烤菜花 Roasted cauliflower with paprika

I love roasted cauliflower with paprika.
Cauliflower, vegetable oil, salt and black pepper. Toss. Add 2 tablespoons of water. Roast at 400 degrees F, for 30 minutes. Turn once. Add paprika, toss, and serve.

晚餐吃麵Noodles for dinner

I made two versions - vegetarian and with pork spare ribs.

一個鐘頭五個新菜 5 new dishes in an hour

昨天一個鐘頭裡我放了五個新菜在桌上：椰汁咖哩南瓜，涼拌蘿蔔，拌干絲，雪菜筍片，蒜炒青菜 。五樣菜都是自己做的，其中涼拌蘿蔔和自製雪菜是早幾天就做好了。

I placed 5 new dishes on the dinner table under an hour yesterday， 11/27/2011. All dishes were made from scratch.

Butternut squash braised with coconut milk and curry;

Daikon radish salad which I had prepared a couple days earlier;

Shredded dry tofu salad;

Sauteed bamboo shoots and preserved Chinese mustard greens;

Sauteed mix spring salad with garlic.

烤球芽甘藍 Roasted brussels sprouts

On the day after thanksgiving, I made this dish for a friend's party. I tasted a few and loved it very much. I have to make it again soon.

Ingredients:

Brussels sprouts, 2 pounds, each cut in half

Olive oil, 4 tablespoons

Salt, 1 teaspoon

Black pepper, some

Directions:

Toss brussels sprouts with oil, salt and pepper.

Roast at 400 degrees until tender, about 25 minutes

椰汁咖哩南瓜 Butternut squash braised with coconut milk and curry

This dish. based on a Mark Bittman recipe, is extremely delicious. This time I chose to use a can of organic coconut milk from Trader Joe's - 50 calories per 2 tablespoons. I could see a thick layer of oil on the top. Imagine that it is all saturated oil. How terribly unhealthy! Of course, I removed as much oil as possible, however, only after gobbling down one cup of the squash. Next time I will use light coconut milk for this dish or try a version without coconut milk and curry at all.

Ingredients:

Butternut squash, 3 pounds, cut up into about 0.5 to 1 inch cubes

Corn oil, 6 Tbsp

Garlic, chopped, 2 Tbsp

Ginger, sliced, 2 Tbsp

Curry powder, 4 Tbsp

Coconut milk, about 2 cups, I used a can of 14 fluid ounces

Directions:

Sautee garlic, ginger, curry powder in oil;

Add butternut squash and coconut milk;

Cover and braise until butternut squash becomes tender, about 15 minutes;

絲瓜和兩面黃 Chinese Okra and panfried noodles

I never bought this type of Chinese okra, with strong ridges. I had always bought the type with smoother surface, i meant, without ridges. I was worried how to peel Chinese okra, the type with strong ridges, without losing too much flesh. It turned out that the worry was unnecessary. Once cut into chunks, the Chinese okra with ridges is just the same as that without ridges in terms of texture and taste. I braised the okra for a few minutes and then added some salt and sugar to taste. Very delicious!

This is also the first time for me to buy this type of Hong Kong-styled panfried noodles. It turned out very easy and also very delicious.

Besides the Chinese Okra and panfried noodles, I also sautéed another batch of potato leaves, made three quarts of vegetable broth and prepared pineapple filling for a pie.

Russian salad dressing

Ketchup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I prefer making my own salad dressing right before serving. This way I won't buy a big bottle and store it in the refrigerator almost forever.

非素食主義者的勝利！An omnivore's victory!

I gave in today. Three new dishes, all non-vegetarian: soup of pork spare ribs with Daikon radish; shrimp fried rice from Trader Joe's; and the salted Threadfin in oil that came in a glass jar. My husband bought the pork spare ribs and the Threadfin yesterday from Kam Sen Chinese supermarket. After getting home, he spent quite a while trimming the fat off the spare ribs. For the sake of family harmony, I gave in.

涼拌茄子和炒蕃薯葉Eggplant salad and sautéed sweet potato leaves

Eggplant Parmesan with spring mix salad

Today was leftover day. I bought this eggplant Parmesan from DeCicco a couple days ago. The salad dressing for the spring mix was white wine vinaigrette that I made today.

素炒米粉 Vegetarian sautéed rice noodles

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Rice noodles with celery, mushrooms, fried tofu and green onions. I cooked each ingredient separately. I boiled the rice noodles in my own vegetarian broth.

I made the sautéed bamboo shoots (from a can) and preserved Chinese mustard greens the same way - each ingredient was cooked separately and then mixed together. For people who like mustard greens. may mix this dish with the rice noodles.

Smoothies

Our lunch today: mango smoothie for my husband and papaya smoothie for me. Pure fruit with soy milk and some honey in the mango smoothie. I wonder If honey is vegan.

簡易南瓜湯 Easy pumpkin soup

Today I made an easy creamy pumpkin soup.   One onion, chopped and sauteed until soft and translucent.  One can of Trader Joe's pumpkin. One can of  water.  Half a cup of soy milk.  Salt.  Black pepper.  Some rosemary, chopped.  Mix and heat all the ingredients until hot.  That easy!  Delicious!!

I also made a loaf of the crusty and chewy no-knead bread.  I found that it is extremely easy to make one loaf.  However, if you think making two loaves at once would be easier, think twice.  The stress of making two would be much more than doubled that of making one.   If you don't need two loaves, bake only one at a time.  Enjoy the almost effortless bread fresh, always.  

I also gave the braised tofu a makeover by adding some mustard greens.

紅燒豆腐 Braised tofu

I used fried tofu in this dish. Only soy sauce, sugar, water, and peas were added. Peas for the green color.

Avocado and grapefruit salad

A food network recipe. The dressing is made of olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, and black pepper.