Cardinal couple

A lot of birds visit our yard to eat, drink, bathe, and relax. I love them all, but this particular couple of cardinals is very special to bodhilens and I. They have been frequent visitors in our yard for the past few years. We began to recognize them because the female cardinal is noticeably one-legged, and her mate takes care of her so lovingly. He always appears to stand by to protect her. He often follows her, sings to her, and listens to her. He sometimes even feeds her, although she can eat by herself. This spring they decided to make nest in our honeysuckle bushes. We are happy to know that they feel safe and comfortable in our yard. Hope to see their babies soon. (Photo by bodhilens)

Humus with the x factor

I have tried a few different recipes for humus, but this Japanese recipe turned out to be the best. The x factor is almond poudre (i.e., powder). (Japanese adopted the French word instead of the English word.) No, you don’t have to go get expensive almond poudre. I usually buy whole almonds on sale, stock them in my pantry, and grind them into powder when I need almond poudre. I tweaked the recipe a bit to make the humus creamier. I also used sea salt instead of table salt. All the trace minerals in more wholesome forms of salt do enhance the flavor of any dish, which helps me to use less salt. When I use this humus as a sandwich spread, I don’t need mayo or cheese. That’s important for me because I tend to use a little too much Japanese mayo not only for dressing but also in cooking. (It’s addictive.) You can replace chickpeas with black beans, and a pinch of black pepper with 1 tsp of cumin, 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper, and 1/4  tsp of paprika. The black bean version is tasty, too.

I’ll share recipes for the other items on the plate (quinoa tabouli, curry flavored falafel, and naan bread) sometime. (Photo by bodhilens)

Ingredients:

400g (apx. a regular American size can) of cooked chickpeas

2 TBSP of lemon juice
2 TBSP of extra virgin olive oil
2 TBSP of tahini (roasted sesame paste)
2 TBSP of almond poudre
1 clove of garlic (grated)
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1 pinch of black pepper
4 TBSP (or more) of bean stock*, soy milk, or cow milk

*Remember to keep the stock when you drain cooked beans.

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients in a food processor and run it until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

2. Adjust the consistency and saltiness by adding more liquid and/or salt as you like.

Citrus flavored olive oil biscotti

I had never thought of myself becoming a baker while growing up in Japan. We only had a toaster oven in our kitchen and kept a small container of margarine in our fridge. Several pieces of cookies were all I could bake at home, and my mother would be upset if I used up all margarine for cookies. So you can imagine how excited I was when I seized my first opportunity to bake cake in an American-standard size (= gigantic) oven in my apartment in Kentucky. I had fun trying out a few boxes of cake mix with different flavors, but soon I realized that they were too sweet and heavy for me. Now whenever I find intriguing recipes for sweets, I almost always tweak them. I first see if I can reduce the amount of sugar and butter. Then, I experiment with replacing white wheat flour with whole wheat flour, white refined sugar with sucanat, raw unfiltered honey, and/or pure stevia powder, and butter with extra virgin olive oil.

Here's an example of my tweaking and experimentation. This recipe is based on “Gigi’s olive oil biscotti” that I found in the DHC magazine. (DHC is a Japanese company that is famous for olive oil-based skincare products, and they recently sell fancy olive oil, too.) Although the biscotti were delicious as they were (see the original recipe here) and already healthier than buttery biscotti, I wanted to make them even healthier. You can use any citrus peals/juice/extracts (e.g., lemon, orange, yuzu) for flavor or citrus conserves/spreads to take care of both sweetness and flavor. (Photo by bodhilens)

Ingredients (for about 40 small pieces):

2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 pinch of sea salt
Any combination of sweeteners that is as sweet as 10 TBSP of sugar*
1 TBSP of citrus peels and 1 tsp of juice/extract*
2 eggs
3 TBSP of extra virgin olive oil
40 roasted whole almonds (or any other large nuts)

*I have tried the following combinations of sweeteners and flavors: (a) 4 TBSP of yuzu marmalade, 1 TBSP of orange spread, and 5 pinches of stevia; and (b) 1 TBSP of lemon zest, 1 tsp of lemon juice, 5 TBSP of sucanat, and 5 pinches of stevia. Both delicious.

