Vegetarian day is frequently a headache for me. The kids are not huge fans of veggie stir-fries which is standard fare for me on vegetarian days. These days, it’s been raining elephants and llamas, so going out to grab a veggie pizza or burger is out of the question.

If we stay home, I have to get creative and this recipe is one I concocted recently. Ta-da! Loaded potato slices.

These are very easy to make. Of course, it’s not as easy as swiping a bag of frozen french fries through a Honeywell Barcode Scanner, but these taste so good that my picky eaters called for an encore and I ended up making a second batch.

Here’s what you need:

• 4 large potatoes, skinned and sliced 1″ thick lengthwise
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 stalk cilantro, finely chopped
• 2-3 teaspoons lime juice
• pinch of salt
• grated mozzarella cheese

Yes, there’s quite a bit of cutting involved. Combine the tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt in a bowl. Leave aside for a while, then drain off excess juices. You don’t want that.

First I microwave the potato slices on high for about 2 minutes. Transfer them to a tray and space them out nicely. Spoon the tomato mixture onto each slice and top with grated mozzarella cheese.

Then I just pop the tray into my toaster oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese and potato edges brown slightly, and they’re ready to serve.

These loaded potato slices make a very yummy, very healthy meal as there’s no oil added and all the ingredients are fresh. With its vibrant colors, it’s also very presentable and you can serve it as an hor d’oeuvre. Try it, I’m sure you’re going to love it as much as we do .

If you liked this post, subscribe to our RSS feed for more recipes, restaurant reviews and mouth-watering updates. If you've tried this recipe or restaurant, drop us your comment or feedback.

My kids grew up, and are still pretty deprived in the department of cakes and sweets. For a long time, the only cakes they ate were birthday cakes (and how often is that?), and cakes and chocolates served to us when we visited friends and family.

I hardly ever buy these sweets. But here’s a rare occasion recently where I bought four cupcakes because the kids were hungry and these were the only things selling conveniently nearby.

Yes, a rare and unexpected treat for my eldest and youngest. They savored each and every mouthful when they should be pondering on the best weight loss pills. My middle child however, balks at cupcakes even though they are all the rage right now. Good for her, that’s my girl!

There’s this fairly new place called Penang Recipe at 1 Utama that we’ve visited a couple of times, once or twice, for their weekday lunch time promo.

Whichever restaurant you walk into these day, you can pretty much find the ubiquitous Nasi Lemak. Penang Recipe’s Pandan Nasi Lemak with Chicken Rendang is a pretty good serving that comes with a papadam as well.

I started out really crazy about their Curry Laksa which came packed with ingredients like huge chunks of chicken, meatballs, taupok (tofu pockets), half a hard-boiled egg and even clams. Well, it’s still pretty good but the portion has shrunk very quickly over a short period of time and I’m not happy about that.

It’s sad how sometimes restaurants start out with such promise and then once business picks up, they scale back on quality and quantity to focus on their ecommerce fulfillment or whatever other business ventures they might be involved in.

Recently we’ve been going back to Otak-Otak Place for breakfast a few times because it’s conveniently located near where I sometimes do my groceries. You can read my breakfast post here.

One evening, I was craving for Fish Head Noodles so we decided to try their regular menu. Their Fish Head Noodles came in a claypot so it was piping hot till the last drop of soup. Tastewise it’s pretty good, not salty (the way I like it) and with big chunks of fish.

We also ordered their Nasi Lemak (coconut rice with various condiments) with Chicken Rendang (a curry chicken with thickened sauce). It came in deep and rather narrow tiffin carriers which were quite a challenge to eat from.

Otak-Otak Place is based on the 1960s school days theme with menus printed on old exercise books and 1960s music playing in the background (which I didn’t quite appreciate, sorry ). Oh, by the way, we didn’t have our digital cameras with us hence the rather blurry pictures taken with my pocket PC camera.

Here are a couple of ways you can add a splash of color and festivity when serving up your Christmas goodies and impress the heck out of your holiday guests.

Kosta Boda Star of David Platter

This Star of David platter from Kosta Boda was designed by world class artist Ulrica Hydman-Vallien. This hand-crafted glass platter features an original Star of David design, perfect for display or for serving your favorite dish.

Kosta Boda Set of 2 Candy Cane Plates

This set of two candy cane plates is also from Kosta Boda and designed by world class artist Ulrica Hydman-Vallien. Don’t you just love how the cheerful hand-painted peppermint sticks form an open heart and add a dash of color to the modern Christmas table? Yep, this is perfect for decoration or for serving your favorite dessert at holiday parties.

Kosta Boda Gold Christmas Platter

This gold Christmas platter also from Kosta Boda is part of the Glimmer Collection designed by world class artist Anna Ehrner. The finely crafted gold dots and stars add a hand-painted feel for that casual yet elegant touch.