This truly is a two-ingredient kimchi fried rice. Well, oil and salt don’t count. They aren’t really ingredients, are they? And the “fancy” stuff sprinkled on top on the photos? Believe me, you don’t need it. They were added just for the benefit of the photos. This simple kimchi fried rice tastes just as good on a paper plate and wooden chopsticks as it does in a fancy bowl and fancy toppings.

Of course, there are many ways to make kimchi fried rice. This two-ingredient kimchi fried rice is just the simplest way to make it. It’s perfect when you want a quick (as in 10 minutes or under) meal or a snack. If you want something savory for breakfast, just add a fried egg with runny yolk. It’s just as tasty for lunch or dinner. And it really hits the spot when you’re craving a midnight snack. I don’t know what it is about kimchi fried rice; but it’s what I crave whenever my appetite is in full gear after a long night out (or in).

It can’t get simpler than this. This recipe requires nothing more than what the name literally translates to: kimchi and rice. There aren’t many dishes you can say that about. Just make sure that the kimch is nicely ripened or sour. And I usually make this with brown or wild rice, but any type of steamed rice will do, just as long as it’s day-old or cold.

Maat-it-gae-deu-sae-yo! That’s Korean (romanized, of course) for bon appetit!

Two-Ingredient Kimchi Fried Rice Recipe
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
2 cups thinly sliced kimchi (reserve ~1/4 kimchi juice)
4 cups day-old or cold steamed rice
oil + salt (if necessary) for cooking

1. Drain the kimchi and reserve 1/4 cup of kimchi juice. Slice the kimchi thinly.
2. Heat a non-stick or cast-iron pan over medium heat. Add about a tablespoon of neutral-tasting oil to the hot pan. Add kimchi to the pan and saute, for about 3 minutes, until the kimchi wilts. Add rice and kimchi juice and stir to mix well. Evenly spread out the mixture. Allow the bottom to become golden brown and slightly crispy, about 3 minutes. Be careful; kimchi and its juice burn easily! Mix well and add salt if necessary. Serve while hot.

Cook’s Note*

For a more substantial meal, top it with an egg cooked over easy or sunny-side up.

Toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions can be used as toppings or stir-ins if desired.

White, brown, or even a wild rice blend can be used to make this dish. Just make sure that the rice is day-old and not sticky. In the photos above, a blend of brown and wild rice was used.

I hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day and are in the midst of enjoying this long President’s Day weekend.

It’s a leisurely Sunday in our home; and it’s another sweet potato recipe this week. Well, this isn’t just another sweet potato recipe in our home. It’s one of our mainstays, lighter and healthier sweet potato casserole. I don’t know why I haven’t done more posts on sweet potatoes. They are as much a staple in our home as brown rice. And if you are a regular visitor to this site, you know how much we love rice around here.

We roast a whole bunch of sweet potatoes on the weekend and have them throughout the week. They are so delicious piping hot right out of the oven. And they are just as delicious cold right out of the fridge. I just love the wonderfully complex sweet flavor of these root vegetables. And despite their complex deep sweet flavor, they are so easy to pair with other spices and ingredients. That’s why sweet potatoes are easily one of my favorite things to eat and cook.

This simple sweet potato casserole is probably my husband’s favorite sweet potato dish. If he could, he would have it everyday – for every meal. This sweet potato casserole is super healthy for you, but it tastes like a decadently rich dessert. But guess what? It’s dairy-free, gluten-free, paleo-friendly, not to mention kid-friendly. Just go easy on the ginger if you are making this for kids. They’ll think it’s dessert and ask for seconds. This is SO SO delicious!

Skinny Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe
Makes 4 individual casseroles
Ingredients
2 cups mashed sweet potato
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
1/4 – 1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup almond flour
1 TB coconut butter
1/2 cup pecan halves
1 + 1 TB maple syrup
zest of 1 small orange (optional)
cinnamon
salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mash together sweet potato, OJ, grated ginger, and 1 TB of maple syrup together. Mix thoroughly.
3. Mix together pecans and 1 TB of maple syrup. Set aside 1/2 of the maple-coated pecans for later use. In a small processor, add almond flour, coconut butter, rest of the maple-coated pecans (be sure to scrape in the excess syrup), ~1/4 tsp of cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Process for a few seconds; then pulse until a crumbly texture forms and the pecans are broken into small pieces.
4. Divide the sweet potato into 4 8-oz ramekins. Spoon the crumble mixture on top of the sweet potato. Add rest of the pecans on top of the crumble.
5. Bake covered for about 10-15 minutes (depending on the temperature of the sweet potato)*. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes or until the pecans are nicely toasted and the crumble becomes golden. Remove from heat and sprinkle with the orange zest if using. Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve.

