Sushi Salad - the new Un-Roll

So now that Vancouver has sustained warm temperatures for more than a single week (hurray!), it's time to find meals that don't require turning the stove on (much) as that tends to raise the temperature of our tiny apartment about 20 degrees when we do. Being second floor dwellers, we're already suffering from the first floor's heat as it rises so anything we can do to reduce the amount of heat in our own home is essential.
Hence the sushi salad. Okay and I admit the fact that I only had two sheets of nori left (which in roll form produces exactly 2 rolls), made me want to try out this genius of a recipe on krista and jess, where it is much more fancily named "deconstructed sushi" and more beautiful arranged (in a mason jar for lunch transport).

Anyways, the great thing about this salad is a) you can use up leftover rice, b) you can prep everything before and have it sitting in convenient containers in your fridge and c) you do not have to deal with sushi mats! Not to confuse anyone, I do love a good sushi roll. I just am not quite capable of making them well myself (which as my wife would say is probably due to the fact that I try to use quinoa, brown rice, basmati rice, etc. instead of good old fashioned sushi rice) and dislike trying to dislodge all the small particles of rice from the bamboo of the sushi mat. 

Sushi Salad (for 2 hungry people)
1 1/2 c. cooked rice *note white rice, brown rice, and quinoa have all been used successfully to make different versions of this salad!*
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 - 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
2 sheets nori, cut into appropriate sized pieces (will be some left over)

Veggies used (note this is probably enough for 4 salads, except the avocado):
2 medium sized carrots, shredded (I however used the peeler to create thin curly strips)
1/2 of an English cucumber, sliced into thin strips (matchstick if you will)
4-5 radishes, thinly sliced
1 whole avocado, sliced

Toppings:
Scrambled eggs for vegetarians (for 2 people, create an omelet of four scrambled eggs, and then cut into strips)
Pickled ginger, sliced into thin strips
Wasabi (optional)

1. Bring the rice vinegar, sugar and soy sauce to a simmer and make sure the sugar is dissolved. Stir through rice. (If the rice is cold from the fridge, rewarm to room temperature before stirring sauce through). Set rice aside.
2. In a bowl, layer the rice, veggies, nori, rice, veggies, egg, nori and top with thin strips of pickled ginger. Drizzle more soy sauce if desired over the dish. Enjoy.

A Refreshing Sip of Summer

Last night's Indian food feast (we'll ignore the fact that the appetizer was in fact much more Asian in seasoning than Indian) was a wonderful opportunity to test the theory of eating spicy food to cool yourself down in hot weather. To accompany the vegetable masala, spinach naan, and brown basmati rice, I tried creating a yogurt cucumber smoothie drink that was a huge hit. Refreshingly cool and tangy with very little sweetness, I can tell already we'll be drinking this smoothie all summer long. I also tried a chilled asparagus appetizer recipe from Citypalate's May/June issue which would be perfect for any summer picnic or meal. The best part is the minimal preparation time and the fact that if you make it the day before, it will taste even better. I love having recipes like that up my sleeve for social occasions!

Cucumber mint yogurt smoothie (serves 4)

• 1 English cucumber, peeled & chopped (peeling is important!)
• 2-3 cups of plain yogurt or kefir yogurt (I used 2% plain yogurt)
• 5-10 ice cubes
• 10-15 mint leaves, chopped
• Juice of 1/2-1 lime
• 1-3 Tbs grated ginger (to taste)
• handful of fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
• pinch of salt, masala spice, or cardamom (optional again)
• 1/2-1 Tbs agave nectar (optional)

1. Throw everything in the blender. Turn it on.
2. Taste, adjust spices, lime juice, mint, ginger, agave, to desired taste
3. Serve in tall clear glasses or martini glasses :)

 Asparagus Appetizer (serves 4)

• 2 Tbs canola oil/sunflower oil/olive oil
• 2 tsp soy sauce (or gluten free tamari)
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1 pinch red chili flakes
• 1-2 Tbs grated fresh ginger
• 2 Tbs orange juice
• 2-3 Tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
• 1-2 lb asparagus, woody ends removed

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Toss the asparagus in and cover the pot. Let boil for 4-5 minutes until asparagus is bright green and tender-crispy. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process. Leave for 2-3 minutes and then pour into a colander/pat dry.
2. In a jar with a lid, combine all the dressing ingredients except sesame seeds and shake to combine.
3. Toss the asparagus with the dressing and sesame seeds. Chill in the fridge until ready to eat or serve immediately. Can be made a day ahead - better flavor develops.

