Book Review: Plenty

Silviebursts gave me this wonderful book for Christmas and it's not only been a great read, but also a source of inspiration.  I share the same sentiments as Yotam Ottolenghi regarding vegetarianism.  In the introduction he makes a caveat that he is not by any means a strict "vegetarian" or a vegetarian at all.  He is merely a chef who loves all food from a wide variety of cultures and a multitude of ingredients including a plethora of grains, produce, and spices that prove to be anything but dull.  My aim is simply eating healthy and well without cutting out animal products altogether, and focusing on a more balanced and conscientious way of eating that incorporates the vast wealth of ingredients that can be found these days.  The recipes are simple and easy to follow with a sufficient amount of food porn to make a mouth moist with anticipation.  This book was given to me at a perfect time when I was feeling a bit tired of the same cooking techniques and vegetable combinations that I use on a regular basis.  The Stuffed Portobello with Melting Telaggio are a total crowd pleaser and I can't wait to try making the Saffrom Cauliflower!

Peas, Carrots, & Parsnips

I was soooooo excited when I saw fresh English peas at the Santa Monica Wednesday Farmer's Market a couple weeks ago!  I had never seen or cooked fresh English peas before so I picked a few handfuls and brought my veggie treasures home, eager to see if there really would be a big difference in taste and texture from the common frozen kind.  Final verdict is that there was a difference and they definitely were yummy, BUT I also learned some valuable lessons and had some of my unrealistic expectations shattered....

First of all, apparently 1 pound of peas is mostly pod weight and only yields about 1 cup of peas.  The pods are also too fibrous to eat, though perfect for soup stock!  Following my mantra of using as much of what I have as possible and not wasting food, I used the pods in my weekly homemade chicken stock.

Secondly, peas are in season in the Spring and well....it's in the dead middle of Winter right now so my face fell with disappointment when I opened up the pods to find shriveled little peas.  I guess I was expecting these round and plump peas the size of the tip of my pinky finger, not these little pellets.  Hopefully I will see them again in the Spring and be able to get my hands on some fatty peas!  With these two valuable lessons explained, on to my simple recipe.

I didn't want to take away much from the natural flavor of the peas so I decided to do a simple saute of the classic peas and carrots with a little addition of some beautiful parsnips I also picked up at the farmer's market.

Ingredients:
1     Large Carrot Diced
1     Parsnip Diced
1/2  Cup of English peas
Cooking Oil & Salt

Instructions:
Lightly grease a saute pan with the cooking oil and heat on medium-high.  Add the carrots and parsnips to the pan first because they will take a few minutes longer to cook. Saute over medium to medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes then add the peas and toss, only cooking for about another 2-3 minutes.  Season with a good pinch of salt and you have a delightful little veggie side dish!

Easy Cabbage Stir Fry

This is my go-to fiber kick to balance my body after I've had too much animal based fatty foods.  I immediately feel healthier and cleaner after eating a big plate of simiple stir-fried veggies.  A nice salad can also to the same thing, but during the colder winter months, a cold raw salad doesn't seem as appetizing as a big hot plate of veggies.  Here's another tip about Chinese food, you will rarely see "salad" on a Chinese dinner table for any meal.  We eat a lot of vegetables and its almost always cooked.

The following dish is healthy, easy, cheap, and you can pretty much use any other veggies you want to add in with the shredded cabbage.

Ingredients:

1/2-1  Head of Cabbage julienned
* If you don't feel like practicing those knife skills, shredded will work just as well :)

1        Carrot julienned

1        Cup of julienned Snow Peas

Salt and Cooking Oil





Instructions:
Heat about a tablespoon of cooking oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
Put carrots in the pan and cook for a couple minutes then add the snow peas.  Add a pinch of salt and toss then cook for a couple minutes.

Add the cabbage and sprinkle in about a teaspoon of salt then carefully toss and let cook down for about 5-8 minutes, tossing occassionally.

Once all the veggies are softened yet still has a little snap, your done!  Plate up and enjoy :)

Vegan Chili

A sure crowd pleaser and decievingly simple to make!  Don't be scared off by the list of ingredients.  If you use a slow cooker, there are only three simple steps: 1. wash & chop veggies 2. open cans 3. throw everything in the slow cooker and leave to cook for 2-3 hours.  Voila!  Beautiful, delicious, and nutricious chili!  I was a bit unsure because this is my first attempt to make a veggie chili, but I'm pretty stoked by the outcome =D  I read about a dozen recipes and came up with this..