Cook’s Note*

Baking time will vary by a few minutes depending on the temperature of the sweet potatoes. If they were just baked and still warm, bake covered for about 8-10 minutes before uncovering. If they came out of the fridge and are cold, bake covered for about 15 minutes before uncovering.

If preferred, just bake this in a larger casserole dish. Be sure to double or triple the recipe depending on the size of the casserole dish.

I cook a lot of stews, like this skinny sweet potato and bean chili, over the colder months. I love dishes that are rich, hearty, and piping hot when it’s cold outside. But that’s not the only reason why I cook them often. It’s also because I can reheat and enjoy them again and again. Luckily, stews reheat wonderfully and taste even better the second (or third) time around when the flavors have had a chance to percolate and meld together over a longer period of time. To be honest, that’s the main reason I make this skinny sweet potato and bean chili. It’s delicious from the get-go, but it’s even better reheated.

Aside from the yummy leftovers, I love this sweet potato and bean chili because of it’s spicy and subtly sweet flavor. Maybe it’s because many of the Korean dishes I grew up on were a combination of spicy and sweet. This flavor combination is so familiar to my palate and, thus, so comforting. To add even more to the familiarity, I make this with a little bit of gochujang. I do this often with stews and sauces. It’s an easy way to add an extra layer of flavor. Just replace part or all of the tomato paste with gochujang. The flavor is simply amazing.

Skinny Sweet Potato and Bean Chili Recipe
Serves 6-8 people
Ingredients
3/4 lb ground lean beef or turkey
1 cup onions, diced
1 cup bell peppers (packed, any color), diced
1 medium sweet potato, cubed
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 TB chili powder*
2 tsp cumin
1/4 cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup water
26-28 oz chopped tomatoes
1 TB tomato paste
1 TB gochujang (optional, omit for gluten-free)*
1 tsp salt (celtic salt used)
3 – 3 1/2 cups cooked beans (black, pinto, and/or kidney)
salt + pepper to taste
avocado + onion, diced (topping)

1. Heat a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot. Add ground beef or turkey to the pot. Add a pinch of salt and ground pepper. Stir until the beef/turkey is lightly browned. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, and sweet potatoes to the pot. Saute for about 3 minutes until the onions begin to soften. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Stir until the spices begin to stick to the pan. Add back the beef and mix well. Add water to de-glaze the pot. Add tomatoes, salt, tomato paste, and gochujang (if using). Stir to mix well. Turn up the heat until the contents come to a boil. Turn down the heat to simmer and simmer for about 30-35 minutes.
3. Add the beans to the pot and mix. Turn up the heat until the contents come to a boil again. Turn down the heat to low and simmer for at least 20 minutes for the flavors to come together. Salt to taste if necessary. Remove from heat and top with diced avocados and onion. Serve over rice, quinoa, or pasta.

Cook’s Note*

For this healthy sweet potato and bean chili recipe, I used Simply Organic chili powder. If you want to make this gluten-free, make sure to read the label to ensure that there are no gluten-containing ingredients. Many brands use anti-caking agents that include wheat or gluten-containing ingredients.

If you want to make this chili gluten-free or don’t have any gochujang on hand, just replace it with additional tomato paste. So if you aren’t using gochujang, you will use 2 TB of tomato paste instead of 1 TB.

Don’t forget to top with diced avocados and onion. They really add to the flavor. Any onion will do. Just dice and give it a rinse under cold water. It will taste “cleaner” that way.

This dish tastes better the next day after it’s had a chance to sit in the refrigerator overnight. Just reheat it with a little splash of water. The flavors come together wonderfully.

