Sweet N Sour Textured Soy Protein

This Sweet N Sour Textured Soy Protein was featured during a live cooking presentation last month.

Colorful and Flavorful Vegan Dish

INGREDIENTS

• 12 pc Textured Soy Protein
• 3 Bell Peppers (preferably different colors)
• 2 tbsp Corn Starch
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1 tbsp Ketchup
• 1/2 tbsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
• 2 tbsp Cooking Oil
• 1 tbsp Soy Sauce

DIRECTION:

1. Soak Textured Soy Protein pieces in boiling hot water until soft, about 1 hour.
2. Rinse them with cold water. Repeat the soaking process twice.
3. Cut up bell peppers and set aside.
4. Cut up soaked Textured Soy Protein in halves and set aside.
5. In a wok, pour cooking oil until heated at high heat.
6. Pour cut up bell peppers into the wok and stir frying constantly.
7. Cook until bell peppers have fragrance (browning) but not burned. Sprinkle garlic powder and onion powder while stirring.
8. Put Textured Soy Protein into the wok.
9. Pour soy sauce into the wok and keep stirring.
10. Put sugar and ketchup into the wok.
11. Stir in corn starch water until liquid thickens.
12. Ready to plate.

Option:

You can add cut up onions with the bell peppers

Video https://youtu.be/lhm8y9mZHaE

Veggie soup with quinoa

Trying to duplicate my love with the soup at Season's Harvest Cafe in Cypress.

The only difference was the price.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup zucchini, sliced
1 cup broccoli
1/4 cup red bell pepper, cubed

Direction:

1. Cook your broth with my Chicken Broth recipe or open a can of beef broth. 
2. Boil the ingredients until zucchini and broccoli are tender.
3. Remove from heat and season with sea salt.
4. Ready to serve.

My version is good as their version.

Aromatic Tea Eggs

Egg prices went down recently in Houston. It's time for some delicious, low-cost tea eggs. When I was growing up in Taiwan, my mom made a pot of tea eggs and I could eat 7 of them in a single setting. Why not 8? No one wants to be 王八蛋 - a foul language in Chinese .

I don't add soy sauce to my tea egg recipe. It kills the aromas from tea and spices. Don't add salt until soaking cycle. (step 6)

Mmm... yummy to marble pattern.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 doz of eggs
1/2 cup of green tea leaves
6 star anise (Chinese Five Spices)
2 cinnamon sticks, 3 inch size
8 cups water, depends on the size of your pot (see step 4)

Directions:

1. Boil eggs until hard, about 5 minutes. Don't over boil.
2. Remove from heat. Soak in cool water.
3. Lightly tap the shells with a metal spoon, but not to crack open.
4. Fill water to slightly cover the eggs, put all ingredients in liquid.
5. Heat to boil, then reduce to simmer. Constantly pouring liquid to top the eggs.
6. Cook until egg shells turn brown. 
7. Turn off heat, top the lid and let soak overnight.

Originally posted on Pbase.

Colorful Bean Soup

This is a time-saving recipe in total time spent, not fast cooking. For the proper flavor, Trinity is required. This recipe eliminated over-night soaking of dry beans and constantly watching over cooking of beans. 

Colorful combination in Midea Pressure Cooker.

Ingredients:
1 cup mixed beans from Whole Foods Bulk Bin #6721
1/2 cup pinto beans
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 medium ham hock
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 medium bay leaves, crushed
6 cups water

Directions:

1. Make the Trinity in a pan - sauté all vegetables in 1 tbsp of Olive Oil over medium heat until onion turns translucent. Not in the Midea pot, because it would make it bottom really sticky and hard to clean.
2. Rinse dried beans, no soaking required. 
3. Place Trinity in Midea Pressure Cooker with ham hock, rinsed beans, spices and 6 cups of water. Watch the level on the pot, make sure it is below Max line. 
4. Follow the instruction and set to cook 40 minutes on Bean/Chili setting.
5. When ready, remove contents from pot. 
6. Season with sea salt. I put 1 tsp because ham hock is already salted.

This is one delicious and healthy high-fiber soup, great for people with diabetes.

Pot of Greens

I love collard greens. But constantly checking on the pot over long period of 2 hour became annoying. My recent discovery with Midea Pressure Cooker saved me time and energy.

Easy greens as 1-2-3.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of collard greens, cleaned
1/2 can of chicken broth, low sodium
1 ham hock
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 poblano or green bell pepper,  chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 okra, chopped

Directions:

1. Break the collard leaves from the stems and tear leaves by hand, not knife.
2. Put all ingredients into the Midea pot and follow the safety instructions. 
3. Set to steam for 30 minutes. 
4. When ready, release the pressure and open the lid.
5. Season with salt and dashes of Tabasco  hot sauce.

Low-Sodium Coleslaw

This is my instant slaw recipe - skipping the marinate.

Got to love it when it's fast. Faster than driving to KFC.

6 cup shredded cabbage
1 tbsp shredded carrot
1 cup mayo
2 tbsp vinegar (prefer apple cider vinegar)
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp Splenda
1/2 tsp celery salt
Dash of ground pepper

1. Sprinkle celery salt on vegetables and rub until soft.
2. Stand for 10 min
3. Squeeze out excess liquid. (If too salty, rinse with drinking water and squeeze out the liquid.)
4. Mix in other ingredients.
5. Toss well.
6. Refrigerate for an hour or marinate overnight.

