Granola Bar Variations!

Chewy Trail Mix:

• Rolled whole grain mix (hard red wheat, oats, rye, triticale, barley)
• Rosted salted almonds
• Brown Rice syrup, evaporated cane juice syrup, honey, molasses
• Soy protein isolate, whey protein isolate
• Oat fiber
• Evaporated cane juice crystals, 
• Soy grits, corn flour
• Chicory root fiber
• Raisins, dried cranberries
• Sunflower seeds
• Evaporated cane juice syrup
• Vegetable glycerin, canola oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil
• Corn flour, rice starch, buckwheat flour, 
• Sesame flour, peanut flour
• Sea salt, soy lecithin

Chocolate Bar:

• Grain mix (wheat, oats, rye, triticale, barley)
• Soy protein crisps (soy flour, Tapioca starch, soy fiber
• Brown Rice syrup, evaporated cane juice syrup, honey, molasses, invert cane syrup
• Roasted almonds
• Chocolate chips, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, vanilla bean, soy lecithin
• Acacia gum
• Chia seeds
• skim milk, rosemary extract
• Xanthan gum

Ratatouille.

This is a simple vegetable stew dish and the flavor starts from saute-ing some onions to caramelize them and also to take off the edge of its harsh, sulfurous quality in the taste.

Ingredients (yield 2 servings):

• 2 tablespoons light olive oil
• 1/4 cup of onion, diced into quarter-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup of eggplant, diced
• 1 teaspoon of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup of tomato concasse
• 1 tablespoon of garlic, chopped coarsely
• 1/4 cup for each of red, yellow, and green peppers
• 1/4 cup of zucchini, diced
• 1 tablespoon for each of freshly chopped thyme, parsley, oregano
• 1 to 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil for finishing touch
• toasted baguette or brown rice (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat up the pan on medium high and saute some onions with olive oil until it's softened and browned on the edges. 

2. Add the diced eggplants and saute for a while. eggplants need to be fully cooked in order to taste good. They are also very "thirsty" like a sponge and tend to absorb a lot of oil. Add more oil as you go if you observe the pan dries up too quickly.
3. Add garlic and tomato paste to the bottom of the pan and saute it until it changes from a very bright red color to brick-like red. This will add the color and flavor to the dish. Make sure it doesn't burn. When it dries up and start to stick to the pan, that's when you need to dump in the tomato concasse or diced tomatoes. Turn the heat to medium and add diced bell peppers, zucchini. Stir up for 2 minutes.
4. Add the stock just to cover all the ingredients and let it stew on medium low heat. Add chopped herbs. Put the lid on and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook till the vegetables are very tender.  
5. Serve with a dash of extra virgin olive oil and a toasted baguette. There you go a nice light lunch.

Note:

• Add cooked beans, grains for a more sustainable vegetarian meal.
• Add green beans, peas, corns, carrots, or even tofu, whatever you have.
• Add diced chicken breasts (my homemade ready-to-go chicken breasts recipe) or leftover sandwich ham, turkey, if you are not a vegetarian.

Minestrone Soup!

When you have leftover vegetables in the refrigerator, the best way to get rid of them is to make a soup. Make sure you cut up the vegetables that can be easily scooped up with the spoon so you don't have to reach for your fork.

You can boil the tomato lightly, peel and seed to make a tomato concasse if you are serving this for guests and you want the presentation to look more appealing without the tomato skins and seeds floating around. Certainly you can use canned diced tomato to save time.