This versatile stock can be used for most Korean soups and stews. And the beef can be shredded or cut and used in soups, sauces, sandwiches, and even as banchan on its own. If you want to eat it as banchan, just mix it with a splash of tamari, dark sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, chopped green onion, pinch of salt, and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!

Korean Brisket Stock Recipe
Ingredients
12-15 cups of filtered water
1 – 1 1/2 lbs brisket, trimmed of large clumps of fat
1/4 large onion
5 large cloves, garlic
2 x 3 piece dashima or kombu (kelp)*
10 – 12 dried anchovies for soup*

1. In a large bowl or pot, submerge the brisket in water and soak for 20-30 minutes. Drain.
2. Add 12-15 cups of filtered water, brisket from step 1, and rest of the ingredients to a large pot. Heat over moderately-high heat and bring to a boil. Once the contents reach a rolling boil, uncover the pot completely, lower the heat to medium, and continue boiling for 15-20 minutes.
3. Remove the anchovies and dashima using a slotted spoon or fat skimmer. Lower the heat, cover the pot, and allow the contents to simmer until the meat becomes soft (at least 1 – 1 1/2 hr). Test for doneness by sticking a metal chopstick or skewer through the meat. When done, there should be no resistance.
4. Once soft, remove the brisket from stock and allow to sit for a few minutes. Shred or cut as desired. The meat can be enjoyed in soups, sauces, or on its own.
5. The stock can now be used for most recipes that calls for stock or broth. Alternatively, you can completely cool the stock in the refrigerator and skim off any floating fat before using.

Cook’s Note*

You can place the dried anchovies in a large tea bag before placing them in the pot for easy removal later on.

Dashima (or kombu) and dried anchovies for soup are readily available at Korean grocery stores. Dried anchovies for soups are about the size of your pinky finger. If you are not near a Korean grocer, Amazon.com should also carry these items.

Happy (Lunar) New Year everyone! I hope this post finds everyone happy and well.

In a Korean home, a new year celebration always involves tteokguk or manduguk. When I was little, I was told that I couldn’t become a year older if I didn’t consume a bowl of tteok guk on New Year’s Day. Although that sounds like a nice proposition at this point in my life, I couldn’t wait to get older back then. But one thing has stayed constant. I still don’t need any excuses to devour a bowl of tteokguk. It’s one of my favorite cold-weather soups.

This is a super simple recipe that can be enjoyed anytime of the year. Although it is commonly consumed on new year’s day, it’s a perfect cold-weather dish. In fact, we’ve been enjoying tteokguk all throughout January, thanks in part to a huge-mongous pot of brisket stock I made at the end of last year! But no worries my friends. You don’t need homemade stock for this dish. A store-bought stock will do.

I apologize for the long absence. I just needed some time to recharge. I will get to and answer all questions and/or comments in the next week.

Tteokguk (Korean Rice Cake Soup) Recipe
Serves 2 people as a main dish
Ingredients
3 1/2 – 4 cups beef or anchovy-dashima stock*
2 1/2 cups sliced rice cakes (tteok)
2 eggs, lightly beaten (separately)
2 scallions, chopped
1 – 2 sheet(s) laver (seaweed a.k.a. gim or nori), toasted
1 TB tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)
salt and pepper
canola or grape seed oil for cooking

1. Place the sliced rice cakes (“tteok”) in a bowl full of water. Allow to soak for 15-20 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, lightly beat 1 egg with a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat a small nonstick pan over medium heat. Oil the pan and pour the egg into the pan. Cook on both sides (like a thick crepe) until golden brown. Remove from heat and slice thinly. Set aside.
3. In a pot, bring the stock to a boil over moderately high heat. Add the tamari and 1/2 tsp of salt. Stir. Add the slice rice cakes (“tteok”) to the boiling stock. Lower the heat to medium and allow to boil for about 5-7 minutes until the tteok is cooked through.
4. While the tteok is boiling, toast the laver (“gim”) directly over low heat or on a pan over medium heat. Toast both sides until crispy or no longer limp. Crush the toasted gim using your hands. Set aside.
5. Once the tteok is cooked through, add the chopped scallions to the pot and stir. In a small bowl, lightly beat 1 egg with a pinch of salt and pepper. While stirring the pot in a circular motion, slowly drizzle in the egg. As soon as the egg sets (should be immediate), remove the pot from heat. Salt to taste if necessary.
6. Divide the soup into 2 bowls. Top with sliced eggs from step 2 and crushed gim from step 4. Sprinkle with freshly-ground black pepper and additional chopped scallions if desired. Serve while hot.