My only comment on this recipe is I found the whole asparagus stalks a bit awkward to eat -- might be better once the asparagus are cooked to chop them  into 2-3" pieces before tossing in dressing.

Photos to come

Cheesey Beer Scones

So what happens when your good friends throw a great house warming party with a keg of microbrew and need help finishing it off? You kindly volunteer to fill up your pitchers and start baking! Normally I would bake loaf after loaf of beer bread, but this time I wanted to try something more suitable for nibbling at a festive gathering. Although this recipe is labeled a "scone", I'm not quite convinced as there is no butter in it. I would say it's more bread-like than the flaky scone pastry I usually create. Nonetheless, this beer-mustard-cheese scone makes for a unique, delicious bread-type product that was eagerly gobbled up (and uses up nearly flat beer) despite the fact that I put both eggs in the recipe rather than using one in the recipe and saving one for an egg wash....

Cheesey Beer Scones (makes about 24-30 scones)

• 2 3/4 c. all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 - 3/4 c. minced green onions (green bits more than white bits) or chives
• 1 1/2 c. coarsely shredded cheddar cheese
• 3/4 - 1 c. chilled wheat beer (or pale ale - really any beer except stout/porter)
• 2 eggs 
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1-2 Tbs Dijon mustard
• Sesame seeds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together.
3. Stir green onions and cheddar cheese through the dry ingredients.
4. Beat 1 egg, vegetable oil, and Dijon mustard together in another bowl. Then beat beer in (start with 3/4 c. of beer)
5. Add wet ingredients to dry and fold in. If the mixture seems too dry, add a bit more beer. Once the dough has almost come together (don't over mix), turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently 5-10 times.
6. Pat into a 1" thick round and using a 2.5" biscuit/cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Press the scraps together into another 1" round and continue cutting out scones.
7. Beat the remaining egg and brush egg wash over the scones. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if using.    Place in the oven and bake for 13-15minutes until golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before removing.

Green Curry Tofu Cakes and Thai Peanut Cabbage Salad

For a Thai inspired vegetarian dinner, this is a great pairing: green curry tofu cakes and thai peanut cabbage salad. I found the green curry tofu cakes recipe here (note it is vegan and still delicious) and the thai peanut sauce recipe for the salad here (the salad is an easy mixture of thin strips of green cabbage, bean sprouts, chopped cucumber and grated carrot to which could also be added strips of bell pepper, chopped green onion, and topped with salted toasted peanuts).

Green Curry Tofu Cakes (makes about 16 cakes)

• 1/2 cup hot vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground flax
• 14 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained well
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons lite soy sauce or  tamari
• 2-3 tablespoons green curry paste
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
• 1/4-1/3 cup minced parsley or cilantro
• 1/4 c. minced green onion (optional)
• 1 cup panko

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Pulse the tofu, ground flax, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, curry paste, and quick oats in a food processor until well-blended. Add the broth and pulse quickly a few times. Scrape into a bowl and stir in the red pepper, parsley/cilantro, and green onion. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 min. (Can be made a day ahead if needed).
3. Put panko on a plate. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of tofu mixture onto the panko, sprinkle a little panko on top (should be evenly distributed on top and bottom), and shape into a 2-inch wide round cake. Place cake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat for remaining tofu mixture.
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and serve hot with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce

• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/8 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 small carrot, shredded
• 1/4-1/3 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and shredded
• 2-4 Tbs sweet chili sauce
• orange zest is optional 

1. Heat the sugar, water, vinegar, sweet chili sauce, and orange zest (if using) in a small saucepan until sugar is melted and mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the carrot and cucumber. Let cool before serving.

Quinoa Spring Sushi

Yes, that's right - another spring recipe. Yesterday, July 4th (Happy Independence Day to my home country!), was the first full day of sun in a long while. Very appropriate weather for this refreshing, light, yet filling recipe. I found this recipe on mynewroots - one of the cooking blogs I follow for all its fresh, seasonal, healthy cooking - and the idea of replacing rice in sushi with quinoa (hooray protein for vegetarians) seemed too good to pass up.

 I modified just a bit since I wasn't quite keen to do everything by scratch for once.

Quinoa Spring Sushi   Makes enough for 4 rolls (8 pieces from each roll)

Sushi Quinoa:
1 c. quinoa
2 c. chickpea stock (stock from cooking chickpeas - you could also use a low sodium veggie broth or water even)
3 Tbs. rice vinegar


Spring Vegetables:
Radishes (cut in half and thinly sliced)
Baby lettuce (small pieces)
Cucumber (long skinny strips)
Avocado (thin slices)
Carrots (long skinny strips)


Fried Egg Omelet:
2-3 eggs, scrambled with a dash (small or hearty) of red chili flakes.

