Madeira-glazed Portobello Sandwiches酒味蘑菇瑞士奶酪三明治

Based on a recipe in the "The Culinary Institute of America's Gourmet Meals in Minutes", p. 263. This sandwich is very delicious. Again I used the no-knead bread that I had baked yesterday.

The sandwich with only portobello mushrooms and Swiss cheese, as shown in the picture below, was in the middle of being assembled.

Eggplant and Havarti Sandwiches茄子奶酪三明治

Based on a recipe in the "The Culinary Institute of America's Gourmet Meals in Minutes", p. 262. For bread, I used the no-knead bread that I had just baked right off the oven. For onion slices, I used a Vidalia onion, instead of a red onion, as the recipe specifies. Other ingredients were broiled eggplant slices, Havarti cheese, and roasted red bell pepper, exactly as the recipe specifies. The sandwich was so delicious that I could not stop at just half of a sandwich.


Instead of broiling the sandwich for 45 seconds,as specified in the book, I heated the sandwich in the microwave for 20 seconds to melt the cheese.


The step that I didn't do well this time:
The recipe specifies a mixture of olive oil (1/4 cup) and balsamic vinegar (1/2 cup) (along with garlic, salt and black pepper) for coating the eggplant slices. I didn't use a big enough bowl to thoroughly mix the oil and vinegar. Therefore some of the slices were coated with more oil, some less. Some of the eggplant slices were burnt a little bit. Next time I will use a jar to shake and mix the oil and the vinegar and make sure that the eggplants turns golden, instead of charred.

Vegetarian black bean burger with avocado and tomatoes素食黑豆漢堡加蕃茄和鱷梨

I didn't make the burger from scratch. Instead I used the MorningStar Farms® Chipotle Black Bean Burger, 1/4 lb. size, and the store-bought hard rolls. (Well it's Sunday and this chef needs rest. Plus our freezer is stocked with lots of unused frozen vegetarian burgers.) I added some lime juice to the avocado to keep it from turning black and smashed the avocado with a spoon.

Impromptu fried rice 即興炒飯

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups of cooked rice
2. 3 eggs, beaten
   
3. 1.5 cups of egg beaters
4. 1.5 cups of Chinese chive leaves and flowers, cut to about half an inch long
5. 0.5 cup of diced orange bell pepper

Directions:

1. Mix the eggs and the egg beaters; and add some salt;
   
2. Use some oil and make scrambled eggs from the egg mixture;
3. Saute Chinese chives and bell pepper in some oil until chives become soft;
4. Add rice, mix and cook for a few minutes until the rice is heated through;
5. Mix the scrambled eggs with the rice;
6. Adjust taste with salt;
7. Add a few drops of sesame oil and mix thoroughly.
   

Colorful stir-fried bean sprouts with dry tofu彩色黃豆芽炒豆腐乾

Ingredients:

1. 8 ounces of Soybean sprouts
2. 2 ounces of dry tofu, shredded
   
3. Some scallions, cut into short segments
4. Some Chinese chives, cut into short segments
5. Some orange bell pepper, thinly sliced, for garnish
   

Directions:

1. Saute dry tofu in some oil until golden brown and adjust taste with sugar and salt.
2. Saute scallions and Chinese chives in some oil until soft.
3. Add bean sprouts, stir and cover to cook for about 2 minutes. Adjust taste with salt and sugar. Remove from heat.
   
4. Add dry tofu and bell pepper and mix all ingredients thoroughly.
   .

Haricots verts with walnuts 核桃四季豆

Based on a recipe in the "The Culinary Institute of America's Gourmet Meals in Minutes", p. 287. It is very delicious! I used regular green beans, instead of haricots verts. I also used more (2 tablespoonfuls of) olive oil and less (1 teaspoonful of) butter. Next time I will skip the butter altogether.

Paella with eggs, tomatoes, & mushrooms蕃茄蘑菇蛋烤飯

This dish was based on one of Mark Bittman's recipes. It was delicious! The tomatoes I used in this dish were fresh from a friend's garden. I skipped saffron and used tomato ketchup instead of tomato paste.