Cook’s Note*
You can use just one egg, and omit either the pan-cooked egg in step 1 or drizzled egg in step 5. But it’s so good with both!

I used homemade brisket stock. I will post the recipe for the stock sometime this weekend. (Update: The recipe has been posted and can be found here). It’s not as convenient as a store-bought broth or stock, but it’s pretty easy to make. I usually make a huge pot and freeze for later use.

I won’t be cooking over the holidays. I love cooking with family when we get together, but unfortunately we won’t be doing that this year. We’ll be staying put in the city doing the “Friendsgiving” thing. I will, however, be doing some baking. I love the aroma of baked goods in the oven, especially over the holidays. It gives me the warm fuzzies.

These grain-free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies will definitely be one of the goodies that will be baking in the oven come Thanksgiving. I’m so crazy about these cookies. I’ve been making these a couple of times a week. Good thing that these are gluten-free, dairy-free, no added granulated sugar, AND paleo. You are probably thinking, “how can something so ‘-free’ taste good?” Trust me. They are amazing. They are so soft. It’s like biting into a marshmallow-y cloud. It’s also super easy to make. No mixer required. Not even elbow-grease. You’ll have to stir a little, but very little expenditure of energy is required.

Grain-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Makes about 24 cookies
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 TB finely-ground flax seeds
3 TB water
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (tightly packed)
2 TB coconut oil/butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. Stir together ground flax seeds and water. Set aside until the mixture achieves a egg-like consistency.
2. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients: almond flour, baking soda, sea salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Beat together all of the wet ingredients: maple syrup, pumpkin puree, coconut butter (room temperature), vanilla extract, and mixture from step 1. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix with a spatula until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and mix.
3. Scoop a heaping TB of the cookie dough and form into a ball. Place it on the prepared pan and flatten gently using your fingers or palm.* Repeat with rest of the dough. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool on a cooling rack.

Cook’s Note*

I finally made the commitment and ordered myself a 5-lb bag of Honeyville almond flour. It’s a world of difference in quality! It’s more finely ground than the one I was using before. So it absorbs more moisture; and it doesn’t feel/look grainy when baked.

Make sure that the pumpkin purée you are using (whether homemade or canned) consists only of pumpkin.

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, just add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. You don’t have to have all four. But make sure you add at least 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, and about 1/4 tsp of one or more of the other spices. If you just have cinnamon. That’s fine. Just add a generous 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. It will be delicious regardless.

Make sure to lightly flatten out the dough when baking. These cookies won’t spread on their own.

These cookies will be soft and moist. If you want them really soft and marshmallow-y in texture, make them fatter (don’t flatten as much) like the ones pictured above. The bottom will be crisp, but the cookies will still be unbelievably moist and soft.

If you aren’t vegan or just like the taste of eggs in baked goods, omit the flax seed + water mixture and replace it with one large egg.

I’ve made this with kabocha purée. It’s so damn good! Try it if you can get your hands on some kabochas.

I wasn’t kidding when I said I love rice bowls. There are so many possible variations that my taste buds never tire of them. As much as I love bibimbap, it’s somewhat ironic that I rarely make the traditional bibimbap. It’s probably because it’s more labor intensive than the variations that I often make.

This easy peasy bibimbap is one variation I make often. I don’t have to have different pots and pans going to prepare each of the toppings. Only one skillet is needed for this dish. Less dishes at the end of a meal is always a positive in my book. And unless you have the time and the energy to make a bibimbap sauce, you can just use the store-bought gochujang right on the bibimbap. I know I’ve said this before. But really. Commercial gochujang is already sweetened and flavored. It’s pretty good right out of the container. I, however, like to add a little bit of water to dilute it to decrease the sodium content.

This easy peasy bibimbap is also adaptable depending on what you have on hand. You can use mung bean sprouts instead of soybean sprouts. You can use spinach or other greens instead of swiss chard. You can use shiitake or other types of mushrooms instead of button mushrooms. Additionally, if you are a vegetarian, omit the beef and use a sunny-side up egg instead. If you are vegan use, walnut pieces instead.

