Balsamic Roast Veggies

I'm usually really lacksadaisical about making veggies. As far as I'm concerned, Chinese stuff just needs to be flash-boiled and drizzled with oyster sauce, and other veggies just need to be steamed with a bit of Mrs. Dash.

For Thanksgiving, however, I thought I'd spare my friends, who always have to eat the same things when they're over, especially if it's Western food.

This recipe really is just for reference.

Ingredients:
6 plum tomatoes, quartered
1 zucchini, sliced into thick half-moons
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 red onion, cut into half-wedges
1 eggplant, quartered lengthwise, and then thickly sliced
4 carrots (small-medium), cut into 1" pieces

olive oil
balsamic vinegar
dried parsley
salt
pepper


Method:
Cook carrots in water until they can be pierced with a fork.
Preheat oven to 375F.
In a large baking dish, pour enough olive oil to coat the veggies.
Add balsamic vinegar, parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
Add veggies and toss to coat.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
Stir the veggies and bake another 15 minutes, or to desired tenderness.


Comments:
I am not sure if onions add flavour. I might try next time without the onion, because I found that a lot was thrown out.

The picture to go with this would've been really pretty, but alas, we didn't take any.

Verdict:
You practically can't go wrong with balsamic.

Daikon and Carrot Pickles

I LOVE this stuff! Conveniently found a recipe here.


Ingredients:
Daikon, cut however you like
Carrots, cut however you like

2 parts water
1 part white vinegar
1 part sugar
salt



Method:
Over low heat, mix water, vinegar, sugar and salt until dissolved.
Place veggies in a glass container with a cover.
Pour liquid over veggies.
Refridgerate overnight.
Enjoy!



Comments:
Make as much liquid as you need to cover the veggies. It is best to submerge the veggies to get the best pickling action. Use a bowl on top of a dish if you need to weigh it down.


Verdict:
LOVE IT!

Vermicelli with Green Onion Oil

Vermicelli is a staple of Vietnamese cuisine. The addition of green onion oil really kicks it up a notch. You have no idea how difficult is was to track down a recipe. Most of them were for the deep fried onions, where the point is to turn the onions brown, and those are only good for soup-based noodles. Granted, I could've figured it out eventually, but this recipe made it much easier.


Ingredients:
1 pkg noodles
0.25 cup vegetable oil
4 springs green onions, chopped
0.5 tsp salt


Method:
Heat oil in a sauce pan on high until hot.
Add onions and salt. Be careful of splatter.
Cook onions until fragrant. The onions shouldn't brown. Stir to keep salt from burning on the bottom (although admittedly, the crusty bit is very tasty.)
Remove from heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, boil up some water.
Put in noodles, turn heat down to medium and cook until al dente.
Rinse with cold water and drain well.

Place a serving of noodles into a bowl and drizzle sparingly with oil.
Enjoy with the main dish.



Comments:
The measurements are approximate. I probably used more of everything.

Be careful with taste testing the oil. It is hot.

The cold rinse washes away excess starch and prevents the noodles from clumping.

Use an oil that doesn't have a strong taste. Olive oil would not be appropriate as it would likely overshadow the onion.

The oil will keep for a bit if you don't use it all.


Verdict:
Love!

Hash Brown

I'd never really thought to make this, but have always loved it. Potatoes are totally awesome! Will's made hash brown before, so I left it up to him.


Ingredients:
Potatoes, about 1-1.5 per serving.
Seasonings to taste.


Method:
Boil potatoes until just barely cooked.
Drain, let cool completely and peel.
Coarsely grate and pan fry.
Enjoy with condiments!


Comments:
Using a non-stick pan is not so good, because you don't get the super heat transfer that allows the outside to crisp. So, just use a regular pan with some oil. I am almost certain that a wok would be awesome for this.

We didn't have spring onions, but I think lightly frying some up with the potatoes would add loads of flavour, too.

The pictures turned out really crummy, so sorry!


Verdict:
Easy peasy and yum! I love breakfast for dinner ^^

Anko (Red Bean Paste)

Before I get into this, I just have to say that I LOVE teaching an academically-inclined, eastside school. I actually feel like there's hope for the future!


So one of my absolute favourite desserts is the red bean-matcha-condensed milk combination. It was everywhere in Japan during the summer and there's even a drink like that here, at Flo Tea, called Shrek. Way better, in my opinion, than the "3 colours" iced drink from Vietnamese restaurants (I'm not a big fan of the green jelly).


Anyhoo. Last summer, I had matcha syrup, anko and condensed milk over shaved ice. YUM! This year, I didn't have ice ready to put into the shaver, so I used green tea ice cream. Will was also saying that he'd like red bean ice, so I used coconut milk instead of condensed. I quite like it.


Anko can be purchased by the can, though it does get a bit pricey, and you can't control how much texture you want.

