Lettuce Celebrate the Harvest!

I started a veggie garden in my roof this spring having no clue what I was doing. I just ordered some seeds on Taobao, bought some pots and soil and planted in a pretty haphazard way.

I've always been a but of a green thumb and growing things I can eat is something I have always enjoyed, but I never really tried growing things beyond my kitchen herbs. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was, and how rewarding!

I felt bad initially about digging up my lettuce plants, but have been able to eat salad from my rooftop now and again by simply snipping a few leaves when the need arises. This past Friday I finally dug up my lettuce plants and some baby spinach for the most locally sourced meal I've ever had!

Mostly the weather is getting too warm for the lettuce to stay happy, so it was time to say goodbye. Making room for my summer crops like basil, tomatoes, peppers and cucumber.

Happy eating local!

Creative Pasta with Leftovers

A dinner I whipped up quickly with just a few ingredients I had lying around in the fridge!

While the water boiled for the pasta, I put a handful of pine nuts in a small frying pan and roasted them until they were lightly golden. I diced up some sun dried tomatoes, some black olives, combined them with the roasted pine nuts and added some garlicky sautéed spinach I had in the fridge.

Some salt, pepper, a few glues of olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan made this a great quick dinner with a gourmet feel!

Pauper's Dinner

Came home from yoga absolutely ravenous and knowing full well there was no food at home and I was in no mood for cooking any...

I opened the fridge and found some leftover sautéed spinach! Spread it cold on some toast and poached and egg and voila! Pauper's dinner, light enough for a late, post yoga eat, delicious and only took like 3min to make!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken and Mushroom Risotto Dinner

Jamie Oliver Inspired dinner for two!

For Christmas, one of my students gave me the book Cook With Jamie: My guide to making you a better cook. It's a great book because, beyond recipes, it really elaborates on overall concepts that you can apply to cooking on your own. I really look forward to using the book more as I have more time to cook in the coming months...

I had some leftover bacon in the refrigerator and went to the market to get fresh leeks, an assortment of mushrooms, a white onion, some celery and spinach...

I preheated the oven to about 200 degrees Celsius and washed/chopped up the leeks, adding some salt, pepper and olive oil. I added a lug of red wine for good measure, though Jamie recommended white (Not a bit white wine drinker, I don't usually have white wine at home!). I let the chicken breasts get covered in some of this marinade, and put everything in a small tray. I wrapped the chicken breasts in the slices of bacon, and set them on top of the leeks.

Jamie recommends 3 slices of bacon for each breast; I used just 1 so they weren't completely covered in the bacon. It was enough for a lot of flavor (and grease!) so I was happy with my choice. Popped this in the hot oven for about 25min but the very centers weren't done yet, so I popped them back in for another 10 or so min.

Meanwhile...

I got working on the risotto! My husband was helping out so the onion, celery and mushrooms were already chopped up when I began ;)

The celery and onion need to be really fine. I sauteed them in some butter/olive oil, adding a bit of minced garlic too. When they were really soft, I added the mushrooms and raw rice to saute for a bit too, along with some salt and pepper. Finally, I added a glug of red wine (again, Jamie said white). When it had all been absorbed, I started adding some chicken stock I had simmering in a separate pot, about 1 cup at a time.

While I made the risotto, Jiahui was helpful and stirfried the spinach in a bit of olive oil/garlic, so everything was ready!

A few things about risotto...
I love making it with either leftover rice (much quicker!) OR using brown rice. I thought brown rice was my secret until I read a NYTimes piece about making risotto with brown rice and found out it is not so secret anymore... but the reasons they give (healthier, etc.) are not the only reasons I use it! I have found that using brown rice is a bit easier because it is harder to overcook and get mush. Also, if you are having guests over, brown rice is much more forgiving of having to be reheated due to mistiming/latecomers and I even took risotto to a potluck once, because the brown rice allows it!

Another trick I've learned is using the ricecooker! It makes it really fool-proof since it stays at the perfect temperature for cooking rice, and you never burn the bottom. You are also not risking such a low cooking temp. that the rice turns out all mushy. The trick for me is to turn the rice cooker on and be patient in waiting for it to warm up a bit before starting, since it takes a bit longer than a pot would on the burner.

Notes on the Dish:

I have rarely experienced such flavorful chicken breast! It was tender and really picked up the flavor of the leeks and bacon. I would have added more salt to the chicken; I was cautious because of how salty bacon is, but we definitely needed to add some salt to our dishes at the table.

The risotto was pretty delicious, and I happily ate the leftovers for lunch the next day.