On a side note, I will be taking a vacation of sorts from everything over the holidays. I will still post, but not as regularly. If you want to receive an email newsletter when I post a new recipe, sign up via the button on the left sidebar or here.

Mixed Vegetables and Beef Bibimbap Recipe
Serves 2 people
Ingredients
3 cups steamed rice (used wild and brown rice)
1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 heaping cup kongnamul (soybean sprouts)
3-4 leaves swiss chard, sliced thinly
4-5 button mushrooms, sliced thinly
4 oz. tenderloin or sirloin steak (beef), sliced thinly
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 TB tamari
1 tsp agave nectar or honey
toasted sesame seeds and oil
gochujang
salt and pepper
neutral oil for cooking

1. Heat a skillet over moderately-high heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add 1/2 of the garlic. Once the garlic starts to bubble in the oil, add the carrots. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir. Then add the kongnamul. Sauté for about 2-3 minutes. Add the swiss chard and stir. Once the swiss chard becomes bright green, but the stem is still crisp-tender, remove from heat. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and set aside on a plate.
2. Wipe the skillet clean. Heat the skillet over high heat. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add rest of the garlic, mushroom, and beef. Stir until beef is almost cooked through. Add the tamari, agave nectar or honey, and 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil. Mix well until the tamari is absorbed into the beef and mushrooms. Remove from heat. Add black pepper and stir.
3. Divide the rice, the vegetables, and beef between 2 bowls. Add gochujang* to each bowl. Start with 1 TB per bowl and add more if necessary. Serve immediately while hot.

Cook’s Note*
If you are watching your sodium intake, dilute the gochujang with a little bit of water. Add about 1 – 1 1/2 TB of water to 3 TB of gochujang.

If you want a very simple seasoned gochujang, stir together 3 TB of gochujang, 1 TB of water, 1-2 tsp of dark sesame oil, and 1-2 tsp of agave nectar or honey. Vinegar is traditionally not used for bibimbap, unlike the sauce for bibimguksu (mixed noodles).

For a vegetarian option, add an over-easy or a sunny-side up egg in lieu of the sliced beef. For a vegan option, add walnut or cashew pieces in lieu of the sliced beef. And of course, a fried egg can be added in addition to the beef.

I’m not crazy about cold weather. My threshold for cold weather is pretty low. If the temperature dips below 60, I just want to hibernate. But I love seasonal produce that comes with every season. Fall is no exception.

It’s not fall in our household without the cold-weather squashes. I love butternut and acorn squash. But they don’t hold a candle to my favorite winter squash of them all, kabocha squash. I love its sweetness and drier texture. It’s reminiscent of goguma (Korean sweet potato) and bahm (chestnuts), two of my favorite fall/winter treats. I love kabocha squash simply roasted or steamed. But they are wonderful in dishes as well. One of my favorite kabocha squash dishes is hobakjuk.

I’ve done a post on hobakjuk when I first started this blog. I intended to just update the photo on that post. But I decided to keep that photo as a reminder of how this blog started and how far it’s come. That was actually the first post that I shared with my family and friends! So I’m doing a new post with an updated recipe.

Just to get back to the basics, “hobak” in Korean means squash or pumpkins. So a zucchini as well as a pumpkin would both be called “hobak.” And “juk” (as I’m sure you’ve already guessed) means porridge. Hobajuk can be enjoyed in many ways. It can be served as an appetizer, an entree, and even as a dessert due to its sweetness. I personally love it as breakfast. Just hit it with an extra bit of maple syrup or brown sugar, and a handful of nuts or seeds. It’s just perfect as a healthy and hearty breakfast.

Hobakjuk is very easy to make. It’s similar to making puréed winter squash soups. But traditional hobakjuk calls for sweet rice dumplings and a sweet rice flour solution that gives the dish its silky texture. You can make this without the rice flour solution. But it wouldn’t truly be hobakjuk. It would more accurately be squash or pumpkin soup, because it’s the addition of the sweet rice solution that gives it the texture of “juk” or porridge.

