Thursday Dinner: Pork and bamboo shoot cooked in miso

This is an easy Japanese dish to make that goes well with rice. I used pork here, but you can use chicken if you like.

Pork and bamboo shoot cooked in miso (for 3 people):
Pork, sliced (1/2 pound) - I used a fairly lean cut, but any cut would work
Canned bamboo shoot tips, cut into half (1 large) - If you can't find tips, regular sliced bamboo shoots are fine too
Carrot, peeled and sliced diagonally (2 small)
Miso (2 Tbsp)
Brown sugar (1 Tbsp)
Dashi no moto (1/2 tsp)
Rice cooking wine (2 Tbsp)
Water (1 cup)
Vegetable oil (1/2 Tbsp)

1. Heat vegetable oil in a deep pan over medium-high heat. Saué pork until the color starts to change, then add carrot and bamboo shoot tips. Sauté for 2 minutes.
2. Add everything except for miso. Once it boils, stir in miso. Let miso melt into the soup and cook on medium heat until there is almost no soup left, stirring every minute or so.

On the side, I made daikon radish salad with plum dressing. Julienned daikon is great for salad. Any Asian dressing would go well with it.

---

Technorati Tags:pork, miso, daikon

Wednesday Dinner: Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those things that look very complicated to make but actually pretty easy to make. This recipe is as simple as it gets...

Lasagna (for 4 people):
Lean ground beef (1/4 pound)
Diced onion (1 medium)
Minced garlic (3 cloves)
Olive oil (1/2 Tbsp)
Canned whole tomatoes (28 oz can) - chopped
Salt
Pepper
Dried parsley (2 Tbsp)
Chopped fresh basil (10 leaves)
Dried lasagna pasta (6 sheets) - enough to make two layers that cover a casserole
Cheese (a lot!) - I used a combination of shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese

1. Boil water with salt for pasta. Cook pasta following the direction on the box.
2.Heat oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Sauté onion with a pinch of salt until tender. Turn the heat up to medium high and add ground beef and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauteé well until meat is mostly cooked. Add tomatoes and garlic in. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add parsley in the last 5 minutes and add basil in the last second.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the meat sauce in a casserole just enough to cover the bottom. Add cheese to cover the sauce.
4. Layer it with pasta.
5. Add the meat sauce just enough to cover the pasta. Add cheese and layer it with pasta.
6. Add the rest of the meat sauce. Add more cheese. Bake for 10-20 minutes until bubbly and cheese is lightly brown.

Serve it with a big bowl of salad.

I know that typically lasagna has ricotta cheese in it, but I'm not too crazy about that texture. Of course, you can add ricotta with other cheesy cheese like mozzarella.

---

Technorati Tags:lasagna

Monday Dinner: Grilled salmon patty with beet salad

If you put this salmon patty on buns, it's a salmon burger, but I matched it with couscous instead and topped it with tomato-caper salsa.

Salmon patties (makes three):
Canned salmon (15 oz can)
Egg white (1)
Bread crumbs (1/4 cup)
Salt (a pinch)
Pepper (a pinch)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything together well and form 3 patties. Heat pan with 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Grill patties until both sides are nice and brown then bake the patties in the oven for 5-10 minutes until the patties are heated through.

Top the patties with tomato-caper salsa and serve them with couscous.

---

Technorati Tags:salmon burger, caper, beet salad

Saturday Dinner: Plaintain and chorizo stuffed chicken

This is a recipe that involves several steps and takes time to make. I tried to do some shortcut with this recipe by microwaving the chicken rather than boiling it, but it didn't turn out too well... Chicken got too tough. I think I either microwaved it for too long or it just doesn't work with microwave.

Plantain and chorizo stuffed chicken

For green salsa, I used tomatillo salsa that I made before and froze. Salsa is one of those things that are good for freezing that you don't really think of. Because fresh salsa stays fresh for only a day or two, it's better to just freeze leftover salsa.

I served the chicken with rice and beans.