I've been in and out quite a bit the past few days, but here are a few dishes I've done recently.
First, a gobo-carrot kinpira. I'm particularly proud of this, because the last time I tried to use my mandoline to cut gobo, I sliced my fingers to ribbons. I was more successful this time. Need to work on my presentation, though.

Snow peas and shiitake. A little too greasy.

Chinese broccoli and shiitake. I used sake and soy to simmer it a bit, and it was quite yummy.

The whole meal--pickled garlic for both my husband and I, and some chicken wings for my husband. The wings were soooo oily because I spilled the bottle into the pan... oops.
From another recent meal: a tomato-onion-avocado salad. It was delicious. I got the recipe from a friend who made it at a party as a salsa--but it is delicious enough to be served as a salad. No dressing, either--the flavors blend harmoniously all on their own.
I eat brown rice with millet and either chickpeas or daizu (soy beans) mixed in.
Another dish I've tried recently that I really liked (and so did my husband!): renkon with daizu and scallions. The flavor comes from a little bit of wasabi. Subtle and so delicious. It was a hit.

Kara-age... and vegetables

Tonight I made kara-age. It's not very hard to make, and I make it from scratch because for the longest time I didn't realize you could buy a mix. Like dashi no moto--I didn't realize you could buy that in a mix, so one day my husband came home to find me making a giant pot of dashi from konbu, shiitake, and katsuobushi. He teased me for a long time about that one.
While I haven't made dashi from scratch again since I realized it came in brilliant powder form, I do still make kara-age from scratch. My husband says at this point the stuff I make is better than the mix, which is nice. And it's easy, so it's a real winner. The only problem is it's fried... so we can't have it often.
I served it with hiyayako, garlic miso pickles, wakame and cucumber salad, spinach with soy sauce and katsuobushi, spinach soup, and a potato-green pepper-carrot stir-fry.
My husband got the last leftover chawan mushi.
Yeah, so I cut the oil paper into a cheesy heart... only because I'm not good at cutting straight lines.

My meal was more simple and not so fried: the same side dishes, tomato and peas (minus the chicken... sigh), and the tofu gelatin topped with citrus and soy.

A close-up of the kara-age, because it did turn out well tonight.

By the way, I'm back on the antibiotics that caused me to have the vivid dreams back in December. I wasn't on a long enough course of them last time and so my sinuses never completely healed--so I'm back on a longer course now... so far no dreams, but my leg muscles are extremely tired, and I don't think it's from swimming. We'll see how this goes.

Catch Up

I'm going to start with the most recent and work my way backwards. Lately, for lunch I have been addicted to avocado and sprout sandwiches. I was inspired by a nearby restaurant, and developed my own take on it. It's on nine-grain bread, and I use swiss cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, sprouts, avocado and a bit of mayo. So yummy!! And I have been on such an avocado kick lately. They are perfect.


Last night for dinner I made chawan-mushi. I've never gotten it to come out correctly before. Last night--it was VERY GOOD. It does have an egg in it, so it's not strictly vegetarian, but I put mushrooms, shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves) and cilantro in mine--I added chicken to my husband's. They were great! Just the perfect, creamy texture. I was so proud of myself.
I also made the tofu gelatin again, because I had leftover soy-yuzu sauce I needed to use. I used too much kanten, though, so the gelatin part was a bit too hard against the smoothness of the tofu. It was nice, though.
I also made a spinach soup with crisped wonton wrappers in it. Not super-healthy, but not really bad for you either.
The meal: chawan-mushi, a potato-green pepper-carrot stir fry, miso pickled garlic, bok-choy with snow peas, the tofu with citrus sauce, and the soup.
My chawan mushi!! I am so pleased.
The day before yesterday my friends and I went up to Chinatown so I could buy Pu-ehr tea. I've become an addict. I love it.
Another recent meal. This one was a bit too healthy: a plate of broccoli, a salad with sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mushrooms (my sandwich without bread), cucumbers salted with sesame seeds, simmered beans, and a peanut-gobo pickle. I made chicken for Ko, and the miso in the clear bowls are dips for the chicken.
One night I made yaki-yasai. I made miso dengaku sauce to dip them in--both red and white miso. This was a very fulfilling, very healthy meal. I was quite pleased with it.
Served with the gobo-peanut pickles, the simmered beans, and a shiitake-bokchoy stirfry.
Look how healthy I was here! I had broccoli and peppers. My husband had broccoli and peppers with chicken. We also had the simmered beans, and a white bean-artichoke chili. Very satisfying, and pretty delicious.
Again, peanut-gobo pickles, simmered beans, some carrots and dip, and some broccoli. For my husband, a plate of chicken, cabbage and peppers. For me, cabbage and peppers. And pu-ehr tea, of course!!
I made chicken with snow peas and a rice with carrots, seaweed, and chicken in it for my husband. We both had gobo-carrot stirfry, simmered konbu, and the gobo-peanut pickles.
I had chicken-free snow peas, and a dish of simmered beans. And pu-ehr tea!!
Chicken-corn soup for my husband, with rice. For both of us, Indian caulliflower, daikon "steaks" seasoned with citrus and soy sauce, simmered beans, and ume-hakusai pickles. In the background, some spicy bok-choy and chicken for my husband.
For breakfast, I've been enjoying quinoa lately. I sautee some onions, then add golden and purple raisins before adding the quinoa and simmering. It's delicious, just a little bit sweet, and very filling. It's nice after swimming.
Chicken wings for my husband, hiyayako for myself. Bok-choy for us both, and stir-fried celery and mushrooms on a bed of red endive and tomatoes for us both. We also had hakusai-ume pickles.
Nanban sardines for my husband (spicy fried sardines), tofu gelatin topped with a soy-citrus sauce, daikon steaks simmered in citrus and soy, simmered sweet potato, miso soup, bok-choy, and hakusai pickles.