Roasted sweet potato chips 烤甜薯片

Adapted from Joy of Cooking. I used the Japanese sweet potatoes in this picture. Any types of sweet potatoes will do.

Directions: Cut sweet potatoes into slices about ¼ inch thick. Spray olive oil all over the slices. Roast at 450 degree for 10 minutes. Then turn over and roast for another 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Chinese water spinach, pan-steamed, Sha Cha flavored 沙茶拌空心菜

Chinese water spinach is a kind of vegetable with hollow stems. The sha cha flavor comes from vegetarian sha cha sauce, also called the "Vegetarian Barbecue Sauce", as shown in pictures below.

The water spinach was pan-steamed for a couple minutes and then tossed with the vegetarian sha cha sauce and some olive oil.

Carrot juice and celery juice

Made on august 19, 2010

Bacardi Rum Cake

Picture taken on July 22, 2010.
Orignial recipe is here: baking.about.com/od/bundtcakes/r/bacardirum.htm
Betty Crocker's yellow cake mix was used.

Salad of crab and avocado

Based on a recipe in the "The Culinary Institute of America's Gourmet Meals in Minutes", p. 42.

This dish is not that rich after all. Each cup, the way I made it today, has only about 125 calories or 2.5 Weight Watcher points. The creaming taste came mainly from the avocado. Of course, the one-teaspoonful of sour cream helped a bit, even though it was mainly for garnish.

I omitted the cilantro called for in the recipe, simply because I didn't have it on hand. However I didn't arrive at the decision of leaving out the cilantro lightly. I had searched the internet for substitution of cilantro and found out that some people simply omitted it. I thought it was a good idea to do so since it was too rush for me to shop for cilantro any way this afternoon. Leaving out the cilantro turned out to be a fortunate move on my part since I found out later that some of my friends didn't eat anything with cilantro in.

Shredded white tofu with portobella mushrooms 蘑菇拌白干絲

I prepared the shredded white tofu and the mushrooms separately and served them together.

Gemelli "Twin" Pasta with Broccoli Rabe Pesto

Based on a Martha Stewart recipe. This vegetarian pasta dish is rich in nutrients since the pesto used contains pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. It may be served with shrimps, scallops or chicken to non-vegetarians.

Corn chowder with mushrooms and tofu 蘑菇豆腐玉米濃湯

The corn chowder tastes very good with mushrooms and tofu. I sautéed the the mushrooms and the Japanese soft tofu first. I then mixed in 2 cups of corn chowder I had made the day before yesterday and heated it through. Finally I added some diced tomatoes as garnish.

Corn and white bean salad wrap

A good way to eat the corn and white bean salad that I made yesterday.

Seaweed, tofu, and egg drop soup 海苔豆腐蛋花湯

I used the Japanese soft tofu and Egg Beater's, instead of eggs, in this soup. The soup base was the corn cob broth that I had made yesterday.

Nutritious breakfast : Vegetable omelet with toasted corn bread

The vegetables I used in this dish were mushrooms, yellow bell peppers, and plum tomatoes. I also used 1/4 cup of Egg Beaters in addition to an egg. I toasted the corn bread, which I had made yesterday, with some oil on both sides in a skillet. It turned out that the corn bread, served this way, was not bad at all!

Corn, corn, corn! No more!

I got a little carried away today. I made 3 corn dishes based on Mark Bittman's recipes.

Corn and white bean salad


Corn Chower


Corn bread


Did I learn my lesson today? You bet. By making 3 new dishes at once, I put myself under tremendous stress since 5 PM and the dinner wasn't served until 7:20 PM, late by 50 minutes. It was not until when I started to eat my dinner, did I come to realize that one should never serve all these 3 dishes together. The meal was just not fulfilling at all. I not only had a lousy dinner but also had to endure complaints from my family all evening. My youngest son asked me why I hadn't made my own perfect corn bread today. He said "No one adds corn kernels in corn bread!". My husband claimed that now he is "old" enough and he is not going to eat any more corn.

I really goofed up the dinner tonight. My husband begged me not to try "new" recipe any more.

