Monday Dinner: Tofu and tuna patties with celery salad

This is not one of those recipes that hide the taste of tofu and you don't even know it's tofu. This is for tofu lovers.

Tofu and tuna patties (for 3-4 people):
Extra firm tofu in water (1 package)
Chunk light tuna (1 small can)
Eggs, beaten (2)
Onion, diced (1/2 cup)
Salt (a pinch)
Pepper (a pinch)
Soy sauce (1 Tbsp)
Vegetable oil (1 Tbsp)

1. Wrap tofu with paper towel and microwave for 2 minutes. This gets rid of extra moisture. Mash tofu well.
2. Combine all the ingredients except for oil.
3. Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium high heat.
4. Form small patties and sear them (squeeze them to get rid of any extra moisture). Flip them when it's nice and brown. Lower the heat to medium low. Put a lid on and keep searing for 2-3 minutes. Drizzle soy sauce or ponzu over it to serve.

Make sure you use a non-stick pan and don't flip it until brown crust has been formed. If you don't do those, the patties will fall apart.

Celery salad has chopped celery, walnut, and red onions. For dressing, combine whole grain dijon mustard, mayo, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, and a drop of soy sauce.

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Technorati Tags:tofu burger, celery salad, chunk light tuna

Wednesday Dinner: African ground nut stew with sour cream-chive topping

Tonight, I made a vegetarian dish from Cooking Light. It being vegetarian and African, I really didn't know what to except but it was really good! It was very easy to make too. Peanuts and sour cream make the stew incredibly rich. I did add more salt than what was called for though.

African ground nut stew with sour cream-chive topping

It says refrigerate sour cream for 2 hours, but I only refrigerated it for the time the stew was cooking. Cooking stew probably took 30-40 minutes. If you want to cut time, you can chop potatoes smaller. I don't think it's a type of soup that get richer as it cooks more.

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Technorati Tags:African soup, Vegetarian soup, peanut

Monday Dinner: Thai shrimp curry with Asian slaw

I'm a big fan of Thai curry, and I never thought it was so easy to make. I used to shrimp for this curry, but you can use chicken breast too.

Thai shrimp curry (for 3 people):
Black tiger shrimp, shells removed and cleaned (1/2 pound)
Canned sliced bamboo shoot, drained and rinsed (1 small)
Red bell pepper, seeded and sliced (1)
Green curry paste (little less than 1/4 cup)
Coconut milk (400ml can)
Water (1/2 cup)
Salt
Basil (7 leaves)

Combine green curry paste and coconut milk in a pot. Heat over medium high heat. Once it boils, add shrimp, bamboo shoot, bell pepper, and water. Cook until bell peppers are tender. Add a pinch of salt and basil leaves. Serve over cooked jasmine rice.

If you don't like it to be too spicy, add less green curry paste.

For Asian slaw, add shredded cabbage, julienned carrot, chopped cilantro, and chopped peanuts. For dressing, combine 1.5 Tbsp of soy sauce, 1.5 Tbsp of rice vinegar, and 1/2 Tbsp of sesame oil.

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Technorati Tags:Asian slaw, shrimp, Thai curry, green curry

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Thursday Dinner: Roasted chicken, spring onion, and red potatoes

This is one of those quick, easy recipes that are perfect for weekday dinners. Nice thing about it is, everything can be cooked together in the oven. Spring onions are sweet and great for roasting.

I placed chicken drums, spring onion (cut into quarters), and red potatoes (cut into quarters) in a casserole and coated them with salt, pepper, and olive oil. They were baked with 2 springs of fresh thyme (rosemary would be good as well) for 40-45 minutes in a 375 degrees oven.

I think it would have been better if I seared the chicken and potatoes before putting them in the oven. That would have created nice crust and cut down the baking time too. If you prefer white meat, you can use chicken breast rather than drums.

Wednesday: Beef and broccoli stir-fry

I wanted to try making stir-fry with oyster sauce and found this recipe. It was so good! I added mushrooms and bamboo shoot to the original recipe. It was actually a little sweet for me, so maybe the amount of sugar can be reduced.

