The Peaceable Kingdom

So What The Heck Do We Eat? -- Day 114, The Mega Post

2008-07-14T15:09:11Z

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.

Deep-Dish Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche

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.

Deep-Dish Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche

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.

Lentil, Bok Choy and Potato Soup

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.

Pan-Fried Mochi

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.

Four Grain Pancakes

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.

Udon Noodles with Asparagus, Mushroom and Neatballs

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!

Chocolate Oatmeal Macadamia Butter Muffins

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.

Chocolate Oatmeal Macadamia Butter Muffin (Closeup)

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.

Summer Squash Sizzle

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

Vox neighborhood. Until then, take care and God bless!

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So What The Heck Do We Eat? -- Day 88, Cauliflower Mushroom Marranca

2008-03-10T07:25:57Z

Since my husband already made fun of the large head of cauliflower sitting on the dining table, I was determined to use it before I had to chuck it in the trash bin this time. I must admit that every week I tend to buy a head of cauliflower and simply admire its personal growth on the table without any human interference. While it's all very nice and intimate, I invariably feel sort of bad when the cauliflower begins to look sadly brown and blotched. However, I made myself proud this time by making Cauliflower Mushroom Marranca, the recipe of which was saved by me over a year ago. Susan of Fatfree Vegan Kitchen adapted the recipe from Mollie Katzen's The New Moosewood Cookbook and Susan's version was the one I used. The recipe was very easy to follow and I loved all the ingredients. It's a very good way of eating your cauliflower and millet without feeling bored or forced.

Cauliflower and Mushroom Marranca

The good news is that since I didn't use any nutritional yeast in the recipe, my marranca turned out to be pleasantly moist and tasty. I personally don't think the nutritional yeast is necessary at all. If you don't want a pretty dry casserole, you can take out the nutritional yeast too.

Cauliflower and Mushroom Marranca (Closeup)

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So What The Heck Do We Eat? -- Day 84, Udon Noodles with Yuba, Bok Choy and Bamboo Shoots

2008-02-24T06:01:55Z

Udon Noodles with Yuba, Bok Choy and Bamboo Shoots

I'm still not completely back to cooking yet. So every morning our breakfast is whipped up within 10 minutes. The homemade instant food, as I call it.

This bowl of udon noodles, again, is very easy to make. The ingredients are simply udon noodles, bok choy, yuba, bamboo shoots (cut into pieces), and lots of fresh cilantro. For seasoning, two tablespoons of white miso, two tablespoons of dark soy sauce, some toasted sesame oil, generous amount of garlic powder, black pepper, and paprika.

When you peel bamboo shoots, make sure that you peel off all the rough skins that won't easily break. Just let the skins naturally break away as you keep pulling. There shouldn't be any stringy rough part left. You can feel the crunchy texture when you cut the bamboo shoots with your knife.

Hopefully I can begin to cook very soon. I'm slowly getting tired of all the homemade instant food.

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Thing-A-Day #10: Udon Noodles with Double Mushrooms and Spinach

2008-02-11T04:18:21Z

This is very similar to what I made yesterday. I'm madly in love with udon noodles now. Instead of dark soy sauce, I used sea salt and garlic powder. I added a little more sesame oil and miso and used two different types of mushrooms: dried shiitake mushrooms and the other, I have no idea. They have much fatter stems than enoki mushrooms but taste a little like oyster mushrooms. So they add a natural seafood flavor to the noodles. I have to share the photo here since I love how the noodle bowl looks.

Udon Noodles with Double Mushrooms and Spinach

x-posted

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Thing-A-Day #9: Udon Noodles with Bok Choy and Seaweed

2008-02-10T03:35:06Z

This is a very simple dish. We've been really busy so I haven't really cooked. I'm still trying to get back into our regular routine. Somehow I was craving for some Japanese noodles and nothing beats the easy-and-simple-yet-flavorful udon noodles.

Udon Noodles with Bok Choy and Seaweed

Udon Noodles with Bok Choy and Seaweed

(serves 1)

1 pkg. udon noodles (cooking time according to the package instructions)
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

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VeganMoFo: So What The Heck Do We Eat? -- Day 37

2007-11-30T08:36:49Z

Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy

This week is turning out to be a VwaV week. I made another 3 things from this awesome cookbook - Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy, Sesame Asparagus, and Mexican Chococlate Rice Pudding.

For Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy, I didn't do much different. I just added fried tofu and sliced button mushrooms in addition to the recipe. Also, I used an expensive Chardonnay in cooking because I didn't get white cooking wine. The stew surely turned out fantastic, probably because of the extra Chardonnay I accidentally poured into the stew. :-)

Sesame Asparagus was so easy to make too. However, I didn't have toasted sesame oil, so I sort of just dashed some sesame oil in olive oil and sauteed everything. I sprinkled black sesame seeds on top in the end, which produced a very striking photo.

Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy (Closeup)

Sesame Asparagus

Finally, let me come to the big flop of the day. I started making this Mexican Chocolate Rice Pudding full of enthusiasm but I ran out of white rice in the beginning. I only had less than 1/4 cup. I was already hard bent on making this pudding though. So I foolishly started cooking brown basmati rice instead. The 30-minute fun turned into a 3-hour saga of fighting with the hard-ass basmati rice. In the end, my husband had to put all the cooked stuff in the blender to get the smoothness. Amazingly the pudding turned out great! I was so glad that it wasn't a wasted effort altogether. Subsequently and naturally I ate too much of the pudding.

Mexican Chocolate Rice Pudding

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VeganMoFo: Curried Barley Potato Green Pea Soup

2007-11-27T05:22:30Z

Curried Barley Potato Green Pea Soup

I've been really into curry dishes recently so I made a curry soup yesterday. It's wonderful and satisfying and packed with veggies and whole grains. The recipe below makes a big pot.

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!

Curried Barley Potato Green Pea Soup (Close-up)

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VeganMoFo: So What The Heck Do We Eat? -- Day 31, Thanksgiving Part I

2007-11-22T07:37:07Z

Double Mushroom Double Tofu Miso Soup

I thought of following Fatfree Vegan Kitchen's Double Mushroom Miso Soup but ended up making something quite different. I used two different types of mushrooms and two types of tofu as well. The hearty soup turned out to be fabulous. A very wonderful addition to the autumn comfort soups. I will try to add some baby bok choy and some Japanese noodles next time.

Ingredients:
(Serves 5-6 people)

15-20 dried shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
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

Instructions:

1. Start with 2/3 pot of water. Add dried shiitake mushrooms and black fungi and bring to a boil.
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!

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