hic’juice, boon tat street

(crazy) overpriced, yuppie fruit-and-plant blends in the second story of this shop house above an equally (slightly) overpriced, yuppie spin cycle studio in telok ayer.

I think that’s possibly the fairest, and most accurate description I can give the place – it’s truly yuppie in a young, promising, financially-able persons interested in a holistic, take-care-of-yourself routine that includes overpriced vegetation mushed into a liquid-enough form that fits into a WHAT-THAT’S-ALL-?! bottle stacked prettily amongst its breathren on the shelves of a chiller.

of porridge for autumn

yes, I live in singapore.
yes, we have a blazing sun, and temperatures that average the three-zero.
and no, our tropical climate doesn’t allow for the seasons.

but for some reason, I’ve been craving warmer flavors like pumpkin and spices like cinnamon – and those are no-brainer additions to my daily bowl of hot porridge. here’s some inspiration if you’re thinking of shaking up your hot-bowl routine:

1. toasted almond meal makes for a fragrant protein addition to breakfast (which should help with keeping those hunger pangs away a couple more minutes or so)
2. mixing store-bought ground spices (yes, the horror) into oatmeal works best when it’s just been cooked thick and hot, before you add your milk – they tend to float above liquidy mixtures without properly homogenizing
3. and a mixture of grains makes for the best porridge – great texture, nutty flavor, and higher nutrition. my current favourite = pearl barley + cracked wheat + cracked rye = delicious.

p.s. porridge recipe here, if you’d like your own bowl of comfort in the morning. I cook and portion out at night, before a 3-minute nuke in the morning: fuss-free and completely brainless.

coconut tea cake with a chocolate top

I made this cake a while back for a barbecue with friends, and it was born of simple requirements: a non-fussy cake that wouldn’t mess up too many bowls (important when you’re already prepping lots of other food), and no icing monstrosity please – easy enough to finish even after having ate too much.

it’s a soft fluffy tea-cake that bakes up light and fragrant with toasted coconut and vanilla – a great finish after dinner (or for tea!) with its bittersweet chocolate top.

the lawn salad & grill, tanjong pagar

just a quick reminder that I’m doing a london vegfest giveaway here!

great salads – and – more at this new branch in the central business district – a grown-up version of their first at the biopolis building. I’ve written about this place before – they do a mean grill atop fresh salads, in huge portions both gastronomically and conscience-satiating – but where the first branch was laid back (university-type is likely the best description), this is its shinier sister – sparkling in nordic white and wood and a beautiful felt-lined platform.

it’s great returning to a place to find standards have been kept up amidst expansion, portions are just as fantastic – and finding appealing additions to the menu: dessert and coffee for the hipsters.

a giveaway: london vegfest 2013 tickets

I shared an avocado loaf recipe with you yesterday – and today I bring you a pair of tickets to london’s greatest veggie food show! I miss living in london, and sometimes I miss it even more – and this is one of those times. 160 food stores, cooking lessons, comedians and loads of people talking about and eating food – this just sounds like an incredible amount of fun.

and we all know that food festivals mean free food – and what’s better than that?

so since I can’t go (did you think I’d share otherwise?) – I have a pair of tickets to give away for each day of the festival!

healthy avocado loaf with a lime glaze

HEAD’S UP if you’re a londoner – or will be in london come october – and love food fests: I have a giveaway happening later today!

let’s start by saying that this loaf is gorgeous. the loaf is a deep golden outside, and the most brilliant pastel green withine green, the icing is a brilliant white cover holding a sprinkle of green pepitas in place.

there isn’t any added fat in this recipe – it’s essentially a pound cake with the butter replaced by a fair amount of mashed avocado (rather deservedly termed nature’s butter) and with only four ingredients to it, it’s an easy task to churn this one out in an hour (and most of that’s spent baking, what’s more). if you’ve ever made a fat-free banana bread, the texture of this one will be pretty familiar – it’s got the sturdiness of a quickbread and a rather elastic crumb, and makes for a heck of a great tea accompainment.

of breakfasts, and a hot whole-grain cereal porridge

it’s coming to nearly ten months now that I’ve left london – and I try very hard not to think about it: there were fantastic memories during fantastic years, with people who’ve made a big difference in my life. I came across this photo – below – in my archives, taken during one of my visits to le pain quotidien (my absolute favourite breakfast hangout in london) and it made me think very hard.

breakfast is my favourite meal – it dictates how the rest of the day is going to go – and though I head out to brunch regularly with friends, it’s my day-to-day breakfast of hot grain that helps remind me of the times in that glorious city. I’ve had this same breakfast every day since coming back, with variations in grain and stir-ins, but the recipe, and the idea is built upon mornings – and anytime, really – of hot oatmeal in gloomy (but so lovely) london.

whole meyer lemon cake

I used the last of my lovely meyer lemons in this cake – a damp, hearty but fluffy cake of almond meal barely bound together. it’s a simple, fragrant cake – and good for tea time. you whizz up meyer lemons with a bit of egg and almond, throw it all into a pan – and bare moments later, there’s a delicious waft of citrus in the kitchen.

bali buda/bali buddha, bali (delivery)

delivery service from this holistic café in kerobokan – I’ve already told you about our eat-in experience. we ordered the day before, and scheduled it to arrive early before our flight back to singapore.

breakfast by the pool early in the morning – rather than subjecting ourselves to the vagaries of airport food – is an indulgence I could get used to.

bali buda/bali buddha, bali (eat-in)

good food – incidentally, healthy too – at this holistic café-deli chain, nearish kerobokan. this place has a slew of good reviews on tripadvisor, and I was lured by their online menu, which had a large range of healthyish (and very interesting) options for brunch and lunch – though if I were honest it was most likely the pancake and cereal options on the menu that truly reeled me in.

the food veers toward the healthy-sounding, which scares off people like my partner – and I think men in general – and even has options for vegan/vegetarian/macrobiotic-sounding diets, but which appeals to me. I like the idea of having a large and satisfying brunch with wholesome ingredients (dimsum excepting), and this place certainly served up. but for all you manly men out there with a fear of supposedly healthy food, they do have things like burgers and pizzas – so you can certainly get your share of the mornin’ grease here.