Ingredients (yield 2 - 3 servings):

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 cup cut Swiss chard, (or thinly sliced)
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup button mushroom, diced
• 1/2 cup cooked beans
• 1/4 cup green beans, cut into inch-long pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped basil
• 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups of water or stock
• parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat a pan and add olive oil. Add onions, carrots and saute for 3 minutes until they browns. Add garlic to saute for 1 minute. Add the mushroom and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add tomato and cook for 2 minutes until they soften. Add zucchini and water or stock. Bring to boil on high.
3. Add half of chopped parsley, half of basil, and Swiss chard.
4. Next you will add cooked beans. You don't add them at the beginning because they are already tender and you want them to remain a little crunchy. Adding them too soon will overcook them and make them mushy. 
5. When it boils again, turn the heat off and add salt, pepper to taste.
6. Serve with parmesan cheese, the rest of chopped parsley and basil.

Note: 

• I often add cooked pasta, brown rice or cooked beans to make it into a meal. Add these before you add the cooked green beans.
• You can also serve it with toasted rustic bread or baguette slices. 
• Feel free to throw in celery, corns, potato or peas. 

Simple Tomato and Ham Soup!

This soup is what I made out of the chicken bones, removed from the chicken breast (my homemade chicken breast sandwich meat). I had some sandwich ham from last week so I threw that in.

When use the sandwich ham or the cooked chicken breast slices to pump up the protein, don't put in too early and overcook them. Add them lastly after everything else is fully cooked to your desired doneness.

There are many vegetables that can add natural savory flavors to your soups or dishes. (I will talk about that later.) Tomato is one of them. The dried Chinese yam and longan also help to bring more complexity to the result, with a touch of sweetness.

The soup is infused with all the natural flavors released from the ingredients that I add no other seasoning to my soup, but if you like it, season away with some salt.

Ingredients (yield 2 servings):

• 1 cup of cut or diced tomatoes
• three longan pulp or with pit (out of shell)
• 3 to 4 pieces of dried Chinese yam (huai shan, what?), rinsed and drained
• one scallion, cut to short sticks
• 1/4 cup enoki mushrooms, cut into shorter strips
• 3 cups of water
• 2 teaspoon of goji berries, rinsed
• 1 slice of ham.
• salt to season (optional)
• ground white pepper (optional)
• chopped scallions (or green onions) to garnish

Directions:

1. Place tomatoes, longan, dried Chinese yam, scallion sticks, enoki mushrooms and water in a soup pot. Bring to boil and cook at least for 30-40 minute. I cooked for 1 hour. 
2. Lastly, put in your ham or chicken to warm up before serving. 
3. Put the rinsed goji berries in. At this point you can turn the heat off and let it seep for 5 min.
4. Serve with chopped green onions and ground white pepper. 
5. Season with salt if desired. 

Garlic Detox Tofu Soup!

Ingredients (yielding one serving):

• 1 1/2 cup of water
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper sliced (about 1/2 bell pepper)
• 1/4 cup sliced shiitake mushroom from one mushroom
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced daikon turnip
• 1/3 cup diced tofu (about 1/8 of a block from the box, or 30 grams)
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water to make slurry

Directions:

1. Thinly slice green bell pepper, daikon turnip and shiitake mushroom. Dice tofu.
2. Mix 1 teaspoon in 1 tablespoon of water. 
3. Place shiitake mushrooms, tofu, daikon, soy sauce, garlic and water in small soup pot and bring to a boil.
4. Cook for 10 min, and add the green bell pepper. Add the cornstarch mixture to thicken. Bring back to boil again, stir to mix evenly and turn the heat off. 
5. Serve with some ground white pepper. 
6. Season with more salt if desired.

Miso Detox Soup!

Ginger is great to warm you up and promote circulation.

Ingredients (yield one serving):

• 1 cup onion (about 30g), sliced
• 1 cup cabbabe leave (about 50g) cut up
• two shiitake mushrooms (about 40g) sliced
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk or almond milk
• 1/2 tbsp miso (preferably white miso)
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• chopped scallions or green onions (optional)

Directions:

1. Put ginger, vegetables and water in a small soup pan. Bring to a boil and turn to low heat. Simmer 4~5 min until the vegetables are softened.
2. Add soy milk or almond milk, miso and keep stirring until all are mixed evenly. 
3. Turn the heat off. Serve with chopped green onions.

