Vegetarian Bibimbap

Beep Beep Bop.  "Robot food" is what we called it in college.  I used to go to a tiny lunch place in Pittsburgh to get their Vegetarian Bibimbap.  Mine is pretty good, too.  Loosely follow the directions here.  I added an egg and a tiny bit of Kimchi.  Very healthy and great food for an afternoon being green!  Lisa knows what I mean...

Mystery Food

What is it? 

 Hasselback Potato.  Yum.

Not too bad, Lindsay...

A little healthy eating never killed anyone...except that one person.  Yes, that person was me.

I've been trying to lose some winter weight lately.  I've got a Caribbean vacation coming up (sadly, not the super cool kind with Raz) and spring clothing is just around the corner.  That, and someone's asshole Wii fit told me I need to lose 10 pounds.   The three C's are strictly off limits:  Candy, cakes and cookies (you know, unless my boss brings in chocolate from her trip to Paris).  Just trying to cut out too many extra carbs and added sugar is really restrictive.  I'm really in need of some method to make eating just vegetables for two meals a day tasty and possible.

Enter this fabulous recipe for Japanese Restaurant-style ginger-carrot dressing.  Not exactly like old Taipei-Tokyo's back in Monroeville, but a great substitute.  Can't be that bad for you, either.

Ugh my camera has the resolution and focus of a potato.

Speaking of slimming down, look at my li'l lady who has been just a tad slimmer since she's been hanging around outside a bit:

Balloon: I'm super sexy!

Shellfish a la Ms. T

Around Christmas time, I went back to visit friends and family in Pittsburgh.  And no visit to the Burgh is complete without a visit with Ms. T.  I got to see her new place, and experience her wonderful cooking.  She made mussels and asparagus in a Tom Kha Gai inspired broth.

I've had the Tom Yum paste in my fridge for months, waiting for mussels and veggies but only tonight have I gotten around to making my own version of Tess's amazing dish.  Prepwork takes a bit of time (cleaning the Mussels can be laborious as they can be covered in barnacles and beards. I was also informed, to my horror, that they were alive upon purchase.  Northwest seafood is fresh.)  However, once the sauce gets going, it takes only 5 minutes for this dish to cook.

Here's what to do:

Stuff (Makes 2-3 Servings):

Garlic

Thom Yum Paste

Coconut milk (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 lb. Clams (look up basic instructions on cleaning and cooking clams and mussels if you need to!)

1/2 lb. Mussels

1/2 lb. Baby Bok Choi

Rice stick noodles, cooked up.  They only take a few minutes, your package should have instructions.

Directions:

Saute the garlic in some oil at the bottom of a big pot.  Add the thom yum paste just as it gets going and then pour on the coconut milk (mine was powdered so I wanted to add it right away because it was lumpy.)  Bring this to a boil and add both the clams and mussels.  Set your timer for 5 minutes and cover.  

When your timer has about 1:30 left to go, add the cleaned and chopped Bok Choi and cover.  Stir it a few times, but it only takes a few seconds for it to cook.  Overcooking it makes it a little...slimy so resist the urge to add it at the same time as the shellfish.

At 5:00 your mussels and clams should have opened.  Throw away any that haven't.  That's all it takes.

Serve the rice noodles topped with your tasty shellfish stew!

*Note:  You could probably use more lemongrass, but mine fell out of my cart at the store so I didn't have any.  The thom yum paste should have some already so it's fine if you don't want to use it.



Enjoy!

New inspiration: Quinoa Mac and Cheese

*Update:  This is the best thing I've ever eaten.

Cheese specs:  Half and half, about 3 oz Sharp white cheddar,  3 oz Mizithra Cheese, 3 oz Chevre and some white wine.

Lately I have been very busy on my new favorite site:  Pinterest.  It gives me a place to collect my favorite online recipes and craft ideas in one place, visually.  My most recent discovery on Pinterest is Quinoa Mac and Cheese.

There are many variations of this on the internet.  This particular recipe called for cooking the quinoa and then adding shredded cheese and milk to it, as well as eggs.  I skipped the eggs, but I did make a tasty white wine and white cheddar cheese sauce and added it.  I did leave in the broccoli.  I love broccoli with cheese and while I haven't had any yet (still in the oven!) I did sample the cheese sauce beforehand and it's great.  I regret to say that mine version is probably not as healthy with half and half, regular cheese, and olive oil on my breadcrumbs.  This recipe was actually kind of great to use up some left over ingredients in my fridge though.  Pics to come!

For now, follow me on Pinterest so I can follow you back!

New round of cookbooks from LINCC

I have been getting so bored with cooking lately.  Nothing was inspiring me to try new things or explore.  I started eating take-out and microwave dishes more just to avoid planning and cooking.  Meat was getting in there a little more than I like it to.  I knew this had to change.

Then I got a brilliant idea:  I work at a library.  Libraries have cookbooks!  So I placed a dozen holds on popular vegetarian cookbooks, and I have received a few so far.  Some had so many holds, I'll be lucky to see them by August.  One I was very disappointed with.  I won't mention it (unless you really want to know); the recipes were too frustrating.  It was pretty pretentious.  

Enter The Veganomicon. It's several years old now, so I'm thinking of maybe getting a copy cheap from Powell's.  It's exactly what I like.  Foods I have heard of.  Tasty no-nonsense recipes.  Not just vegan food, because I was a very unsuccessful vegan, but rather variety. It's a thick 250-recipe volume, and it gives you so many options for recipes that you are bound to find one you love.  Especially one you can add cheese to.  

So far I have made two things from it, and both were flavorful and easy to prepare.  

Tonight's dinner:  Scallion flatbread from page 222.  Very good, but maybe not a great, nutritious dinner.  We've been busy today, so I'm not going to count it out as being terrible for you.  They are very fun to make and pretty quick. 

They're cooked on the stove top almost like a pancake, but with little balls of dough rolled out very thinly beforehand and tossed into the pan where they sizzle and brown.  I'd love to try branching out with other types of flatbread, too.  These would be great if company came over.  I recommend using low-sodium soy sauce because the sauce is pretty salty but in general they were great!

Your library is almost certain to have a copy, and used volumes are sold on Amazon for around 16 dollars.  I say give it a try.

Update on Furball!

Last week Furball had been at the Vet's because he was peeing all over the place!  He's always been a crazy litterbox-digger ever since I can remember and we thought he was just neurotic, as I had mentioned it before at both of his vets and neither one seemed concerned.  This time, he was noticeably not well. The vet did about a grand of work on my free kitty, and it turns out that he has bladder stones, which is common in male cats his age.  We were glad it wasn't worse, because cats his age can often become diabetic.  Perhaps not this time, Furball is a very active cat.

Sent home with a course of antibiotics (the stones can sometimes cause infections as well) and a new urinary-tract health diet (which isn't as expensive as insulin, at least) there is approximately a million percent improvement in my little kitty.  He goes to the litterbox a normal amount of times(!) and is very energetic and friendly. As he is quite well, it does not appear at this time that we will have to get him surgery or further treatment. It was, as I must admit, very very worth the price because my home is no longer COVERED in the evidence of his many litterbox trips.  I only need to vacuum weekly, my floors are furniture are clear of litter.  ...And we may get to keep our little buddy around for another 8 years.