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Quickie Dinner

September 4, 2013 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

You can cheat but still keep it healthy! These types of meals are perfect for busy weeknight dinners when all you want is just something tasty but fast.
Answer? A ready cooked roast chicken, I got Mojo flavor, yum and blanch a big bunch of greens like rapini!
The quickest way to blanch rapini is in a wok! A wok has a wide opening and depth to hold lots of water.
Tip for keeping veggies bright green is to add a few drops of oil into water. Use a colander with handle and sieve them out if you have to do batches. Plate and add salad dressing, add a dollop of BBQ sauce to spike chicken and you’re done! Enjoy!

Green Beans 2 Ways

August 9, 2013 By Eleanor Hoh 7 Comments

Eating vegetables is a hot topic, remember when Jessica Seinfeld hid them so her kids didn’t know they were eating them and caused such controversy? I think that’s the most ridiculous thing. Kids will grow up never knowing what vegetables look or taste like! I’ve never understood what all the fuss is because growing up, my siblings and I ate vegetables at every meal and loved them. My mom was a fantastic cook, so that may have something to do with it? She always presented food with loads of flavor and variety, we looked forward to our dinners.
So is it because modern parents dote on their kids too much and give in to their whims? Is it a cultural thing? Would love to hear your take on this topic!

Practicing what I preach – use what I have in the fridge, so green beans but prepared 2 ways, one cold and one hot! Beans are not in season in Florida, I found out through this handy site where they list vegetables and fruits that are in season in your state.
This month, we are celebrating #Letslunch member, Joe Yonan’s new cookbook: Eat Your Vegetables, Bold Recipes for the Single Cook, congratulations Joe! Such an important book to inspire folks who don’t have a clue how to prepare them.

What’s my favorite vegetable? Very tough choice, there are too many but one of my favorites is Morning Glory (kung kong is what my family usually call this) with hollow stems and cooked tender with pounded chilies in shrimp paste sauce, hmm. When my mom made that, she had to make 2 heaped plates! If you ever get a chance to have this vegetable, get it and have some for me!
Just a reminder if you’ve not visited my blog before, I don’t use measurements or recipes when I cook, just a pinch of this and that and viola. So here’s Green Beans, 2 ways, enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 lb. approx. green beans blanched with drop of Avocado oil
Green Bean Salad
Handful fresh pineapple cubes
1 plum or Romana tomato cubed
1 scallion chopped
Pinch of cilantro chopped
Annie’s chili lime salad dressing
Make this dish first to prevent discoloration.
1) Blanched all beans in boiling water in my cast iron wok with few drops of Avocado oil to prevent discoloration, great tip I learned from my mom. Drain after tasting to see if cooked but still very crunchy. Run cold water to prevent cooking.
2) Drain well and plate beans, add all chopped ingredients and toss well in dressing, done!

Green Beans in Spicy Thai Satay Shrimp Paste
Avocado oil
2 cloves Garlic thwacked
knob ginger shredded
red bell pepper, small cubes
I scallion chopped
Pinch cilantro chopped
1 heaped teaspoon of Spicy Thai Satay Shrimp Paste
Method:
1) Wipe out wok, heat it up, then add 2 swirls of Avocado oil and fry up red bell pepper, scallions in garlic and ginger till you can smell yumminess but not burning.
2) Add beans and Satay Shrimp Paste, combine well, it’s done!
#LetsLunch is a virtual lunch where food bloggers from all over the world come up with a theme. I’ve met the neatest food bloggers, if you want to join, post a comment below or on Twitter using #LetsLunch. Below are everyone’s take on Eating Vegetables!
Annabelle‘s Farmer’s Market Gazpacho at Glass of Fancy
Grace‘s Vegetable Tempura at HapaMama
Jill‘s Fusilli with Corn Sauce at Eating My Words
Joe‘s Guaca-Chi at Joe Yonan
Linda‘s Chocolate-Zucchini Twinkies at Free Range Cookies
Linda‘s Gateway Brussels Sprouts at Spicebox Travels
Lisa‘s Totally “Free” Veggie Soup at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Pat‘s Umami-Laden Green Beans at The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook
Vivian‘s Kangkong (Water Spinach) with Fermented Beancurd, Chili and Garlic at Vivian Pei

5 Tips to Jumpstart Your New Year Resolutions

January 18, 2013 By Eleanor Hoh 2 Comments

Happy New Year! Every year, we start with a clean slate to stay slim and trim. These 5 Tips to Jumpstart Your New Year Resolutions will help you whether you want a healthy approach to dieting or just easy ways to cook up fast tasty weeknight dinners!

WokTortillaPresentation — Wok Tortilla Omelet

Here’s how to do it…
Shake up your routine so you never know what to expect and you won’t get bored! Above all, treat your dinner as if it’s the last meal you’ll ever have on a desert island! What would you want them to be? A few ingredients and you can’t go wrong.

Chuck out using recipes this year and try a new way to tackle weeknight dinners that will make you a Star or a “Wok Star” if you have my Kit! Even if you don’t have a wok, try frying in a skillet or pot as long as it’s not non-stick!

Buy just 2-3 different fresh & seasonal veggies and 2 kinds of protein on a Sunday. Buying a week’s worth is overwhelming plus makes your trip longer & stressful. I can be in and out of store in 15 minutes or less.
Make ingredients work in a variety of ways: stir fry one dinner, soup for another, stew for yet another, par boil & have with salad dressing, steam.
Save time by cooking up a week’s worth of quinoa instead of starchy rice/pasta and notice your energy soar. To prevent spoilage, store quinoa in containers and freeze, take out night before.
Stock 5 basic seasonings that instantly make your cooking taste GOOD! Wok Stars use these same seasonings in Hispanic, Italian, Korean, Spanish. I call it TSPC: tamari (Japanese soy sauce, get San-J Intl. without MSG and gluten free), sherry (get medium drinking not cooking sherry), pepper (white pepper to change it up), cornstarch (for marinading your protein and thicken sauces)and of course, chili sauce (Huy Fong garlic chili sauce or sambal olek.) I used these seasonings in salad dressing as well.
Stock these fresh ingredients: scallions, cilantro, fresh limes, garlic, ginger. Other goodies to have on hand: Miso paste, dried shitake or oyster mushrooms.

I’m working on more Tips and Techniques, so subscribe to my free newsletter in right side bar to get the latest updates!

I’ll leave you with a useful post, “How do I come up with a dish?” I think once you get this, you’ll be on your way to cooking without recipes, yay!

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