by : Reiko Asian Food, Japanese Food, Main Dish, Noodles/Pasta

Wasabi Shiso Salad Soba
冷やし蕎麦はじめました。

We had a beautiful day today.

It was warm, but not too hot like the last few days.

So I took advantage of it and went for a long walk..

I mean, a really long walk!

I was out for over two hours, and when I got home I was tired and sweaty.

Walking in the city is my choice of workout, and I really enjoy it.

There are a lot of good things about working out, but one of the best things I think is that after a workout I want to eat something healthy.

When I’m hungry, I’m often tempted to have rich foods like something deep-fried or sugary.

But after a workout even when I’m hungry, I want something light and fresh.

So after a bath (I was too tired to stand in a shower, so sitting in the tub was more appealing to me), I began chopping vegetables.

You can really use any vegetables, but one of my favorites is “shiso” or Japanese basil which you see in the middle of the bowl.

This really gives great refreshing favors to the dish.

Another “must” for me is wasabi.

Wasabi adds a clean spiciness, and it’s too good to be served only with sushi.

The dressing was simply made with soy sauce, white vinegar, sesame oil, and salt.

So yum!

This is something I bought at the Japanese grocery store, Mitsuwa, in Chicago when we visited the city a few weeks ago.

It’s dried roasted sweet potato, and it’s absolutely delicious!

It has been my go-to snack the last few days, and I’m sad that it’s almost gone…

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Mushrooms, Sandwiches, Tofu

Truly Awesome Blue Cheese Burger
凄いヨ！ブルーチーズバーガー

Blue cheese burger has always been one of my husband’s favorite burgers.

Remember?

I just made plant-based blue cheese using the recipe from this book.

Well, there was a reason my husband asked me to make the blue cheese first.

 

Since I couldn’t decide if I wanted to use tofu or portabella mushrooms for the “burger”, I decided to go with both.

Can you tell how beautifully the blue cheese melted?

Onion slices were placed first, and then teriyaki-balsamic glaze was generously drizzled over everything.

I mean, really, how awesome does this look?!

These burgers were prepared for the Memorial Day Weekend, and it was a perfect main dish.

Happy Thursday everyone.

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Sandwiches

Memorial Day Lunch
メモリアルデー・ランチ

I slept in this morning.

I went for a looooong bike ride in the late afternoon yesterday.

I didn’t think I was that tired, but apparently my body needed the extra sleep to recover.

So I’m very proud of myself because this morning I got up and then went for another bike ride!

This time it was not as long as the yesterday’s but I had a nice sweaty workout.

After a quick shower and a big glass of ice water, I began preparing lunch.

Menu:

-Portabella Tofu Gorgonzola Burger
-Mustard Potato Celery Salad
-Green Salad
-Corn on the cob
-Watermelon
-No Layer Trifle

Mustard Potato Celery Salad.

For my potato salad, a must ingredient is celery.

Since I put so much celery, I don’t know if I should call it “potato salad” or “celery salad”!

LOVE watermelon!

Only problems are 1) I can only buy one when my husband is with me (too heavy to carry with other groceries); 2) It’s often too much for myself (my husband is not a big watermelon fan, so usually I end up eating the whole melon myself).

Dessert was a no-layer trifle.

Cubed sponge cake was served with almond flavored cream and fresh berries.

I do own a lot of gingham clothes, don’t I?!

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Noodles/Pasta

Maharaja Macaroni and Cheese
マハラジャ・マカロニグラタン

When I make Japanese curry, I do enjoy it as it is (usually with rice), but often times I can’t wait to create a “secondary” dish with leftover curry.

When growing up in Japan, I would almost always ask my mother to make curry udon the next day, and it’s still one of my go to “second-day” curry dish.

But this time I decided to go for macaroni and cheese.

And I had perfect dishes to cook it in.

The leftover curry was mixed with freshly cooked macaroni and my cheesy cream sauce.

They were topped off with nutty parm and freshly ground black pepper.

They already looked so good before cooking!

As you can see, there are a lot of chunky veggies in the the curry.

I usually stay away from big brand names.

I refuse to pay extra just for the big “name”.

But I am willing to pay for quality: quality of design, quality of material, etc…

Today there are a lot of companies that make this type of small casserole dishes, but Le Creuset is still one of my favorites.

