Its one of my favorite vegetable dishes, and really easy to make. Almost as easy as opening a can, but better.
When its tomato season again I plan on making this with fresh tomatos. As part of the natural food diet I’m on, I’m trying to eat more locally and seasonally (not saying I am able to do this all the time, but I’m trying).
Ingredients:
1-2 small zucchini (or more if you have many)
1 can of plain tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes (plain)
olive oil
basil
oregano
garlic
Clean and slice the zucchini into chunks. Slice the zucchini longways, then again if needed, then into small slices. Half or quarter circle chunks are a good size depending on the diameter of the zucchini.
Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pan and add the zucchini. Saute until tender.
Next add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.
The tomatoes I used already had garlic, oregano, and basil in them. Normally I use plain diced tomatoes, and they usually aren’t organic. This is just what my parents had in their pantry, so its what I used.
At this point, add some garlic powder, oregano and basil to flavor.
Stir and cook until the tomato flavor is saturated throughout the dish.
So, potato soup is boring and white looking, with maybe little bits and pieces in it. But the taste is much more exciting.
I started with a basic Potato Leek Soup from Simply Recipes and modified it a little to fit my taste, ending up with a tasty smooth simple potato soup.
Ingredients:
3 large leeks
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth)
4 medium to large sized potatoes
Salt & Pepper
Start with three leeks:
Trim the leafy bits and the hairy bits from them:
(Dude! They took my hair off!)
Slice them lengthwise:
(Wow, man! Look at your insides!)
Then chop them all to pieces, and rinse them well in a colander:
(Well this sucks.)
Melt the butter in a really big soup pot:
Add the leeks and cook on low for 10 minutes. DO NOTLETTHEMBURN OR BROWN! They’ll taste gross if you do.
While those are cooking, peel and chop the potatoes into about 1/2 inch pieces (or smaller if you want them to cook faster):
(Dude, you’re nekkid. Yeah man so are you!)
Add them to the leeks and add the water and broth:
Cook for 20 Minutes. The soup is almost done when the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, and the mix looks kinda goupy:
Now comes the tricky part.
If you have a stick blender you can stick in the pot to blend up some of the potatoes, this is the easiest way.
If you don’t very very carefully, pour out half of the soup. Put that into a blender and blend until smooth. CAREFULLY! This stuff is hot hot hot!
Add the blended mixture back into the other half still in the pot and stir to combine.
Carefully do a taste test without burning your tongue. Add salt and pepper as needed until you like how it tastes. There are other things you can add to it like hot sauce, marjoram, or other spices, but I like things like this to be simple.
I’m just going to get to the point, they’re dim sum, they’re finger food, they’re oriental, and they’re sesame seed covered goodness.
The ingredients for these tasty balls are simple, but might be hard to find if you don’t have an Asian market near by. Then again, there’s always the internet. If you can’t find what you need in the Asian market, ask! Many times items are only labeled with their native language, the people working in the store will be more than happy to find you what you need.
I got my recipe from the book Classic Deem Sum by Henry Chan, Yukio Haydock, and Bob Haydock. The recipes are from Yank Sing Restaurant in San Francisco. The book was published in 1985 so it might be a little hard to find. I found mine at the library but there are a few on Amazon.
I modified their recipe a little bit. Red bean paste is easily found already prepared in Asian markets, so I used prepared red bean paste instead of making my own.
The recipe calls for wheat starch. Wheat starch is NOT wheat flour. Wheat starch is finer and resembles corn starch more than flour. I found mine at my local Asian market.
Make one batch of sweet rice dough at least two hours in advance.
Sweet Rice Dough:
Ingredients
2 cups sweet rice flour
3/4 c water
1/4 c lard, softened (I used crisco)
2/3 c wheat starch
1/4 c dark brown sugar, packed
2/3 c boiling water
Start with the rice flour
Mix in the water.
Mix by hand until the mixture forms a dough, set aside.
Add the lard (or crisco) to the wheat starch.
Mix together. I used a fork to do this, much like you would for a pie crust.
Add the brown sugar to 2/3 cup water and stir until dissolved.
Bring to a boil.
This next part is a little tricky and involves hot boiling sugar water, so there aren’t any pictures.
To the wheat starch and lard mixture, quickly pour the boiling sugar water mixture while stirring vigorously until combined. (See told you this was tricky.)
It should look like this when combined.
Add the wheat starch mixture to the rice flour and mix well by hand.
The instructions then say to turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead until thoroughly mixed, about 10 minutes. I realized my handy kitchenaid would work much better, and tossed it in there for a while until the dough formed a nice ball.
