Simple Kale Salad with Feta and Cranberries

Hellooooo Summer! There I was complaining about the overcast and rain and bam! The sun came out and you know, anything over 70 is sizzling hot for us here in Washintgton state. One of the good things about summer is that it makes me not want to eat heavy foods, but at the same time it makes me feel lazier in the kitchen and I get hungrier more often.



When I was in Southern California, I had the best salad at true food kitchen and a side salad at the gypsy den. The contents itself is very easy to recreate, but its the dressing that I can't recreate. I actually stood in the salad dressing aisle for a good 5 minutes pondering which one to buy. I settled with a raspberry vinaigrette which isn't perfect, but I do plan to test out some homemade dressings this week. The one at true food kitchen, they had a champagne vinaigrette which was soooo good! Plus, I had this delicious kale salad from Trader Joe's and that inspired me to make this salad for last night's dinner.

Kale is extremely good for you. You know... that dark leafy green goodness. A sprinkle of feta, a bit of red onion and I of course had to add my cherry tomatoes. Some grilled chicken would be perfect too.



Simple Kale Salad with Feta and Cranberries

1 small bunch of kale, leaves torn
sprinkle of feta cheese
sprinkle of dried cranberries
1 TBsp red onion, or to taste
black pepper to taste
small handful of cherry tomatoes
2-3 TBsp vinaigrette of your choice

Mix and serve. Best when served cold.

Vegetable Pasta Salad

Gorgeous week here in the Northwest and I'm definitely not complaining. With the days definitely being longer.... I can see light in the horizon around 4am and it doesn't get pitch black til almost 10pm here. With the warmer weather, I've been craving for simple dishes... lots of salads and light food, nothing heavy, no greasy foods. Plus with the longer days, when it's really 9pm it feels like 7pm so I'm getting hungry later which is really bad. Also, I'm going away in a couple weeks for a week so I don't need to stock up and made sure I ate what I have instead.

Pasta salad sounded delicious! Perfect for lunch and dinner or take it to cook outs. I made mine meatless, but you're more then welcome to improvise and add in whatever you and your family enjoy. I also tried out Barilla's veggie rotini that is made from spinach and zucchini so that also added extra veggies to my dish. Very simple recipe, healthy dish and what's awesome is that I used whatever I already had at home to avoid running to the market.



Vegetable Pasta Salad

1 box Barilla veggie rotini (or whatever pasta you have on hand)
1/2 red onion, diced
3 crowns of fresh broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
a handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
8oz "Cherry Size" Fresh Mozzarella, cut in half
1 1/2 cup Wishbone Robusto Italian salad dressing
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.

While pasta is cooking, cut up all your vegetables and cheese and place in large bowl.

Add 1 cup of dressing to your veggies and mix to coat.

Once your pasta is done cooking and cooled down, add pasta to bowl.

Add in another 1/2 cup of salad dressing.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Let it sit in the fridge for at least a hour before serving.

Japchae

One of my favorite Korean dishes aside from Korean BBQ and Bibimbap, Japchae is pretty up there. The first time I ever had Japchae was when we were stationed at Ft Drum, NY. If you're stationed up there, it's called Koreana. I miss that place!

Ever since I got back into Kpop (waaaay before Psy and Gangnam Style took over the world) and watching shows, I have been eating and cooking more Korean dishes. There's a tiny K-Town out here down S Tacoma Way and I'm lucky there's a couple Korean markets near by. They also recently opened up a H-Mart closer to my house *woot*



I posted chicken stir-fry with japchae sauce awhile ago and it's pretty much the same thing except this time, I used the right noodles and what a huge difference! I also doubled the sauce and mine turned out a little sweeter then the first time I made it. I wish there was a kick to it though... next time, I would add a little spice to it. You can also add beef like the original recipe, but I omitted that.



