by : Reiko Breakfast

Yeast Waffles with Homemade Butter and Fancy! Jam
イーストワッフル、手作りバターとお洒落！ジャムでいただく。

I wanted something sweet for breakfast this morning.

First I thought about making regular waffles, but I wanted something a bit different.

So I went for the yeast version.

They are vegan and turned out great!

I bought this jam set a while ago.

It’s a “cheese pairing” set, and I was waiting for the right opportunity to try them.

But I just couldn’t wait anymore (lol)!

I didn’t have cheese, but my homemade vegan butter has a rich flavor that somewhat mimics something fermented.

So, I thought this would work.

I chose Cherry & Rosemary.

This was really good!

I would have liked that the jam had a little stronger rosemary taste, though.

One of my favorite mugs.

Miss Chicago…

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Asian Food, Gluten Free, Tofu

Wonderfully Chewy Boiled Dumplings (vegan)
もっちり米粉水餃子（ヴィーガン）

My husband and I are both big dumpling fans.

I usually opt for fried dumplings (or pot stickers), but this time I was in a mood for the boiled version.

The filling was made of tofu, garlic, ginger, cabbage, onion, and green onion, plus soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and some corn starch.

I’m so proud that I made the wrappers myself, too.

They were made of rice flour, and as a result, you get a really wonderful chewiness when they are cooked.

They were served with a chunky type of sauce (soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds, onion, cilantro).

So tasty!!

This recipe (Japanese) was adapted for the wrappers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqIRQPRgLIR/

Because I used Thai rice flour purchased in the U.S. I had to adjust the amount of water (I needed some extra).

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Rice/Grains

Dinner with Buckwheat from a Friend
いただきもののロシア?そばの実でごはん

A friend of mine gave me this.

She thought I would like it.

We cannot read what it says on this side of the box, but we suspected that it’s from Russia???

Thankfully, a different side of the box did say “Buckwheat” and there were English cooking instructions too.

It’s portioned and bagged individually, and you just need put the whole bag in boiling water to cook.

It looked like this when cooked.

I simply served it with Tofu cubed steak, sauteed broccoli, and kale-red pepper salad.

And I drizzled my onion-sesame-ginger sauce over the whole thing.

It was super tasty!

My friend was right.

I did like the buckwheat.

Nice texture and flavor.

Did you know buckwheat is a good source of protein, too, as well as broccoli?

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Other, Uncategorized

Going back to Homemade. My Favorite Vegan Butter
お気に入りなヴィーガンバター、また作り始めました。

When we decided to avoid dairy in our diet several years ago, one of my worries was not being able to enjoy butter.

Soon I realized there were some vegan butter recipes, and I tried several.

However, I quickly found the one I liked.

https://avirtualvegan.com/easy-vegan-butter/

It is listed on my “recipes I repeatedly use” page, because I can’t count how many times I’ve made it.

It looks like butter, tastes like butter, and melts like butter.

Doesn’t that sound perfect or what?! 🙂

To tell the truth, though, I was taking a little break from making this butter.

At one point I got so overwhelmed because I was trying to make everything from scratch, and it just got too much.

We did find non-dairy butter we liked.

Country Crock Plant Butter was our go-to for a while.

But now I try to go back to homemade stuff a little more.

I am being realistic though, so I will not make the same mistake as I did before.

It’s okay to rely on store-bought product if we feel good about its ingredients.

But as long as I have time and enjoy the process, I want to make what goes in our body from scratch as much as possible.

Do any of you experience this dilemma?

I baked bread so that I could enjoy my homemade butter!

Yum!!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Fish and Seafood, Noodles/Pasta

Pantry Spaghetti
パントリースパゲッティ

I prefer fresh vegetables.

But our busy life does not always make it easy for me to cook with them.

As you can see most of the things I used to make this dish came from a jar or a can.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not tasty.

It turned out so tasty that I could actually eat it every day!

Freshly cooked spaghetti was combined with sundried tomatoes, olives, capers, sardines, sauteed garlic, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and extra virgin olive oil.

Take a look at some of my other favorite spaghetti dishes!

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2021/06/28/garlic-lemon-creamy-spaghetti

This is a great way to celebrate the arrival of spring!

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2020/12/13/garlic-tomato-hijiki-spaghetti

This one is great particularly for seaweed lovers!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Sweets

Very Good Brownies (Vegan)
やっぱり王道、ブラウニー（ヴィーガン）

We love chocolate.