Flatten the dough to 1/2 and inch and wrap in plastic wrap.
Preheat 4/6 cups of oil (or heat your deep fryer) to 360 degrees F.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide in half. Rewrap one half and set aside. Knead the other portion a few times and roll into a 1 inch dough worm.
Cut dough into 20 sections and roll each into a ball. Cover and repeat with the other half of the dough.
The bean paste I had was a little watery so I drained it a bit. I took a spoonful at a time and set it in a couple paper towels (a tea towel would work well also). Fold over the towel and squeeze to remove some of the water. When you unfold the towel the paste should be noticeably drier.
Take one of the balls and form into a shallow cup.
Add a dab of the bean paste 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon to the center of the cup.
Bring the sides up to close the opening and roll in the palm to make an even ball.
Roll this ball into white sesame seeds to coat.
Fry the sesame seed balls in 360 degree F oil about 4-6 at a time. Remove each ball when it begins to float. Drain on a rack or paper towels, serve hot.
8 oz dried red beans
1/4 c black sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 c lard (or crisco)
1 1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1. Wash beans in cold water. Discard any that float.
2. Put beans into a 2-quart pan. Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over high heat.
3. When water boils, add 1/2 c more water and reduce heat to medium. Cook, covered, until beans are tender enough to be easily mashed between thumb and finger, about 2 hours. Replace water as necessary to keep beans covered. Cool in liquid to room temperature.
4. Place beans and liquid in bowl of food processor with metal blade. Puree.
5. Place towel in mixing bowl. Pour in beans. Gather four corners together and twist to squeeze out excess liquid. Discard liquid.
6. Toast black sesame seeds and pulverize in a food processor or blender. Set aside.
7. Heat lard in wok over medium heat until liquified. Add bean paste, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat while stirring constantly until beans are the consistency of slightly dry mashed potatoes, about 25 minutes. Make sure the mixture doesn’t burn.
8. Stir in pulverized black sesame seeds at this point. The mixture should be very thick.
9. Place in a shallow bowl and cool to room temperature.
The other day an internet friend who recently took a trip to New York City posted a link to a recipe for some macaroni and cheese she had at S’Mac.
I love mozzarella, especially fresh mozzarella. Before when I’ve tried to make macaroni and cheese using it, it left the foodstuffs chewy and lacking in tasty cheese flavor, not to mention overly stringy. This recipe uses muenster cheese to help smooth it out as well as starting with a simple bechamel sauce.
This recipe also includes basil, my most favorite herb ever. You can never have too much basil.
This tasty dish even got the thumbs up from my dad.
The original recipe is here. I increased ingredients and modified the order of instructions a bit because of the amount of cheese I had to buy, and why not make extra? You can never have too much mac and cheese (or basil)!
Here’s the recipe with my modifications:
2/3 lb elbow macaroni (yield: 4 cups cooked)
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 oz fresh Mozzarella cheese, diced
3 oz Muenster cheese, shredded
3 oz Pecorino Romano cheese, shredded
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
dried basil leaves
2 plum tomatoes
Fresh basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons
1 garlic bulb
3/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
olive oil
Start with roasting the garlic and tomatoes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice the top of the garlic bulb off, exposing the tops of the garlic cloves. Brush the bulb with olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil.
Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise. Toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried basil. Place skin side down on a baking sheet covered in olive oil.
Roast the tomatoes for 25 minutes until the skin slides off, and the garlic 30 minutes until the cloves are soft and can be squeezed out of the skin.
While the garlic and tomatoes are roasting bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the macaroni to al dente, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
Slice the mozzarella into uniform sized cubes and shred the other cheeses if needed. Also slice the basil at this time and set aside.
Bring the milk to a boil (I used the microwave).
Melt the butter in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and whisk in the flour, cooking 3-4 minutes making sure the mixture doesn’t brown.
Slowly add the hot milk, whisking constantly.
Add the cheeses except for the 3/4 cups of parmesan, stirring frequently until the cheeses are melted and the sauce is slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
Peel the skins off the cooled tomatoes and chop into 1/4 inch pieces. The garlic should be easily squeezed from the skin. It should be golden and translucent and smell oh-so-good. I chopped it a little as well since it was still pretty solid.
Turn off the heat and stir the tomatoes, basil and garlic into the cheese mixture.
Pour the cheese mixture over the macaroni and stir to thoroughly combine, pour into a baking dish.
Top with the 3/4 cups of parmesan and breadcrumbs.
Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown and tasty.
I topped it with some leftover sliced basil to make it look all pretty.
