Spring/Summer Rolls

So I'm not sure what the proper name for these things are. They're just the rolls that are made from rice paper and aren't fried. Some people call them summer rolls, but the package of rice paper wrappers call them spring roll wrappers. Whatever the case, it's delicious and a great way to experiment with different ingredients.

The stuff that goes inside the rolls

Rice paper can can really sticky while rolling

Tempeh Spaghetti

I'm getting better at plating. Let's just leave it at that. Hope you all enjoy this vegetarian friendly dish.

Tempeh Spaghetti

• 8oz tempeh, diced into 1 inch cubes
• 1 clove garlic minced
• Several leaves of basil coarsely chopped
• 1/8 onion sliced
• 4 oz mushroom sliced
• 1 tsp Garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• Pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 8 oz spaghetti
• your favor spaghetti sauce

Procedure

1. In a large pot, cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions. When the spaghetti is done cooking. Use a colander to drain the water from the spaghetti pot and then rinse the hot spaghetti with some cold water to keep the spaghetti from sticking to itself.
2. While the spaghetti is cooking, measure out the olive oil into a large pan 
3. Cook the minced garlic clove and onion in the pan with the olive oil on medium heat until the garlic becomes slightly golden and the onion begins to look translucent. Stir frequently.
4. Add the tempeh to the pan. Flip the tempeh every so often so that each side gets a nice golden brown color. Cook the tempeh until all sides are golden brown.
5. Add the basil, mushrooms, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the pan. Cook until mushrooms have let out most of it's water.
6. In the pot used for cooking the spaghetti, combine the tempeh mixture and the spaghetti with spaghetti sauce on medium-low heat. Mix well.
7. Top with parmesean cheese if desired.

Chicken Miso Noodle Soup

This is one of the best things I've made yet! I finally know the secret to making good egg drop soup: beat the eggs and then swirl them in the soup when the soup is boiling. Previously, I was impatient and just but the eggs in when the soup was just warm. I had always wondered why the soup didn't turn out quite right. Now I know. Hope you enjoy this one. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

One of the most delicious noodle discoveries of my life.

Need to soak up the excess liquid from the tofu

Mmmmm, shitake mushrooms

I feel pretty bad ass for making this.

Chicken Miso Noodle Soup
Ingredients

• 5.8 oz/164g soft tofu cut into cubes
• 8.2 g white meat chicken, cubed
• 4 oz green tea noodles
• 3 rehydrated shitake mushrooms, diced
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp Miso paste
• 2 eggs
• wakame, as desired

Procedure

1. Cook noodles according to package instructions, then rinse cooked noodles with cold water and set aside.
2. Bring water and chicken broth to boil in a large pot.
3. Add the cubed chicken, miso paste, and shitake mushroom.
4. Cook covered for 5-8 minute or until chicken is no longer pink.
5. Swirl in two beaten eggs while the soup is boiling.
6. Add tofu and wakame. Cook until wakame is fully hydrated.
7. Serve the soup over the noodles.

1 recipe makes about 4-6 servings

Turkey Sausage and Vegetable Soup

I love hearty vegetable soups. As the weather gets colder, my craving for soup increases. Usually I cook soups in the crockpot so that the flavors can mix for hours, but my crockpot was in need of a good scrubbing and I didn't feel like cleaning it at the moment so I decided to cook this soup on the stove. Hope you all enjoy it.

Turkey Sausage and Vegetable Soup
Ingredients

• 2.4 oz onion, diced
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 6.5 oz celery, sliced
• 8.4 oz butternut squash, cubed
• 6 cups kale, coarsely chopped
• 4 cups chicken broth
•  1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Italian sausage links with the meat removed from the packaging or bulk sausage meat equaling that amount
• 6 leaves of fresh basil, finely chopped

Procedure

1. In a large pot, pour in the extra virgin olive oil and cook the onion and garlic in it on medium to low heat.
2. Add the carrots, potatoes, squash and celery to the pot when the onions begin to look translucent. Stir frequently to prevent burning.
3. Add the sausage to the pot and cook until the sausage is no longer pink.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot, turn the heat to high. Let the pot reach a boil and then turn the heat down to low heat and let the pot simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Baked Butternut Squash, Lentils, and Potatoes

It's autumn and you know what that means. Squash. Gourds. Pumpkins. Apples. Cinnamon. I love the seasonal vegetables of fall, especially butternut squash. This next dish was just something that I put together on a whim. It turned out all right but a bit bland and needed a little more seasoning.

