Sour Cream Spinach With Toasted Pine Nuts

Easiest, healthiest, most delicious side dish ever.

Sour Cream Spinach With Toasted Pine Nuts
10 oz fresh spinach, rinsed but not dried
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbsp sour cream
Pine nuts, toasted

Heat a nonstick pan over medium high heat. Add spinach and sprinkle salt over it. Put a lid on for 3 to 4 minutes until spinach has wilted. Mix in sour cream. Top with pine nuts.

Cantaloupe Almond Smoothie

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I guess cantaloupes are summer fruits, but I always end up getting more cantaloupes in the winter. Perhaps it's because there are less choices in the winter. Bill's not a fan of cantaloupes, but I love the fragrant, mellon-y sweetness. Back in Taiwan, I used to get smoothies made from all kinds of fruits--papaya, apple, even grapes. This cantaloupe smoothie reminds me of those drinks. It is healthy, yummy, and so pretty!

Cantaloupe Almond Smoothie
Makes 3 servings

1 cup cubed cantaloupe
1 cup almond milk
1 cup plain yogurt
4 tbsp honey

Blend cantaloupes, almond milk, yogurt and honey in a blender. Enjoy with an afternoon snack!

Alas, I still can't convince Bill to enjoy cantaloupes. But I will keep trying! If you like cantaloupes, you must try this!

Imitation Crab Cakes

I admit it. I like imitation crab. It might sound like heresy coming from someone who lived in South Carolina for a year, but imitation crab is not all that bad. In fact, we have this dish pretty frequently because it's ridiculously easy to make and it looks as good as it tastes. Plus, these are healthy because they're baked! Add some blue cheese for some zing.

Imitation Crab Cakes
Makes 9 cakes

6 oz imitation crab, in small chunks
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 scallion, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 egg
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp dried dill
Salt & pepper
1 cup bread crumbs, divided
4 tbsp blue cheese (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix imitation crab, celery, carrot, scallion, onion in a large bowl. Add the egg and mustard and stir. Season with dill, salt and pepper. Stir in half a cup of bread crumbs. Add blue cheese if desired.

Oil baking pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Form crab cakes and dip them in the remaining bread crumbs. Place on baking pans and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with lemons and tartar sauce. Enjoy!

Easy Spring Rolls

I'm on a roll with carrots. ;) Last weekend, we had these carrot cake cupcakes after a dinner party. For the appetizer, we had spring rolls with lots of carrots, cilantro, and bean sprouts. It's the healthiest dish in the world, if not for the dipping sauce.

The ingredients are all sold at the Asian grocery market, or even at your local grocery store. (If Alaska's grocery stores have them, you would think surely upstate New York would too. No so.)

The hardest part is getting the rice paper to not stick to itself. I've tried dipping it in a pot of water, but it's very difficult to unfold it. Then I tried adding a small amount of warm water to a plate before placing a sheet of dry rice paper on the plate. Add some water on top of the rice paper and wait a minute or so for it to soften. This technique is much easier to keep the rice paper in check, but rolling is still an art that I've not yet mastered.

Easy Spring Rolls
Makes 10 spring rolls

20 cooked and peeled shrimp
1 cup (1 pack) vermicelli (green bean noodles)
10 rice paper
2 cups mung bean (green bean) sprouts
2 cups cilantro
1 cup thin carrot sticks
Spring roll sauce for dipping
Lime slices for serving

Cook vermicelli noodles in boiling water for two minutes. Prepare softened rice paper on a plate. Add bean sprouts, cilantro, and carrots towards the bottom of the rice paper. place two shrimps on top. Fold in the sides, and tightly roll up the rice paper. Cut in the middle for serving. Serve with lime slices and spring roll sauce.

Pita Bread, Pita Chips, and Feta Squares

Last weekend we had a few friends over, and boy did we have a fantastic time. Our guests brought home-brewed beer, great wine, and sparkling conversation. We made dinner. It's gonna take me a couple days to recount it. 

For appetizer, pita chips and hummus are always delicious and easy to make at home! I got both recipes from The Kitchen Bible. To make the hummus, process chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and paprika in a food processor until smooth. Voilà!

The pita bread is just as easy as the Naan. Mix together olive oil, water, yeast, salt, sugar, and flour. Knead for 5 minutes, and rise for an hour. Roll out 8 pitas and place them on 2 baking sheets. Proof for 20 minutes.

Bake for 10 minutes. 10 minutes!

I saved half as bread for those who prefer soft pita. And toasted the rest at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Drizzle with some love...I mean...EVOO

This is the first time I made these feta squares. They are tasty, especially as afternoon snacks with tea. But this recipe could be improved; it's a little dry as dinner appetizer. Next time I might add the cheese on top instead. It's got butter, olive oil, milk, flour, and feta. Topped with cayenne pepper and poppy seeds. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

In addition to food pictures, I must show you my blogging companion.

Rupert has something to say: "Stay tuned for main course and dessert!"

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

In an effort to make up for the amount of food I ate over Thanksgiving, I'm going to post some healthier meals. Also, because I haven't been in the kitchen for a week--thanks to the delicious leftovers from the holiday meal--this is from a couple weeks ago.

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

Makes 4 servings

1/2 head cauliflower

1 tbsp chopped rosemary

2 cups sweet potato cubed

1 tbsp rubbed sage

5 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Salt & pepper

1/4 grated Parmesan

Wash and chop cauliflower. 

Season with rosemary, salt, and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Same with the sweet potatoes, only now season with sage.

Puree roasted vegetables in a blender or food processor with chicken broth. You may have to do it in two batches. Add the Greek yogurt. Then return the soup to the stove or cheat like me and use the microwave. Season with salt and pepper, and top of Parmesan.

Serve it with a side salad. This is an Arugula and Romaine salad with Strawberry dressing. Topped with Anadama bread croutons. My husband gave it an A+!

Thai Red Curry With Beef

I'm always trying to find ways to add vegetables into our meals. It's hard, because vegetables are just not as exciting as pies! You can make a salad, or steam some vegetables as a side, but that gets old. Asian stir-fry to the rescue!

Actually, I really don't remember vegetables being a main part of Taiwanese dishes or Chinese dishes. We had a lot of seafood, steamed buns with meat fillings, and soups with seafood or meat bits (pig intestines).

A meal for ten in Qingdao, China

Honestly we didn't cook all that often. Food stands were, and still is, prevalent and cheap. The main part of our diet was fruit.

However, the idea of stir-fry has been burned into my DNA--to me, this is the basic way to make a meal. It's so quick and you can add any kind of vegetable you want. For a complete meal, you have to make the rice ahead of time, and you have to chop the vegetables. But after that, it takes literally 5 minutes. I consider Thai Red Curry a delicious variation to the basic stir-fry. I think beef gives the best flavor to this dish. I tried making it with tofu and it just wasn't the same.

Thai Red Curry With Beef
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp oil
1/2 lb beef strips or slices
1 green pepper, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 cup broccoli florets
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 cups coconut milk
3 tbsp red curry sauce
2 tbsp Asian basil, chopped

Heat 1 tbsp oil on medium high heat. Add garlic and beef. Stir-fry until beef is just browned. About 1 minute. Remove beef. Heat up the rest of the oil. Add the vegetables and stir-fry until slightly tender. About 1 minute. Mix in the fish sauce, coconut milk, and red curry sauce. Add the beef and basil and simmer for 3 minutes. Serve with white rice.