Beef and broccoli stir-fry (for 4 people):
Beef shank (10-12 oz) - half frozen (if you put frozen meat in the fridge in the morning, it'll be half frozen by the time you come home)
Marinade mixture: Soy sauce (1 Tbsp); Potato starch (1 Tbsp); Rice cooking wine (1 Tbsp); Sugar (2 tsp)
Sauce mixture: oyster sauce (3 Tbsp); Soy sauce (1 Tbsp); Potato starch (1 Tsp); Rice cooking wine (1 Tbsp); Water (1 Tbsp); Sugar (2 tsp)
Sesame oil (1.5 Tbsp)
Minced peeled ginger root (1 Tbsp)
Diagonally sliced green onions (1/3 cup)
Water (1/4 cup)
Broccoli florets (3 cups)
Canned sliced mushrooms (15 oz can) - drained and rinsed
Canned sliced bamboo shoots (8 oz can) - drained and rinsed
Vegetable oil (1/2 Tbsp)

1. Slice beef shank as thinly as you can. Combine the marinade mixture and marinade beef shank in the mixture for 10-15 minutes.
2. Heat wok or pan over high heat with sesame oil. Stir fry beef until it's cooked but with some pink parts. Take the meat out.
3. Turn the heat down to medium. Add minced ginger and sliced green onions. Stir fry for 30 seconds then add water and broccoli florets. Put the lid on and steam for 3 minutes or until broccoli florets are bright green. Combine the sauce mixture.
4. Put the meat back in. Add sliced mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Stir fry until there is no pink part in beef. Add the sauce mixture. Stir fry until the sauce is nice and thick.

Serve it over hot rice!

Tuesday Dinner: Chiles Rellenos gratin

This is not a usual weekday recipe. It takes a while to make, especially the part where you have to roast the chiles. Maybe there are some already-roasted chiles in the store... Anyway, it takes some time, but it's really really good. I made it over the weekend and kept it in the fridge.

Here is the recipe:

Chiles Rellenos Gratin

I didn't put corn or pine nuts, but it was still really good. I actually think both of those things would have added more texture to the dish though... I think also it would be even better if I put some rice in the stuffing. It's vegetarian, so if you want some meat, you can put ground beef or chopped chorizo.

Monday Dinner: Teriyaki fish with radish salad

Teriyaki fish is an easy and healthy dish to make that goes well with Asian salad.

Teriyaki fish (for 2 people):
Horse mackerel (2 whole or 4 fillet pieces) - You can use any kind of firm fish like tuna or salmon
Vegetable oil (1/2 Tbsp)
Rice cooking wine (2 Tbsp)
Mirin (1/2 Tbsp)
Soy sauce (1 Tbsp)

1. Combine all the ingredients except for the fish and vegetable oil.
2. Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat. Sear fish with the skin side down until it gets grill marks. Flip the fish and sear until it's cooked through.
3. Add the soy sauce mixture and cook until it thickens.

Radish is little bitter, so I marinated it with miso dressing.

Miso dressing:
Rice vinegar (1 Tbsp)
Soy sauce (1 Tbsp)
Canola oil (2 tsp)
Miso (2 tsp)
Sugar (1/2 tsp)
Sesame oil (1/2 tsp)

This Week's Menu and Shopping List

Here is this week's menu:

Monday: Grilled sanma dinner with celery kinpira
Wednesday: Herbed chicken breast with tomatillo salsa and queso fresco
Thursday: Beef and sugar snap pea stir-fry with hot and sour soup
Friday: Spring onion and sausage pizza

Shopping list:
Sanma/mackerel pike (2) - grilled sanma dinner with celery kinpira
Grated daikon radish (optional) - grilled sanma dinner with celery kinpira
Sliced celery (2 stalks) - grilled sanma dinner with celery kipira
Julienned carrot (2 small carrots) - grilled sanma dinner with celery kinpira
1/2 pound tomatillos (about 10 small) - tomatillo salsa
1 garlic clove - tomatillo salsa
1/2 to 1 serrano chile - tomatillo salsa
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro - tomatillo salsa
1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion - tomatillo salsa
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice - tomatillo salsa
3 (1-ounce) slices white bread - herbed chicken breast
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - herbed chicken breast
3 large egg - herbed chicken breast, hot and sour soup
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled queso fresco cheese - herbed chicken breast
Cilantro sprigs (optional) - herbed chicken breast
Lime wedges (optional) - herbed chicken breast
Sugar snap pea, trimmed (about 1 cup) - beef and sugar snap pea stir-fry
Boneless beef shank (6 oz) - beef and sugar snap pea stir-fry
Beef broth (3 cups) - hot and sour soup
Daikon radish, peeled and cut into small sticks (about 1 cup) - hot and sour soup
Celery, cut into small sticks (about 1 cup) - hot and sour soup
Green onions, chopped (3 Tbsp or as needed) - hot and sour soup
Store bought pizza dough (1 package) - spring onion and sausage pizza
Spring onion (1 large) - spring onion and sausage pizza
Portabella mushroom (1) - spring onion and sausage pizza
Sausage (1 large) - spring onion and sausage pizza
Fresh thyme (2 springs) - spring onion and sausage pizza
Shredded mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup) - spring onion and sausage pizza