Directions:

1. Mix all wet ingredients (i.e., citrus peels and juice, and olive oil) and sweeteners in one bowl .
2. Add eggs in the bowl and beat the wet mixture.
3. Mix all dry ingredients in another bowl (i.e., whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt).
4. Gradually add the dry mixture into the wet mixture to make dough. (You don't have to knead the dough, just mix all ingredients well.)
5. You can either knead nuts into the dough or half-bury them on top of the dough after Step 6**
6. Divide the dough into 4 parts and form them into 5 cm x 20 cm (apx. 2 inch x 8 inch) flat squares on a parchment paper.
7. Bake at 360 degrees F (apx. 180 degrees C) for about 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.
8. Remove the baked squares from oven, let them cool a bit, and slice each square diagonally into 10 pieces.
9. Return the sliced pieces to oven and bake them for about 10 minutes or until they are crispy.

**In the former, nuts are likely to stay inside but may be placed very unevenly across biscotti; in the latter, they can be placed very evenly but may fall off from the top of biscotti. Your choice J

Gifts from birds: Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot)

Queen Anne's lace (Photo by bodhilens)

I'm tickled whenever I find a new wild flower growing in our yard and enjoy learning about it. I've so far identified spiderwort, European black nightshade, common yellow woodsorrel (aka lemon clover), and Queen Anne's lace (aka wild carrot). Many people call them weeds, but I see them as gifts from birds. Actually, spiderwort is sometimes sold at a store, so I guess some people consider it precious as I do. A few black nightshades popped up in our sunflower bed last summer. Their fruits did taste like very sweet tomatoes. (Tomatoes belong to the nightshade family.) I sowed the seeds in the ground, but I haven't seen them coming out yet. Did you know that a common yellow woodsorrel's floriography is "shining heart," and that it has been used as the design of family seals in Japan because its strong breeding capability symbolizes a long-lasting family line? (This link is in Japanese.) Just amazing how some people paid attention and gave meaning to such a small plant. This summer Queen Anne's lace stands out in our yard for its size and beauty. Queen Anne's lace is also considered as a companion plant for tomatoes because it attracts beneficial insects. That's perfect in our yard because I'm growing a lot of tomatoes. Another pretty wild flower is growing around our bird feeder for the second year. Its seedlings are just like those of morning glories, but this plant has tiny white flowers. If anyone knows what this plant is called, please let me know.

A mystery plant (Photo by bodhilens)

Virginia's favorite tofu and vegetable chili beans (garnished with low fat yogurt and Mexican-style shredded cheese, served with soft corn tortilla and blueberry tea)

Virginia is my beloved mother-in-law and an artist who inspired me to create this blog. She liked this dish so much that it earned the honor of being named after her. I share with you a trick to make tofu ground-beefy and a few ingredients that you may not find in other recipes for chili beans. (Photo by bodhilens)

Ingredients (for 7-8 servings):

For Step 1:
4 cups (or 2 cans) of cooked red kidney beans or chili beans (aka pink beans)

For Step 2:
1 pack of firm tofu

For Step 3:
1 tsp of olive oil
1 medium size onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (grated)
1 stalk of celery (chopped)
1/2 large green pepper* (chopped)
1/2 large sweet red pepper* (chopped)
2 broccoli stems* (chopped)

*You can use any cut vegetables (e.g., 1/2 green pepper and 1/2 sweet red pepper) or vegetable scraps (e.g., broccoli stems) left in your fridge.

For Step 4:
3 TBSP of chili powder
1 TBSP of paprika powder
1 TBSP of oregano
1 tsp of chipotle powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
2 bay leaves
2 bouillon cubes (or add anything that contains "umami")

For Step 5:
1 can of diced tomato (I sometimes use a can of tomato in juice with Italian seasonings, like basil, to further enrich the flavor.)
1/2 cup of red cooking wine
2 TBSP of Worcestershire sauce** (include 1 TBSP of Japanese "tonkatsu" sauce** if you have it)
1 TBSP of ketchup

**Japanese brands of Worcestershire sauce may be sweeter than American brands, and tonkatsu sauce is definately sweeter than Worcestershire sauce. So if you don't use either, you may want to add more ketchup to adjust the sweetness of this dish.

For Step 6:
1-2 cups of water
1 pinch or two of salt and pepper

Directions:

Step 1. Soak beans in water overnight, cook them for several hours in a crock pot at a high temparature setting until they are tender, and drain. (Or open cans of beans and drain.)