Note:

• Feel free to add tofu dices (about 1/4 cup).
• Feel free to add some wakame seaweed.

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches.

These make a nice hors d'oeuvre as well as light snack or lunch on a hot day.

Ingredients (yield 4 dozens): 

• 24 thin slices whole wheat sandwich bread
• 1 cup arugula or watercress or both, rinsed, drained
• one cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup olive oil mayonnaise or homemade mayonnaise (Try my Homemade Mayonnaise or my Herb Mayonnaise)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or roasted seaweed.
• 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt 
• ground black pepper to season

Directions:

1. Rinse arugula or watercress and drain. Remove the tough stems.
2. Season the cucumber slices with salt and pepper and toss to coat evenly.
3. Spread a layer of mayonnaise on one side of each sandwich bread and arrange the cucumber slices in one even layer on two-thirds of the bread. Place the arugula or watercress on top of the cucumbers. 
4. Beginning from the side with cucumbers and roll up. Seal with mayonnaise and use toothpick to hold the roll. Or wrap with plastic wrapper and tighten on both ends. Let it set in the refrigerator for 20 min before slicing at an angle.
5. Spread a small amount of mayonnaise along the cut side and dip the edges of that side into the chopped parsley or seaweed.
6. Transfer to a platter. Serve immediately or cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Finish in 1 hour for best flavor.

Note:

Sandwich variations for appetizers: 

• Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato (BLT) with avocado and watercress (or arugula).
• Salami, butter and aged Gouda.
• Smoked salmon, cucumbers and plain Greek yogurt (or creme fraiche, or cream cheese).
• Fresh goat cheese with sun-dried tomatos and arugula.
• Grilled zucchini, fresh mozzarella cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.
• Smoked turkey or chicken breast with curried mayonnaise on walnut raisin bread.

Simple Two Ingredients Soup!

Well, to make a soup, you can make it as complicated as Pork and Daikon Soup, or you can make it quick and easy like this.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Pork Spareribs
• 1/2 pound of daikon or turnip, peel and cut into chunks. 
• 5 cups of water
• 1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Cut the ribs into smaller pieces between the bones.
2. Wash them thoroughly. If you have time, blanch (what??) them in boiling water so the end result soup will be clear without too much scums.
3. In soup pot, add all ingredients including the blanched ribs and cook for 30 to 45 min, depending on how tender you like your daikon to be. 
4. Salt to season and serve.

Note:

1. Blanch means to cook an ingredient in boiling water for a short period of time and fish out to rinse in cold water. 

Options:

• Serve with sesame oil.
• Serve with white pepper.
• Serve with chopped scallion (green onion) or chives.
• Replace pork ribs of other pork portions, preferably with bones because the bones are more flavorsome than the meat. However, it's okay to use boneless lean pork, such as top loin or even tenderloin. 
• Replace daikon and cook ribs with tomatoes (cut into 8 wedges).
• Replace daikon with cauliflowers  (cut into big pieces) or cook both with ribs.
• Replace daikon with English cucumbers (peel and remove seeds, cut into thick slices) or cook both with ribs.
• Replace daikon with Chinese yam (peel and cut into chunks) or cook both with ribs.
• Add carrots (peel and cut into chunks) so it will be ribs, daikon and carrot soup.
• Add celery (cut into chunks) so it will be ribs, daikon and celery soup.
• Add 2 slices of ginger in the very beginning. Boil water with ginger and ribs for 15 min before adding the rest to cook 30 min more.
• Add one green onion, cut into long sticks. Add with the daikon (or replacement vegetable).
• Add 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine together when you add ribs.
• Add 1 to 2 table spoon of Goji berries, rinsed. Add them in the last 5 min of cooking process.
• and on and on...  

Secret Weapon:

• Add 1/4 teaspoon dashi (What?).

Pork and Daikon Soup.

