Baked Potato Skins

1. Carefully wash the potatoes

2. Arrange them in the oven under 400 F, bake 20 mins.

3. Take them out of the oven, let cool.

4. Cut them in half.

5. Scoop out the flesh leaving a thin layer behind.

6. Lightly grease them on both sides. ( any type of oil will do)

7. Place them back in the oven, 400 F, bake 15-20 mins on each side, or until crispy.

8. Sprinkle your favorite seasoning or top with vegan sour cream. Serve warm.

Arugula Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette

In a blender, blend until smooth: 

1 cup sundried tomatoes in oil

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 handful of baby arugula

2 inches piece leeks (the green part)

3 cloves of garlic

3 tbsp. rice vinegar (the clear one, not the dark one)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 pinch of salt

Oil Free Quinoa Salad

Ingredient:

Precooked quinoa

Freshly chopped baby arugula, romaine lettuce, red cabbage, tomato, cucumber.

Freshly squeezed lime juice 

1 tbsp grape jam

Raw unsalted pistachios

Raisins
Dates

A pinch of salt to taste

Toss them up and enjoy.

Creamy Cauliflower with Coconut Milk

Ingredients:

1 head large cauliflower

1/2 can coconut milk

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary

vegan margarine

sea salt

oil infused red chili pepper (optional)

Steam cauliflower florets until tender. Set aside.

In a pan, saute garlic and rosemary with vegan margarine until fragrant.

Add steamed cauliflower to the pan. Mash it with a wood spoon.

Add coconut milk to the pan. Mix well with the cauliflower mixture. Bring to a boil.

Turn off the heat.

Season with salt.

Top with oil infused red chili pepper. (optional)

Thanks to my brother-in-law for this delicious easy recipe.

See how Asians eat Lotus Root

Lotus Root is not a common vegetable in the west. But it is very common throughout Asia. We love that it is so crunchy and savory. We have created hundreds of different recipes for it. Here is how I cook Lotus Root with just 2 ingredients. 

Ingredients:

1 Fresh lotus root

1 bunch Chinese leeks

Prepare:

Peel and slice the lotus root.

Wash and chop Chinese leeks to 1 inch long.

Stir fry:

Stir fry the lotus root until slightly brown on each side. High heat. 7 mins or so.

Season with salt, nutritional yeast and red pepper flakes to taste.

Add the Chinese leeks at the very last min.

Mushroom Chickpea Pasta Sauce

1. In a pan, saute sliced button mushrooms, carrots, and a few peeled whole garlic cloves until very tender.

2. In a food processor, mix the mushrooms and carrots that you just cooked with 1 cup thoroughly cooked chickpeas along with salt, 1/3 cup olive oil and 2 tbsp lemon juice.

(The more tender the chickpeas, the more smooth the sauce.)

3.  Mushroom chickpea pasta sauce finished!

(If the sauce appears to be dry with well drained pasta, add some pasta water.)

Sesame Oil Cucumber Salad

Ingredients: (1 serving)

1 cucumber (roughly chopped)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tsp nutrional yeast

a pinch of fresh cilantro

salt and red pepper flakes to taste

Toss all the ingredients above together. Enjoy!

The Savory Three

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers

1 eggplant

3 potatoes

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp. soy sauce

3 tbsp. water

salt to taste

This is a very famous and easy Chinese dish to make. Make sure to follow the order of adding vegetables to get the perfect level of tenderness. 

Chop all veggies to bite size.

Heat a little larger amount of oil than you usually do in a pan. (Potatoes and eggplant absorb the oil really fast. Use a pan with a lid.)

First. Add in potatoes. Saute 3 mins.

Second. Add in eggplant. Saute 3 mins.

Third. Add in bell pepper and garlic. Saute 3 mins.

Last. Add in 2 tbsp. soy sauce, 3 tbsp. water and some salt to taste. 

Cover and let it cook 2 mins. ( Keep an eye on the water level. Do not burn the veggies.)

This dish is called 地三鲜 (di san xian) in Chinese. It can be translated as the savory three from the earth.  It is such a famous and tasty dish so almost every restaurant in China has it on the menu. 

Tiger Skin Chilies

Ingredients: (for 2 servings)

6-8 Anaheim chilies

1 red bell pepper

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp. dark rice vinegar

2 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. sugar

a pinch of salt

Step 1.

Halve the Anaheim chilies lengthwise and remove the seeds. Chop the red bell pepper to bite size.

Step 2.

Heat some oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. 

Arrange the chili halves skin side down on the pan and let it brown for about 8 mins.

Step 3. 

