruit (I used dried cranberries) and nuts (I used sliced almonds) with caramel, then baked. They are very often finished with chocolate on one side.

100 g Butter 100 g Sugar 3 tbsp Honey 250 ml Whipping cream 300 g Almond slices 100 g Dried cranberries, finely chopped 100 g Dark chocolate for coating, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Chop the cranberries finely. Melt butter, sugar and honey in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the mixture turns a caramel colour, stirring occasionally.
   
2. Pour in the whipping cream and bring it to a boil. Add in chopped dried cranberries and almond slices. Lower the heat and cook until the mixture is combined and thickened.
   
3. Scoop two rounded teaspoons of the mixture on prepared baking trays and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. Coat or drizzle Florentines with melted chocolate as desired. Set aside at room temperature until set.

Artificial sweeteners used in this recipe were to avoid sugar and calories. Sugar adds calories, and that cause weight gain with no end. But let's face the cruel reality: removing sugar from cakes and desserts doesn't automatically make them low-calorie and healthier. The cake tastes lighter, but I ate twice much more than usual. Next time, I will just use the real sugar or honey. No more sugar substitutes.

#Mousse:	#Strawberry Mirror:
1 circle 9-inch Sponge cake 400 g Magerquark angiesrecipes / Cottage cheese 300 g 3.5% Plain yogurtangiesrecipes 6 leaf Gelatin sheets 4 tbsp Natreen powdered sweetenerangiesrecipes 5 tbsp Water 100 g Pine nuts angiesrecipes, roasted 200 g Heavy cream angiesrecipes 400 g Strawberries, sliced	1 package Oetker Strawberry glaze powder angiesrecipes 1 tbsp German Natreen powdered sweetener 250 ml Water

1. Whip together quark, yogurt and sweetener in a mixing bowl until blended. Soak the gelatin sheets in water until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir over the low heat until dissolved. Combine 4 tablespoons of quark mixture with the gelatin, then blend it with the rest of the quark mixture. Add in the roasted pine nuts and chill for 10 minutes. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form and fold into the quark mixture.
   
2. Place the 9-inch cake in the bottom of the cake ring lined with a cake cardboard. Surround the cake ring with sliced strawberries and scrape the mousse onto the cake layer in the pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Covered with a plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours until filling is set.
   
3. Put the strawberry glaze powder and sweetener in a small pot filled with water. Stir to blend and bring them to a boil over the medium heat until smooth. Cool glaze until barely lukewarm, about 15 minutes. The glaze should be thick but still with a pourable gel consistency. Take out the mousse cake from the fridge and cover with a layer of strawberry slices in the desired pattern. Gently pour over the strawberries and refrigerate for 1 hour or until glaze is firm. Unmold mousse cake with the help of a hot towel. Slice and serve with strawberries if desired.
   

Simply shaped into rounds and steamed

two toned buns

Twisted Rolls or Hua Juan in Chinese are steamed buns (with scallions, sesame seeds, peanut, etc. ) twisted into a beautiful flower pattern. The dough can be simply shaped into rounds too. You can also use a bit of cocoa powder to make a darker dough and roll it up with a light dough prepared with water to create a two toned steamed bun.

200 g German #550 flourangiesrecipes 100 g Whole spelt flourangiesrecipes 4 g Instant dry yeast 165 g Honey carrot juiceangiesrecipes, at room temperature 1 tbsp Vegetable oil or olive oil 1 stalk Spring onion, finely chopped 1/2 tsp Black pepper salt

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, whole spelt flour and instant yeast together. Make a well in the middle and pour in the carrot juice. Mix on slow speed until you have a dough that holds together. Adjust the amount of carrot juice, adding more or less as needed. Turn the speed of the mixer to medium and knead until it is smooth and elastic.
   
2. Prove the dough in a bowl covered with a plastic film until it has increased in volume distinctively, about 45 minutes. Press out the air and roll it out into a large rectangle. Brush the surface with oil and sprinkle the black pepper salt and chopped spring onions over. Roll up and divide it into 16 portions. Take each piece and, with the cut sides facing outward, use chopsticks to press down lengthwise in the middle so that the layers of both sides extend outward beautifully.
   
3. Arrange the rolls in the steamer lined with cheese cloth. Cover it with a plastic film and set aside for 15 minutes. Steam the twisted rolls over a pot of boiling water on strong heat. Turn the heat off and leave the steamer covered for 2 minutes before serving.

This is one of the dishes you would find on the menu of Chinese restaurants, where serves Cantonese and Chiu chow cuisines. The string or garden beans are usually used to cook the dish. I used the asparagus because I love it and it is in season.

75 g Diced pork (or ham or ground meat) 250 g Bottom halves of green asparagus 1-2 tbsp Olive-pickled leaf mustard 2 clove Garlic, minced ½ tsp Ginger, shredded

1 tsp Jiafan rice wine 1 tsp Light soya sauce 1/3 tsp Chicken bouillon powder Pinch of white pepper powder 1 tbsp Cooking oil

How many times have you eaten out at a restaurant and found the edge of serving plates garnished with a flower pattern of veggie, a fan shape of fruit slices, and even a cute rabbit of quail egg, a heart of cherry tomato surrounding the food? Wouldn't those garnishes make your dining experience more pleasant and enjoyable? I have a couple of quick easy garnishes to share, hoping they would add excitement to your family banquet, casual brunch with friends, or just dinner for one. If you want to get fancy with the designs, then a book about garnishing would be more practical.

Tomato or Apple Rose

1. Starting at the stem end cut round an apple or a tomato and keep the peel unbroken. Make the strip of apple or tomato skin narrower and narrower while you continue cutting.
2. Start curling the skin at the narrow end towards the wide end. Turn upside down, adjust the roll if necessary to resemble a flower and set on a serving plate.

Tomato Heart and Rabbit

1. Holding a sharp knife at a 45-degree angle slice off 1/3 of a cherry tomato. Place the 2/3-part, cutting side down, on a cutting board. Slice it into even two halves and put them together to form a heart.
2. Slice 1/4 of a cherry tomato horizontally with a sharp knife. To make a little rabbit ear, we need to cut a V-notch with scissors at either side of this horizontal slice. Put the cutting side of the 3/4-part as a base, and cut a slit on the top to fit in the rabbit ear.

Carrot Flower and Cucumber Loop

1. Peel carrot and place on cutting board. Cut off ends and discard. Cut out a thin, shallow lengthwise wedge from side of carrot. Lift out wedge with tip of knife. Give carrot a quarter turn and cut out another wedge. Repeat, turning and cutting two more times. Cut into 1/4-inch thick slices. Sprinkle chopped olives or caviar onto center of each carrot flower. Use a thin strips of green onion for stems and garnish as you like.
2. Slice the cucumber open lengthwise and cut unpeeled cucumbers at angle into lengths about 3 inches long. Cut 5 thin slices along the length, leaving slices connected at one end. Curl the second and fourth slices towards the base to form an open loop.

I am sending this to Innovative In-Laws who hosts the event "Garnish the Dish" .

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