The burdock root can be found in Asian grocery stores and is optional if you can't find it. It is a great source of fibers. 

Ingredients (yield 6 servings): 

• 1 lb of lean pork or spareribs
• 1lb of burdock root (or gobo), peel and cut into chunks.
• 1 lb of daikon (or turnip), peel and cut into chunks.
• ½ lb of carrot, peel and cut into slices.
• 3 slices of ginger root
• 2 tsp cooking wine
• ½ tsp salt 
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 8 cups of water

Directions:

1. Cut the lean pork to ¼ inch slices. Marinate with cooking 1 tsp of wine, salt and white pepper for 15 min. If you use the spareribs, cut into small pieces between the bones.
2. Bring up a pot of water to boil and blanch the pork for 1 min. Drain and set aside.
3. Boil 8 cups of water with ginger. Add pork, burdock, daikon, carrot and 1 tsp of cooking wine. Bring to boil and turn to low heat. Cover to simmer for 30 min. 
4. Add salt to season and cook for 10 more min.
5. Serve with cilantro if desired.

Note:

1. The carrot can be added later if you like it with a bit crunch.

2. Using spareribs will make the soup richer in flavor.

Simple One Ingredient Soup!

I don't count canned chicken soup as ingredient and it can be optional.

Simple Egg Drop Soup:

Ingredients (yield one serving):

• one large eggs
• 1 cup Canned Chicken Soup
• 1 cup water
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Directions:

1. Beat the egg to mix egg yolk and egg white.
2. Boil 1 cup chicken soup with 1 cup water on medium high.
3. When water is rolling boil, turn the heat to medium, and slowly drizzle the egg mixture into the boiling ware, in a steady stream to create egg ribbons. 
4. Season with salt and serve.

More Options:

• If you don't have canned chicken soup, use 2 cup water with one pack of Nissin Top Ramen seasoning pack to make soup base.
• To step up, some options,

• Cook with corns.
• Cook with diced carrots.
• Cook with tomato cut into 1/2 inch chunks.
• Cook with soft tofu cut into small cubes.
• Cook with 4 to 5 goji berries. 
• Serve with sesame oil.
• Serve with white pepper.
• Serve with chopped scallions (green onions) or chives. 

Secret Weapon:

• Add 1/4 teaspoon dashi (What?).

Cook Your Own Beans.

In a pinch, you may use canned beans, but if you don't like canned food, you should cook your own.

It's pretty easy to cook it if you know the trick.

1. Soak it well

Small beans like adzuki beans or mung beans, soak for at least 2 hours. Bigger beans like white beans, kidney beans or garbanzo beans  (aka chickpeas), soak for 8 hours or overnight.

2. Cook low and slow

It's okay to add ham but to speed up the cooking process, don't add salt or sugar until almost cooked. Then add salt towards the end to add flavor.

3. Simmer, not boiling hard in a big pot

If you want them creamy in the center while not split or burst at the seams ( a sign of overcooking), don't let the beans roll vigorous in the boil. Keep the heat low and gently simmer with just a few bubbles breaking at the surface.

4. Cool in their cooking water

Or the skin will shrivel and crack. Let them cool completely in their liquid, drain them. If not to finish them all at once (I cook for the whole week), keep them refrigerated in their liquid, or marinate them, toss with salt, pepper, olive oil, and herbs.

5. Cook more than one serving

To save the trouble, I always cook more than what I will eat at one meal. They are a great source of plant-based protein and are good in about everything from salads, egg dishes to soups. (Check out my strawberry soup with chickpeas). Refrigerate or freeze the excess beans for later.

Also, check out my bean page to know why it's better to soak longer, to 2 days.

Tofu Tips and Types.

Tofu types are usually categorized by texture, which depends on how much liquid are left in it after being pressed.