The porridge is delicious on its own, but the rice dumplings really take this dish to another level. They have the texture of mochi, and they’re so delicious smothered in the sweetness of the kabocha porridge. So please don’t skip them. It takes mere minutes to put them together. Believe me. It will be worth your (very short) while.

Hobakjuk (Pumpkin Porridge with Rice Dumplings) Recipe
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb kabocha squash (without seeds and peel)
1/4 cup sweet rice flour or glutinous rice flour
4 cups + 3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 TB brown sugar or maple syrup
20-25 (1/2-inch) rice dumplings (recipe below)
1/4 cup adzuki beans, cooked (optional)
toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
salt to taste

For Dumplings
1/2 cup sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
3 TB warm water + more if necessary
1/4 tsp salt

1. Peel and seed the kabocha squash. Place the kabocha squash in a steamer and steam for about 20 minutes until soft. Check for doneness by poking the pieces with a fork. Let them cool. Add the squash and 2 cups of water to a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the contents into a pot. Add 2 more cups of water to a blender and pulse to get the bits of kabocha stuck to the blender. Pour the contents into the same pot.
2. Bring the contents of the pot to a boil over moderately high heat. Stir well and lower the heat to medium.
3. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup of sweet rice flour and 3/4 cup of water. Slowly add this to the pot while stirring. Make sure to stir well to prevent the mixture from forming lumps. Once the contents come to a boil, lower the heat further and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir regularly to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom. The contents of the pot should now look thicker. Don’t be afraid to add water if it becomes too thick.
4. While the porridge is simmering, make the rice dumplings. Mix together 1/2 cup sweet rice flour and 3 TB of water. Knead until you achieve a dough that feels like soft play-doh. Form them into 1/2-inch balls. You may need extra flour to prevent the dumplings from sticking.
5. Stir in brown sugar (or maple syrup) and salt. Add the rice balls to the pot. Let them cook on low boil for about 5 minutes. Don’t overcook. The rice balls will become mushy. The rice dumplings should have the consistency of mochi. Stir in beans, if using, with about 1 minute left of cooking time.
6. If necessary, salt to taste. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Toasted pumpkin seeds and additional brown sugar or maple syrup can be added if desired.

Cook’s Note*

You can bake or microwave kabocha squash. If you are going to bake, don’t add any oil to the squash.

I used a small kabocha squash that weighed about 2 1/4 pounds before peeling and seeding. Kabocha squash is best for this porridge, but you can use a butternut squash or a sugar pumpkin instead.

Make sure to use sweet rice flour for this. This is what give the porridge its thick silky texture and the rice dumplings their chewy (“mochi”) texture.

I used canned Eden adzuki beans. They are the only canned bean product I use. Lining for their canned products is BPA-free.

Last week, I embarked on a baking project to come up with a yummy grain-less muffin. I’m not crazy about baking, but the cost of specialized baked goods forced my hand to pick up the whisk. Figuratively speaking anyway. I used a processor for this, which means it was totally easy to make.

If you’ve been here before, you know that I wasn’t blessed with the strongest (digestive) constitution. Dairy is a no-go. Neither is gluten. When I get a craving, I can’t just run to the bakery around the corner. So when I found a restaurant that specialized in gluten and grain-free baked goods, I was ecstatic. But the prices? Not so much. $4-5 for a tiny muffin or a brownie square. I admit I indulged in their goodies for a few months despite the ridiculous prices, because I’ve been so busy. But when I had some downtime last week, I decided to come up with a recipe (and save some $$ along the way).

I usually bake with brown rice flour, but I decided to try almond flour for the muffins. Let me tell you, almond “flour” doesn’t act like flour. It doesn’t absorb nearly as much moisture as regular flour, and it doesn’t rise the same way as flour. If you add even a little too much liquid, the outside will look beautiful (yay!) but the inside will still be wet (ugh). If you add even a little too much baking soda/powder, it rises (yay!) then it falls (plop, ugh). Needless to say, I had some mishaps. But we had fun eating through our mishaps. The texture was funky, but the flavor was great.

If you look at the recipe below, you’ll see that it makes 7-8 muffins. Weird number right? Well, I started out wanting to make 6 muffins. But I soon realized that filling up the cups to capacity made the muffins too crumbly (not easy to eat!). AND it took too long to bake. So I decided to make smaller muffins. They were pretty awesome.

