Food Recipe: Celery Leaf Pesto (A Delicious Italian Twist on Kitchen Leftovers)

I usually buy many stalks of celery every week because I juice them along with cucumber, two carrots, and one-half apple. This veggie juice helps detoxify my body. Unfortunately, I always end up with so many leftover celery leaves. I like them, but my mom and other friends do not particularly like the bitter taste of the leaves when they are juiced, so I usually throw them away. Then I decided, “Why don’t I make homemade celery leaf pesto? I’ll experiment.” Well, it turned out nice, even if I do say so myself. I put it on my whole wheat sandwich as a special spread, add it to my other vegetable dishes, and use it as a side dish and as a dressing for salad. Making celery leaf pesto is easy, and best of all, you can come up with your own recipe as well. Be imaginative and add other ingredients that you like. Bon appétit.

Suggested ingredients

Healthy Pineapple Vegetables Recipe (Pininyahang Gulay) — Low Sodium & Joint-Friendly

I was a bit nervous making this one. I’ve always found it challenging to cook healthful versions of traditional Filipino dishes. One of my favorites is pininyahang manok (pineapple chicken), but it’s not exactly the healthiest. So, I decided to experiment—and voilà! Surprise, surprise, my version turned out to be delicious. And that says a lot, considering I’m not exactly known for my cooking skills. If I can whip up something tasty, I think anyone can.

What’s great about this dish is that it’s very low in sodium, making it ideal for those with high uric acid levels or anyone trying to lower them. It’s also packed with ingredients rich in vitamin C, potassium, and other nutrients that are good for the joints and heart.

I don’t usually follow strict measurements—I tend to cook by taste—so feel free to adjust the quantities depending on your preferences and how many people you're feeding.

Food Recipe: Filipino-Style Quiche with Longganisa and Hash Brown Crust (French-Filipino Fusion Recipe)

Quiche (pronounced keesh) is a French dish. Merriam-Webster defines quiche as “a pie made with eggs, milk, cheese, and vegetables or meat.” It is an open-faced pie. The word quiche comes from the Lorraine Franconian word küeche, meaning “cake.” Lorraine Franconian is a French dialect.

Nevertheless, just because quiche is French does not mean it cannot be infused with Filipino flavor. Below is my brother’s original quiche recipe, which is a fusion of French and Filipino cuisine. Enjoy! (Recipe by Randal San Miguel)

Food Recipe: "Gourmet Galunggong or Galunggong Was Never the Poor Man's Meat, It was Just a Victim of Prejudice"

Once a upon a time, galunggong (round scad) was the “poor man’s meat," but that was back in the 1980s. Now, the tilapia or Saint Peter’s fish is the “poor man’s meat.” But that is another story, which has nothing to do with Saint Peter at all.

Frankly speaking, I still prefer galunggong any day.  Not only is it rich in omega 3, but galunggong is also a concrete evidence of the prevailing class system in the country.  Like most things in the Philippines, galunggong is just another victim of the upper class relegating certain things as for the impoverished and other things exclusively for the affluent. I disagree.  Who says galunggong is poor? On the contrary, galunggong is very democratic, the rich and the poor can eat it. All it needs is the right dressing, presentation, marketing and extra hard work, and hold the prejudice please.

Food: Pomodoro Pizza, "A More Personal Pizza for Your Would-be Significant Other"

All photographs by Randal San Miguel

Most of us buy personal pizzas in Italian fast food restaurants, and we sometimes take our dates there but if you are the adventurous type or you want to impress a girl or a guy, you can make your personal pizza, even more personal by making it.  As one female friend once told me, “who needs a man who can buy you coffee, when you have a man who makes you coffee?” We can also rephrase that to: “who needs a man who can buy you expensive pizza and pasta dishes in high end Italian restaurants, when you have a man who can make you pizza, now that’s more personal.” So all you single guys out there, straight or gay, forget expensive Italian restaurants, stop being Tony Soprano and just expecting the spouse to hand you dinner. Be Atonio Carluccio instead.

Classic French Apple Tart (An Alternative to the Traditional Apple Pie)

Photo by Marialen Gharbi

Apple pies are some of the most loved pies during the holiday season; however, if you are bored with the usual apple pie, try a big classic French apple tart instead. It is like apple pie but with a flair. Special thanks to my sister Marialen Gharbi for the recipe.  I just hope I got it all right.

1. THE PIE-CRUST

If you are pressed for time or you want to make the baking easier, you can buy ready-made pie-crust in supermarkets. However, if you are the do-it-yourself type of baker, then make your own pie-crust.  The benefit of making your own pie-crust is that you can shape it anyway you like, for example, an apple shape or a heart shape.

Not Your Usual Sandwich: "Croque Madame Monsieur Rondel" (Food Recipe)

If you are bored with the usual sandwich, try croque madame, a popular French recipe courtesy of my brother who works in a French restaurant.

Ingredients

Slices of brown bread

Sliced ham (or smoked turkey or chicken fillet)

Emmental cheese (queso de bola)

1 whole egg