I love the bright orange color of butternut squash

Mix it all up and put it in the oven

I need to work on my plating

Baked Butternut Squash, Lentils, and Potatoes
Ingredients

• 1 lb 1.1 oz  butternut squash, cubed
• 6.6 oz dried and uncooked lentils, rinsed
• 13.6 oz red potato, cubed
• 1.9 oz diced onion
• 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp onion salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Procedure

1. Place all ingredients in an appropriately sized baking dish. Mix well, making sure the lentils are mostly submerged in the liquid.
2. Cover baking dish with foil and bake at 424 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour.
3. Serve as is or over rice with a little bit of Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Reduced Fat Beef Stroganoff

My original beef stroganoff recipe used sour cream and butter, but I didn't have any of that around. All I had was some non-fat plain Greek yogurt. I also didn't have any egg noodles so I decided to serve it over some brown rice. Next time I'll try it with some red quinoa.

Reduced Fat Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced (3.9 oz/ 111g)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• baby bella (cremini) mushrooms, sliced (8 oz/ 224g)
• 1 lb sirloin tip steak thin cut, sliced into 1 inch pieces
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• sliced green onion/scallions (1.1oz/ 30g)
• 1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt

Procedure

1. In a large wok/pot/pan, cook the onion in the vegetable oil until the slices become clear. Add the sliced mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms until they have let out most of their water.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, soy sauce, Worchestershire sauce, and pepper, then add the mixture to the wok/pot/pan. Cook until beef is only slightly pink, then mix in the yogurt and the scallions.
3. Serve over your grain of choice (i.e. brown rice, noodles, quinoa, etc.)

Chicken with Broccoli and Quinoa Stir-fry

I have been getting lazy lately and making a lot of stir-fry I was getting tired of eating stir-fry over rice so I changed it up and made stir-fry with quinoa instead. The results were delicious. The red quinoa made the whole dish more pleasing to look at--the dark red just pops against the green of the broccoli.

Chicken with Broccoli and Quinoa Stir-fry

Ingredients

• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
• 1/2 cup uncooked red quinoa
• 1/4 onion sliced (2.2 oz/61g)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• frozen broccoli florets (10.1 oz/ 285 g)
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
• ground black pepper to taste

Procedure

1. In a rice cooker, cook the quinoa according to the package directions.
2. In a wok cook the onion in with sesame oil until the onion begins to become clear. Add the garlic powder, ground ginger, soy sauce and pepper. Mix well.
3. Add the chicken to the wok. Stir frequently, cook until the chicken is no longer pink. 
4. Add the broccoli to the wok and cook until the broccoli has been defrosted. 
5. Stir in the cooked quinoa to the rest of the ingredients in the wok. Mix well.

 

Chicken with Broccoli and Quinoa Stir-Fry Estimated Nutrition Facts per Recipe (approx. 3 servings)
Total calories	1069
Total fat  (g)	36
Saturated fat  (g)	9
Unsaturated fat (g)
Trans fat  (mg)	615
Cholesterol  (mg)	347
Sodium (mg)	3
Potassium (mg)
Total carbohydrates  (g)	54
Dietary fiber (g)	12
Sugar (g)	8
Protein (g)	133

 

 

Chicken with Broccoli and Quinoa Stir-Fry Estimated Nutrition Facts per serving (approx. 300 g or 2 cups)
Total calories	356
Total fat  (g)	12
Saturated fat  (g)	3
Unsaturated fat (g)	0
Trans fat  (mg)	205
Cholesterol  (mg)	115
Sodium (g)	1
Potassium (mg)
Total carbohydrates  (g)	18
Dietary fiber (g)	4
Sugar (g)	2.67
Protein (g)	44.33

 

Smoked Salmon Sushi

Making sushi is always time consuming and I always seem to have a lot of left over ingredients. However, I was in a sushi making mood and wanted to share this sushi roll idea with you. After a wine tasting class that came with a smoked salmon sandwich and an appropriately paired wine, I was inspired to make a sushi roll inspired by that sandwich. The sandwich was made with molecular gastronomy in mind. It had smoked salmon, goat cheese, fennel, and mint in it. So instead of a sandwich, I made a sushi roll with smoked salmon, cream cheese, fennel, and mint. Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't have time to write down the specifics, but I wanted to share pictures.