Japchae
recipe from Korean Bapsang

6 ounces Korean potato starch noodles (dangmyeon)
4 - 5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked until plump
6 ounces fresh spinach
1 small carrot
1 small sweet onion
2 scallions

vegetable oil for stir frying
salt and pepper

Sauce:

3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well until the sugar is dissolved.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook the noodles according to the package directions (5-6 minutes). Rinse in cold water and drain. Cut the noodles with kitchen shears or a knife into 6 -7 inch lengths. Mix in 2 tablespoons of the prepared sauce in a large bowl.

Cut stems off the mushrooms and slice into 1/4-inch thin strips. Season with 1 tablespoon of the sauce.

Blanch the spinach in boiling water only until wilted. Drain quickly and shock in cold water. Squeeze out excess water, cut into about 2-inch lengths, and lightly season with salt and pepper.

Cut the carrot into match sticks. Thinly slice the onion. Cut the scallions into similar lengths.

In a large non-stick skillet, stir fry the noodles over medium heat, stirring frequently, until translucent and a bit sticky (about 3 - 4 minutes). Transfer back to the large bowl.

Stir fry each vegetable (except the spinach) separately with 1 teaspoon of oil over medium high heat, lightly sprinkling with salt and pepper, about 1 - 2 minutes. (Do not overcook. The vegetables should be crisp.)

Transfer the vegetables to the large bowl with the noodles as each is cooked.

Combine all the ingredients and the remaining sauce. Toss well by hand. Adjust the seasoning to taste by adding a little more soy sauce and/or sugar.

Bow Tie Alfredo with Broccoli

I have been slacking a lot in cleaning, cooking, baking, doing dishes. Then I saw Jessica post her chicken bow tie alfredo on Instagram and I wanted to teleport to Hawaii and have a plate myself.

I already had the ingredients on hand which made things easier. Simple and quick recipes are my favorite and this was no exception! One pot used and I only had to mince some garlic. You can use whatever pasta you want, add in chicken if you want and I always love me some broccoli, which you can omit or add in spinach instead.

I actually texted my husband and told him I went to Olive Garden. I asked him, doesn't it look so good? Of course he said yes. Then I told him it actually came from our kitchen... I made this! Not someone else. He got a little mad that I tricked him. I can't wait til he comes home to make this for him. So much better and healthier than Olive Garden's version.



Bow Tie Alfredo with Broccoli

1/4 cup Unsalted butter
1/2 cup Onion, diced
1 TBsp Garlic, minced
1 cup Heavy cream
1 cup Parmesan cheese,fresh grated
Bow Tie Pasta, cooked according to package
1 Steam Fresh Broccoli Florets

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain, set aside.

In the same pot over medium heat, sauté onion in butter until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Microwave broccoli florets according to package instructions.

Add cream and heat until it simmers slightly. Stir in 1 tablespoon of Parmesan, let melt completely then repeat until cheese is gone.

Toss pasta, broccoli and sauce together.

Oven Fried Fries

I saw this pin on Pinterest the other day and I had 2 potatoes that were starting to sprout. I had a couple other potato recipes I wanted to try, but instead went with some oven fries. Let me tell you, around the 20 minute mark or so, my house literally smelled like McDonald's but not in an overly greasy way. I love fries. I know you love fries. And to be able to make them at home? Even better! Originally, I was viewing the pin from my phone and when I went to the source site, there was no recipe to be found. I ended up winging it, but I finally did find the recipe which will be linked below.

I might of sorta over baked mine a bit and while taking photos, added a little bit too much salt. Overall, they were actually pretty good! They're in between a fry and a soft potato chip... if that even exists. I would definitely give this recipe another shot... maybe sprinkle in some herbs or even make garlic fries.

Also, I've been planning a blogiversary group giveaway and I am so excited! Hope you'll be too :)



Oven Fried Fries
Original recipe from Self

2 golden potatoes, cut into 1/3-inch-thick fries
2-3 TBsp olive oil
3/4 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425F.
Place cut potatoes into a bowl of cold water. Drain and pat dry.
Toss with oil and sprinkle of salt.
Roast on parchment lined baking sheet for about 30 minutes or until browned and cook thoroughly.

