Showing posts with label sesame seeds. Show all posts

Day 96: Asian Cabbage Salad

My husband loves cabbage. He eats it in the mornin, eats it in the evening, eats it at supper time....is that a song? Anyway, he loves cabbage (I think he's part Irish) That's why I'm making an Asian salad. :) I love the crunch of this salad and the flavor is fantastic. I'm sure you've had this before and I bet you even have most of the ingredients in your cupboard at this very moment! Who doesn't have ramen noodle and cabbage in their house at all times?

Asian Cabbage Salad

1 pkg ramen noodles
1/4 c sesame oil
2 tb soy sauce
1/4 c rice wine vinegar
1 tb water
1 head cabbage shredded
2 carrots finely shredded
1/4 c sesame seeds
1/2 c sliced almonds
broccoli with stems shredded

This is a great way to use up broccoli stems that are a little to woody to go in other dishes. Smash up the un cooked ramen noodles. Mix the seasoning pkg, oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and water. Pour over the cabbage, carrots, sesame seeds, almonds, and broccoli stems and ramen noodles. Toss well. and serve cold. If you are not going to eat it all that day I would suggest adding the ramen noodles when you are going to eat because they will go soggy.
almond Asian non chicken salad broccoli
Share:

Day 95: Celery Salad

I know I've talked about our favorite restaurant Benjas before. It truly is sublime! When we went for our anniversary Matthew and I were feeling adventurous and ventures away from our usual Masaman Curry and Pad Thai....well, we still got that but we also tried the seaweed salad. OH MY! The crunch, the flavor, the infusion of nutrition with each bite. I went back the next day and had it for lunch. Since our anniversary 4 months ago I've been craving it regularly. I HIGHLY recommend you find some and try it! But what does that have to do with celery?....Hold your horses, I'm getting there. About the same time we started signing up for "bountiful baskets"
How everyone in the world knew about this but me I have no idea but even my non vegetable eating brother was aware of the option. So we signed up and while I truly admit that it is a good value don't let people exaggerations miss lead you. I have spoken to several people about them and they go on about how much produce there is and how you couldn't eat it all there is always so much and people even split the basket because there is so much. yada yada ya....All I can say is that either Matthew and I are produce pigs or these people need to eat more fruits and vegetables! But it still is an extremely good value for your money. If there is one in your area I recommend you check it out. Plus co-ops are great! So, to make a long story even longer, in our bountiful basket one week we got 2 stalks of celery. One stalk is easy to go through but two got me thinking. I found this recipe on line and It was so yummy we went through one whole stock that night. And going back to the yummy seaweed salad, it tastes quite a bit like it and solved the whole craving problem. What do you think? Do they taste similar or are my taste buds just whacked out?




Simple Celery Salad


1 bunch celery
sesame oil


toasted sesame seeds


salt


chili powder or flakes




Slice the celery thin on an angle, toss with sea salt. Place in a strainer and put strainer in a bowl and let drain for at least 1 hour in the fridge. Rinse extra salt from celery. Toss with sesame oil, sesame seeds and chili powder. Serve chilled.
celery chili powder onion salt
Share:

Day 22: Sushi with Edamame

When I was young we were blessed to have many foreign exchange students live in our home, most of them being from Japan. This was a great cultural experience for us kids as we learned to love the culture, the people, and the food through their influence.

This was all cool until, as a 3rd grader, I went to school with sushi in my lunch box. In theory this sounded cool. In practice it was not. You should have seen the faces I got. I was shamed for the rest of my elementary career. Of course, it didn't help that my mom kept insisting that it was cool and did it on a regular basis.

Jump forward to the present. I still love sushi and as an adult I'm glad I can wear this out in the open. I'm even part of an elite sushi club. Yes, it's true. I'm in a club of four women that eat sushi together in Salt Lake City Utah. Now, you may ask, sushi, in Salt lake? Yes, in fact, some of the best sushi I have had was in a town called logan in northern utah. If you are ever on a sushi eating tour call me and I'll give you details.

On one of our club excursions we met at the restaurant and ordered edamames for an appetizer. Come to find out, this was the first time one of our members had had them. Thinking they were snap peas she ate the whole thing, pod and all. I would not recommend this. After the meal, when she realized the rest of us has been putting the pods in a separate bowl, she laughed and confessed she had secretly been spitting them in her napkin the whole time to which she displayed a napkin full of pods.

This recipe can be as spicy or mild as you wish, just add the chili sauce a little at a time. I used to make it with imitation crap but now I substitute garbanzo beans and I like it just as much. I even got a little kid who is a picky eater to like this. His eyes were watering the whole time because of the heat but he kept coming back for more. I'm sure you will too.

Sushi
cooked rice
seaweed paper/nori
1/2 c garbanzo beans
Vietnamese chili sauce
veganaise
1/2 avocado
1/2 cucumber sliced length wise
wax paper
sesame seeds

Cook the rice and let it cool out of the fridge. If it cools in the fridge it will go hard. In a blender, add the garbanzo beans, a spoonful of veganaise, and chili sauce (add a little at a time). Slice your cucumber and avocado length wise. Place a sheet of nori on the wax paper and wet your hands (this will help keep the rice from sticking to you). Take a handful of rice and form it into a ball the size of a baseball. Keep working with it till it holds together well. This brings out the gluten so it will stick to your nori. Now put it on your seaweed and spread it around pressing it into your nori till the whole sheet is covered. Now flip the sheet over so the rice is on the bottom. On one long end of the sheet, layer the garbanzo bean mixture, sliced avocado, and cucumber. With 2 hands start to roll the sushi. Roll with the wax paper (make sure you don't roll it in) this will help keep it tight. To seal it, wet the nori at the end and squeeze it together. Now roll it in sesame seeds. To cut, use a very sharp knife. Cut the tube in half and then put the two halves together. Keep doing this until they are 1/4-1/2 an inch thick. Stack on a serving plate and serve with wasabi and soy sauce.

Steam or blanch your edamames and sprinkle with sea salt. Remember not to eat the pod!
avocado brown rice cucumber
Share:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)