8 posts tagged “miso”
Time really flies. It's the middle of July now. I haven't been blogging much lately. I have a very good excuse this time. I was transitioning to Ubuntu Hardy (a very popular Linux distro) in the past two weeks. I was really busy configuring my system, getting our wireless network to work, and synchronizing the iPod Touch with my new Ubuntu system. I'm really excited about this move because I'm finally free of Windows and all the Windows woes. And I can cut our future expenses down - no more software purchase! And in the midst of setting up my own notebook, my husband's Windows Vista was actually wiped out by a serious and malicious virus. All of his files and his Windows system files were deleted after a reboot. We got no warning whatsoever from our expensive antivirus software. Yeah, what was I expecting a stupid little Windows program to do? The outcome is that now we are both using Ubuntu only. I guess Windows finally pissed us off enough. I'm certainly not gonna miss it.
Being inundated with setting up two Ubuntu systems, I haven't posted any food porn but I have been eating. Well, that goes without saying. I have been cooking, sort of. So this post may seem a little long.
The first photo is the Deep-Dish Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche. I saved the recipe from Vegetarian Times for several months before I felt perplexed why I hadn't made it earlier. It was worth the wait, I'm telling you. It's good for a summer dinner that will delight your taste buds, which keeps you refreshed and cheerful.
Here's a closeup that you can't miss. Oh, I really loved this quiche! It's also the first time that I have made a pie crust with whole wheat pastry flour. I enjoyed the whole process for a good reason then.
The second photo is the Lentil, Bok Choy and Potato Soup. The original recipe is Lentil, Spinach and Potato Soup by Carla of "But Did They Eat It?". I liked it very much, but didn't eat the leftover soup the second day. It's really not the soup's fault. I'm just going through a very particular food-crisis phase. I basically don't know what the heck I want to eat for the next meal.
The third photo is my first attempt at making mochi. I bought a bag of mochiko a month ago and every time I saw it in my pantry, I felt guilty of not picking it up. One hot afternoon my cravings made me venture into the kitchen and made some basic sweet mochi. I was too lazy to make any azuki bean stuffing, and simply pan-fried (or rather, pan-baked) the mochi. The mildly sweet rice cakes came out so good. Boy, I love Japanese desserts! Oh, I almost forogt. I followed this recipe on Chow.com.
The next photo is Nicole's Four Grain Pancakes. I used the modified recipe by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen. Kudos to both Nicole and Aparna! It's a great recipe and I totally loved these healthy and hearty pancakes. These four-grain pancakes can be easily made into savory ones that will go nicely with some beautiful soup.
Yet another photo of my regular udon noodle bowl. This one consists of asparagus, dried Shiitake mushrooms (soaked), and faux meatballs. The sauce is simple: a couple dashes of vegetarian oyster sauce, dark soy sauce or tamari, a pinch of hot smoked Spanish paprika and a lot of parsley.
And yesterday afternoon I made these beautiful Chocolate Oatmeal Macadamia Butter Muffins. The original recipe is by Katy of Legally Vegan. She used chunky peanut butter but I'm loving the unsalted macadamia butter now so naturally I used that. I also subbed a silken tofu "egg". Definitely a keeper!
This is after my two bites. It wasn't easy to put down my muffin to take this photo, so I didn't care much about the quality of the photo at all.
Finally, I made a very simple side dish - Summer Squash Sizzle. It's just what I needed in this summer. Crispy vegetables with a hint of lemon freshness. The original recipe is found in My Vegan Cookbook. I love that Web site! Many thanks to the man behind the curtain for all those wonderful vegan recipes.
I guess I won't have much time for regular blogging yet. But I'll try to, especially I've got so much to catch up in my
5 cups water
8-9 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/3 block extra-firm tofu, cubed
4 cups of baby bok choy, roughly chopped
Some Japanese seaweed (any type you like), torn into pieces
1 1/2 Tbsp. white miso
1 1/2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1. Add dried mushrooms to the water in a pot and cook together. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to medium.
2. Add tofu cubes and stir in the miso. Cook for 2 minutes. One minute before everything is cooked, add bok choy.
3. Turn off heat when the noodles are done. Add soy sauce, sesame oil and seaweed. Stir. Serve right away.
* Feel free to adjust all the ingredients to your own preference.
x-posted
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups barley
4 1/2 cups water (keep adding if the soup gets too thick)
15-20 dried Shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
8-12 black fungi (optional)
5 medium-sized potatoes (cut into small chunks)
8-10 button mushrooms (finely chopped)
1 green pepper (finely chopped)
1/2 cauliflower (cut into chunks)
1 package frozen green peas
1 package spinach (leaves only)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. coriander
3/4 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 1/2 Tbsp. yellow curry powder (adjust according to your own preference)
2 Tbsp. 100% organic coconut cream
2 Tbsp. ginger in white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. white miso
1 Tbsp. mushroom paste
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce
Sea salt to taste
Instructions
1. Cook barley in water (1:3) in a large pot. (You can keep adding some warm water during the whole process when the soup gets too thick. Don't let the barley stick to the bottom.) Also throw in dried Shiitake mushrooms (sliced) and black fungi in the beginning to cook with barley.
2. After the water boils, continue cooking on low-medium heat for another 10 minutes before adding potato chunks. You can also cook potatoes in another sauce pan and add into the pot later. Stir once in a while.
3. After barley is cooked (about 35-40 minutes altogether), add finely chopped mushrooms and green pepper. Stir once or twice.
4. Continue cooking for 15 more minutes and add cauliflower and frozen green peas. Stir again.
5. Continue to cook on low-medium heat for another 10-15 minutes. Finally, add spinach leaves into the pot. Stir every 5 minutes to make sure barley doesn't stick to the bottom. Cook for 10 more minutes.
6. Add olive oil, coriander, garlic powder, paprika, yellow curry powder, 100% organic coconut cream, ginger in white wine vinegar, white miso, mushroom paste, and hot chili sauce. Stir thoroughly to mix everything well.
Serve with pasta/wholewheat bread or alone. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
(Serves 5-6 people)
20-25 black fungi (soaked in warm water beforehand)
A handful of seaweed
2 cartons of silken tofu (cut into small cubes)
9-10 pieces of fried tofu (cut into halves)
2 handfuls of soybean sprouts
2 medium-sized green peppers (sliced)
6 cloves fresh garlic (skinned)
3 sticks of leek
2 packages of spinach
Coriander
3 tablespoons of white miso
5 drops of mushroom dark soy sauce
Plenty of sesame oil
Generous amount of sea salt
Black pepper
2. Reduce to low-heat and keep simmering for about 20 minutes.
3. Put in seaweed and continue cooking.
4. Add half a bulb of garlic and plenty of chopped leek. Also add 2 green peppers (sliced).
5. Continue cooking and add halved fried tofu pieces. Cook for about 30 minutes.
6. Add sliced button mushrooms into the broth and continue to cook for another 20 minutes.
7. Put in soybean sprouts. Stir from time to time to make sure everything cooks evenly.
8. Cut silken tofu with a knife into cubes and put into the pot.
9. In the meantime, steam up some spinach (1-2 minutes). When done, combine into the pot.
10. Add plenty of sesame oil, coriander, 3-4 tablespoons of white miso, 5 drops of mushroom dark soy sauce, some black pepper, and enough sea salt according to the taste.
11. Stir and mix well and allow the soup to simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Serve alone, or with some Japanese noodles. Enjoy!