Additional Items:
Nori
Pickled Ginger
Wasabi
Soy sauce for dipping

1. Bring the quinoa and stock to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook covered fro 15-20 minutes. When fully cooked, remove from heat, stir rice vinegar through, fluff with fork, and let cool uncovered for 5-10minutes. (Otherwise you'll burn your hands and make your nori wrappers crinkle like mad).
2. While the quinoa cooks, slice up all your veggies (except for maybe the avocado if you don't want it to go brown) and fry the eggs. To fry the scrambled eggs, heat a skillet over medium heat. Pour in a bit of sesame oil, then pour scrambled eggs into the pan. Tilt pan to coat eggs evenly over entire skillet. Let cook for 1-2 minutes until the bottom is cooked through. Carefully flip the entire egg pancake over and finish cooking. Remove from pan and let cool briefly before slicing into long strips.
3. Place a sheet of nori on a sushi rolling mat (or a large plate) and press an evenly thin layer of quinoa across the nori, leaving one inch of nori clear of quinoa on the side farthest from you. Dipping your hands in cold water can help avoid the quinoa sticking to your hands. Then layer your fillings about 1" from the edge closest to you, along the roll. (Don't overfill!) Once you have your fillings in place, carefully roll up the sushi towards the edge without quinoa. Use water blotted along the unfilled nori edge to help seal the sushi roll. Press tightly along the roll, and then using a clean knife, slice into 8 pieces.
4. Serve with soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi etc.

Just becauses little pig steamed buns are so cute

I'm pretty sure I talked about these steamed buns awhile ago but finally managed to rescue the photos from wife's camera!  Also imagine little panda buns.... oh how I love T&T.

Green Bean, Feta, & Mint Salad

I will continue to focus on "spring" recipes due to the complete absence of any vestige of summer weather in Vancouver (it's July already, come on sun!). Someone made reference to the month of "Junuary" as in it's still raining 90% of the time and it's nowhere near warm enough to break out the shorts yet.

Anyways, came across this recipe on smitten kitchen and I am completely besotted with it! An absolute wonder of a spring recipe (or summer if you happen to have that season where you live) with a tantalizing combination of differently colored, crunchy vegetables and a Mexican inspired dressing. Perfect for lunch, dinner and everything in between.

Green Bean, Feta, & Mint Salad1/2 lb green beans
1 c. thinly sliced radishes
1/2 - 1 c. sliced & quartered cucumbers
1/2 - 1 c. thinly sliced carrots
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled or cubed goat feta (or more!)
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 c sunflower seeds, salted or unsalted
4-6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon coarse or Kosher salt (more to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/8-1/4 tsp sumac (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 to 4 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint leaves

1. Wash and chop the green beans into 1-2" long pieces. Briefly saute over medium heat (2-4minutes) with a touch of olive oil until they have brightened but are still slightly on the crunchy side. Set aside to cool.
2. Mix the rest of the vegetables, feta, green onions, sunflower seeds and mint in a medium bowl.
3. Whisk lime juice, olive oil, salt, and spices in a small bowl.
4. Add green beans to the rest of the salad and pour dressing over vegetables, tossing to coat. Adjust with more salt, pepper, cumin, chile powder, or lime juice as needed. (As with most cold salads that are non lettuce based, it only gets better after sitting in the fridge for a while).

Quick Jalapeno Cheddar Buttermilk Bread

Another pinterest recipe success - an incredibly helpful link to a basic buttermilk quick bread (for when your milk or kefir milk or yogurt has soured) that can be easily modified into a variety of sweet or savory loaves. Another life lesson in the kitchen for me: do NOT replace a specified freshly chopped jalapeño quantity with the same quantity of canned jalapeño! Common sense would say to use less, but those of us not quite on the ball forget that a greater amount of spiciness/pepper exists in the canned version which leads to a super spicy buttermilk quick bread that only the wife can eat.... oh well, next time I'll get it right.

Buttermilk Quick Bread with Cheddar and Jalapeno

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c. buttermilk (or sour milk or kefir milk or yogurt with a bit of water)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil (or unsalted butter, melted)
• 1/4 c. minced jalapeno pepper (or 1/8 c. canned jalapeno pepper)
• 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 - 2 tsp cumin seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9x5 loaf pan.
2. Whisk dry ingredients together. Whisk the wet ingredients together (including the jalapeno)
3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, gently folding in the cheddar cheese and cumin seeds at the end. (don't overmix!)
4. Scrape batter into pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
5. Let loaf cool 15 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to finish cooling.

