One pan meals are a regular at my home - their convenience is unmatched. This week’s recipe comes together in under 20 minutes. A hearty pasta toss that somehow remains light enough for a warm summer night. Little ears of Orecchiette pasta are the perfect shape to cradle juicy morsels of sausage and Parmesan cheese. Tender stalks of broccoli rabe bring some crunch to the party, but can be subbed with anything you have on hand - kale, broccoli, spinach, or even peas. Technically, we do use 2 pans/pots for this dish (a pot to boil the pasta!), but we’ll just keep that to ourselves :)
I love the earthy, warm spice of curry. This week’s recipe satisfies any curry craving while remaining light and summery. Fresh, crisp corn, silky golden Yukon potatoes, plump seared shrimp, and sweet chunks of mango are quickly tossed with curry powder, a splash of coconut milk. This versatile dish can be mixed with your favorite pasta or eaten on its own! There aren’t any exact measurements for this recipe, I love to simply toss things in and adjust to taste.
Oyakodon, or ‘parent and child’ donburi is a homey Japanese rice bowl dish of chicken, egg, and onions are simmered together in a fragrant stock of dashi and is clung together with softly cooked egg. It’s a comforting meal packed with umami. The traditional recipe calls for dashi, soy, mirin, and sugar to flavor the dish, but today I’m going to show you the cheater’s way to satisfy your Oyakodon craving with ingredients you can find at TJ’s or already in your kitchen. This is by no means supposed to try to be a classic Oyakodon; rather an alternative for weeknight dinners just in case you don’t have the classic ingredients on hand. Enjoy :)
My absolute favorite way of preparing salmon is broiling. I only recently discovered this method over this past year or so. As my kitchen in my Hong Kong apartment is simply equipped with a hot plate, microwave, and toaster oven, I have really learned some new cooking techniques. For the first 4-6 months I had been living here, I didn't touch the toaster oven. I grew up with a toaster oven but we only really used it for well, toasting things. English Muffins, melting cheese, etc. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that a toaster oven can do everything a real oven can. Bake, roast, broil. It's incredible and the reason why there have been so many toaster oven recipes on the blog this year, lol!
Broiling salmon sounds so...aggressive. However, once you've got the timing down pat, you are in for the flakiest, butteriest (is that a word?), moist, and tender salmon ever. The amount of time needed to broil a piece of salmon simply depends on its size (and thickness). I find that a normal fillet takes between 5-8 minutes. The finished fish will be firm but still bounce back to the touch. Any time I have broiled it beyond 8 minutes, the flesh will lean towards rubbery and over-cooked. Again, play with timing for yourself.
My favorite preparation for salmon is simply salt and pepper, and then served with tons of lemon juice after it's cooked. I feel like simple seasoning allows the real flavor of the fish to come out, especially when it's perfectly cooked. And of course, you need a ton of acid with fish. Today I'm sharing a simple classic marinade for salmon that you can enjoy with brown rice and veggies. Simply whisk it together and marinade the fish for at least half an hour. Of course, the longer the better. When it comes time to cook, prepare everything else in the meal first, since the fish will only take 5-8 minutes. You can prepare more marinade on the side, to warm and thicken for serving if you'd like.
Today I'm sharing a really fun way to get hemp seeds into your families' diet. I am never one to turn down a chicken tender. Seasoned almond flour and hemp seeds are the perfect crust for baked chicken tenders - they turn out deliciously crisp on the outside and are great for dipping. Watch the video recipe below and let's get cookin :)
Ooooh these are little rolls of magic! Lately I've become obsessed with enoki mushrooms. The bouncy texture, how easy they are to cook, and the way they soak up whatever flavors surround them. They are dirt cheap, and you can toss them into virtually any dish. Growing up, I think I've only really eaten enoki mushrooms when I've gone out to eat hot pot with friends. I always enjoyed them, but they were definitely an afterthought. (Hello, beef!) Recently, however, I've been eating enoki with everything - stir fries, soup, noodle dishes, even salads. Their sweet, mellow flavor is so yum.
I was inspired by these Japanese Beef Enoki Rolls that I had as part of a lunch set the other day, and couldn't get enough of them. They are simple to prepare and the marinade is actually super versatile and can be used for cooking other protein. Beef Enoki Rolls are tender, juicy, and almost taste like beef jerky - a harmonious blend of soy, ginger, garlic, sake, and sesame oil create an incredibly savory marinade for the thinly sliced beef. Soaking the enoki mushrooms in warm, salted water allows them to soften and gain some flavor. Finally all you've got to do is wrap small bundles of mushrooms in the marinaded beef and pan fry. Searing the meat takes a few minutes, and then you're in flavor heaven. Let's get cookin!
I'm going to let you in on one of my tried and true 'recipes', which is totally just a little trick I've been doing since high school whenever I'm really lazy and REALLY hungry. I love chicken wings - and here in Hong Kong, grocery stores sell bags of frozen mid-joint chicken wings. These are my favs - don't get me wrong, I like drumsticks too, but I really love just the wings. In my little HK kitchen, I don't have a proper oven (just a toaster oven). This method of cooking chicken wings on the stove-top is quick, fail-proof, and super flavorful.
Sometimes you don't have time to go grocery shopping, but you can bet that there'll be some frozen chicken wings in your freezer. You can make these wings with virtually any sauce or marinade that you have in the kitchen, making this the perfect lazy meal! There are simply 2 steps, and 3 ingredients. Simmer the chicken in chicken broth until they're nice and plump (my trick to knowing when they're finished is when the blood clots come out :) and then tossing them in sauce in a skillet.
Eggplant pizza is the easiest way to satisfy your pizza cravings when you're trying to cut down on carbs! Using fresh eggplant as a "pizza crust" is a quick and tasty substitute; not to mention how cute they are!! Pizza is such a fun, hands-on meal to make with kids, and what better way to get some extra veggies into your families' diets than to use eggplant slices instead of dough :)
The first time I ever had Beef Stroganoff was during lunchtime in middle school. I had tried a bite of my friend Ari's lunch and couldn't stop thinking about how delicious it was. You could say that I've been food obsessed since forever, haha :) I love the creamy, robust sauce that's jam-packed with tender mushrooms and beef, and how it clings to al dente egg noodles. It's the ultimate comfort food; the perfect dish to usher in cooler fall nights. This week I've taken the traditional recipe for Beef Stroganoff and made it a little lighter - a Skinny Stroganoff! Instead of using condensed soup and sour cream, we're going with Greek Yogurt. Greek yogurt is an amazing substitute for tons of ingredients when it comes to cooking and baking, and it's a great trick to lighten up heavier dishes.
