Recipes – Page 3

Sushi Bowl Recipe

December 11, 2012 by Betty

My family loves sushi. A couple of times out of the month I’d make California rolls and my kids just couldn’t have enough of it so I decided to change things up a little bit and convert regular sushi into a sushi bowl. This sushi bowl turns out to be a hit and now one of our favorite family meals. Here’s my version of the sushi bowl.

Ingredients:

2 cups short-grain brown rice
3 1/2 cups water
3 (4-inch) square sheets nori seaweed
6 ounces extra-firm tofu
2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
4 green onions, chopped (optional)

Instructions:

Rinse and drain the rice two or three times. Combine the rice and water in a rice cooker or a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, cover, and simmer gently until the water is absorbed, about 45 minutes.

Toast the nori in a preheated 300F degree oven or a medium-hot skillet for a few minutes. Crumble or chop coarsely.

Drain the tofu and pat it dry. Cut the block of tofu lengthwise through the middle to make four 1/4-to 1/2-inch thick sheets of tofu. Two at a time, cook in a dry skillet or well-seasoned skillet over medium-high for a few minutes until browned on one side. Flip gently, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy. Let cool, enough to handle, then cute crosswise into matchsticks. Repeat with the remaining sheets.

When the rice is done, scoop the rice into individual bowls and top with tofu and avocado slices following with some yummy homemade Ponzo sauce (see below). Lastly, toss in toasted nori and add a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Garnish with chopped up green onion. (optional) Served immediately with Orange-Ginger Dipping Sauce or Ponzo sauce. See Easy Homemade Ponza Sauce below for recipe. Enjoy!

Makes 4-6 servings.

Notes: Other substitutes for tofu are wild salmon filets, chicken or beef. To avoid GM foods (Genetically Modified foods or biotech foods) use organic tofu.

Easy Homemade Ponzo Sauce

3 tablespoons low-sodium tamari soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar (brown or white)
3 tablespoons mirin (Japanese seasoning wine)

Makes about 1/2 cup

Ponzo sauce from The Taste for Living World Cookbook by Beth Ginsberg and Mike Milken and sushi bowl recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks.

To get a snippet of GM foods, watch Food Inc., a documentary. Your library might carry this.

Easy Peruvian Quinoa Chowder

November 14, 2012 by Betty

During the crisp, cold days of fall, one of our favorite meals is soup. We love a variety of soups like Brown Rice Porridge in a Crockpot, and here’s another one that we recently came across and have fallen in love with. My friend Donna introduced me to this Peruvian Quinoa Soup. Did you know that quinoa is a great source of protein? To learn more about quinoa, read How to Cook Quinoa, whfoods.com.

Ingredients

1 pound peeled and deveined raw shrimp, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt (divided)
2 tablespoons coconut oil or oil of your choice
1 bunch scallions (about 6), whites and green tops thinly sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 to 2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano (not powdered)
2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
6 cups homemade or purchased gluten-free chicken broth or water
1 cup corn kernels (defrosted if frozen)
¼ cup coconut milk creamer or half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

Put the shrimp in a colander over the sink and toss them with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Let stand until ready to use. (Use within about 30 minutes or refrigerate.)

In a large pot, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the scallions and cook until starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeños and cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes more.

Add the quinoa and chicken broth to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the quinoa is cooked, about 12 minutes. Stir in the corn, half-and-half and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Simmer gently until the corn is cooked, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the shrimp and the black pepper. Cook until the shrimp just turns pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cilantro. Serve the soup with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Served alone or with your favorite fall salad.

Makes 6 servings.

Note: you can substitute chicken for shrimp. To make it spicier, add extra jalapeno at the end.

Adapted from the Oregonian Food Day.

For porridge recipe, click Brow Rice Chicken Porridge in a Crock Pot. For a kale soup recipe, click Zuppa Soup.

Filed Under: Soup, Stew, and Chili Tagged With: quinoa chowder, quinoa soup

Roasting Your Own Pumpkin Seeds

November 2, 2012 by Betty

If your kids are anything like mine, they love seeds and nuts for snacks. So, when I told them that we would roast the pumpkin seeds from our pumpkin carving activity, they were all into it. On a side note, did you know that pumpkin seeds is a good source of protein, iron and vitamin K?

While you can truly roast your pumpkin seeds at 400 F, I prefer to slow cook mine at a lower temperature. Spice up your seeds with additional herbs and spices, such as garlic salt, melted butter, ground cinnamon, all spice to name a few or just stick with the basics, a dash of salt and a little oil if needed. And that’s just what we did.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin seeds, about 1 1/2 to 2 cups, cleaned and rinsed
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon of oil-Optional
Cookie sheet (I used my glass Pyrex)

Pumpkin seeds in my metal strainer.

