One of my favourite comfort food is lasagna, but since I need to watch my weight, I can’t have it too often! I pack on the pounds faster than you can say, “Fat!” whenever I start eating more carbs than usual. But that’s ok, I think I have found a great substitute with my no-pasta vegetarian lasagna recipe!

I’m a little obsessed with eggplants – I could eat it every day. I love them stir fried in spicy sauce or dark sauce, in curry fish head, grilled till melty and topped with tuna, and like in this dish, as a substitute for pasta sheets. They work wonderfully with zucchinis, marinara sauce and stretchy mozzarella cheese.

The key thing is to get them melty and tender before popping the baking dish into the oven or airfryer. I’ve seen recipes calling for the eggplant to be steamed, but eggplant always tastes better when in contact with direct heat, where the flesh breaks down into melty heaven. What I do is grilled them under low heat on a frying pan. The flavour burst and texture is phenomenal. You can never achieve this by steaming.

This recipe is vegetarian, but if you prefer, you can add some minced meat, like chicken or beef between the layers to add more flavour and protein. After grilling the eggplants, use the same pan to fry the minced meat, salt and pepper to taste, then add the marinara sauce or tomato paste. There is no need to preheat the sauce if you don’t use meat – just spoon it directly on top of the eggplants in your baking dish.

One secret ingredient that I added is… chopped apples. I find that adding apples lifts the taste of the lasagna and reduces the richness of the dish, making it less tomato-ey and more appetising. I really like it! I served this together with a fresh salad and airfried chicken fillets which I seasoned lightly with Old Bay seasoning. The result? Something I would make again and again!

The post Low-carb lunch idea: Eggplant Lasagna with Apple Marinara appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

I’m going to Japan in a week! I made Jason promise he would only eat Yong Tau Foo (no carbs!) for lunch every day, so that he can eat his ramen, tempura, sushi and tonkatsu during the trip without worry.

His reply? Even if he doesn’t eat Yong Tau Foo every day, he will still eat during the trip without worry. How can?! His face looks like it’s going to explode. If it does then how? I gotta clean the floor! I cannot let that happen.

So we’ve come to a compromise. He will eat Yong Tau Foo or Fish Soup with half a bowl of rice every day. Once a week, he can have his Laksa Yong Tau Foo but cannot drink the gravy and if he opts for Laksa, he cannot eat rice. We’ll see how it goes.

For me, I HAVE TO LAY OFF THE SNACKING. I love Muruku, but I love tonkatsu more. That only means more low-carb options these days.

Today I have a recipe for Low Carb Pappardelle in Light Cream Sauce. How can pasta be low carb? Well it sure can, if we’re using tofu in place of pasta. These are actually Baiye Tofu, sold in folded sheets, hygienically-packed for sale in the chiller sections of major supermarkets. I found mine in Giant for about $2.55 a packet, good for three servings. These weren’t available before – I’ve only started noticing these a couple of months ago and thought they would make a great carbs substitution. Apparently, this is really popular with the Chinese from China (this is a factual description) and you can find these in Mala Xiang Guo too. This is what the packaging looks like:

I was quite apprehensive that the husband wouldn’t like it but he surprisingly was very receptive and said he would ‘order’ it again! Small win here. Slicing into broad strands, like Pappardelle:

The best thing about these is that you can slice them however way you want them – as angel hair spaghetti, No. 5 spaghetti, fettucine, tagliatelle or even use them as lasagne sheets. In the local context, that means you mian, mee pok, kway teow or mee hoon kueh – you get the drift.

Ok so, verdict. Texture wise, these tofu noodles are slightly chewy with a nice bite. They aren’t doughy or heavy, so don’t expect them to satiate your carb cravings. Taste wise, they don’t taste overwhelmingly of soy and don’t absorb the taste of other ingredients – quite a neutral tasting ingredient, which isn’t surprising at all. I actually think they will be best as fried noodles. For this recipe, I made them in pasta form with sliced Portobello, baby asparagus and ham in a light cream sauce. I also tried them in clear Chinese soups (like fish ball noodles soup) and liked them that way too. Quite positive I’m gonna cook Tofu Fried Noodles soon. Check back for the recipe! For now, I hope you like these in cream sauce. You can technically use any ingredients you want, but I find that this goes well with mushrooms and asparagus.

The post Low-carb lunch idea: Tofu “Pasta” – Pappardelle in Light Cream Sauce appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.