Add in chopped garlic and red bell pepper. Stir and cook for another 2 mins.

Step 4.

Add in the seasonings and turn off the heat.

1 tbsp. dark rice vinegar

2 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. sugar

a pinch of salt to taste

It is a classic way of cooking chilies in China. The Chinese name for this type of dish is 虎皮尖椒 (Hu Pi Jian Jiao) which can be translated as tiger skin chilies. The tiger skin refers to the brown and crispy skin of the chilies. I like to serve it over steam rice since the dish has some flavorful sauce. For a more spicy taste we can use jalapenos instead of Anaheim chilies.

Spicy Veggie Noodles

Ingredients: (2 servings)

2 handful of fresh spinach

1 large heirloom tomato - chopped

1/2 red bell pepper - sliced

1 carrot - thinly sliced

1/2 cup green peas

1 clove garlic - minced

2 servings of spaghetti brown rice pasta (or any other noodle)

salt

red chili flakes (oil infused)

nutritional yeast

Prepare the noodles.

Heat oil in a pan. Saute chopped tomatoes until very smooth. 5 mins.

Add in carrot slices and minced garlic. Saute until they are softened. 5 mins.

Add in red bell pepper slices, green peas and spinach. Season with salt and nutritional yeast. 5 mins.

Stir in fully cooked noodles.

Season with additional salt and red chili flakes to taste.

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

In a food processor:

(3-4 servings)

3 tbsp. hemp seeds. ( I used shelled hemp seeds, also called hemp hearts)

2 large hass avocados (or 4 small ones)

1 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla powder

1 tsp. salt

Some sweetener to taste

(eg. 1/2 cup agave nectar

or 1 tbsp. stevia, 

or 2 tbsp cane sugar.)

2 tbsp. nondairy milk (Optional. depending on the consistency)

Top with chopped almonds for extra crunch.

Chill  30 mins before serving.

Sundried Tomato Olive Bread

Step 1. Whip together ( in a food processor):

3 tbsp. ground flaxseed

1/2 cup water

Step 2. Combine in bowl 1:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Step 3. Combine in bowl 2:

Whipped flaxseed mixture (from step 1)

1 cup nondairy milk ( I used sweetened almond milk)

1/4 cup olive oil

Step 4. Add the wet ingredients (bowl 2) to the dry ingredients (bowl 1)

Add 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Add 1/2 cup chopped pitted olives ( I used black olives and red olives)

Add 1/3 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

Mix well

The batter should be stiff and sticky.

Step 5. Bake

Lightly grease the loaf pan or other container that you are using to bake the bread. Add the batter to the loaf pan. Bake under 350 F for 40 mins.

Serve warm with your favorite dipping oil.

Crispy Radish Balls

Ingredients:

1 daikon radish

2/3 cup garbanzo bean flour

cilantro

green onion

ginger

five spice powder

salt

Step 1

Grate the radish as fine as possible.

Thinly chop some cilantro and green onions while waiting for the radish to drain excess water.

Grab a handful of grated radish and squeeze out any excess water into a bowl. 

*Save the radish liquid for later use.* 

Transfer the ingredients to a larger bowl to make the radish balls:

grated radish w/o water

chopped cilantro and green onions

2/3 cup garbanzo bean flour

grated ginger

1 tsp five spice powder

a pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients together. If the radish mixture appears to be dry, start with adding 1 tbs radish liquid back into the mixture. (I added 3 tbs)

Step 2

Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls between your palms. Set aside.

Step 3

Heat some oil in a pan. Make sure the amount of oil in the pan should be enough to have the balls mostly emerged.  (I used a small pan. So I can use less oil.)

Gently put the radish balls in the oil. Fry them over medium high heat until evenly browned. (Turn the balls often to brown evenly)

Purple Yam Patty

Before:

After:

Ingredients:

2 medium purple yams

1/2 cup Glutinous rice flour 

1. Wrap each yam with foil. Put them in the oven at 400F for at least 1 hour or until they are tender.

2. Peel the yams. Smash and mix them well with 1/2 cup Glutinous rice flour. You can use a pastry cutter. 

3. Make little balls with the mixture. Flatten them out on the pan with a little bit of oil. Brown each side.

Glutinous rice is also called sticky rice or sweet rice. It is widely grown and used in Asia. Because of its stickiness and sweetness, people always use it with yams, radish, pumpkins, red beans or sesame to make sweet treats in China. 