Silken (soft,medium or firm) – 

Made without pressing out the liquid. It is very moist and has the smoothest, custard-like texture and is best served out of container without cooking. However, you can use it in dishes like hot pot, soup or you can deep fry it to contrast the uniquely silky texture with crunchiness from other parts of the dish. You can also use it to blend up a smoothie so it helps to thicken up the drink, rather than using soy milk.

Soft Block Tofu –
A bit firmer than silken tofu but softer than Firm tofu. Can be used in soup, stew or even stir fry dish. It holds up better in stew dish as Silken tofu is too soft for that.
Medium – Good for stew, stir fry. It contain less liquid than soft tofu.
Firm – Good for stew, stir fry, or braising dishes. It is pressed to contain even less liquid.

Extra firm – 

The firmest you can get in the grocery market.

Egg tofu – 

Made from egg and soy milk. Check out my recipe for Egg Tofu Recipe.

Tofu By-Products:

Tofu Skin (Yuba in Japanese) – 

During the boiling of soy milk in an open shallow pan, a film or skin forms on the liquid surface. The films are collected and dried into yellowish sheets known as tofu skin. It has many applications in Asian cuisine.

Abura-age

Aburaage (油揚げ ) – 

Japanese food product by cutting tofu into thin slices and deep fry first at 110–120 °C, and then again at 180–200 °C. Aburaage is often used to wrapinari-sushi (稲荷寿司), and is added to miso soup or udon noodle dishes. There is a thicker variety known as atsu-age (厚揚げ) or nama-age (生揚げ) and both can be found in many Asian grocery store.

Atsu-age

Bean Curd – 

Plain or five spice bean curd.

Tofu Tips:

To make mashed tofu – Boil Tofu in salted water for 1 min. Strain and press through a fine-mesh strainer with a spoon. You can get rid of extra liquid by putting the tofu in cheese clothes and press out the excessive liquid with both hands.

Check out my Tofu Recipes.

Ikura (Salmon Roe) Sushi

Ingredients:

• 50g Ikura (Salmon roe or salmon caviar)
• one bowl of steamed sushi rice
• 1 sheet nori (dried seaweed), cut into 1 1/2 inch strips

Directions:

1. Toast the dried seaweed slightly just to make it aromatic but not burnt.
2. Wrap it around the rice and top with Ikura.

Note: You can use boiled spinach,  boiled Japanese garlic chives or fresh shiso leaves as the wrapper, instead of nori.

Scallop and Uni (Sea Urchin)

Ingredients:

• one sushi grade scallop raw
• 2 slices of sea urchin
• 10g daikon shreds
• slices of lemon for soaking and garnish
• some shredded seaweed (nori) for garnish
• some cucumber for garnish

Directions:

1. Remove scallop from shells if needed. Soak in ice water with 5-6 lemon slices for 3 min.
2. Fish out the scallop and wipe dry. 
3. If the sea urchin is from the shell, also soak in ice water with lemon slices as step 1 and remove after 3 min, pat dry.
4. Plate with garnishing items. Serve with low-sodium soy sauce.

Note:

1. For delicate seafood, don't use soy sauce that is too heavy in saltiness or it will overpower the natural flavor from the ingredients. The seafood can be taken with the shiso leaves as a contrast in texture and taste.
2. The same method applies to any combination of sashimi fish. If you purchase the whole fish and cut off the sashimi fillet yourself and slice it thinly, make sure to soak the slices in ice water for 30 min. If you do not consume the sashimi immediately, add ice cubes to the sashimi and keep it refrigerated. However, it should not be left overnight for the best flavor and freshness.

Abalone

Ingredients:

• one abalone in shell or use canned abalone
• daikon shreds
• 1-2 shiso leaves
• 1-2g wakame seaweed
• 1-2 slices of Japanese cucumber

Directions:

1. If the abalone is raw from the shell, wash thoroughly with salt.
2. Cut the abalone into thin slices and cover with cheesecloth. Pour hot water to rinse and immediately soak in ice water to shock. 
3. Fish out the abalone and place on plate.
4. Garnish with daikon shreds, shiso leaves, wakame seaweed and cucumber slices. Serve with low-sodium soy sauce. 