Roast Balsamic Brussels Sprouts with Cranberry over Barley

Now that is one long title! I am so excited today to share with you this recipe I adapted from Cookie + Kate. Also, did you know brussels sprouts has a 'S' after brussel? YEA ME NEITHER. I am too lazy to go back to adjust my photos though. Okay, back to the sprouts! I tried roasted brussels sprouts sometime last year and I was hooked instantly. I love to season mine with a little salt & pepper, squeeze of lemon and some chili pepper flakes. Another all time favorite is drizzling it with some balsamic vinegar... sprinkle of parmesan is also really good. How do you like your brussels sprouts?



I had pinned this recipe from Pinterest and with the sun out yesterday, I knew I had to grab the chance to make this so I can take some photos. The original recipe uses a different method and it calls for maple syrup and Gorgonzola cheese. I omitted both ingredients and just roasted the sprouts on a cookie sheet like I usually do.

The dish is light and healthy which is always a plus. You get that sweet candied tartness from the cranberries (I used dried cranberries) and then you have the fluffy barley. Honestly, I wish I made more! I like the way I made it... might be a little bland for others, but just season it a little more with salt and pepper. For leftovers, I added some leftover cut up rotisserie chicken.

Roast Balsamic Brussels Sprouts with Cranberry over Barley
recipe adapted from cookie + kate

1 pound Brussels sprouts, tips cut off, discolored leaves removed and sliced in half
1 tablespoon olive oil (I used EVOO)
Salt
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups cooked barley
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, or more to taste

Cook the barley according to package direction.
Preheat oven to 375F
Add cut Brussels sprouts and drizzle with EVOO and seasoned with a bit of salt. Roast 10 minutes.
Add dried cranberries and balsamic vinegar and roast for another 5 minutes.

Getting My Green On

Health food trends. Goji berries, Kombucha, Juicing? Just like fashion, they recycle over the years and pop back into our lives hotter than ever! I remember my Mom juicing back when I was in middle school. Absolutely not cool, hip, popular. Goji berries? You mean, those red things at the bottom of my Chinese soup? And Kombucha? Which my brother and I personally like to call it 恐怖茶 "terror tea" because that's exactly what it was back in the day. A terror my mom was growing in our house and forcing us all to drink. Gotta love the health food trends... I wonder what's new for 2013?

Ok ok, so I really just wanted to whine about the Kombucha thing and give it a huge eye roll. And to think, Jenny and I could be gazillionaires right now if our Moms were still brewing terror tea!



Back to the main reason of this post... I have finally jumped on board with juicing and I don't know why I waited so long. Truth is, spinach juice doesn't exactly sound appetizing and sometimes eating raw spinach makes my throat itch. Plus some juicers are so expensive and what if my juicing thing end up to be a one time use like the waffle machine? Thankfully I have juiced a couple times now and I did end up buying 64 fl oz of Naked Juice Green Machine for those lazy days. I also tried a bottle of Evolution Fresh which I'm not sure if they sell it everywhere, but I found mine at my local Safeway. They also have a store in Bellevue which I really want to check out, but dang... 16oz handcrafted juice is $8! I'm a sucker and I actually would pay that to try it. Actually, looking at their site, I wish they carried MORE flavors at my Safeway. Do you think people really want to pay $4 for 15.2 fl oz freshly squeezed orange juice when you can walk over to the refrigerated juice section and pay $4 for almost a gallon of the same thing? If you think about it, it's cheaper to just buy the darn machine and make it yourself.