Ingredients (I actually didn't measure anything):
~ 3/4 cup Azuki beans (large dried red beans) to get about 2 cups paste
sugar
salt (optional; I didn't use it this time, but apparently did last time)


Method:
In a pot, soak beans overnight in lots of water.
Bring beans to a boil.
Turn down heat to medium and let bubble for 10 minutes.
Drain.
Add about 3 cups of water and bring to boil.
Turn heat to low and simmer 1 hour, until softened and breaks apart when stirred.
Drain some liquid. Add sugar and salt to taste.
Stir and simmer until thickened.
Cool and serve.


Comments:
The beans must cook at a high temperature for a few minutes to denature a toxin that's found in many dried beans.
Add sugar only at the end, as the beans will not break apart if you add it too early (or so I've read).
I used a 3L pot, I think. It helps to prevent the beans from boiling over.
If the main purpose is to make red bean ice, then don't cook for so long, and leave a little more liquid in the pot, to facilitate drinking.

Verdict:

LOVE, love, love! (But that's just me =P)

Spinach Gomae

I've always loved this, but really only ate it at all-you-can eat places because only then could I eat to my heart's content. A simple, refreshing recipe for the coming summer.

Ingredients:
1 bunch spinach
0.5 tsp sugar
4 tbs white sesame seeds, toasted and ground
1 tbs soy sauce


Method:
Dissolve sugar in soy sauce. Add more sugar if you like it sweeter.
Mix with sesame. Add more soy sauce to taste, if desired. Set aside.
Wash spinach and cut into 3 cm pieces.
Boil spinach and rinse with cold water.
Drain well, gently squeezing out excess water.
Mix with sesame sauce.
Cover and chill until serving. This step also allows the water to creep out and thin the sauce. Serve immediately if you want the sauce to stay chunky.


Comments:
It is tastier to toast the sesame yourself. Just heat it in a pan, stirring to prevent burning, until fragrant and golden.

I also ground the sesame myself, using the dry mill of my bamix hand blender.



Verdict:
We used two bunches and ate it all in one go, one bunch for each of us ^^

Cranberry Sauce

Ange said in her blog that it was super easy, so I bought a package of fresh cranberries, and waddaya know, there's a recipe right on the back!


Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 cups fresh cranberries (1 pkg)


Method:
Bring water to boil, and dissolve sugar.
Add cranberries and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and let simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cool at room temperature, then chill if desired.


Comments:
Such a beautiful red!
It is kinda odd to have your food hiss while it cooks.
It also has a bite. The bursting fruit got me a couple times.


Verdict:
Definitely better than the canned stuff. Easy to make, and the price is comparable. I think I'll experiment more next year =)

Coleslaw with Rice Vinegar

I try to have some sort of veggie with every dinner, and coleslaw is often mention with pulled pork, so I went a hunting for recipes. I usually like coleslaw with mayo, but since the amount needed is ridiculously small, it wasn't worth it for me to make a batch. (Neither Will nor I would use it for anything else). Found this recipe here, which has both a mayo and non-mayo version.

Ingredients (6-8 side portions):
0.5 medium head of cabbage, shredded
1 medium green pepper, thinly sliced
1 jumbo carrot, coarsely shredded
2 tbs sugar
0.25 tsp salt
0.25 cups rice vinegar
2 tbs white vinegar
ground pepper

Method:
In a bowl, combine the sugar, salt and vinegars. Adjust to taste. Add water if needed to dissolve the sugar.
In a large bowl, toss veggies together.
Add dressing and toss.
Sprinkle pepper on top.
Cover and chill until serving.


Verdict:
Subtle flavour, which is what I like. Will added copious amounts of white vinegar to his.

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

If I had known how easy and cheap it would be to make my own salad dressing, Will and I would not have thrown out so many half-bottles of dressing gone bad.

Found out via web the approximate ratios. Most of this was mix and taste until it tasted right, so I'm not even sure that this would qualify for the tag 'recipes' =P


Ingredients:
3 parts Olive oil
1 part Balsamic vinegar
1 part Dijon mustard
1 part Honey
Pepper
Dried parsley


Method:
Mix vinegar, mustard and honey with a fork. Taste it and make sure it is to your liking.
Mix in the oil, about a third at a time until it is the right consistency.
Season with pepper and parsley.


Comments:
The parsley will expand and give the dressing nice flakes.

Adding in more of any of the ingredients will not kill the dressing.

The emulsifying agent is the mustard, so if the oil keeps separating, even with a good mixing, use more mustard.

Olive oil is apparently somewhat delicate, so if you use an electric beater to mix the dressing, be careful not to overdo it, as the oil will turn bitter.


Verdict:
Thumbs up! I tossed it into a super healthy salad of red and iceberg lettuce, topped with orange peppers, grated beets, tomato, cucumber, boccoccini, and basil. I hit up 4 differ colours in one dish ^^


Next time:
Probably try out a sundried tomato vinaigrette.