by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Leaf Vegetables, Main Dish

Chickpea-Polenta-Veggie Comfort Bowl
ベジポレンタひよこ豆汁がけ

When I saw Ms. Ali’s “slow cooker chickpeas”, I knew I had to try it! ↓

https://www.instagram.com/p/CY9AHQZI2PD/

It looked so simple yet delicious.

I seriously contemplated purchasing a slow cooker just to make this.

But I decided to ask her if she could tell me how to make it on the stovetop instead, and she kindly (and quickly) responded with a link to the blog post that is exactly what I was looking for! ↓

https://alexandracooks.com/2017/10/04/cook-chickpeas-beans-scratch-brining-method/

I followed the recipe, and it turned out great!

I accidentally soaked my beans for much longer than directed (I planned the day poorly…), but probably because of that I didn’t have to cook the beans as long as suggested.

I like my garbanzo beans rather firm, and it was nice that I could control the firmness when I cooked them myself (instead of buying cans).

I also cooked polenta as Ms. Ali suggested pouring the beans (with the broth) over polenta.

I placed blistered zucchini and sauteed garlic, onion, and kale on polenta and then poured the garbanzo beans and the broth over everything.

It already looked great.

But then I also decided to add some of my tomato jam (previous post).

Creamy polenta, a bit spicy flavorful broth, perfectly cooked garbanzo beans, simply cooked veggies, and spiced sweet tomato jam.

It was just what I needed on a cold winter evening.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Leaf Vegetables

Edamame Oatmeal Okonomiyaki
枝豆オートミールお好み焼き

We are big vegetable eaters, and there are always some kinds of vegetable in our house.

I try to eat a variety and always looking for something new.

But one thing you always find in our fridge is cabbage.

A few reasons.

One, yes my husband and I both live cabbage.

Two, it’s versatile.

You can eat it fresh or cooked.

Three, it lasts relatively longer compared to other vegetables.

But last time I went grocery shopping, I went a bit overboard and bought two big heads, one green and one purple.

Now we have almost too much cabbage!

So, in order to accelerate the consumption, I decided to make Okonomiyaki, Japanese savory pancake, for lunch today.

Traditionally, Okonomiyaki is made of flour, but I’ve started making mine with oatmeal lately, and I absolutely love it!

This time I added chickpea flour and rice flour to the batter.

Included in the toppings were cabbage (lots of it!), scallion, homemade vegan meat, shio-kombu (salted kombu), and edamame.

I usually like to drizzle a little mayo on top, but since I didn’t have any at hand, I drizzled Dijon mustard, which worked beautifully (I may like it better than mayo, actually!).

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Leaf Vegetables

Veggie Momos
ネパール風餃子モモ（ベジ）

When we moved to the city, several people told us about this Tibetan-Nepalise restaurant.

Everyone said we had to try their momos.

So that was how I got to try nepali dumplings for the first time.

And I loved it!

I had been in the United States for many years now, and I thought I had tried all the ethnic foods available in this country.

But I was wrong.

I’ve only tried vegetable version, but it was so good that I didn’t even want to try the meat version.

Last weekend I was in the mood for momos.

We usually get them from our favorite restaurant, but since I had a lot of time that day, I decided to make them myself.

I like my dumpling filling simple.

I’ve experimented with different things, like tofu, mushrooms, vegan meat, etc, but I always preferred my simple version.

Garlic, onion, cabbage, and green onion.

That’s it.

This time I used Napa cabbage and an addition of kale just because I had some of these I needed to use up.

It worked beautifully.

To tell the truth, this was my second time making momos.

The first attempt was not very successful.

I made a mistake and made the wrappers too thick.

I didn’t know it gets puffy when steamed.

They were mostly fine, but the top part where the wrapper was gathered turned out to be too thick.

I still remembered the mistake, so this time I was careful when I flattened the wrappers and folded them.

I think I did a pretty good job this time.

They look so good!

And they tasted awesome!

This time I made the sauce, too.

Garlicky and gingery.

A bit spicy.

So good.

