Hot & Sour Soup

It’s HOT in SoCal in September, but my thoughts are already turning toward soup and the (slightly) cooler weather of October (tomorrow!), so here’s a perennial favorite that can be tweaked many ways. It is traditionally a pork-based soup, but this is a vegetarian or vegan version, depending on the stock you use.
Five spice powder’s claim [...]

Vegetable-Stuffed Steamed Buns

We often buy frozen steamed buns at our local Asian market, but a special treat is to have the homemade version. The vegetable-filled version, cai bao,  makes a great savory breakfast.
equipment:

24 squares of wax or parchment paper, 2×2″
steamer: for this recipe, if you have been rigging up a steamer as I discussed in the Steamers [...]

Chicken with Cashews

This is a home version of an extremely popular restaurant dish. I recommend you find a purveyor of free-range, organic chicken: you will be amazed by the difference in flavor (you will find that you can actually detect the lack of antibiotics and other chemicals normally present in conventionally farmed chicken!) AND you will be supporting [...]

Early Fall Supper

Here’s a quick, homey supper, mostly featuring the items I’ve been finding at my local farmers’ market. I’m giving a vegetarian option (indicated by *) as well as one with meat.
recipes:

pork shreds with chinese broccoli or *chinese mustard greens with pressed beancurd 
sweet & sour cabbage
braised long beans (or green beans)
braised squash
basic steamed rice

strategy:

Soak the rice well in advance.
Marinate [...]

Mediterranean Diet, RIP?

There was a disturbing article in the New York Times yesterday concerning the demise of the Mediterranean diet in its native Greece, as well as in southwestern Europe in general. Elisabeth Rosenthal reports that obesity and high cholesterol are on the rise among the children and youth of the area, resulting in a situation similar [...]

Pork Shreds with Chinese Broccoli

This is another very quick stirfry with a beautiful presentation (you’ll look really professional if you cook it for friends – little do they know it’s super-easy!)
For a discussion of Chinese broccoli, see Stirfried Broccoli (Chinese or Not). For this recipe you could substitute our traditional western broccoli – I would, however, just blanch it [...]

Stirfried Beef with Bell Peppers

Super-easy basic stirfry recipe – the trick is to keep the food moving and not overcook it, or you will have tough meat, limp veggies, and too much juice! If you have a small wok, cook the food in 2 batches, or it will crowd the pan and steam instead of stirfry.
Once again, I strongly [...]

Chinese Mustard Greens with Pressed Beancurd

Chinese mustard greens have the poetic name of “red in the snow” – I’m not sure where the name comes from, although because it grows from late fall into early winter, it may perhaps have something to do with it surviving (or perhaps even blooming) into the snowy season. You can find pictures of the [...]

Shrimp with Edamame

This dish is a favorite with our kids as it features 2 ingredients they love – shrimp and edamame. Both are readily available in your grocer’s freezer, but if you have a chance to visit a seafood vendor at a farmers’ market or store that specializes in seafood, you will probably be able to purchase [...]

Gaia Girls Unite!

I just finished reading Lee Welles‘ The Way of Water, which is the second book in her series The Gaia Girls (book one is called Enter the Earth). The series is written for the 9-12-year-old girl crowd (boys will appreciate the action-packed pages as well), but having bought the first two books for my daughter, I figured I ought [...]