You would think that there should be some signs of spring in March, but it’s snowing again in the Twin Cities.
I wanted to make the sushi look a bit spring-like, so I added a light pink color (from radish) to the rice.
Apparently, the color was too light, and unfortunately it’s hard to see in the pictures…
This (pickled radish), on the other hand, shows a beautiful pink color.
Itadakimasu – Thank you for the meal.
Hot green tea to complete the meal.
We had this for lunch, but this will be great for snack with a glass of white wine.
I don’t really drink anymore myself, so that would be an idea for someone else though.
I liked this onion chutney, a gift from our neighbor, so much that I decided to use this for our flatbread, too.
Loved the combination of the onion chutney, potatoes, and black pepper.
And homemade plant-based cheese.
It’s the best.
This one was tofu-based.
It was a quick concoction.
To tofu I added salt, garlic powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, and a little sugar.
Itadakimasu – Thank you for the meal.
I cooked a lot during our vacation, but I missed baking.
I looked through my cookbooks, and I decided on sesame cookies as my first baking project after our vacation.
Me giving the cookies good energy through the oven door (lol).
I’ve used this recipe before, but this time I added Matcha.
It didn’t show the color much, but you can certainly taste Matcha.
I really enjoy baking and eating home-baked sweets.
Hope I can bake much more before going back to work.
Ankake (Japanese thick soup/sauce) makes the noodle soup so satisfying.
We avoided the coldest part of the Minnesota winter, but the cold weather is still lingering.
So, noodle soup was perfect for today’s lunch.
The addition of ginger gave the right spiciness and helped it even more soul-warming.
Let’s stay warm and healthy.
We are almost there to experience the beautiful spring weather.
This year we picked Spain and Portugal for our vacation.
We visited Barcelona, Malaga, Valencia, and Madrid in Spain, and in Portugal we visited Porto and Lisbon.
It was an amazing experience, and I enjoyed a lot of local foods, but when we got back I knew I wanted a simple Japanese meal like Onigiri and miso soup.
So, that is what I had for lunch today.
The neighbor I talked about in my last post got this jar of onion chutney for us along with all the fabulous homemade food.
He said he tried it himself and liked it so he got one for us, too (he is the best!).
I know this is not the conventional way to use it, but I thought it would make a great garnish for my Onigiri.
Today’s Lunch…
-Onigiri with Onion Chutney
-Sesame Miso Soup
-Radish Sweet Pickles
-Sauteed Bean Sprouts with Japanese Worcestershire /Ketchup Sauce
-Green Tea
Itadakimasu – Thank you for the meal.
The onigiri was so tasty!
The sweet onion chutney went very well with the salted rice.
The miso soup turned out great too.
My little secret it to add a little sugar.
Green tea is the best way to finish a meal like this.
The unique-shaped cup is from https://washoki.jp/ .
This cup is beautiful to look at, but also feels great in my hands.
＊Follow me on Instagram if interested.
Sorry for the long absence.
We just got back last evening from our winter vacation in Spain and Portugal.
Our neighbor kept an eye on our place while we were gone, and when we came home, we found some care package, curry and rice in the fridge, a loaf of bread in the freezer, and banana bread on the kitchen counter.
So thankful to have a neighbor like this!
(They are not vegan, but they made everything vegan.)
We had the curry last night, and this morning we enjoyed the banana bread.
Everything was so delicious.
*If you are interested in what we did and ate during our vacation, check out my Instagram page. I have several posts from the vacation, and I am planning to leave many more pictures and videos as highlights in a few days.
I also post pictures on Instagram not seen here on the blog. So, follow me on Instagram if interested!
Happy New Year!
This mochi made of oatmeal is absolutely delicious!!
I sprinkled Kinako (roasted soy powder) and then drizzled a mixture of soy sauce and maple syrup.
This salty-sweet syrup was so good, almost addictive.
I liked it so much that I made another batch right after I finished these!
Oatmeal Mochi recipe (in Japanese) -> https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm1AeO2BdC4/
What do you wish for 2023?
Me?
WORLD PEACE.
Making this Arare Tofu is quite easy.
You remove excess water from soft tofu.
Cook the tofu in sesame oil, and add flavor with soy sauce and sake.
I added tomato in addition to tofu, and I also used some sugar and salt to finish.
The original recipe was created by Mr. Tamori, who is a Japanese celebrity who hosted a popular daily show called “Waratte Iitomo” for many years.
In Japan it is customary to eat Soba noodles on December 31.
It’s supposed to be a good luck because the long noodles represent a long life and happiness.
We are having a quiet evening tonight.
Just me and my husband at home.
We will watch some TV.
Not sure if we can make it to 12:00…
We’ll see.
Here is another dish I did made a while ago but forgot to post.
I didn’t have all the ingredients needed, but it was the last-minute decision to make this dish, and I was happy with how it turned out even though it was put together only with what I had at hand.
The shrimp I got from Aldi was surprisingly really good.
Today, the last day of 2022, I realized that I still have pictures of dishes I made and wanted to post.
This is one of them.
A lot of vegetables as always.
It was fun to cook this dish, especially with the use of the griddle.
Rice and salmon were added.
We decided to put fish and seafood back into our diet this year, but we make sure they are “wild caught” and never been fed with dye (unfortunately many stores sell dye-fed fish).
Served with sweet miso sauce.
It was delicious!!