Particularly these yellow ones always make food look good.

Just out of the oven!

It’s a rich dish, and I enjoy it for it.

And another good thing about this dish is that it doesn’t make me feel “stuffed”.

That’s what I’ve noticed since I stopped eating meat and dairy.

Plant-based food not only tastes good but also “feels” good.

We are expecting a very warm weekend in Minnesota.

But I’m pretty excited.

Your attitude changes towards 90 degree weather after you hibernate so long (lol)!

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Pizza/Flatbread

Fun Fun Fun! Waffle Pizza
嬉し楽しいワッフルピザ

When I saw Ms. Ree making Waffle Maker Pizza on TV, I was fascinated and couldn’t wait to try it!

This was such a fun project for me and my husband to work on together.

We went back and forth, and it took us a while to decide if we wanted to cook the whole thing (after putting toppings) in the waffle maker or not.

Finally, we decided to make pizza in both ways; after I agreed to clean the waffle maker.

Oh, and we also made two types of dough: regular and rice flour (just for fun; we are not on the gluten-free diet).

And, this time we used our home-made mozzarella cheese.

The cheese was made with this recipe, and I really liked it.

This is my first homemade rice flour pizza.

The crust is crunchy and chewy at the same time.

I actually really liked it (it’s overall lighter than the regular one).

And this one is the regular crust, cooked completely in the waffle maker.

It was messy, but DELICIOUS!!

Did I say messy?!

I really liked the pizza texture that the waffle maker creates.

I think it’s a brilliant idea!

Besides, am I the only one who has this much fun making pizza in a waffle maker?!

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by : Reiko Leaf Vegetables, Main Dish, Noodles/Pasta

Yes Please! Lasagna
イエス・プリーズ！ラザニア

This lasagna is packed with all my favorite things.

I don’t mind all veggie lasagna, but since my V Meatloaf was such a success, I thought it would be fun to add something similar (but flavored with Italian herbs) to my lasagna to give a different texture.

Lasagna pasta is ready.

What else went into my lasagna pan other than the V Italian sausage?

Well, sauteed spinach, roasted eggplant, homemade tomato sauce, and homemade cashew cream!

If a restaurant serves vegan spinach/roasted eggplant lasagna (without any store-bought processed food), I will be a regular customer for sure.

Isn’t it beautiful?!

I have to take a picture of these layers even in the leftover, because I admire them so much (lol).

Have a great week everyone!

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Rice/Grains, Soup/Stew

Ratatouille K-Style
ラタトゥイユ・Kスタイル

Ratatouille is one of my favorite go-to dishes to make at the end of the weekend.

I usually make a big batch so that I can enjoy it all through the following week.

You can basically use any vegetables, but my must-have ingredient is eggplant.

I also do not like my eggplant to become too soft, so I cook it in a separate pan and add it at the last minute.

It’s an Italian dish, but that does not stop me from adding some ethnic flair to it.

THis time I added gochujang, Korean red chili paste.

This sweet and spicy fermented paste gives a depth in the flavors.

It was perfect when served over rice.

You know me, I have to have something green on my plate, and I added chopped spinach to my rice.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Eat your veggies.

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Tofu

Hawaiian Miso BBQ Tacos
ハワイ風味噌BBQタコス

Sometimes I come up with a food idea because I want to use a certain ingredient.

I found a beautiful pineapple at a local grocery store, and it was so fresh and sweet.

This is how I eat.

I just peel the skin, and cut it up into big chunks.

Of course, I wanted to share it with my husband, but he does not like to eat big chunks like these.

So I decided to make pineapple salsa because I knew that is something he would enjoy.

Then, I had to think.

What kind of dish can I make to use this salsa for.

I did have some tofu and corn tortillas, so I decided to go for tacos.

Warm corn tortillas were loaded up with mashed avocado, miso BBQ glazed crispy tofu cubes, and of course, pineapple salsa.

This was a big hit, and my husband really enjoyed them.

Recently I was invited to an extended family’s baby shower.

Unfortunately I cannot attend the shower, but I wanted to send the future parents a card.

A little note enclosed with the baby shower invitation requested a book instead of a card, and I decided to get one of my favorite books to read as a child, “Guri and Gura”.