My favorite base is always spinach, carrot, lemon and green apple. So far I've tried kale, broccoli, celery, cucumber, pear. I want to try tomato, bitter melon, herbs, beets. What's your favorite combos? Definitely comment below and share your tips and recipes :)

Spicy Thai Tofu with Red Bell Peppers & Peanuts

Spicy Thai Tofu with Red Bell Peppers & Peanuts
Original recipe from Epicurious

1/3 C. Olive Oil
Red Bell Peppers (I only had the frozen mixed bell peppers)
Ground Ginger (Couldn't find mine and still tasted great)
3 Garlic Clove, finely chopped
Extra Firm Tofu, cut into cubes
3 Green Onions, chopped
3 TBsp Soy Sauce
2 TBsp Lime Juice
1/2-3/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Bag of Baby Spinach
1/3 C. Basil, Chopped
1/3 C. Peanuts, Chopped

Method:
Heat oil over high heat. Cook bell peppers, ginger and garlic for 2 minutes. Add Tofu and green onions, toss for 2 minutes. Add the next 3 ingredients, Toss to blend. Add Spinach. Mix in basil. Season with Salt & Pepper. Sprinkle with Peanuts.

Serve with Rice.

Creamy and Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Creamy and Cheesy Broccoli Soup

4 cups broccoli florets
2 cups water
1/2 tsp onion salt
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
6 TBsp butter
6 TBsp flour
3 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
2 cups milk
1 TBsp fresh parsley, minced
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Bring a large pot of water and onion to boil and add broccoli, celery and carrots. Bring to boil, drain and set aside.

Saute onions in butter until tender. Stir in flour to form a smooth paste. Slowly add broth and milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute: add vegetables and remaining ingredients. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes until tender.

Bo De Tinh Tam Chay

Every time I'm in SoCal, I have to come here at least once just for their Thai Soup which is my absolute favorite! When they first opened, they use to have a lot add-ins and now with ingredients being more expensive, they have cut down a lot. My mom and I like to call it the faux squid and on my recent visit, we didn't have any! Come to think of it, there was a lot of canned mushrooms and canned bamboo. What a disappointment. I've also noticed they have made the soup a little spicier, but overall taste was not as good as it use to be.

Another favorite is their Banh Uot Cha Lua with the thick rice noodles and vegetarian "ham" (I believe) and crispy tofu. Their vegetarian fish sauce is also my favorite! We also ordered the Beef dish for my hubby which is actually really good for being faux beef. It almost tastes like the real deal. Almost.

Service is alright. When they first opened, none of the waiters spoke a lick of English, but over the years, they have immensely approved. They also charge you $0.25 for WATER. Yes, you read that right! Now, in 99.9% of restaurants, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to charge water, but I think they use filter water. I'm not too sure about that, but I like to think that they climb a mountain each morning to retrieve the freshest water possible and haul that water back to Westminster, CA, because who charges for water?!!

Bo De Tinh Tam Chay is a serious gem. Delicious vegetarian, even for us meat eaters.

Bo De Tinh Tam Chay
15352 Beach Blvd
Westminster, CA 92683 | 714.891.4455

Warm Spinach Salad

I won't get into full detail, but this week I was diagnosed with Diabetes. It literally crushed me, but I've been pushing on, doing some research, gone to the bookstore to get some diabetic cookbooks and so far I've been pretty positive. That positivity can only last so long before I crash and burn.

Cooking dinner takes over my day. I can't just whip up a meal and eat it without worrying about how much carb, sodium and sugar. Last night I made a warm spinach salad with quinoa. It was really good, but I was still hungry afterwards. Thank you sugar-free fudgsicle. Quinoa is new to our diet and I know DH doesn't like it, but he's a trooper and still eats as much as he can.

Warm Spinach Salad

recipe from Eat what you Love by Marlene Koch

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 tsp minced garlic

1 TBsp olive oil

2 TBsp balsamic vinegar

Pinch of Salt

Pepper to taste

8 cups spinach (I used 3-4 handfuls)

2 TBsp grated Parmesan cheese

1) Add chicken broth and garlic to large saute pan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for 10 minutes to soften and mellow garlic.

2) Whisk in the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Turn off heat and add spinach. Using tongs, quickly toss the spinach in warm dressing just until coated.

3) Top with grated parmesan cheese and serve.