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.

Just Rice

Nothing fancy. Just trying on steamed rice with half white, half brown in this Midea Electric Pressure Cooker.

Follow the usual rice cooker instructions:
1 cup Jasmine brown rice
1 cup Jasmine rice
3 cups water

Set to BROWN RICE and wait til it's done.

Steamed rice close up.

Comparing to the conventional rice cooker, the texture was perfect on the day of cooking. However, the quality degrade faster to hard to chew on 6th day. I don't like to haul around a large pot just to cook rice. So, my conclusion is to continue using my mini rice cooker. 

Fried Honeycomb Tofu

If you don't like the tofu texture, try this easy recipe. Fried frozen tofu with garlic, cilantro and sweet'n'hot dipping sauce makes your dinner appetizer so grand. The Chinese said: 美味無窮!

Fried Honeycombed Tofu adds excitement to your dinner table.

Ingredients:
1 pack hard tofu
3 cups oil for frying

Dipping Sauce:
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 stems cilantro, chopped
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
Desirable amount of Sriracha

Direction:

1. Cut tofu into pieces of half inch thick.
2. Lay the slices on a clean plate and put them in the freezer overnight.
3. Next day, remove them from the freezer and soak in water.
4. Squeeze out excess water and lay on a layer of paper towel to let dry.
5. Heat oil on medium heat until ready for frying* (about 5 minutes). 
6. Carefully drop the slices into oil. Flip once to have even coverage.
7. Remove from heat when tofu pieces turned light brown.
8. Lay fried tofu on dry paper towel until surface is no longer greasy.
9. Mix the dipping sauce ingredients for dipping or serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

*Ready for Frying: Drop a small piece of tofu. If it dips to the bottom then come right up, it is ready to fry.

Originally posted on Instagram June 15, 2013

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.

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.

Fiscal Cliff Deadline Wings

This was the one-of-a-kind hot wing dish - not fried, but baked wings. On 12/31/12, there was nothing to watch on TV, because every news channel was showing the sudden change in personal income tax laws in 2013.

I thought, "gee, if the time really gets bad, let's have some fun with whatever I could find in my kitchen."

My "Fiscal Cliff Deadline Wings" recipe was born.

Ingredients:
8 Chicken Wings, Parted
1/4 tsp Liquid Smoke
1/2 tbsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Crushed Hot Peppers
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1 Orange, crushed

BBQ Sauce: (if you don't have 1 cup of BBQ Sauce)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Ketchup
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

They go well with toasted garlic bread. You can make it an appetizer or a late night snack.

Directions:

1. Marinate the wings with liquid smoke, paprika, hot peppers and salt in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. In a pan, heat the BBQ sauce ingredients and mix in crushed orange and its juice over medium heat until bubbling. Turn to simmer.
3. Heat oven to 400.
4. Lay chicken parts on a greased cooking pan. Bake for 40 min. Flip them and bake for another 10 min.
5. Remove the wings immediately and dunk them into the hot sauce mixture.
6. Toss to coat and ready to serve.

My First Jambalaya

Ingredients:
2 drumsticks
3 cups of water
4 oz of fully-cooked Smoked Sausage, about quarter of a ring
8 medium size (26-30) shelled shrimps
A box of Zatarain's Jambalaya Mix
1 tbsp oil

1. Boil chicken legs in water and cook them at medium heat for about half hour or until you see the meat falling off the bones. 
2. Pull the meat apart from the bones. 
3. Set the liquid aside. I'd rather use the juice from boiling chicken to replace water as required.
4. Slice the sausage into thin as possible pieces. 
5. Half the shrimps, make sure you remove the yucky parts.
6. Followed the directions on the box of Zatarain's Jambalaya Mix. 
7. Viola! Jambalaya is served in less than 60 minutes.

I normally use lower sodium version, because I want to taste the meats.
Next up, stir fried chicken pieces using one-half of the chicken breast.

Easy meals in 60 minutes or less.