Salmon Au Miso

This was a self-taught recipe after eating at popular restaurant in Hawaii. Miso was on everything. But when it was roasted, the sweetness brings out from the naturally fermented soy beans. I shared this recipe with my mom. That was why there is a Chinese version.

Ingredients:
2 lb. Fresh Salmon
 2/1 cup Miso, any color or type
 1/4 cup Sake rice wine
 Soy Sauce, Sugar, Salt and pepper to taste

Baked miso has aroma that will blend well with salmon

Direction:

1. Cut salmon into portion sizes 
2. Salt fish with salt, lightly, on both sides. 
3. Let sit for 30 minutes to draw out excess water. 
4. Combine all ingredients and marinate fish overnight. 
5. Bake fish on a sheet pan at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until edges begin to brown. 

食譜: 味增鮭魚 - Chinese Version

2 lb. 新鮮鮭魚
半杯味增醬
1/4 杯日本米酒或米醋
少許胡椒
少許糖和醬油

1- 把魚切成食用大小。抹一些鹽﹐過半小時後﹐去水。
2- 把魚加入所有的調味料﹐放入塑膠袋密封。
3- 醃泡一夜。第二天晚上﹐連同滷汁一起去烤箱烤。
4- 設定350度﹐烤10-15分鐘。烤到邊緣開始成褐色。


Originally posted on Not-so-Secret Potluck Recipes

Sugar-Free Vietnamese Pickles

If you like the taste of daikon pickle at a Vietnamese restaurant, you could try this recipe without worrying about raising your blood sugar.

Ingredients:
1 cup carrot strips
1 cup daikon strips
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp Splenda
1 cup vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 cup water

Refreshing flavor to enjoy at anytime

Directions:

1. Rub the salt on carrot and daikon and let stand for 30 minutes. 
2. Rinse off the salt with drinking water. 
3. Drain completely. 
4. Pour the rest into container 
5. Toss frequently 
6. Ready to serve in 2 hours; better tasting pickles takes overnight

Originally posted on pbase.

Cauliflower in Sundrenched Days

This is one simplest recipe and great for potluck. It doesn't cost much and everyone loves finger food and delicious vegetables with lots flavors and endless conversation.  Although Kraft stopped producing Sun Dried Tomato Dressing, you can use any oil-based salad dressings. The blanching technique is to keep cauliflower crunchy and retain the vitamins without over-boiling it.

Most of salad dressings can be used as marinate

Ingredients:
1 head Fresh Cauliflower
8 oz Oil-based Dressing (half bottle)
3 qt boiling water 
4 qt iced cold water

Directions:

1. Cut cauliflower into bite sizes.
2. Rinse well.
3. Bring a pot of water to boil, enough water to cover the entire head of cauliflower.
4. Dunk the vegetable and cover.
5. Remove from heat and soak for 10 minutes.
6. Drain and remove the vegetable immediately. 
7. Dunk them into the iced cold water.
8. Once the vegetable is cooled to room temperature, remove from cold water and drain well.
9. Pour salad dressing into the bowl. Toss cauliflower pieces until they are evenly coated. 
10. Ready to serve.

Miso Chicken Breast

Ingredients:
1 de-boned chicken breast
1/2 cup Zinfandel
3 tbsp miso paste
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
5 sliced jalapeno

Miso has extra aroma after cooking

Directions:
Marinate all ingredients overnight
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Bake 20 minutes uncovered.

Turkey Taco

Turkey taco for dinner - it's so easy to make, but a little time consuming in preparing everything initially.

1. Follow the directions on this McCormick Chicken Taco seasoning. 
2. Add extra cumin and oregano. 
3. Shred lettuce, cut some tomatoes and cilantro.
4. Heat corn tortillas and ready to the assembly line. 
5. Top them off with some Taco Bell Fire Sauce to taste like in restaurant. 

Originally from Instagram

Ground turkey @ $2.79/lb. #vegetabletarian #homemade #healthy

Stir Fry Chicken Pieces

Ingredients:
One half chicken breast
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 cups of cabbage
2 tsp chili sauce
1/2 cup of chicken broth
dash of salt
dash of pepper

I used Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce (from the maker of Sriracha) 

1. Cut chicken into bite size.
2. Mix corn starch and soy sauce into chicken piece in a lunch box.
3. Cover and marinate overnight.
4. Cut cabbage into half inch strips.
5. Heat oil in a wok on high heat for a minute. Don't let it scorch.
6. Stir in cabbage. 
7. Coat them with heated oil and stir, stir, stir until slightly transparent.
8. Add chicken broth, salt and pepper.
9. Lower heat to medium high and cook until slightly soft. Don't overcook.
10. Remove from heat and set aside.
11. Use remaining oil and add 1 tbsp oil, if needed.
12. Stir in chicken pieces. 
13. Coat them with heated oil and stir fry until surface changed to white. About 3 minutes.
14. Mix cooked cabbage, hot sauce into the wok. 
15. Stir fry on high heat for about 2 minutes. Sample the chicken pieces, make sure no longer pink inside.
16. Remove from heat. Ready to serve with steam rice.

Technique of stir frying: Coat the ingredients with heated oil and keep stirring until cooked. This will allow meat to be tender and evenly cooked.
I prefer olive oil is because of flavor and healthy benefits. You can use vegetable oil.