Tofu and seaweed soup with miso flavor味曾豆腐紫菜湯

Ingredients:

1. Water or chicken broth, 32 ounces
   
2. Soft Japanese tofu, 24 ounces (2 packages), broken up to small pieces
   
3. Roasted seaweed, 3 sheets, more or less up to personal preferences, broken up to small pieces
4. Organic Miso White Type, 2 Tablespoons, more or less up to personal preferences

Directions:

1. Heat the water or chicken broth until boiling;
2. Add tofu and continue to heat until boiling;
3. Add seaweed;
4. Adjust taste with miso;
5. Continue to heat for another 1-2 minutes.
   

Crunchy granola 鬆脆燕麥堅果

Yesterday I explored "Sweet potato nut bread 甜薯核桃蛋糕" as a breakfast idea. Today I tried another - "Crunchy Granola" also based on a recipe of Mark Bittman's. For this batch of crunchy granola, I added 6 cups of old fashioned rolled oats, ¼ cup of pistachio kernels, ½ cup of chopped pecans, ½ cup of almonds, ¾ cup of walnuts, which I meant to chop, but forgot, and 8 fluid ounces of organic maple syrup, the medium grade, with one teaspoonful of ground cinnamon and some salt. I left out the optional ingredients that Bittman specified in his recipe – shredded coconut and raisins or dried fruit, since I didn't have any of them on hand. The crunchy granola made this way is indeed crunchy and delicious, not to mention healthy and extremely simple. It will be very good with milk, or low-fat yogurt and fruit. I hope my youngest son will like it.

Sweet potato nut bread 甜薯核桃蛋糕

I have been looking for simple, healthy, and delicious breakfast ideas for my youngest son so that he may stop buying breakfast every morning and start to save. I found this Mark Bittman's vegetable-and-nut bread recipe and thought it was a good idea to try. I followed Bittman's directions almost exactly, except that I added more sweet potato. The recipe called for one cup of sweet potato. However I used a sweet potato of a size of two cups, about 4 cups after being shredded. The bread turned out very delicious indeed! My husband thought it was the most delicious bread I'd ever made - even better than my "perfect" banana bread.

Sauteed Tofu with mushrooms 蘑菇豆腐

A common everyday Chinese dish.
Ingredients:

1. Oil, 2 tablespoons
   
2. Tofu, firm, 15 ounces, cut into small pieces
   
3. Button mushrooms, 8 ounces, sliced
   
4. Vegetarian oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons
5. Sugar, 1 teaspoon
   

Directions:

1. Boil tofu in water for 2 minutes, drain
2. Saute mushrooms in oil until soft
   
3. Mix in tofu, vegetarian oyster sauce, and sugar
4. Cover and cook for 2 minutes; add a little water, if needed

Chickpea and vegetable tagine摩洛哥鷹嘴豆燉蔬菜

Delicious! "Tagine , a Morocan stew, is usually gently simmered in an earthenware vessel and served with couscous. This tagine of vegetables has the exotic fragrance of cumin, pepper, and cinnamon. ......" An excerpt from "The Culinary Institute of America's Gourmet Meals in Minutes", p. 256.

Ingredients: Chickpeas, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions,butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, garlic, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, ground black pepper, bay leaf.

Gluten with vegetables 紅燒烤麩

Gluten with vegetables (紅燒烤麩) with edamame in background

Ingredients:

1. 8 oz of Gluten dough 烤麩, cut into 36 small pieces
   
2. Some dry Shitake mushrooms, re-hydrated, sliced
3. Bamboo shoots, sliced
4. 1 carrot, sliced
5. Some mu-er, a kind of dry fungus, re-hydrated
6. Some dry lily bulbs (百合), re-hydrated
7. Some dry lily flower (金針), re-hydrated
   
8. Some Shanghai bok choy
   

Directions:

1. Stir-fry gluten dough in oil until all surfaces become golden;
2. Sauté Shitake mushrooms , bamboo shoots, lily flowers, carrots and mu-er in oil until aroma comes out;
3. Mix gluten dough and lily bulbs in and add soy sauce, sugar, and the water from soaking the Shitake mushrooms;
4. Continue to cook for 20 minutes; stir occasionally; add more water if necessary;
5. Mix the Shanghai bok choy in and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add some sesame oil and mix well.

Omelet with Chinese chive flower buds 韭菜花炒蛋

Omelet with Chinese chive flower buds 韭菜花炒蛋

Made on August 26, 2010
My youngest son loved this dish. I sauteed the Chinese chive flower buds in oil until soft and added some salt. I then added the egg mixture (a couple eggs and half a cup of egg beaters with some salt), and cooked the omelet for 2-3 minutes each side until it became firm.