Roasted Veggies: Getting my raw materials ready for the week!

How to eat healthy, homemade food, save time and not end up with soggy rotten veggies in your fridge at the end of the week?

I have blogged before about prepping veggies in advance for the week. It ensures that even when you are dog tired and don't feel like cooking at the end of a long day, you can still eat something delicious and healthy at home!

This week I bought a bunch of veggies at the market on my day off and got them all ready in no time by using the oven to roast them. The advantage over other kinds of cooking is a) the flavor and versatility of roasted veggies and b) the fact that you are free to read, blog, nap or watch cat videos on YouTube while your veggies cook!

Veggies all chopped up and ready to be seasoned in the bowl!

Fresh ingredients this week:

• 1 zucchini
• 1 eggplant
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 carrot
• 5 cloves of garlic

Other ingredients:

• Sea Salt
• Black pepper
• Dry Thyme
• Olive Oil

Before cooking, the seasoned veggies are all spread out on a baking sheet/pan.

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius
• Wash and chop the veggies -- I sliced the eggplant and carrot into rounds, quartered the onion and tomatoes, cut the bell pepper into thick strips and left the garlic cloves whole, with the skins on. The zucchini was chopped into bite-sized cubes.
• Put all the chopped veggies in a large bowl.
• Add salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle some thyme and add a few lugs of olive oil.
• Toss to coat.
• Spread onto a baking tray.
• Pop into the oven for 45min. or so. Go do something fun.

These ingredients are to be transformed throughout the week into delicious meals, different every time so you don't get bored. Stay tuned!

Cooked and ready to be transformed into any delicious meal!

Mr. Cen and his Woks: Finding the perfect wok in Zhabei district, Shanghai

I have been freaking out a little lately, with all the food safety scandals in China recently. I am eating mostly vegetarian and cooking at home. But then I started to freak out about the pan I use at home.

I bought my old wok in the market where I buy my fresh produce and it's a cheap piece of $#@% to be honest, and I wouldn't care if I didn't get to thinking that it might be poisoning me. Who knows what's in the lining? The paint? What kind of metal it's made of? I always think it smells funny when it gets really hot, like it's emitting some chemical fumes...

"Where can I get a good, affordable wok in Shanghai?" I thought. "Carrefour might be a good bet but it's far and can I really trust what I get there?" I thought of Lemon Zest but the thought of paying hundreds of Yuan for an imported wok when I LIVE IN CHINA really bugged me.

Thankfully, some online research quickly led me to Mr. Cen, the number one wok man in Shanghai.

Mr. Cen has made woks in his little workshop for more than 50 years!

Mr. Cen was featured in a CNN Travel article back in 2009, and I couldn't find anything more recent to confirm that he was still there, working in the same place. I decided to go investigate!

I ended up finding Mr. Cen hard at work pounding iron at the very same address described by CNN, 214 Baoyuan Lu, near Baotong Lu (宝源路214号，近宝通路). He had the cotton plugs in his ears and everything, just like they described in the article!

Mr. Cen is not the type for small talk. He was kind in letting me take his picture though!

Mr. Cen has worked out of this little shop for more than 50 years, doing the hard work of pounding sheets of iron into woks with just a hammer and some moulds to help him. It is really hard work! He is said to be one of the last such artisans in Shanghai.

There are woks of many sizes in the shop but they are all basically the same shape and type, with handles on two sides. (Wok fun-fact: This type of shallow wok is typical of Shanghainese cuisine, whereas the deep woks are used more in Guangdong.) I got my handcrafted wok for just 110RMB (under $20 USD!!)

I am the proud owner of this handcrafted wok, with all the cute little dents made by Mr. Chen's hard work!

Getting there:

Take Metro Line 10 to Sichuan Bei Lu station (四川北路) and go out at Exit 2. Walk north on Sichuan Bei Lu, crossing over to the other side of the street. Take a left at the Bank of China -- it looks like you are walking into a dead end but there's a small lane there called Xin Guang Lu (新光路) where you can take a right. This lane will cut all the way through to Baoyuan Lu (宝源路), where Mr. Cen's shop is located.

Once you arrive at Baoyuan Lu just take a right. If you have headphones on, take them off and you will soon hear the clanging of Mr. Cen's hammer!


The field-trip to Zhabei was a treat in and of itself, exploring an old part of Shanghai that I seldom have reason to visit. Lane life there is alive and kicking! Keep going for some pics I took of the lanes around Xin Guang Lu!

Student picking up some tasty snacks from a cart.

Old shoes on a windowsill, airing out those old smells!

Auntie taking little Emperor for a stroll.

Stores full of manly nick-nacks like tools, speakers and even workout equipment!

Students getting home from school, backpacks on backwards to stave off pickpockets!

Deep-fried goodness.

Veggies on tarps.

The most patriotic snack shop I saw.

Garlic and ginger -- what more do you need?

Al fresco fruits.

I think this was actually a dentist, operating on the sidewalk. Freaked me out a little.

Steamed Veggies for a Week of Healthy Eating

I spent a few hours on the weekend chopping, washing and steaming a bunch of veggies, including squash, onions, garlic, spinach, cauliflower and broccoli. I also made a good portion of whole rice mixed with barley to keep in my fridge, and defrosted some black beans i had cooked a while back. I have talked before about how my busy schedule makes it hard for me to cook during the week, and I have found that washing and cooking the veggies in advance helps me eat home cooked meals throughout the week!

Reimagining the veggies and creating dishes with them later in the week is fast and easy! A bit of vegetable broth and I have soup, a few spices and I have curry, a blender and I have a dip or purée to eat with chips or pita...

This pic is of the veggies eaten pretty much straight up, with some salt, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some olive oil! Yum!

Disclaimers by a Reluctant Cook in China

I like to write and I like to eat but I never seem to have time to do either. Actually I do, of course, eat regularly. I have been known to become "hangry" (hungry+angry) when I go for long periods without food (aka more than a couple of hours), so I tend to eat 3-4 times a day in an attempt to be more likable.

When I say I don't have time to eat then, I mean I don't really have much time to eat the delicious home-made food I grew up eating and which keeps me healthy and satisfied and feeling like a real person. While I still eat fresh and healthy things, they tend to consist of the same ingredients tossed together in a salad, which is fine a few times a week but can get old. I am starting this blog in an effort to write, and eat, and share with others my attempt to balance a busy schedule and an aversion to dishes with my desire to eat at home, to eat varied things, to eat well. A few things you should know about me if you still want to read on:

1. I grew up Italian-Brazilian and tend to lean towards light, mediterranean food.
2. I live in Shanghai, China, and am constantly battling to find ingredients I enjoy cooking with at a reasonable price; this often means I need to get creative!
3. I am a total amateur. This means I keep things simple and anyone should be able to cook what I cook; it also means you should not come here expecting fancy gourmet food.
4. I have no fancy kitchen equipment.
5. I hate recipes.
6. I may occasionally (aka often) pepper this blog with non food-related things because I sometimes need a place to just rant a bit.
7. I am not a super enthusiastic cook; I just like homemade food.
8. I have a busy work schedule and my life does not revolve around the kitchen. I try to use my time in the kitchen as efficiently as possible so I can keep a full-time job, eat homemade and still have a social life!

That's it, enjoy!