Recommendations for sides:
Grilled sanma dinner with celery kinpira - miso soup and rice
Herbed chicken breast with tomatillo salsa and queso fresco - roasted sweet potatoes
Beef and sugar snap pea stir-fry with hot and sour soup - rice
Spring onion and sausage pizza - salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Things that may or may not be in your fridge/pantry:
Salt
Pepper
Soy sauce
Mirin
Rice cooking wine
Rice vinegar
Potato starch or corn starch
Garlic chili sauce
Sesame oil
Sesame
Chili pepper
Ground cumin
Ground red pepper
Olive oil
Vegetable oil

Friday Dinner: Spring onion and sausage pizza

Spring onion is sweet onion that is available only in spring. Roasting it is a nice way to enjoy its sweet taste, but pizza is also a good option. I wanted to keep it simple to accentuate the taste of spring onion.

Spring onion and sausage pizza (for 3-4 people):
Store bought pizza dough (1 package) - I used whole wheat pizza dough
Spring onion (1 large)
Portabella mushroom (1)
Sausage (1 large) - I used spicy kind, but you can use any of your favorite sausages
Fresh thyme (2 springs)
Olive oil (1 Tbsp)
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Pepper
Shredded mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel off the first layer of spring onion. Cut it into half and then slice it (not too thinly). Take off the stem of Portabella mushroom and slice it. Slice sausage.
3. Roll out or stretch out the pizza dough on a cookie sheet or baking sheet. I like to line the sheet with aluminum foil. Top the pizza with sliced spring onion, Portabella mushroom, and sausage. Put thyme leaves on the pizza. Drizzle olive oil over the pizza. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the pizza. Bake for 10 minutes.
4. Add cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes. In the last 5 minutes or so, turn the heat up to 425 degrees. Watch carefully so the pizza won't get burned.

I like to add cheese after 10 minutes or so because it burns really easily and it just needs to melt and brown little bit. I would recommend not rolling out the pizza dough too thinly because the onion sweats down quite a bit and the dough can get soggy.

I served it with salad with balsamic vinegar dressing.

Thursday Dinner: Beef and sugar snap pea stir-fry with hot and sour soup

Stir-fry is a nice quick dinner. With the time that you save, you can make soup for the side.

Beef and sugar snap pea stir-fry (for 2 people):
Sugar snap pea, trimmed (about 1 cup)
Boneless beef shank (6 oz)
Vegetable oil (1 Tbsp)
Salt (a pinch)
Rice cooking wine (1 Tbsp)
Garlic chili sauce (1 tsp)
Soy sauce (1 Tbsp)

1. Boil sugar snap peas until they get bright green and rinse under running cold water. Slice beef shank as thinly as you can.
2. Heat a wok or pan with oil over high heat. Once it gets smoking hot, put beef in. Add salt. Stir fry until the color of the beef starts to change. Add cooking wine. Once the wine evaporates, add sugar snap peas. Stir fry until beef get nice and brown. Add garlic chili sauce and soy sauce. Mix well and serve right away.

Hot and sour soup (for 2-3 people):
Beef broth (3 cups) - I only had 1 cup of beef broth, so I mixed it with water, but it was fine. You can also use chicken stock.
Daikon radish, peeled and cut into small sticks (about 1 cup)
Celery, cut into small sticks (about 1 cup)
Rice vinegar (1/2 cup) - If you don't want it to be too sour, you can put in less.
Soy sauce (1/4 cup)
Chili pepper (1/4 tsp)
Egg, beaten (2)
Potato starch or corn starch (1.5 Tbsp)
Water (1.5 Tbsp)
Green onions, chopped (3 Tbsp or as needed)

1. Bring beef broth, vinegar, soy sauce, and chili peppers to boil. Add daikon radish and celery. Once the soup comes to boil, turn the heat down to medium. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
2. Drizzle in eggs into the soup. Close the lid for a minute until the eggs are cooked.
3. Mix potato starch and water together to make slurry. Drizzle the slurry into the soup while stirring. Once the soup thickens little bit, turn the heat off and add green onions.

I used daikon radish and celery because they were in my fridge, but you can add any other vegetables like bamboo shoot, pak choy, spinach, chopped string beans, etc. Make sure you taste the soup before you add all the vinegar and soy sauce, because you might want to add less or more depending on how salty your stock/broth is and how sour you want the soup to be.

Don't forget a bowl of rice!

