During the days of my vegetarian diet, I cooked green pea soup several times. It was a great way to fulfill those hunger pangs I was experiencing. And it’s a sweet dessert that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Green pea soup is a tong sui, or dessert soup, that is commonly eaten for its cooling properties which help reduce heatiness that causes fevers, sore throats, acne breakouts, etc  during hot spells. I cooked this again today because the weather’s been unbearably hot lately.

In the days when I was working on of those exhausting jobs in IT, I never had the luxury of tending over soups like this. But it’s really simple to make, just that you have to watch the fire.

I don’t use exact measurements so these are just estimates. To make a big pot, I just throw two cups of dried green peas (they’re sold in small packets) into a pot with 6 cups of water.

When the water comes to a boil, turn it down to medium/low and simmer for 2 hours till soft. Add 1 cup sugar or enough sugar to taste. Again the time here is just an estimate depending on how soft you want to peas to end up. I like the peas to be really soft, almost of porridge texture, so I let the soup bubble on for a while longer, checking every now and then. So it’s completely up to you.

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Yep, today is a brand new day, the day I’m officially done with my 30-day vegetarian diet which started early last month. And this is what I had for breakfast this morning, my first meal … ta da, yummy, huh?

Nasi lemak (coconut rice with various condiments), ironically minus the chicken because it’s too heavy a breakfast for me otherwise. But I’ll get to eating chicken eventually… er, soon, at lunch today probably .

Eating healthy is a great feeling. I continued my gym workouts as usual during my vegetarian month. Not eating meat didn’t make me feel any less energetic. In fact, I revved up my workouts incorporating push-ups for the first time. It’s hard work but it left me happily tired.

I have a crazy metabolic rate even when I’m not vegetarian, so you can imagine how hungry I was this whole month not having anything substantial meat for my tummy to grind. I was hungry all the time and always looking for food .

Remember I did this for religious reasons, not to lose weight but I couldn’t help wondering what the effect would be of abstaining from meat completely, working out regularly and stuffing myself with carbs and snacks every two hours. Well, guess what? I lost a total of 1 kg (2.2 lbs) in the process. Nothing significant about that really.

The thing I missed most was eating out with my kids. I’d just sit and watch them eat, or pick at their fries and hijack a few gulps of soda. Most restaurants don’t have a vegetarian menu, and most vegetarian restaurants are crazy expensive. Maybe if we’d been on vacation at a Westgate resort, there might’ve been more meal options for me to choose from, eh? But hey, no complaints, it was a fantastic experience!

I have half a pack of angel hair pasta left over from yesterday’s lunch. We’ve eaten every other type of pasta so I thought it was time we tried angel hair. But the kids don’t quite care for it so I have to find a way to finish it up somehow.

Now if you notice, angel hair pasta looks a lot like the thin Chinese egg noodle, and I’m guessing it won’t taste far different. So I decided to do a Fusion stirfry… just for the heck of it.

Here’s what I used:

• 0.5 packet of angel hair pasta
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• a handful of choy sum (mustard green), cut into 2-inch lengths
• 1 stick of celery, thickly sliced
• a few pieces of mock char siew (vegetarian barbecue pork), sliced
• 3-4 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce
• spring onion and Chinese parsley, finely chopped
• sesame oil
• salt and pepper to taste

The preparation of the angel hair pasta is the same as if you were actually using it for a regular pasta. Just boil till al dente.

Into my wok on high heat, I drizzle some oil and lightly saute the garlic. Then I quickly add the mock char siew followed by vegetarian oyster sauce, choy sum and celery. Add some water and allow to simmer for a few minutes to let the vegetables cook through.

Then add the angel hair pasta and stir well with the rest of the ingredients. Add a good drizzle of sesame oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped spring onion and Chinese parsley. Serve hot with a small plate of fresh bird’s eye chilly in soy sauce.

Heaven! I’m really proud of this creation of mine. You really must try it. You’ll truly be surprised how good this Fusion angel hair pasta tastes, wierd though it may sound . Best of all, it’s meatless, healthy and trust me, you can banish all thoughts of weight loss products when you’re eating this.

Well, here I am, at the beginning of the last week of my 30-day vegetarian diet. It’s a great experience and I’m doing great! I work out, I eat, just avoiding meat, seafood and eggs and …

… well, just about the only thing about being vegetarian is that I’m always hungry and need to eat all the time . So like every one or two hours, you’ll find me raiding the kitchen and munching on milk and Oreos (man, these are the best!), guacamole and chips, biscuits and whatever else I can get my hands on.

I’m not a snacker by any means so it’s really hard figuring out what to eat all the time. With everything I’m eating, you probably expect that my new best friend would be the fitness equipment at the gym . But most times, I just end up drinking lots and lots of tea and water to fill me up.

One day, I made ambrosia, sheer heaven!! A couple of times, I made huge pots of tongsui, or dessert soups - lotus seed soup with gingko nuts, three-bean soup, black glutinous rice porridge - and survived on those for a whole day.

I made a huge pot of hak lor mai chook, or black glutinous rice porridge as a treat to myself last weekend since I’m on a 30-day vegetarian diet and can’t eat meat. Quite a mouthful to say but it’s such a luscious dessert. Actually I eat a couple of bowls of it and it serves as my lunch .

The ingredients are simple.

* 2 cups black glutinous rice
* 4 cups water
* 1 cup of sugar, or to taste
* 1 cup thick coconut milk, to be kept in fridge till ready to serve

Place black glutinous rice and water in a large pot on medium heat and leave to boil for about an hour, or until the grains soften and open up. Add sugar to taste. Serve warm.

Add a pinch of salt to the coconut milk and mix well. Keep the coconut milk in the fridge until the black glutinous rice porridge is ready to serve. Drizzle about a dessertspoon of coconut milk onto each bowl of porridge and dessert is ready!