This one week between Christmas and New Year always feels so different.
It makes me want to be laid back and really relax in a good way.
And this drink definitely helped me do just that.
The refreshing flavor of Yuzu goes so well with green tea.
Walking to the local farmers market is something we do in the morning on most Saturdays.
I love this little routine we have.
But you can tell things are quickly changing, with less leafy vegetables and more root vegetables…
This means we only have a few weeks left before they close until next spring.
One of the things we got from the market was these Regent apples.
This particular vendor was so knowledgeable and friendly, and she helped us pick which to cheese.
We loved these apples.
They are crisp, sweet, juicy, and just super tasty!
The Kabocha is from Trader Joe’s.
I have bought Kabocha from the farmers market in the past, but some of them that they were labeled as “Kabocha” did not taste like actual Kabocha.
So unfortunately, now I only buy Kabocha from stores.
I cooked the pizza with Kabocha slices (quickly pre-cooked in the microwave) and apple slices first, and then, it was served with cashew yogurt, pecan nuts, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
This was delicious!!
There is something so special about fall foods.
Chirashi literally means “scattered”.
Chirashi-sushi is a bed of sushi rice with various things (usually fresh fish) scattered over rice.
As I said above, it’s usually fish (especially those found at Japanese restaurants in the U.S.), but in Japan a lot of people use other things, including a lot of vegetables.
The one you find here is still a bit unusual even for Japanese people, mainly because it contains fruit.
I actually really enjoy fruit with sushi rice.
It’s delicious, especially when they are also with wasabi soy sauce!
Yum!!
I always like to have a bowl of miso soup with my sushi.
This one has a lot of vegetables and Wakame seaweed.
And more seaweed!
This one is called “Hijiki”, braised.
Yes, I’m still enjoying creating dishes featuring apples.
This time fried rice!
You know, many Thai restaurants serve pineapple fried rice, and the idea came from it.
Apples get caramelized and create wonderful flavors.
Apples and tempeh were cooked first, rice and green onion were added and then they were fried together.
Looks good, doesn’t it?
It was so tasty!
If you like pineapple rice, you will love this one.
The apple fried rice was served with a little bit of this and that.
I love having small dishes like this for my meal.
It was one of those “lucky” dishes that I didn’t plan to make but ended up super tasty.
I had leftover homemade pasta.
I had these beautiful vined tomatoes and nectarines (not in the pic).
(This time of the year I almost always have nectarines in the house.)
Homemade bow tie pasta, mini tomatoes, nectarine, herbs (Shiso basil, mint, parsley), lemon zest, apricot white balsamic vinaigrette.
It was super refreshing and such a great way to enjoy the seasonal produce.
This is a great time of the year for someone like me who loves stone fruit.
I like them all, but my favorite is probably nectarine.
When I look at the shelf where peaches, nectarines, and plums are displayed next to one another, I typically go for the nectarine, mostly because when it comes to texture and taste it seems the most consistent.
My prune walnut earl grey crusty bread came handy.
It was lightly toasted, a thick layer of cardamom cashew cream cheese was spread, and then served with slices of fresh nectarine.
Simply scrumptious.
Happy Taco Tuesday!
These tacos were famous Korean meat dish, Bulgogi, inspired ones.
Bulgogi means “fire meat” according to Wikipedia, and my beautiful jackfruit from Trader Joe’s was cooked over high heat after marinated overnight.
The trick is that you really want to get the charred look and flavor to the “meat” at this point.
If you ask me, the fixing is as important a part of any tacos.
This time I prepared napa cabbage slaw and home-pickled Shiso (Japanese basil) cucumber.
Also mashed avocado.
Don’t they look fabulous?
This was a bit messy to eat, but I never mind getting messy when I’m eating something delicious.
By the way, I finally had a chance to eat ripe fresh jackfruit at a party thrown by a friend who is from Cambodia.
She said her dad did all the work, and pulled apart the fruit, which I hear is a lot of work.
It was so delicious that a few days later I went to a local Asian grocery store and bought some.
Thankfully, they had a package of fruit that has been already taken out of the whole thing.
It’s a bit expensive, but I LOVE this fruit.
Very tropical, and a mere bite instantly takes me to the imaginative tropical island!
My husband and I had Uchi Pizza for lunch today, because we were both working from home.
What’s Uchi Pizza?
Well, “Uchi” means “home” (in Japanese), and as you can guess, this was made and eaten at home.
This pizza was not only homemade, but also a result of good teamwork.
My husband made the crust (the night before), and it made our kitchen smell like heaven.
The crust turned out just the way we like it.
Thin, crispy, and light, yet, still having some nice chewiness.
I used to think every meal has to contain some sort of meat or seafood.
I was so wrong!
This pizza was loaded with seasonal veggies (this time we used yellow squash, red onion, green peppers, tomato, and purple cabbage); The cabbage was sprinkled after the pizza was cooked.
And it was absolutely perfect and satisfying.
Yes, earlier I said it was a teamwork, and you may ask what was my contribution.
Well, you’re looking at it (lol).
Pistachio avocado cream.
We dotted the pizza with this beautiful cream right before serving.
This was so delicious, and it tastes so much better than cheese (vegan or not) y’all, if you ask me.
Loved our Uchi Pizza.
I’ve never been really a huge pizza fan, but I realized that I was not a huge meat/cheese pizza fan because I do LOVE this type of pizza.
Lucky me.
My husband made some extra crusts, so we can enjoy pizza again soon.
Pistachio Avocado Cream: pistachio, avocado, soy milk, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt, sugar
I just recently got this cute watermelon.
They were sold as “personal” watermelons.
My husband says it doesn’t mean you cannot share.
Well, doesn’t it??? (lol)
Just saying “Monkey Tacos” makes me smile!
It’s fun!
I read somewhere that if you give a funny name to a veggie dish at school cafeteria, kids will eat more veggies.
(Unfortunately, this trick did not work on my husband, who is not a big fan of banana.) 🙁
Toasted tortillas, sunflower butter, and banana slices are the base.
But after that you can go free-style.
This one was the berry-berry version: strawberries and blueberries.
And this one was the sunshine version: mango and nectarine.
Love fresh fruit.
Make sure you add fresh mint, cilantro, and jalapeno slices.
Well, these are tacos after all.
And surprisingly, these add awesome freshness to my monkey tacos.
The color of cantaloupe is just so pretty.
It screams “princess”!
The ingredients are simple: cantaloupe pureed with sugar and lemon juice, vodka, and seltzer.
I like cantaloupe, but I usually hesitate to buy one, because some of them are just not sweet at all, and there is no way to know before you buy it, cut it, and then taste it.
But the other day someone at work who knows that I like fresh fruits and veggies told me that the cantaloupe she bought the day before was so sweet and encouraged me to get one from the same store she got hers from.
I was not able to make it to the same store, but I did get one from a different grocery store.
And mine was sweet and delicious, too!!
The drink was simply garnished with cantaloupe balls.
My husband is not a big fan of cantaloupe, but he liked this princess bubbly as much as I did!