4 oz wide rice noodles
hotwater
1 lime halfved
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
pinch red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp peanut oil
1/4 c cilantro chopped
1 egg
1/4 c unsalted peanuts
1 c bean sprouts
Soak the noodles in hot water in the medium mixing bowl while you make the sauce and scramble the egg.
Squeeze the juice from the lime into a small mixing bowl. Dig out any seeds with your fingers and discard the seeds. Add the fish sauce, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, sugar, and the peanut oil to the lime juice. Beat with a fork to combine.
Scramble the egg in the skillet over medium heat. When the eggs are solid drain the water off the noodles and add them to the skillet.
Add the sauce, the peanuts, and the bean sprouts to the skillet. Stir everything together with the tongs, and cook until its all warm.
Turn off the stove, take the skillet off the burner, and transfer your super fly ad thai to serving plates with tongs. Sprinkle with cilantro.
1 1/2 cups chopped bell peppers
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli florets
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup diced radishes
1/2 cup Orange-Oregano Dressing or Creamy Dill Ranch Dressing
1 tablespoon minced red onion
Place bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, radishes, dressing and onion in a medium bowl. Toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
NUTRITIONINFORMATION: Per serving: 64 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 10 g carbohydrate; 2 g protein; 3 g fiber; 198 mg sodium; 371 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (240% daily value), Vitamin A (140% dv).
4 stalks celery, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons cider, pear, raspberry or other fruit vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ripe pears, preferably red Bartlett or Anjou, diced
1 cup finely diced white Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted (see Tip)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
6 large leaves butterhead or other lettuce
1. Soak celery in a bowl of ice water for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
2. Whisk vinegar, honey and salt in a large bowl until blended. Add pears; gently stir to coat. Add the celery, cheese and pecans; stir to combine. Season with pepper. Divide the lettuce leaves among 6 plates and top with a portion of salad. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
2 6-oz cans chunk light tuna, drained
1 15-oz can small white beans, cannellini or great northern
10 cherry tomatoes
4 scallions, trimmed and sliced
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
ground pepper to taste
Combine tuna, beans, tomatoes, scallions, oil, juice salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir gently. Refrigerate until reado to serve.
This turns out just like the canned stuff, but its not.
1-2 small zucchini
1 can of plain tomato sauce
1 can tomato sauce with tomato bits (stewed tomatoes, canned tomatoes)
oil
basil
oregano
garlic
Wash the zucchini and cut it up into small pieces, slice longways slice that piece in half then cut into little triangular pieces.
Add a small amount of oil to the pan and sautee the zucchini until just tender.
Pour in the tomato sauce and add the sauce with the bits in it. If using whole canned tomatoes, squish them in your hand (or cut them into smaller pieces with a knife) before adding.
Add some basil. I use about a table spoon of basil and a teaspoon of oregano because I loooove basil.
Crush a garlic clove or two (to your liking) and add to the sauce. You can also add it when sauteeing the zucchini, but I have a tendancy to burn it when I do that then it just tastes gross. If you dont have fresh garlic go ahead and use some powdered garlic to your taste. Fresher is better.
Let everything simmer and mellow out for a while. If I’m makingthis for dinner I usually start it first so it can simmer while I’m cooking everything else.
This is sort of like alfredo sauce, but not. Its really good and really creamy
1 8oz Package of Cream Cheese
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp Dried Basil
2 tbsp Dried Parsley
1 tsp Garlic Powder or 1 garlic clove chopped
1/4 c Grated Parmesean Cheese
1/4 c Olive Oil
1/4 c Boiling Water
Melt the butter in a saucepan at low and add the basil and parsley, dont let the butter burn.
Cut the cream cheese into smaller chunks and add to the butter herb mix.
When the cream cheese begins to melt add the olive oil.
Then add the Parmesean cheese and garlic powder. You can adjust any of the herbs or parmesean cheese to your taste. (Although adding a large amount of parmesean cheese makes it a little stringy).
When everything is incorporated and beginning to come together (its ok if things are still lumpy and separated), add the boiling water. This is an important step, without it everything stays separated and is gross (I know this from expirience). Stir at low heat until everything is blended and creamy.
Serve over noodles of your choice.
While cooking or after refrigerating the sauce it may separate. If it separates during cooking you may have it too hot or too cold, adjust the temperature until it blends together again, dont worry. If it separates in the refridgerator, just warm the sauce again slowly stirring occasionally (like 10-15 seconds in the micro, stir, repeat) until blended together again.
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The other day an internet friend who recently took a trip to New York City posted a link to a recipe for some macaroni and cheese she had at 