While googling the book, I found out that there is an English translated version, but it was so much more difficult to get (and ridiculously more expensive), so I got an original (Japanese) version, and I translated it myself.

I also thought it is kind of cool that this will be the baby’s first Japanese book to see.

It has been a long time since the last time I read this book, and I actually forgot exactly what the book was about.

So when I found out it was about the two mice who love to cook, I chuckled.

I guess I was already interested in food even as a young child…

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Mushrooms, Noodles/Pasta

King Cauli Scampi
えりカリスカンピ

One of my Instagram friends (she may not think I’m her “friend” but I feel we’re!) had a picture of her cauliflower scampi, and I thought it was a brilliant idea.

And lucky me, I happened to have a head of cauliflower already in my fridge.

She kindly told me how she made hers, but you know me, I have a tendency to digress from any recipes.

So I decided to boil (and then sautee) my cauliflower instead of roasting it.

I also decided to add king mushroom.

The king mushroom has become one of my favorite foods, particularly since I started the plant-based diet.

Its texture and the flavor are so unique, different from anything else, and gives an interesting twist to any dish.

The texture reminds me of that of scallops, particularly used in this dish.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

My King Cali Scampi was served over freshly cooked linguine.

Is it just me that believe that scampi should be served over linguine but not other type of pasta?

I don’t even know where I got the idea.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice and chopped parsley are a must.

I remember one of the celebrity chefs (and I like her and a big fan) always says Italian parsley is more flavorful than curly parsley, and I would quietly disagree (well I don’t really talk to TV (lol)) every time she said that.

I feel that way probably because I grew up with the curly one, and I have a weird pride in using it.

I also like how they look especially when they are chopped.

(This is a completely different subject, but my mom used to deep-fry curly parsley and it was crunchy, flavorful, and delicious! You could really taste the condensed intense parsley flavor. I should make it sometime, maybe next time when I’m in a mood for deep-frying.)

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Noodles/Pasta

Groovy Pasta Bolognese
グルーヴィーVミートソースパスタ

The V meatloaf was great, and I also realized that the basis makes great bolognese sauce.

So I decided to make another batch.

The V-meat is already so flavorful that you don’t really need much to make sauce.

I basically combine the V-meat with canned whole tomatoes (I mash them with a fork; it doesn’t have to be completed mashed), and season with salt, pepper, wine, herbs, hot sauce, and a little sugar.

Keep it simple.

Now this is my little trick.

Lasagna pasta is awesome when sliced and eaten as “pasta” with sauce.

It’s slightly thicker than regular pasta (even those wide ones like fettucine), and the texture has a nice chewiness that reminds me of homemade pasta.

This was absolutely delicious!

I thought I made enough for two meals, one for lunch and the other for the next day’s lunch, but it was gone in a few minutes.

I devoured it.

You may ask what’s the thing sprinkled on top?

Well, that is my “nutty parm”.

I just recently bought How Not To Die Cookbook, and this is my second recipe I tried from this book.

I didn’t have all the spices/herbs listed as ingredients, so I just used whatever I had, and I also used different kinds of nuts, but it turned out awesome!

I think this will be great on so many different things.

I’m really close to finishing the book.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in nutrition and health.

I quit buying cookbooks many years ago, because there are so many ideas and recipes out there online today.

But when I heard about this particular cookbook that is associated with the book, I decided to buy a few copies to give out to some family members.

Since we started the 100% plant based diet, a lot of people ask us what we eat.

We do our best describing what we eat, and I sometimes tell them to check out this blog.

When we talk about food and health, it can be a bit tricky, because some people seem to feel that they are personally attacked.

The last thing I want to do is preaching people, so I never tell people what to do.

But I strongly feel that everyone should have unbiased information on food and health so that they can make their own “informed” decision.

A few of our family members have expressed a stronger interest more than others, although they don’t seem quite sure exactly what it’s like to prepare a meal without using meat, fish, or dairy.

And I thought this cookbook may be a good way to introduce them to just that.

I’m not expecting all the recipes to be fantastic, but I hope they will try and like some of the recipes, and feel that it’s not that hard to cook plant-based food.

(One of my good friends who was a recipe developer for a large food corporation once told me that it’s typically only a few recipes that people actually try in a cookbook they buy!)

 

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