Notes:
The only mistake I made with the "Corn Bread" recipe was omitting the step of coating the pan with butter. I misunderstood the recipe and mixed the melted butter with all the other ingredients.

Sautéed pickled gai choy with dry tofu 雪菜炒豆腐乾

August 14, 2010

Ingredients:
1. Pickled gai choy, amount varies with each individual’s need and preference
2. Dry tofu, shredded, amount varies with each individual’s need and preference
3. Sugar

Directions:
1. Sauté the pickled gai choy in a little oil, until cooked; add a little sugar to taste;
2. Saute the dry tofu in a little oil until golden brown; add a little sugar to taste
3. Mix the pickled gai choy with the dry tofu and continue to cook for a minute.

Noodles with stir-fried tofu, mushrooms, colorful bell peppers, and bok choy 素拌麵

August 13, 2010

Ingredients:
1. Cantonese dry noodles
2. Tofu, firm, pressed to get the water out and then cut into strips
3. Portobella mushrooms, sliced
4. Button mushrooms, sliced
5. Yellow bell pepper, sliced
6. Orange bell pepper, sliced
7. Shanghai bok choy, green parts only
8. Soy sauce
9. Salt
10. Sugar

Directions:
1. Sauté portobella mushrooms in a little oil and add salt, soy sauce, and sugar to taste;
2. Add tofu strips in and cooked for a couple minutes ;
3. Sauté button mushrooms in a little oil and add salt, soy sauce, and sugar to taste;
4. Mix portobella mushrooms and tofu into button mushrooms and continue to cook for a couple minutes.
5. Sauté bell peppers in a little oil and add some salt to taste;
6. Heat bok choy in boiling water until soft, about a minute;
7. Mix all ingredients together and add some sesame oil to taste.

Pan fried shredded potatoes with egg beaters 馬鈴薯炒蛋白

I also added some left over mushrooms and red bell pepper with the egg beaters for the last part of pan-frying.

Stir-fried Chinese chive flower buds with dry tofu 韮菜花炒豆腐乾

My youngest son loved this dish.

One new dish a day!

Starting August 9, 2010, I will make at least one new or different dish each day for a month. The dish is preferably a vegetarian dish rich in protein and will be published in this blog. This project was inspired by a comment from my youngest son on my cooking. He observed that once I find a dish that he likes, I will cook that dish every day until he gets tired of it and I feel frustrated. It dawned on me that I should prepare a list of at least 30 dishes for a monthly dinner menu.

The blog was renamed to "Simple healthy delicious" from "My kitchen production" on August 12, 2010.

從八月九日起一個月, 我決定每天做一個新菜 - 蛋白質豐富的素菜, 發表在這個部落格裡. 這個計劃的靈感是來自小兒子對我做的菜下的一句評語, 他說我一旦發現他喜歡某個菜,我就天天做那個菜,直到他拒絕吃, 而我覺得受到挫傷為止. 他喜歡吃的菜一個月吃一次,還差不多. 我才恍然大悟,原來我至少該有30道菜輪換菜單.

Pizza with sofrito, red bell peppers, mushrooms, pineapples, and mozzarella cheese

Made on August 11, 2010. I used a bag of store-bought whole wheat pizza dough, stretched the dough very thin, made 3 pies (one is about half of the dough, the other two a quarter, each) and baked them on un-greased baking sheets at 450 degree for 20 minutes.

As anyone can see, this is far from a perfect pizza pie. The bread was burned on one side. The cheese on top was also burned. Worst of all, parts of the bread stuck to the baking sheet badly.

Lessons learned:

1. It is better to oil the baking sheets or dust some corn meal over them.
2. Don't over bake the pizza.

• If the dough was stretched too thin, the baking time may be reduced.
• Check at 10 minutes into baking, and decide how much longer to bake.