Mint, cucumber, cream cheese, fennel, smoked salmon

Pan-fried Brussels Sprouts + Bacon + Chicken

I had never cooked Brussels sprouts before this blog entry. One of my good friends told me how she loved to cook Brussels sprouts with bacon. I thought it was an odd combo but I decided to try it out. It turned out amazing! The bitterness of the Brussels sprouts was cut by the savory bacon and the hint of cinnamon I put in this dish added a surprising sweetness to the dish. Hope you enjoy this one.

Pan-fried Brussels Sprouts + Bacon + Chicken
Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/2 tsp onion salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 lb brussel sprouts, halved
• 2 chicken breast, diced (503g/1 lb 1.7 oz)
• 1/2 lb bacon (preferably maple)
• 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Procedure

1. In a large non-stick pan, start cooking the bacon to desired crispness. Flipping each strip after 3-5 minutes. After each strip is done cooking, place the strip on a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up excess bacon grease. When the strips have cooled enough to handle, cut up the bacon into 1-inch pieces.
2. While the bacon cooks, in a large wok /pot/pan add a little bit of the bacon grease to the pan. Cook the garlic for about 2 minutes, add the Brussels sprouts, onion, pepper, balsamic vinegar and cinnamon. Stir frequently.
3. Add the chicken to the large pan containing the Brussels sprouts. Cook the chicken until the meat is no longer pink.
4. Finally, add the bacon to the large pan containing the Brussels sprouts and chicken. Mix well and let the flavors intermingle for about 5-8 minutes. Stir frequently.
5. Enjoy with your choice of starch, i.e. a baked potato or rice.

 

Pan-fried Brussels Sprouts + Bacon + Chicken Estimated Nutrition Facts per Recipe
Total calories	1952
Total fat  (g)	101
Saturated fat  (g)	32
Unsaturated fat (g)
Trans fat  (g)	0
Cholesterol  (mg)	543
Sodium (g)	8
Potassium (mg)
Total carbohydrates  (g)	58
Dietary fiber (g)	17
Sugar (g)	20
Protein (g)	207

 

 

Pan-fried Brussels Sprouts + Bacon + Chicken Estimated Nutrition Facts per serving (4 servings per recipe)
Total calories	488
Total fat  (g)	25
Saturated fat  (g)	8
Unsaturated fat (g)
Trans fat  (g)	0
Cholesterol  (mg)	136
Sodium (g)	2
Potassium (mg)
Total carbohydrates  (g)	14.5
Dietary fiber (g)	4.25
Sugar (g)	5
Protein (g)	51.75

 

Simple Salsa

Simple Salsa
I call this simple salsa because I didn't add any extra frills even though I was really tempted to add pineapple or mango. Though I was tempted, I didn't have those ingredients and just stuck with the basics. Next time I might add cilantro. I didn't put it in this recipe because I only needed a little for salsa but they only sell it in large bunches in the store (for a reasonable price) and the smaller amount of cilantro is sold at an exorbitant price. Oh well, not everyone likes cilantro anyway.

Ingredients

• 1/8 onion, minced (0.9 oz/25 g)
• 2 med tomatoes diced, ( about 250 g/ 9 oz)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced (0.9 oz/25 g)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp lime juice

Procedure

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips or with fajitas.

Simple Salsa Estimated Nutrition Facts per Recipe
Total calories	93
Total fat  (mg)	648
Saturated fat  (mg)	106
Unsaturated fat (g)
Trans fat  (g)
Cholesterol  (g)	0
Sodium (mg)	643
Potassium (mg)
Total carbohydrates  (g)	20
Dietary fiber (g)	3
Sugar (g)	17
Protein (g)	4