Chickpea Flour Coconut Chocolate Muffins

This recipe taught me a very important life lesson: never ever taste a batter with raw chickpea flour in it. The sad thing is, I forgot this lesson the first time I learned it when making chickpea flour granola bars and unnecessarily relearned it. It is unquestionably one of the most disgusting tastes one can encounter in life (not to mention the smell) - almost so bad that it leads you to believe nothing good can come out of this batter - but that would be a lie. Once cooked however, chickpea flour is an innocuous tasting vehicle full of protein! I was quite pleased with how these muffins turned out - a minimally sweet, but satisfying protein snack, great for taking to work or on a hike. Note these are not a moist, fluffy muffin so if that's what you're looking for, look elsewhere!

Chickpea Flour Coconut Chocolate Muffins (~10 half-filled in regular-sized muffin tin)

• 2 Tbs ground flax or chia seeds (whole)
• 4 Tbs water (or kefir whey)
• 2 c. chickpea flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cocoa powder (optional)
• 3-4 Tbs honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 - 1/3 c. chocolate chips
• 1/3 c. shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tin.
2. Combine water and flax (or chia seeds) and let sit for 3-4 minutes.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl (leave choc chips & coconut until later). Then whisk the wet ingredients together (applesauce, water/flax mixture, honey, vanilla extract).
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry just until moistened, adding in the chocolate chips & coconut.
5. Spoon into greased muffin tins (makes 12 small muffins in a regular tin) and bake 20-30 minutes until crispy around the edges.

Sweet Potato Hummus

Disclaimer: this hummus recipe is FABULOUS, but I'm not exactly 99% sure of all the ingredient quantities I recorded - maybe 85-90% sure. To make this recipe, please be confident in your own taste-testing abilities and adjusting the flavor to suit yourself.

Disclaimer #2: I really dislike traditional hummus. Not sure if it's the tahini flavor or what, but it feels SOOO heavy on the tongue. My favorite hummuses (hummesi?) are nowhere near traditional - e.g. hummus made with orange juice and grapefruit zest, black bean hummus with lime juice, cumin and chili powder, and so on. Ergo, when I read this recipe for sweet potato hummus, I knew I needed to try out a possible addition to my alternative hummus repertoire.


Sweet Potato Hummus (makes A LOT)

• 6 small - medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed, and boiled until just tender
• 1 3/4 c. garbanzo beans
• 4 Tbs water (or garbanzo bean broth if from scratch)
• 4- 6 Tbs olive oil (if it's lemon or orange infused, all the better)
• 2-3 Tbs tahini
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 Tbs ground cumin
• 1/4-1/3 c. lemon juice (or a bit of orange juice)
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• salt to taste

1. Whirl the garbazno beans, garlic, water, olive oil, and tahini around together in a food processor.
2. Add in the sweet potatoes, cumin, lemon juice, paprika, cinnamon, cayenne and nutmeg. Pulse in the food processor until smooth. Taste, adjust seasoning.
3. Leave in fridge for 2-3 hours (overnight is best) to let flavors mingle. Then adjust seasoning again if needed.

Raspberry Balsamic Kefir Muffins

One of the advantages of having a mother with a large raspberry patch is free, fresh berries -- unless you live across a border over which they cannot be transported. :( We've gotten around this restriction by canning large amounts of raspberry puree that can be taken across the border without issue and I then happily incorporated into smoothies, pancake toppings, yogurt breakfast, and other baked goods. I recently found this recipe for a strawberry-balsamic vinegar-goat cheese muffin and immediately thought of switching it up with a raspberry-basalmic-kefir cheese muffin. I have never had such rave reviews about muffins from the wife before! Clearly a keeper recipe. What I like about this recipe is the subtle tendency towards savory with the balsamic/black pepper addition. Definitely a muffin for the grown-up palate.

Muffin Batter (makes 10-11 muffins)

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose, unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup kefir cheese* with ~1-3 Tbs warm water (or greek yogurt)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup Raspberry-balsamic sauce (See below)

Raspberry Balsamic Sauce

• 3/4 c. raspberry puree
• 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 - 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin tins (or use muffin liners).
2. Melt butter and let cool for 2-3 minutes.
3. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
4. Combine kefir cheese, egg, and melted butter in separate bowl. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
5. Lightly fold in raspberry-balsamic sauce.
6. Scoop batter evenly into muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan to cooling rack.