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Technorati Tags:stir-fry, snap pea, hot and sour soup

Wednesday Dinner: Chicken breast with tomatillo salsa and queso fresco

This dinner was surprisingly easy to make. The original recipe tells you to make crust with bread crumbs, but I skipped all that step and just grilled the chicken after rubbing the spices on. It worked really well. Tomatillo salsa was very good. I had never used tomatillos before, but I want to try using them in other dishes too.

Here is the recipe:
Herbed chicken breasts with tomatillo salsa and queso fresco

On the side, I had grilled and roasted sweet potatoes.

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Technorati Tags:tomatillo, salsa verde, queso fresco

Monday Dinner: Grilled sanma dinner

Grilled sanma or mackerel pike is one of my favorite Japanese dishes. Frozen mackerel pike is available at any Japanese or Korean store any time of the year, but the best time for mackerel pike is in the fall. Grilled fresh mackerel pike in the fall is just amazingly good and is one of the foods that I miss from Japan.

Grilled sanma (for 2 people):
Sanma/mackerel pike (2)
Salt
Grated daikon radish - optional
Soy sauce (as needed)

1. Preheat the oven to high broil. Wash sanma really well and pat dry. Salt both sides really well. Place the fish on an oven-safe plate or baking sheet.
2. In the middle rack of the oven, place the fish on the plate. Broil until the skin is nice and brown. Drizzle soy sauce over the fish and serve it with grated daikon radish.

It takes practice to be able to eat grilled whole fish cleanly, but once you get used to it, it's pretty satisfying to be able to get a big piece of fish off the bone.

Celery kinpira (for 2 people):
Sliced celery (2 stalks)
Julienned carrot (2 small carrots)
Soy sauce (1 Tbsp)
Mirin (1 Tbsp)
Sesame oil (1/2 Tbsp)
Sesame (as needed)
Chili pepper (1/8 tsp)

1. Heat a pan with sesame oil over medium high heat.
2. Saute sliced celery and julienned carrots until they begin to get tender. Don't saute them for too long. You want the vegetables to have some crunch.
3. Add soy sauce and mirin. Once they evaporate, add sesame and chili pepper. Saute for 10 seconds or so.

Kinpira is a Japanese dish, typically sauteed vegetables with a sweet soy sauce flavor. A variety of root vegetables can be used for kinpira.

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Technorati Tags:kinpira, mackerel pike, sanma

This Week's Menu and Shopping List

Beet
Scallopini

Every week, I try to use ingredients from the local market that look unfamiliar. This week, it was scallopini and beet. When I bought scallopini, I thought it was some type of zucchini, but it apparently is a type of squash... I also found yellow and red beets at the market with the leaves. I made salad with the root and boiled the leaves and dressed them with Japanese sesame sauce.

Here is this week's menu:

Monday: Mackerel cooked with miso
Tuesday: Simple sausage and tomato sauce pasta
Wednesday: Sake steamed fish with ponzu
Thursday: Pork with red currant sauce
Friday: Spinach Parmesan chicken with beet salad

Shopping List:
Spanish mackerel (1 fillet cut into 2 pieces) - mackerel cooked with miso
Julienned ginger (about 1/4 cup) - mackerel cooked with miso
Konbu seaweed (about 2 inch piece) - mackerel cooked with miso
Good sausages (enough for 4 people) - simple sausage and tomato sauce pasta
Canned whole tomatoes (28 oz can) - simple sausage and tomato sauce pasta
Onion (1 medium, diced) - simple sausage and tomato pasta
Your favorite pasta - simple sausage and tomato pasta
Sole/flounder fillet (2) - sake steamed fish with ponzu
Chopped green onions (about 3 Tbsp, green part) - sake steamed fish with ponzu
Pork loin - pork with red currant sauce
Shallots - pork with red currant sauce
Gralic - pork with red currant sauce
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (1 large) - spinach Parmesan chicken
Frozen spinach, thawed (about 1/3 cup) - spinach Parmesan chicken
Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup) - spinach Parmesan chicken
Beet (2 large) - beet salad
Tomato (1 medium) - beet salad
Red onion (1/4 medium) - beet salad

Recommendations for sides:
Mackerel cooked with miso - broiled beet leaves with sesame sauce, miso soup and rice
Simple sausage and tomato pasta - salad
Sake steamed fish with ponzu - salad with Asian dressing or miso soup and rice
Pork with red currant sauce - grilled scallopini and roasted red pepper marinaded with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil

Things that may or may not be in your fridge/pantry:
Cooking wine
Miso
Ponzu (as needed) - If you can't find ponzu, you can substitute it with 3 part soy sauce, 2 part rice vinegar, 1 part freshly squeezed orange juice, and 1/2 part sesame oil
Sugar
Bay leaf
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Dried or fresh thyme
Cider vinegar
Beef broth
Red currant jelly
Corn starch
Red wine vinegar
Dijon mustard

Friday Dinner: Spinach Parmesan chicken with beet salad

This chicken recipe is simple, healthy, and delicious!

