by : Reiko Pizza/Flatbread, Sweets

Black Forest Pizza
ブラックフォレストピザ

Black forest cake is such a beautiful cake.

I wasn’t in the mood for making a whole cake (it takes some mental preparation to do so (lol)), but I thought it would be fun to make something with the black forest cake “theme.”

Chocolate (with a little coffee) pizza crust, with vanilla cream, chocolate ganache, and fresh cherries.

This was absolutely delicious, and I LOVEd it!

Vanilla cream: extra firm tofu, almond flour, soy milk, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract

chocolate ganache: cocoa powder, sugar, soy milk, coffee, coconut oil.

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by : Reiko Bread, Uncategorized

Turmeric Bread
ターメリックブレッド

I’m still not 100%, but since we are out of bread, I decided to make some for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Turmeric is one of the spices I buy in a big container because I use it a lot.

Interestingly, I’ve never made this type of crusty bread with turmeric, and I was excited to make one.

The color and the smell are both amazing!

Exactly what I hoped for.

For one of the loaves I added Kasuri Methi which always makes everything taste better.

I can’t wait to eat them tomorrow.

I might even try to make a sandwich with this bread.

The color will be awesome!

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by : Reiko Sandwiches

Panini
パニーニ

I don’t have many opportunities to cook for a large group of people.

But when I do, it is usually for non-vegan people.

A while ago we participated in an open-house style event.

It was a casual event, and bringing food was optional.

But I decided to bring panini for snack.

Panini is easy to make, and it doesn’t take too long to make a large amount.

I usually use my homemade crusty bread and add greens (spinach, arugula, etc.), homemade seitan steak, whatever the vegan cheese we have, and one flavor-burst ingredient: I usually like to use chopped sundried tomatoes, lingonberry mustard, chipotle mayo, etc.

My husband helped me with the cooking, so I put together the sandwich, and he grilled them.

We make a good team.

We just left this large platter of panini and a pile of napkins next to it.

It was a hit!

Nobody questioned if there was any meat or real cheese (lol), and many people came back for seconds!

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by : Reiko Breakfast

Cheddar Scallion Scones
チェダー小ネギスコーン

I’m a bit under the weather the past few days.

What bothers me the most is that I can’t do much in the kitchen.

These are the scones I made about a month ago.

I just realized that I never posted these pictures.

Since I haven’t done grocery shopping for this week yet, I’ve been eating things in the freezer.

I’m almost panicked because my freezer is now out of baked goods!

I really wish I had some of these scones for tomorrow morning.

Or I should feel much better so that I could make some first thing in the morning.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Noodles/Pasta, Tofu

Spicy Mango Pad Thai Spaghetti
スパイシーマンゴーパッタイスパゲッティ

Happy Wednesday!

I started doing meal-prep a few weekends ago, and I’m loving it.

It makes it so much easier to prepare weekday meals.

Healthier.

And less stress.

However, it usually becomes challenging to create dinner that doesn’t make you feel like you are eating the same things over and over.

I got to come home from work a bit earlier tonight.

So I decided to spend a little more time than usual to make dinner using what has been prepped and also adding something new.

I happened to have a lot of foods already that would be perfect for pad thai, but I didn’t have rice noodles.

So I decided to go with spaghetti!

Lots of veggies.

And scrambled tofu flavored with fermented mango sauce (from Trader Joe’s).

As you can see this “pad thai” was not prepared the traditional way at all.

But who cares!

It’s a home-cooked and home-served meal, and as long as it’s tasty, it goes on our dining table.

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by : Reiko Bread, Sweets

Lemon Melon Bread
レモンメロンパン

Okay.

This is my third time making melon bread.

My first melon bread was this, and the second one was this.

When I read what I had written about them, I realized that both times I said they were good but not the same as my mother’s.

Guess what?

This time I finally got my mother’s recipe, and I created a totally new vegan cookie top by incorporating my mother’s recipe.

This bread turned out AWESOME!

Creating the perfect vegan cookie top has been challenging, but I think this is it!

It has the right softness, moistness, and crunchiness, and it has the thickness that I prefer.

This time I added lemon zest to the cookie top, and put lemon curd inside the buns.

This is a must-try for any lemon-lovers, and it became my husband (who loves anything citrus)’s favorite instantly.

I wish I could share this with my mother.

I think she would approve!

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by : Reiko Nuts/Seeds, Tofu

Sunflower Tofu
ひまわり豆腐

The tofu we typically think of is made of soy beans.

But in Japan many other types of tofu exist.

Some popular ones are sesame tofu and peanut tofu.

I was going to make one of them, but I just didn’t have the ingredients for either one of them.

But I did have sunflower seed butter, and I decided to use it to make tofu.

So, here is my Sunflower Tofu.

It’s so smooth, just like tofu, but it’s creamier.

I’ve never made tofu like this (or any tofu!), and I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it turned out.

When something tastes this good, you don’t want to mess it up, and it’s best when it’s enjoyed simply.

So I decided to serve it with just wasabi and soy sauce.

So good!

I don’t know why I didn’t try sooner.

I used a glass container to make the flat one (above) and cut it into individual pieces, but I also made an individual pouch, just for fun.

This one is pretty, too.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

Fried “Fish” Onigirazu Rice Sandwich
V”魚”フライおにぎらず

Remember I made Onigirazu rice sandwich the other day?

It was such a big hit at our house, I decided to make another one.

I thought the vegan fried “fish” would perfect to put in this rice sandwich.

This time I put too much inside the Nori seaweed sheet, and I was afraid that it wouldn’t close.

I had to add an additional small piece of Nori sheet, but I was relieved when it finally closed (well barely!).

In this Onigirazu rice sandwich, you will find the vegan fried “fish” arugula-spinach mix, tomato slices, and Yuzu coleslaw.

This was absolutely delicious!

You can see how substantial the vegan “fish” is.

Extremely happy with the result!

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by : Reiko Sweets

Lemon Earl Grey Cake
レモンアールグレイケーキ

This is my husband’s birthday week.

I knew I wanted to get him a cake.

After I went back and forth between “should I make one myself”” and “should I order from one of the local bakers?”, I decided to make him a homemade cake.

His request was simple.

“A lemon cake.”

I needed a little more information, and asked “what kind of lemon cake?”

He told me that he wanted a cake that is so tart that every bite makes you pucker your lips.

So at that point I knew I wanted to add lemon curd to his cake.

Every component was supposed to be lemon flavored, but there was a little change in the plan, and earl grey frosting was decided at the last minute.

So this is a four-layered lemon sponge cake with tart lemon curd between the layers and covered with earl grey frosting.

I’m so glad that I decided to make his birthday cake myself.

I’m not the best cake decorator, but I do enjoy the process.

It turned out beautiful (yes rustic as usual) and delicious, and most importantly my husband loved it!

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