One thing I’ve observed when I was on holiday in the Philippines is that it’s quite hard to find a vegetable dish in restaurants and food courts.  I’m pretty sure this isn’t always the case when one goes to upmarket Makati or other places in Manila and QC.  But I am just saying… an ordinary person like me walks into a mall (o sya sige na SM Mall) and I couldn’t find one single establishment with a ‘proper vegetable dish’ on their menu.  Read: meatless vegetable dish.  Hindi yung vegetable dish na may tipak-tipak na baboy. Sinigang, pancit and kare-kare are NOT vegetable dishes.  Some offers kangkong with alamang, thanks for that, and I found a beautiful tofu dish once, love it.  Those are exceptions.  Can’t help it, I like having veggies with my main.

Anyway, I once ordered grilled squid and was pleasantly surprised to discover they were stuffed with Chinese cabbage instead of the usual meat mixture.  That is my inspiration when I cooked this set of succulent stuffed calamari – my 1st entry to Our Growing Edge monthly event.  Isn’t it a clever way to get the boys to eat vegetables?  Sneaky me hiding them eh but I added a wee bit of minced pork.

Ingredients:
4 large clean squid tubes
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
100g minced pork
1 medium-size onion, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 small carrot. Diced
A handful of green beans, sliced into ringlets
2 tbsp lemon juice
A handful of baby spinach leaves, washed
2 stalks spring onion, cut into ringlets
4 pcs toothpicks

Wash squid tubes and dry on paper towels. Rub with a mixture of olive oil (2 tbsp), salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a pan. Sauté onion until transparent. Add minced pork and cook for about 2 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Add bell pepper and carrot, and continue to cook for another couple of minutes. Add the green beans and cook until al dente. Drain pork mixture on a colander to remove oil or any liquid.

Mix 2 tbsp of lemon juice with 2 tbsp of olive oil in a bowl. Season with small amount of salt and freshly ground pepper. Combine with baby spinach leaves and spring onion ringlets. Divide into 4 parts.

Divide pork mixture into 4 parts. Chuck in half part of spinach leaves mixture into a squid tube followed by one part of pork mixture. Then chuck in the remaining half part of spinach leaves mixture. Secure end with a toothpick. Repeat procedure with the rest of the squid tubes. Arrange squid tubes on a grill over a baking tray.

Fangrill on 200 deg C for 10 minutes. You may turn over halfway or leave as it is. Serve right away. Remember not to overcook.

Mix soy sauce with lemon juice (or kalamnsi juice) and serve as condiment. Lovely eaten with steamed rice.  

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.