Airplane Food? I Don't Think So!! **Repeat post from last year**

I know from all my experience in traveling that the last thing anyone wants to do is to hop on a long flight hungry. Once the plane takes off you're left with your hunger and your dreadful companion Mr.RectangularContainerJammedWithInedibleGunk. While he may not be your first choice of a companion he starts to grow on you as the hours slowly pass by. Soon enough you get to the point where you actually look up and down the aisles to see if he's around the corner...your tummy has deceived you. It has allowed you to make friends with just about anything that lies under the shiny tin foil...and while your tummy feels happy...you feel betrayed...such is the fate of a traveler...

Or is it?

Last night Avril and George(My parent's friends parents{tongue twister I know!}) were leaving on a flight to go back home to Spain. They were in KL visiting their son and our family had the pleasure of meeting them. Knowing that they were doomed to a fate of airplane food we decided to have them over for dinner before their flight. We were going for a light, simple, flavorful meal. And I think my mom and I accomplished just that!

As an appetizer with drinks I whipped up hummus and baba ganoush with small pita triangles. I wish I had a photo for you but before I could even take one the guests were digging in (I guess that's a compliment!)

Next we served up in buffet style in no particular order:

Bruschetta

I got this recipe from my sister's(Steph) boyfriend Ralph. He makes the most amazing Bruschetta. It is so fresh and delicious. The secret to this dish is in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, the better the quality the yummier it is!



2 cups chopped cherry tomatoes
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
5 tablespoons olive oil
Fresh grated Parmesan to top it off
Baguette or Italian bread sliced

This is the basic bruschetta mix and then you can add spices of your choice to give it that extra oomph! I added Thyme, Oregano, Fresh Basil, and Fresh Parsley. Chop up the tomatoes, add the balsamic vinegar and olive oil along with all the spices and let it marinate for at least an hour or up to 2days. Broil the bread, rub it with garlic, and brush it with olive oil. Top it off with the tomato mixture and cheese.

Honey Ginger Bell Pepper Salad

This is a salad my mom and I made drawing inspiration from many different recipes. The flavors all worked very well together and we had a guest wiping the salad bowl clean with bread!



3 bell peppers in any color
1/2 unripe mango
1 cucumber remove the seeds
1/4 red onion
1 handful of fresh mint
1 handful of fresh coriander
1 handful of watercress

Thinly slice the bell peppers, mango, cucumber, and red onion. Toss in mint, coriander and watercress. Mix in dressing.

Dressing:

1 tbs honey
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbs grated ginger
1 handful of sesame seeds

We also served cold cuts but no I didn't make them...sadly I have not yet reached that level of chefdom.



Spicy Salmon Pasta

We decided to make a fusion pasta...Italy meets Malaysia. It was spicy and exciting, everything a pasta dish should be! While the picture may not look too pretty (hey I said I could cook not take photos!) it was definitely a very yummy dish!



Unfortunately since we made this for 10 people I don't really know what to tell you in terms of proportions..in fact we didn't measure anything we just made what we figured would be enough for 10...so I'll tell you what goes into it instead and you can decide how much of each thing you want in it. After all it is all a matter of each person's individual tastes.

Smoked salmon cut in pieces
Chopped dried chili pepper
Chopped fresh basil
Chopped chives
Sliced garlic
Pine nuts

Heat up olive oil. Add garlic and stir till light golden brown. Add all the other ingredients just to heat up for a minute and then add in pasta of choice. We went with spaghetti.

Cheesecake Topped With Peaches



For dessert Chandri(A family friend) brought a gorgeous cheesecake! As you can see from the photo the guests cut it up and ran off with their slices before I could even take a photo of the whole cake. It was light and delicate, the perfect end to a meal!

All in all the night was a success!
And hopefully we sent Avril and George off to a flight filled with less of Mr.RectangularContainerJammedWithInedibleGunk and more drowsy food induced sleep.