The chicken and leeks actually became more flavorful after a day or so in the fridge! For brunch on Sunday, I made delicious sandwiches with the chicken and leeks, some cheese, and sun dried tomatoes in a pita pocket! YUM!

Gourmet, Spinach & Roasted Veggie Sandwich

This is a perfect lunch sandwich to take to work!

I spread some dijonaise mustard and light mayo on German-style bread:

Then I added some of the veggies I had roasted, namely zucchini and red bell pepper. I also added some of the garlicky spinach I had sautéed.

I sliced some soft cheese and, voila, tomorrow's lunch is ready to take to the office!

The One Big Secret to Easy Meals: Cooking Everything in Advance!

No one who comes home exhausted from work really feels like cooking... or maybe that's a sweeping statement; I do not like to come home from work and have to cook from scratch. But I do like to eat things that got cooked from scratch. So, unless you have someone to cook for you while you are at work, the only possible solution is to cook beforehand.

The problem with cooking beforehand is having the time and foresight to plan a weeks' worth of meals, especially given that I am whimsical and not sure what I will actually feel like eating on any given day. Plus, it's a lot of work.

So what usually ends up happening is, all the wonderful veggies you bought fresh in the market start to sit in the fridge for one day, two days, 5 days... and then they are not as fresh and appetizing as they once were!

The secret to saving time, eating good fresh food and not having to prep your meals from scratch every day is (drum-rolls!!) cooking your veggies as soon as you get them, and storing them cooked!

Carrots, red bell pepper and zucchini, washed, chopped and tossed, are ready for the oven!

Why?!

• Saves time
• Once veggies are washed, chopped up and cooked, turning them into a meal takes just a few minutes!
• Saves time!
• Most veggies keep much better once they have been prepared!
• They actually taste better once cooked and allowed to sit in the fridge for a couple of days!

I usually go to the veggie market on the weekends, and tend to cook my food on Sunday for the whole week.

The best way to cook veggies so they keep well and are flavorful is by roasting them in the oven!

How To:

• Buy fresh veggies, whatever you love most.
• Pre-heat your oven to about 290 degrees Celsius (about 375 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Wash veggies thoroughly.
• Chop them up!
• Toss them in some salt, olive oil, and, if you like, minced garlic and black pepper. Some veggies also go well tossed with some fresh herbs, like rosemary. I especially love that on potatoes!
• Spread veggies on a baking sheet (there doesn't have to be much order to the madness, unless you are putting together veggies with very different cooking times, e.g. carrots with broccoli. In that case, arranging them so it is easy to remove the broccoli before the carrots is a good idea!)
• Most veggies take around 40-45min to cook through, depending how small you chop them. Harder veggies like carrots, potatoes and beets can take longer, around 60min. Your veggies are done when it's easy to stick a fork in them!
• Remove the veggies from the oven, allow them to cool a bit, and then put them in tupperware in the refrigerator.
• Voila! You now have wonderful ingredients you can easily make into a quick meal!

The great thing about baking is that once the veggies are in the oven, you don't really have to do much. You can clean the house, do the laundry, watch tv or write without having to stand over a burner. Your day can be much more productive!

The Tater-Tots:

I bake my beets and potatoes with the skin on. I like to eat the potato skins, and the skin comes off the beets very easily once they are cooked!

Step 1: Wash thoroughly in running water.

Step 2: Chop in half.

Step 3: Toss in salt, olive oil, minced garlic and some fresh rosemary!

I added fresh rosemary to the little tater-tots! They bake well with beets since their cooking time is similar.

The potatoes and beets were done after about 60min in the oven. While they baked I was able to surf the web and watch Brasil vs. US women's volleyball, where Brasil won gold in the olympics!

What About My Spinach?!

Leafy veggies are not that great for the oven, unless you want them crisp (which can be a fun and healthy snack option, e.g. kale or spinach chips!)

I usually just wash my greens thoroughly and, unless they are to be eaten raw, do a quick and deliciously simple sauté with olive oil, garlic and salt. Here's my how-to for spinach:

Step 1: Wash thoroughly, taking care to get the dirt between the stems and leaves!

I don't usually cut my greens, just sauté them whole! In China, where the spinach comes with a bit of the root attached, I eat that too!

 Step 2: Prepare some crushed or minced garlic.

Step 3: Add a drizzle of olive-oil to a large pan and let it get nice and warm. Toss in the spinach, garlic, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Step 4: Toss around in the pan for a few minutes, to ensure everything gets covered in the oil, garlic and condiments.

Step 5: Cover with a lid and reduce the heat a tad so that the spinach can cook in a bit of its own steam.

Step 6: After about 3-5min your spinach will be done, still bright green and with the roots and stems still a little crunchy!

Spinach is done, delicious and healthy!