All of the following ingredients can be omitted or added depending on your own personal taste preference, you're the cook! =)

Ingredients:
1   Tablespoon Cooking oil
2   Carrots, diced
1   Onion, diced
3   Cloves of garlic, minced
2   Red Bell Peppers, diced
1   Green Bell Pepper, diced
1   Anaheim Chili, diced
2   Jalapeno Chilis, take the seeds out with latex gloves or with plastic wrap to avoid the ultimate "finger sting", dice and remember to wash everything (the knife, your hands, and cutting board).
2   Cups of Baby Bella Mushrooms, chopped
1   Zucchini or Italian Squash, diced
1   15oz Can of Whole Kernel Sweet Corn, drained (you can opt to use fresh corn if its in season)
1   15oz Can of Black Beans, drained
1   15oz Can of Pinto Beans, drained
(you can use regular beans by soaking and cooking the beans beforehand)
1   28oz Can of Peeled Tomatoes (No Salt Added)
(you can use fresh Roma tomatoes. Cut crosses at the bottom of the tomatoes, boil a pot of salted water and blanche the tomatoes then drain and put tomatoes in an ice bath, the skins should come off easily after that.  Peel and roughly chop.)
2-4 Cups of Vegetable stock
1   Tablespoon of Chili Powder
1   Tablespoon of Cumin
1   Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
2   Tablespoons of Dried Basil
2   Tablespoons of Dried Oregeno
***Secret Weapon: 1 Teaspoon of 5 Spice Powder***
Salt and pepper to taste
When serving, top each bowl with a dollop of sour cream, chopped cilantro or chives, shredded cheddar cheese and diced avocado.
(I added a few pieces of beef sausage for the meat eaters and a poached egg for breakfast)

Instructions:
When using a slow cooker...just follow the steps outlined in the intro above.

When using a pot...heat on the stove over medium high and add cooking oil.  Add the carrots, onion, and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes then add the pepper and chilis.  Cook for another few minutes then add the mushrooms and zucchini.  Cook for another few minutes then add the corn and beans and tomatoes followed by all the seasoning.  Stir and cook for a few minutes then add the vegetable stock until it covers all the veggies by over an inch.  Bring to boil and reduce to simmer, cover simmer over low heat for 2 hours.

When using a Thermal Insulated Cooking Pot (a.k.a. the "Magic Cooker")...follow all the same above instruction when using a pot except you use the "Magic Cooker" pot and simmer only 10 minutes on the stove then take the pot and place in "Magic Cooker", seal and forget about it for 3 hours.  I chose to use a "Magic Cooker" and it is my preference for slow cooking because it doesn't need any electricity and the food is essentially cooking by its own heat, genius!

Taiwanese Burrito (aka Taiwanese Spring Rolls)

I know I've grossly neglected this blog to the point of abandonment, but I have returned with one of my favorite family dishes that can't be found in any restaurant in So Cal, at least to my knowledge and believe me, I've searched.  My family would make these Taiwanese burritos a few times a year during special occasions or family gatherings because it's really more fun to eat in a group with everyone taking turns at the ingredients bar.  All of us would try and see who can make the biggest burrito without breaking the delicate wrap, Grandpa is the champ!  It's super healthy and quite simple, but it does take a bit of work and knife skills.  Just like a burrito or lasagna, this is a dish that can be altered and you can make many different versions.  This is the basic veggie version, but feel free to add tofu, various meats, or other veggies to the mix.

Ingredients:

* Some of the Asian specific ingredients can be found at a specialty market, the ethnic section of your local market, or a 99 Ranch supermarket

Spring roll wrappers, don't need to be cooked, but they do dry out easily, so take them out of the packaging at the last minute and cover with a clean damp kitchen towel or wet paper towel.

Sweet chili sauce is the glue that holds the wrap together and tastes sweeter than spicy but adds just the right amount of tang and kick!

Egg & Beancurd: This is where the work starts to happen, each item needs to be prepared and finely sliced.  Beat a couple eggs and poor it in a nonstick pan with a little cooking oil over medium heat.  Let the egg mixture cook on one side and become a sheet, similar to an omelette, flip it over carefully and let the other side cook.  Add salt and pepper remove from heat and slice into strips.  Now let's talk about beancurd.  What is it? It's an Asian product, specifically Chinese/Taiwanese and is basically a tofu cake made from soy beans.  I often use it as a meat substitute, it's a great source of protein with a mild flavor, and can be used in a variety of ways.  For this particular dish, you slice the beancurd into strips and blanche in boiling water for a few minutes, drain, and stir fry in a non stick pan with a little cooking oil, salt, and pepper.  

Pickled radish: very salty and you can buy already prepared, but I like to chop even finer and toast slightly in a pan.  One of my friends call them little crunchy flavor bombs!