Sofrito

Ingredients:

1. 2 Tbsp olive oil
2. 2.5 cups of minced onions
3. 1 large red bell pepper, minced, (may be replaced with 1.5 cups of minced onions)
   
4. generous pinch of salt
5. 4 cups of plum tomatoes (any type will be fine)

Directions:

1. Sauté the onions over medium high (6-7) until soft about 8-10 minutes;
2. Add tomatoes and continue to cook over medium high heat (6-7) until the juices have evaporated, about 25-30 minutes

Recipes using sofrito:

1. Quesadilla with sofrito, mushrooms, red bell peppers, egg omelet and Chedda cheese
2. Pizza with sofrito, red bell peppers, mushrooms, pineapples, and mozzarella cheese
   

Pickled Gai Choy (or Chinese mustard greens)

Chinese mustard greens are also called Gai Choy. Pickled Gai Choy is made as follows.

1. Shred the Gai Choy
2. Toss the shredded the Gai Choy with salt, enough of it so that the water in the Gai Choy will come out, but the Gai Choy will not be too salty after all the water being squeezed out.
3. Wait for a couple hours until most of the water came out of the Gai Choy.
4. Drain all the water.
5. Squeeze more water out of the Gai Choy.
6. Save the Gai Choy in a container for later use in recipes.

Quesadilla with sofrito, mushrooms, red bell peppers, egg omelet and Chedda cheese

Made on August 10, 2010

Ingredients:

1. Sofrito, based on the recipe at http://cheffu2.blogspot.com/2010/08/sofrito.html
2. Button mushrooms, sliced
3. Red bell pepper, chopped,
4. Egg omelet
5. Chedda cheese
6. Tortilla, whole-wheat
   

Directions:

1. Assemble quesadilla by layering each of the ingredients on one half of the tortilla and fold the other half over the ingredients.
   
2. Heat some oil in a pan at medium high setting
   
3. Place the quesadilla in the pan, heat each side about 2-3 minutes, until the outside turns golden brown and the cheese is melt.

雪菜, 蘑菇, 腐竹, 新鮮小芥菜 Pickled Gai Choy, portobella mushrooms, dried bean threads, and fresh gai choy

Made on August 10, 2010

Chinese mustard greens are also called Gai Choy.

Ingredients: The amount of each ingredient is flexible and up to personal preference.

1. Pickled Gai Choy, prepared based on the recipe at http://cheffu2.blogspot.com/2010/08/pickled-gai-choy-or-chinese-mustard.html
   
2. Portobella mushrooms, sliced
   
3. Dried bean threads, soaked in cold water for 15 minutes until soft and ready to use
   
4. Fresh Gai Ghoy, the tender part at the center
   

Directions:
Cook each ingredient separately as follows.

1. Saute the pickled Gai Choy in oil until it turns soft and a little brownish; and add some sugar to taste.
2. Saute the mushrooms in oil until soft and add some salt and sugar to taste. Save the liquid for next step braising the dried bean threads
   
3. Braise the dried bean threads in water, the mushroom liquid, soy sauce and sugar for 5 minutes.
4. Add the fresh Gai Choy to the dried bean threads and continue to braise for 2 minutes.
5. Mix all ingredients.
   

Radish salad 涼拌蘿蔔

Made on August 9, 2010

Mango-lime granita 芒果萊姆冰

Made on August 9, 2010
Based on the recipe at "http://www.wholeliving.com/recipe/mango-lime-granita"

Vegetarian rice with fried bean curd, mushroom, corns, soy beans, and garlic

August 5, 2010

This is not the traditional Taiwanese素拌飯. I didn't add the traditional ingredients, the Chinese dried mushrooms and the pickled radish.

Direction: All ingredients are diced , if needed, and cooked in groups separately
(1) Cook the rice
(2) Saute the mushrooms in oil until soften; add soy sauce and sugar to taste; add corns and soybeans, half-cooked via microwave oven, and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
(3) Marinate the fried bean curd for 15 minutes; saute the garlic until aroma comes out; add the fried bean curd and cook until golden brown.
(4)Mix all ingredients and add more soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil to taste.

Asparagus, pan-steamed, tossed with soy sauce

August 8, 2010

Red amaranth, pan-steamed, tossed with olive oil

August 8, 2010

Baby bok choy, Pan-steamed, tossed with olive oil and soy sauce

August 9, 2010