Note: Wash the raw abalone with salt makes the texture more crisp rather than chewy. Rinsing with hot water and shocking in ice water immediately does the same trick.

Raw Oyster

Ingredients:

• One raw oyster in shell, alive
• 1/8 lemon wedge
• 30g daikon cut into thin shreds
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 5-6 lemon slices
• Japanese shiso leave and 1/8 tsp caviar (optional)

Directions:

1. Open up oyster and wash off the sands. Soak in ice water with 5-6 slices of lemon for 10 min. 
2. Fish out the oyster and place on the shell for presentation. Place the shell on top of the daikon shreds and some greens.
3. Garnish with lemon edge and serve. Squeeze the lemon wedge on oyster before eating it.
4. Can top with 1/8 tsp caviar and use shiso leave as garniture.

Note: Fresh oyster should be plump without too much water in the shell when you open it. 

Egg Tofu

Ingredients: 

1 large egg
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Whisk up everything until well blended. Strain mixture to get rid of lumps.
2. Pour the egg mixture into a small bowl. Steam for 10-15 min until tooth pick test is clean.  Cool for 10 min.

Note:

1. An egg yolk is basically a bag of concentrated food for the development of a chicken embryo if the egg is fertilized. It doesn’t float around freely inside the clear egg white, but is anchored to the shell by two little twisted ropes called chalazae (pronounced cuh-LAY-zee), and these are the white lumpy things that affect the texture when you make steamed egg custard. One chalaza connects the yolk at the more pointed end of the egg and the other at the rounder end. This tethering ensures that the yolk is protected against hitting the inner walls of the egg if the egg is moved around.
2. To make sure the custard comes out smooth, steam 2 min on high heat and then slightly lift the lid to leave a small crack for steam to release. Continue to steam for 10 min.

Enjoy!

Cold Berry Soup.

Dried Goji Berry

Cold Berry Soup with Chickpeas (yield one serving):

Ingredients:
For soup:

• 1/2 red grapefruit, about 100g, peeled and diced     
• Six strawberries, halved

• 30g raspberries (about 6-8)
• 10 dried Goji berry
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

• Honeydew 50g, cut into bite-size dices
• 2 tbsp cooked chickpeas or beans

Directions:

1. Soak dried goji berries in a little water to soften.
2. Put half of total red grapefruit (50g), half of total strawberries (3 strawberries),  raspberries, 10 dried goji berries, salt black pepper in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
3. Combine the mixture with honeydew dices, the other half of red grapefruit dices, the other three strawberry halves, and cooked chickpeas. Serve.

Fruit Salad with Berries.

Berry Fruit Salad (yield one serving):

Ingredients: 

Salad:

• Strawberries (cut in halves), blueberries, raspberries about 10-20g of each in equal parts
• Romaine lettuce or any greens 20-30g, cut into 1 inch pieces
• Celery 20g or half stalk, chopped.
• One kiwi sliced
• 1/4 apple sliced or cut into chunks

Dressing:

• Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries in equal part, about 15g of each
• Celery 15g or half stalk, diced
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp honey or sugar

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients in dressing in blender and blend until smooth.
2. Combine all fruits and vegetables in a mixing bowl and pour the dressing on the salad. Mix gently and transfer to a plate. Sprinkle chopped celery on top an serve.

Double Berry Soda.

Double Berry Soda (yield one serving): 

Ingredients: 

• Strawberry 50g
• Raspberry 50g
• Preferrably honey 20g (or sugar 12-15g)
• Lemon juice 2 tsp
• Soda water

Directions:

1. Cut strawberries into small dices. 
2. Put strawberries, raspberries, honey, lemon juice into container, mix well and chill in refrigerator for 5-6 hours.
3. Add soda water to dilute and serve.