When I buy a bag of chocolate chips, it doesn’t last long in our house.

So, I had to use them quick before they were eaten as an after-dinner snack.

There are many vegan brownies recipes online.

I picked this one, https://eatwithclarity.com/homemade-vegan-brownies/ because the ingredients were simple, which is always a good thing.

It turned out great!

This was a good recipe.

I will definitely make it again.

Brownies are one of our favorite snacks.

But who doesn’t like brownies.

Right?

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Bread, Soup/Stew

Happy St.Patrick’s Day! Vegan Green Irish Soda Bread & Vegan Irish Stew with Dumplings
聖パトリックデーを祝って、緑色のアイリッシュソーダブレッド＆ダンプリング入りアイリッシュシチュー

We don’t always make meals to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but this year my friend suggested that we have a St. Patrick’s Day dinner together.

I was not so sure first because Irish food did not seem very vegan-modification friendly, but when I did a little research, I felt it was durable.

My friend actually sent me a link to this recipe.

https://www.landsandflavors.com/green-irish-soda-bread/

It turned out great!

The recipe calls for spinach, but I just used kale which I happened to have, and it worked just fine.

Look at the beautiful green color!

It was a big hit!

And this was my other contribution.

Vegan Irish stew.

I was so excited that my little secret ingredient, Miso, added wonderful richness and depth to the stew.

Everyone loved it.

You may ask where are the dumplings?

Unfortunately, this is the only picture with the dumpling.

I am planning to post a video of the stew simmered with dumplings on Instagram, so I hope you go check that out.

https://www.instagram.com/culinarytribune/

Can’t believe my friend talked me into wearing something green.

So, this was me with a summer dress over a turtleneck sweater…

The summer dress was the only piece of (right) green-colored clothing that I owned.

Are you celebrating St. Patrick’s Day today?

What are you cooking/eating???

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta

Natto Radish Spaghetti for One
納豆ラディッシュおろしスパゲッティひとりごはん

My husband was out and about, and I was on my own for lunch.

So, a Natto dish was perfect to make!

My husband likes a lot of Japanese food, but Natto is not one of them.

I LOVE Natto, and this turned out to be a fabulous meal for me.

Freshly cooked spaghetti was served with Natto, grated radish, scallion, roasted Nori, olive oil, and soy sauce.

Itadakimasu – Thank you for the meal.

He usually detects the smell, but not this time.

I ate lunch early, washed everything well, and even took out the garbage.

I don’t blame him.

Natto does have a strong smell…

*I updated my Instagram page, and it now shows highlights from our 2023 vacation in Spain. Check it out!

https://www.instagram.com/culinarytribune/

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Gluten Free, Sweets

V/GF Coriander Banana Apple Cake
コリアンダーりんごバナナケーキ

The sweets we had in Spain and Portugal were all fantastic.

I found them perfectly sweet, by which what I really mean is that they were not as sweet as the sweets typically found in the U.S, and I loved it.

That experience encouraged me to make and eat the sweets that I truly love.

The best way to do so is making my sweets myself so that I have control over the sweetness of my treat.

This was my first time to try “SnapDragon” apples, and I was excited.

I’ve made this cake before, and I liked the combination of apple and banana.

But really.

How could that go wrong?

I wanted to add some spice.

First, I thought of cinnamon.

I knew it was going to work just fine.

Then, I thought “hmmm, maybe cardamom”.

I LOVE cardamom.

Unfortunately, I was out of cardamom.

Then I saw this bottle of corriander.

I never used coriander for baking, but when I quickly did some google research, I found out that coriander is “sweet and citrusy”.

That sounded like it would work.

Done!

The coriander flavor was subtle, but I liked it.

I will definitely use it again for baking, and next time I will add more.

I paired the cake with my favorite spiced tea.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Japanese Food

Wabi Sabi Bento
地味地味弁当

It’s been a while since last time I had bento.

I don’t go anywhere, but it’s still fun to make bento once in a while.

Braised Potato Hijiki (seaweed) is one of my favorite potato dishes!

This is similar to the popular Japanese dish, “Niku-jaga”, which literally means meat-potato.

I use hijiki in place of meat, and I don’t miss meat.

Hijiki makes this dish plenty flavorful.

I also prepared sesame carrots, oregano balsamic baby bella, and gochujang bean sprouts.

When I make bento, I like to wrap it although I don’t have to take it anywhere (lol).

It just makes the lunch time special.

It’s like opening a present.

Who else likes bento?

Leave a comment