Instructions:

1. Rinse pumpkin seeds until free of pulp and strings using a strainer.
2. Preheat over to 300 F
3. In a large bowl, add pumpkin seed and toss with salt and oil (optional). If you’re working with dry seeds, oil will help the salt and other spices to stick to your seeds. But if your seeds are still wet, you can even skip the oil. At this point, add additional spices and mix well.
4. Spread pumpkin seeds onto your cookie sheet evenly in one layer.
5. Bake in oven for about 30 min-45 min or until your pumpkin seeds are crisp.

Tip: In the past, I’ve burned my pumpkin seeds in between diaper changes, so do stay close and keep an eye on them.

One healthy snack for you and your family. Enjoy!

What do you do with your pumpkin seeds? Share your ideas in the comment section.

Filed Under: Fall, Healthy Snacks Tagged With: fall activities, roast your own pumpkin seeds

Quinoa Black Bean Salad

October 24, 2012 by Betty

My kids love going to Costco and New Seasons, our local whole foods store. Do you know why? It’s not for the prices and it’s certainly not for the selection. Yup, you might have guessed it, it’s for the food tasting stations. My three year old, Mei, reminds me every time that they have stuff for you to try. Well, on one occasion, we tried a quinoa black bean salad. After trying a few other versions and tweaking them, here’s my version of Quinoa Black Bean Salad.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups water
3 Tbsp lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup dried black beans, soaked and cooked or 1 15-oz can black beans drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted or 1 cup of fresh corn lightly cooked
4 medium tomatoes, seeded and cut into chunks (save seed content for juicing or smoothies)
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (Optional)
¼ cup Italian parsley
3 Tbsp olive oil
¼ cup diced red onion: (Optional)

Instructions:

Put rinsed quinoa, water and salt into pot and bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer until quinoa absorbs all the water, about 12-15 minutes. Then remove from heat, covered and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Transfer quinoa to a big bowl and let it cool.
While the quinoa is cooling, put chopped onion into lime juice and set aside if you’re planning to add onion. If skipping onion, leave the lime juice alone.
Mix together black beans, corn, tomatoes, jalapeno, parsley and oil into a big bowl.
When quinoa is cool, scoop into salad bowl with beans. Add cumin. At this point, add onion with lime juice or simply add lime juice if skipping onion. Mix well.
Add more sea salt and lime juice to taste.
Serve straight from the fridge or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Notes:

If your kids don’t eat spicy, split quinoa salad into two batches before adding jalapeno and the same rule applies to onions as well. If you prefer, 2 Tbsp chopped green onion could be used instead of onion.

Recipe adapted from New Season’s deli quinoa black bean salad.

Do you have your favorite version of quinoa black bean salad or other quinoa recipes? Do share them in the comments section because I love to try more recipes.

For quinoa soup, read Easy Peruvian Quinoa Chowder. New to quinoa? Check out my post How to Cook Quinoa.

Filed Under: Side Dishes Tagged With: Quinoa recipe

Papaya Salad in Raw Ginger Vinaigrette

October 4, 2012 by Betty

I love the Vietnamese style papaya salad so when I saw this raw ginger vinaigrette, I couldn’t resist not trying it out. This delicious marriage of raw ginger and almond dressing is packed with tons of protein and other nutrients. Did you know that ginger has lots antioxidants and cancer-fighting properties? Click here to read more on ginger. This salad is so nutritiously dense that it can be eaten either as a stand-alone meal or served as a side dish. I’ve done both. I’ve served it as a light lunch one day and my three kiddos were totally satisfied. I’ve also added some shredded chicken to it to make my meat-loving husband happy. Everyone agrees that this is definitely a repeater in our household! Here’s what I did. Recipe adapted from Shape.com.

Ingredients for Ginger Vinaigrette:
1 cup raw almond butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
3-4 tablespoons fresh peeled and chopped ginger
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
3 tablespoons tamari (a gluten-free soy sauce)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 small garlic cloves
1/4 Jalapeño pepper with seed (remove if you can’t take the spiciness)
Directions for Ginger Vinaigrette:
Mix all ingredients in a blender. Add more water if you prefer a thinner dip/sauce.

Directions for salad:
Using a Kiwi Pro Slice Peeler (or any julienne peeler), I julienned a zucchini, carrot, and ½ green papaya, covered, and set aside in fridge. When we were ready to eat, I drizzled some ginger vinaigrette on it. Lastly and optional, sprinkle some raw almond slices, cashews or your favorite nuts.

The julienne peeler that I use is called the Kiwi Pro Slice Peeler.

Here’s a close-up picture of the salad. Enjoy!

Note: This recipe could easily be replaced with peanut butter. I love peanuts with bananas, peanuts on bread, and peanuts as my midnight snack. Peanuts have health benefits in themselves, however, peanuts is one of the most pesticide-contaminated crops. They are often contaminated with a carcinogenic mold called aflatoxin.

Do you have a favorite version of ginger vinaigrette, or green papaya salad recipe? Please share in the comments.

References:

Ginger Inhibits Ovarian Cancer Cell Growth

Nutritional value of ginger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger

http://www.openeyehealth.com/2011/05/dangerous-mold-in-peanut-butter

http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/aflatoxin.php