Oil, garlic, ginger, crushed red chili pepper, tomato paste, fresh tomatoes, water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, cashew nuts (for thickening).

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by : Reiko Leaf Vegetables

Deconstructed Cabbage Roll
巻かないロールキャベツ

When I said “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!” the other day, one of my coworkers asked me if I was making corned beef.

She quickly remembered I don’t eat meat, and then said “Cabbage?”

St. Patrick’s Day is a tough one for me.

I want to celebrate it like everybody else, but I always have a hard time coming up with the right food.

“Green food” sounds easy, yet, tricky, because you can’t just make a salad.

So when my coworker said “cabbage”, that kind of hit me.

I never thought of a cabbage dish as St. Patrick’s Day food, but I guess it’s acceptable.

I made this deconstructed cabbage rolls a while ago, and I should have posted it for St. Patrick’s Day!

I know it’s too late, and I’m the only one talking about the day now(lol).

I’m not sure if I can call it “cabbage roll”, but all the ingredients are there (I think!).

I also roasted cabbage, which gives an extra flavor.

So in this bowl what you see are roasted cabbage, Beyond Meat sausage, and tomato-base sauce.

So good!!

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by : Reiko Bread, Leaf Vegetables

Pirozhki
ピロシキ

Wow, it’s been such a long time since the last time I had pirozhki.

I was probably 8?

My mother used to make them when I was little.

I almost forgot about its existence until recently I happened to see someone’s picture of pirozhki.

It’s a kind of Russian (if I’m not mistaken) bread stuffed with vegetables, meat, eggs, or jam.

I think my mother learned how to make it when she was taking bread-baking classes (she used to take so many different classes when I was little, and she was always so good at everything!).

It’s not a hugely popular bread in Japan, but many people do know about it.

Unfortunately it’s not known well at all in the U.S.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard pirozhki since I came to the U.S.

My mother deep-fried her pirozhki, but I recently learned (when I did a little research about this bread) that in Russia fried and baked versions are both equally popular.

So I decided to bake mine.

My mother used to stuff her pirozhki heavily with meat and some vegetables, but I decided to go with all veggies (garlic, onion, cabbage) and spices (caraway and coriander).

This turned out great!

The bread is soft and the simple filling was very flavorful.

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by : Reiko Leaf Vegetables

Shungiku Caesar Salad with Vegan Fried Chicken
Vチキン春菊シーザーサラダ

It’s always fun to try a new recipe.

I’ve been making various vegan meats for a while now, but it still amazes me that you can “make meat” that is plant-based and tasty.

When I saw this post, I immediately got interested.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have all the ingredients needed, so I had to use some substitutes, but mine still turned out great!

The above picture is the vegan fried chicken I made with the “chicken.”

The texture of this “chicken” is so tender and I absolutely loved it.

I served the fried “chicken” over Shungiku Caesar salad.

This was so tasty!!

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by : Reiko Leaf Vegetables, Rice/Grains, Salad

Wild Rice Apple Walnut Cranberry Salad
ワイルドライスりんご胡桃クランベリーサラダ

I made this salad when I still had fresh apples I got from a local apple orchard.

The combination of fresh apples, wild rice, walnut, celery, cranberry, and kale is so wonderful.

It’s so satisfying, and I could just have this as a meal, maybe with a cup of soup.

The salad was dressed with homemade maple Dijon dressing.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Japanese Food, Leaf Vegetables

Vegetable Potstickers
もちもち皮で野菜餃子

This week has been a bit difficult week for me.

My energy was low, and I didn’t have a lot of motivation to cook after work.

I ate spaghetti four nights in a row, and none of them were great…

Then, today I had this idea of making potstickers from scratch.

It just came to me.

I mean, making wrappers from scratch.

I always wanted to try this, but I felt overwhelmed.

This was a lot of work, but I did enjoy the process.

It’s not difficult, but it takes time.

I always like to take pictures of potstickers at this stage, right before cooking.

They are just so beautiful.

It’ also a safe thing to do, just in case they don’t look too good after being cooked (lol).

These were so delicious!

The homemade wrappers definitely make a difference, resulting in a wonderful texture.

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