Gluten-free Seaweed Avocado Pasta

Ingredients:

Dry and roasted seaweed 

1 or 2 ripe avocado

2 tbsp. soy sauce

brown rice pasta

1. In a large bowl, shred the seaweed (any amount) as fine as you can. 

2. Add avocado and soy sauce (or soy sauce alternatives, eg: Bragg liquid aminos)

3. Add cooked brown rice pasta

4. Mash, mix and enjoy

Seaweed is easy to find in many stores, like whole foods, sprouts and costco. They usually come salted and roasted already.  I got them from a Korean market because they sell larger sheets there.  

Traditional Beijing Salty Sweet Bean Paste Noodle

Ingredients: (Serving size 3)

2 cucumbers

8 shiitake mushrooms

1 firm tofu

5 green onions (1 bunch)

4 cloves garlic

bean sprouts (or other micro vegetable sprouts)

grated ginger

olive oil

rice cooking wine

salty soy bean paste

sweet noodle paste (see pictures below)

asian style wide noodles

3 secrects of this noodle dish:

1. 绍兴料酒

Shao Xing rice cooking wine

2. 黄酱( a salty fermented soy bean paste)

 pronounce: Huang Jiang 

direct translation: yellow paste

on the left

3. 甜面酱 (a sweet fermented soy bean paste)

pronounce: Tian Mian Jiang

direct translation: sweet noodle paste

on the right

As long as we use these 3 ingredients, we can change other vegetables in the dish and still make authentic Traditional Beijing Soy Bean Paste Noodle.

1. Heat up a pan with oil (larger amount is better). Add cubed firm tofu. Cook 5 mins until they start to brown on one side. 

2. Add chopped shiitake mushrooms, greated ginger and minced garlic. Cook 5 mins.

3. Add cubed cucumbers, 6 tbsp rice wine, 1 tbsp salty bean paste, 1 tbsp sweet bean paste.

Mix them well and cook 10 mins. Stir every 2 mins. 

4. Add chopped green onions 1 min before killing the heat.

5. Pour these veggies over the noodles. Top with some fresh bean sprouts.

Flavored Oil - Green Onion Flavor

Ingredients: 4 bunches of green onions. 1 medium yellow onion. Olive oil.

Chop up the ingredients to 1 inch long pieces. Set aside or wipe with paper towel to remove excess water.

Put them in a medium size skillet. Add olive oil about 2/3 of the height of the onions. The onions will be cooked down very fast.

Put them over medium low heat. This is the key of making this rich flavor oil. High heat will burn the onions, leave them soggy and taste like spoiled onions. Medium low heat drains out the water of them slowly but makes them crispy and brown in the end. 

Let it cook for at least 50 mins or until most of the onions are brown and crispy. It may take over an hour if you want them to be perfectly crispy. 

Save them in a jar and enjoy them over noodles with salt and pepper. 

Oyster Mushroom Burrito

Ingredients: Oyster mushrooms, red bell pepper, black beans, cumin, sea salt, olive oil.

1. Sautee oyster mushrooms with olive oil until tender.

2. Add red bell pepper and cook about 3 more mins.

3. Season with ground cumin and sea salt.

4. Wrap the mushrooms and some cooked black beans in a burrito.

Triangular Tofu Object

Ingredients: (1 serving)

1 Extra Firm Tofu

some chopped kale leaves

1/4 cauliflower

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

sea salt

olive oil

1. Arrange tofu in a large pan over high heat without oil. Heat it about 5 minutes to drain the excess water in the tofu. This will help the tofu to get crunchy and golden brown easier. 

2. Add olive oil, cauliflower, kale. Gently stir. Cover the pan. Let it cook about 5 minutes.

3. Flip the tofu over and cook the other side. Uncover. 5 minutes.

4. Add soy sauce, nutritional yeast ( slight cheese flavor) and salt to taste.

P.S. 

There are usually 3 types of Tofu in the market according to the firmness.

Silken tofu

Firm tofu

Extra firm tofu

Extra firm tofu makes very delicious tofu scramble. They stay in shape and absorb more flavor from what you cook. On the other hand, silken tofu makes very smooth tofu soup. They have a more plain taste.

Chickpeas Stew

Ingredients: (2 servings)

Chickpeas (about 2 cups)

1 zucchini 

1 onion

1 potato
1 carrot

1 green pepper

3 tbs. tomato paste

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 tbs. minced ginger

sea salt

cilantro (optional)

cumin (optional)

1. Cook chickpeas first or use canned chickpeas.

2. Sautee onion, garlic, ginger and potato for 5 mins.

3. Add cooked chickpeas along with the liquid and the veggies to the sauteed onion mixture.

4. Cook 20 mins until veggies are tender.

5. Add tomato paste and cook for another 5 mins.

5. Season with salt, cilantro and cumin.

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) nutrition facts