Step 2. Here's the trick to make tofu ground-beefy. You need firm tofu for this. Crush tofu, squeeze excess water out of it, put it in a freezer bag, and freeze it overnight. Then, thaw it, squeeze excess water out of it again, and pan-fry it without oil to dehydrate it further. This treatment gives tofu a ground-beefy texture that is ready to absorb all the flavors from the other ingredients.

Step 3. Sautee garlic and onion with olive oil in a cooking pot. Add vegetables, dehydrated tofu, and 1/2 of cooked beans in the pot.

Step 4. Add the listed dry herbs and consomme cubes in the pot.

Step 5: Pour the listed wet ingredients in the pot.

Step 6: Add water to adjust the thickness of the mixture as you like. Cook it at low heat for an hour or so (or in a crock pot at a high temparature setting for several hours) . Add the rest of cooked beans 30 minutes before you serve. Add salt and pepper if you like.

I garnished this dish with low fat yogurt (instead of sour cream) and Mexican-style shredded cheese (including monterey jack, mild cheddar, queso quesadilla, and asadero) that I found in my fridge.

I also made soft corn tortilla to serve with this dish. I'll share the recipe for the tortilla sometime.

Many herbal/floral teas (e.g., red zinger [hibiscus + rosehip], any mints, and jasmine) can be cold-brewed, and they are as tasty as hot-brewed. I put 4 bags of blueberry tea in a 1+1/2 quart pitcher filled with filtered water and left it in my fridge overnight to serve with this dish.

Growing plants from kitchen scraps: Organic carrots

"Don't throw it, grow it." A few days ago, I found two organic carrots in my fridge shooting their greens. I saved the tops after eating the rest, put them in a plate with some water, and exposed them to some sunshine. In a day or two, they began to grow. They are so alive and pretty. I'm wondering if I should plant them on the ground and see if I can harvest the greens for a dish in near future. (Photo by bodhilens)

Tofu, tomato, and broccoli salad with sweet and sour garlic soy sauce dressing (garnished with sweet corn kernels and nasturtium leaves and flowers)

This is one of my favorite salads as a main dish. Tofu can be substituted by avocado or cooked meat (e.g., thinly sliced beef or shredded chicken breast). Today I pan-fried firm tofu dusted with "katakuriko"/potato starch, but it was not as good as fresh soft tofu. Meaty and sweet kinds of tomatoes, like cherokee purple, work best for this salad. (Photo by bodhilens)

Ingredients (for 3-4 servings):

1 pack of tofu (14 oz)
2 crowns of broccoli
2 large ripe tomatoes

For dressing:

2 TBSP of soy sauce
2 TBSP of sesame oil
1 TBSP of rice vinegar
2 cloves of garlic (grated)
1/2 smidgen (i.e., a tip of a flat toothpick amount) of stevia powder* (or any other sweetener)

For garnishing (optional):
1 cup of cooked sweet corn kernels
A few fresh nasturtium leaves and flowers

Directions:

1. Mix the ingredients for dressing and let it sit for a while (so that garlic blends in and gets milder).
2. Chop broccoli into chunks and cook them as you like (e.g., microwaving, boiling, or steaming for a few minutes).
(3. Cook sweet corn kernels as you like [e.g., microwaving or sauteing with a bit of butter].)
4. Cut tofu into small square pieces.
5. Slice tomatoes.
6. Place 2, 4, & 5 on a plate and drizzle the dressing over.
(7. Garnish with 3 and a few fresh nasturtium leaves and flowers if you like.)

*I have tried a few different brands of stevia powder and found Simply Stevia by Stevia Co., Inc. the sweetest and the most economical. I often replace 1 TBSP of sugar called for in any recipe with 1 smidgen of this stevia powder.

Nasturtiums are blooming

I'm experimenting on companion planting, hopefully to regulate pests organically and/or improve the flavors of vegetables. I sowed seeds of dwarf nasturtiums around tomatoes and zucchinis in late April. It took a while for them to germinate, but once they did, they have been growing steadily....and now they are blooming beautifully. I haven't found them trapping aphids yet, but that's OK. It's easy for me to pick some clean and fresh leaves and flowers to eat raw. They taste peppery, similar to radish sprouts. I plan to garnish a salad with them soon. (Photo by bodhilens)