Spinach Parmesan chicken (for 2 people):
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (1 large)
Frozen spinach, thawed (about 1/3 cup)
Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)
Salt
Pepper
Water (1 tsp)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Wash chicken well and pat dry. Make incision on the side and make a big "pocket." Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
3. Squeeze any liquid out of the thawed spinach and mix well with grated Parmesan cheese. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stuff the pocket with the spinach mixture.
4. Place chicken on an aluminum foil and put 1 tsp of water on the chicken. Fold in the edges of the foil. Place it on an oven-safe plate or casserole. Bake for 20 minutes.

Beet salad (for 2-3 people):
Beet (2 large)
Tomato (1 medium)
Red onion (1/4 medium)
Red wine vinegar (1.5 Tbsp)
Dijon mustard (1 Tbsp) - I like to mix regular (smooth?) and whole grain
Olive oil (1.5 Tbsp)
Salt
Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice beet into 1/4 inch thick pieces and peel them. Put them in an oven-safe casserole and sprinkle salt and pepper on them. Bake for 40 minutes or until tender. So, considering how chicken is also cooked in the oven at a different temperature, if you don't have a lot of time to cook, you can just boil the beet instead. I just like roasting vegetables...
2. While the beet is being roasted or boiled, slice red onion as thinly as you can. Slice the tomato into 1/4 thick slices. Combine Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar. Whisk in olive oil. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, and mix well. Let red onion and tomato marinade in the red wine dressing.
3. After the beet is cooked, put it in the marinade mixture while it's hot. Mix well. Chill in the fridge before serving.

I had never really thought about eating beet until the other day I had beet salad for lunch at a restaurant. Beet is actually really good! It has a very unique taste that is really hard to explain... I got wonderful red and yellow beet at the local market and decided to make salad. When I cut into the red beet, the inside was white but with red rings, very interesting and fun. I like to put colorful things on my dish to boost my already-boosted appetite:)

I didn't feel like adding another side today, but you can have roasted or mashed potatoes.

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Technorati Tags:chicken, frozen spinach, Parmesan, beet salad

Thursday Dinner: Pork with red currant sauce

Tonight, I did another one of the recipes from Cooking Light magazine.

Pork was rubbed with coriander and salt then seared. For the sauce, chopped shallots, thyme, and minced garlic were sauteed in the same pan. Then cider vinegar, beef broth, and red currant jelly with black peppers were added. To thicken the sauce, corn starch was used.

Pork was OK. The sauce had an interesting taste with the vinegar, but it probably would have been much better with better quality red currant jam.

On the side, I made delicious marinaded vegetables. I burned the skin of a red pepper on the stove, put it in a closed container to steam it little bit, then peeled and sliced the red pepper. I grilled fun-shaped zucchinis (yellow, light green, and dark green) and roasted them in the oven to finish off. While the vegetables were still hot, I put freshly-squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.

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Technorati Tags:red currant, pork loin, roasted pepper, zucchini

Wednesday Dinner: Sake steamed fish with ponzu

Ponzu is citrus-flavored soy sauce. It has a very refreshing taste and goes well with a lot of things. Simple steamed vegetables can turn into Asian hot salad with ponzu. Another one of my favorites is hot tofu with ponzu.

Sake steamed fish with ponzu (for 2 people):
Fish fillet (2) - it's best to use relatively firm fish that's not too fatty like sole or flounder.
Salt
Pepper
Rice cooking wine (2 tsp)
Ponzu (as needed) - If you can't find ponzu, you can substitute it with 3 part soy sauce, 2 part rice vinegar, 1 part freshly squeezed orange juice, and 1/2 part sesame oil
Chopped green onions (about 3 Tbsp, green part)

1. Wash fish fillet really well and pat dry. Place fish fillet on a large microwavable plate. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Put rice cooking wine over fish.
2. Cover the plate with plastic wrap loosely. Microwave for 6-8 minutes until fish is cooked.
3. Put green onions over the fish. Microwave for 10 seconds. Put ponzu on the fish or use it as dipping sauce.

I had miso soup, broiled daikon from the other night, and rice with the fish. Steaming fish with sake helps to get rid of the distinct smell of fish and is also a very healthy and easy way of cooking.

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Technorati Tags:ponzu, steamed fish, Japanese recipe