Peanut powder: I'd choose to have this over peanut butter any day and its bascially the same ingredients just in a different texture.  Finely ground roasted peanuts tossed with sugar.  It's a must! Adds just the right amount of a little sweetness and it helps to absorb the moisture from the veggies so that the spring roll wrapper doesn't break as easily.

Celery, carrots, and cilantro: shredded and slices extra fine

Shredded cabbage, the main veggie.  I like to julianne everything myself with a knife, I like that texture better and each veggie can still hold it's own character.  If you shred it with a grater, I feel that everything becomes too mushy.

Snow peas: clean, trim, and definitely chop into strips by hand

Stir fry all the veggies together in a large wok or pan, the veggies will cook down so you might have to do separate batches

Instructions:

Pretty much all the ingredient prep is most of the work, after you finish prepping all the ingredients, lay it all out on the kitchen table with the wrappers and each person can build their own burrito.  There are some basic guidelines, always start with the dry ingredients and end with the sweet chili sauce.  This way the dry ingredients absorb all the veggie juices and the wrappers will break more easily when wet.  See how big you can build your burrito without it breaking, though if it does break, just eat with a fork, no need to panic =)  Here's how I do it, step by step...

Bite into that!

Heart of Green

I LOVE avocados!  The natural creamy goodness, the subtle yet intoxicating flavor, and something about cutting open the rough unattractive outer shell to find such beautiful green flesh never ceases to amaze me.  The Chinese term for avocado literally translates to "butter fruit".  Avocados are nature's butter.  Give me a piece of toast with half an avocado sliced on top with a little salt and pepper and I'm content with life. =)

This Green Goddess Breakfast is my perfect way to start the day...

Ingredients:

1 Egg

1/2 Avocado

A few Basil leaves

1 piece of Toast

Salt and Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

Toast a piece of bread in the toaster or oven.  Pan fry an egg gently in olive oil to medium doneness (cooked on both sides but the yolk is still slightly runny, salt and pepper).  Cut half an avocado into slices.  Arrange the toast on bottom, then add the egg, then the avocado slices, and lastly the washed and dried basil leaves.  Drizzle with a little more extra virgine olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Simple green goddess goodness

Soy Butter King Oyster Mushroom

Mushroom is one of my favorite veggies. Recently I find many Asian groceries carry very good quality king oyster mushroom at very affordable price. Some American supermarkets also carry them in the produce section. The flavor of this dish also makes it a great snack when having beer - izakaya style!

1 pack of king oyster mushroom
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of soy sauce (I use reduced sodium soy sauce for this dish, you can use regular soy sauce if desired)
1 teaspoon of butter

Cut mushroom lengthwise into same size pieces
Finely mince garlic cloves
Heat up vegetable oil in a pan and sweat minced garlic in low heat till fragrant but not brown
Add soy sauce in the pan and turn heat to medium
Add mushroom in the pan after soy sauce start boiling. (bubbles up in the pan)
Stir in butter and cook till mushroom become tender

The purpose of butter here is to add richness. Simply skip this step to make it a vegan dish.

Stir-Fry Bok Choy & Mushrooms

Stir Fry Bok Choy & Mushrooms

Ingredients:

A Few Bunches of Bok Choy

A Few Ounces of Mushroom (I used King Oyster here, but you can use almost any other meaty mushroom like Shitake or Portebello sliced)

2-3            Cloves of Garlic

Salt & Pepper

• When stir-frying any veggie dish, you generally want to slice or chop your ingredients into similar shapes and sizes so that it’s visually pleasing and cooks evenly.

1. Wash all the veggies and slice the bok choy and mushrooms into 1-inch pieces.
2. Add a tablespoon of cooking vegetable oil to a hot wok or large sauté pan over medium high heat.
3. Mince the garlic and add to the pan, once you see the garlic sizzle and smell the garlic aroma add the mushrooms and let the mushrooms cook until slightly brown, a few minutes.
4. Add the bok choy, salt and pepper to taste, toss with the mushrooms and sauté for a couple minutes until leaves wilt.  Remove from heat and serve.

• Remember to keep cooking time in mind, whatever will need more time to cook should be added to the pan first.
• You can also use any other green veggie, such as broccoli, chayote, or spinach.  The mushrooms are sort of like a yummy meat substitute. =)  Below is spinach with beech mushrooms and also a little sliced red chili for an additonal spice.

Chunky Salsa

Chunky Salsa

Ingredients:

2            Tomatoes

½           Bunch Cilantro

1            Sweet Onion

1            Jalapeno (2 if you want it spicier)

2            Cloves of Garlic

½           Lime Juiced

Salt & Pepper

1. Dice tomatoes, sweet onion, jalapeno, chop cilantro, and mince garlic.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.