If you are doing a cleanse or a detox, these muffins would be perfect! These are not only grain-free and dairy-free, it’s egg-free and has no added sugar except for the dried dates that were added for sweetness. But if you don’t mind a little bit of added sugar, dark chocolate chips can be substituted – in part, or whole – for the blueberries. Either way, they are so good!

Guilt-free, Grain-Free Blueberry Muffins Recipe
Makes 7-8 muffins
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup almond flour (used Bob’s Red Mill)
8-9 dried dates (used Deglet Noor)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 TB coconut butter/oil or applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TB + 2 tsp finely-ground flax seeds
1/4 cup almond milk
1 TB lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup (generous) blueberries
sliced almonds for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with muffin cups.
2. Beat together ground flax seeds and almond milk using a fork until well combined. Set it aside until a egg-like consistency is reached.
3. Stir together the dry ingredients: almond flour, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.
4. Loosely chop the dates. Add the chopped dates, coconut butter, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and flax seed mixture from step one to a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the lemon zest. Then add dry ingredients to the processor in 2 – 3 batches. Pulse until the mixture comes together. Gently stir in the blueberries. Scoop out the mixture into the muffin cups. Don’t overfill the cups; fill only about 1/2. Sprinkle with sliced almonds if using. Tap the muffin tin on the aside to flatten out the batter and to get rid of air bubbles.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes until the outside is golden brown and the inside is no longer wet. Cool the muffins for about 10 minutes in the tin. Cool completely on a cooling rack.

Cook’s Note*

The final batter will look almost too thick to be a muffin batter. That’s OK. If it looked like a regular muffin batter, the inside will be wet and inedible. The batter should look like a fluffy, whipped cookie batter. It, however, will be a whole lot softer and airier than a cookie batter.

I don’t know if you’ve done a lot of gluten-free baking, but there isn’t too much uniformity when it comes to GF flours. Some brands grind their flour finer than others and absorb more liquid. This lack of uniformity is pretty pronounced in almond flour. So the amount of liquid required may vary a tiny bit depending on the brand of flour used.

I used Bob’s Red Mill. Their almond “flour” was pretty coarse. That’s one of the reasons for using a processor for this recipe – to break down the “flour” a little further. Don’t overdo it tho. It will turn into almond butter!

I’m sure some of you have never heard of Kongnamul bap. Although it may not be a household name here, it’s actually a very popular rice dish in Korea. Along with bibimbap and kimchi fried rice, Kongnamul bap makes up the troika of Korea’s most popular and classic rice dishes. Although I enjoy all three, I prefer kongnamul bap over the others during the colder seasons. It’s usually served piping hot, and it’s so comforting. Oh, and it’s unbelievably quick and easy to make.

OK. If you really want to get literal or technical, kongnamul bap is a type or a subset of bibimbap; it’s mixed (“bibim”) before eating, and it consists of rice (“bap”). But kongnamul bap is quite distinctive in taste and preparation from the traditional bibimbap. While bibimbap is normally served with seasoned gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste), kongnamul bap is served with seasoned soy sauce. As you can imagine, this makes a marked difference in the taste.

And unlike bibimbap, which can be tedious in preparation, the kongnamul bap recipe I’m sharing with you requires almost no preparation at all. Many kongnamul bap recipes out there require much more time and effort, mainly because they require that you cook the rice along with the kongnamul. But this recipe allows you to use up whatever cold rice you have left in the fridge. Have any leftover rice from the Chinese takeout last night? Yup, you can use that for this dish. It’s pretty much foolproof. I, however, can’t take credit for this, because it’s my grandmother’s tried-and-true recipe.

Easy Kongnamul Bap (Soybean Sprouts Rice Bowl) Recipe
Serves 2 people
Ingredients
2-3 cups kongnamul (soy bean sprouts)
1/2 – 1 cup ripe kimchi
3 cups cooked day-old or cold rice
1 – 2 tsp canola or other neutral tasting oil
~2 TB water

For the sauce
1-2 scallions, chopped
1 garlic clove minced
3 TB tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)
1 tsp honey or agave nectar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1-2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper powder)

1. In a heavy bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid, add water, soybean sprouts, kimchi, and oil (in that order). On top of the kimchi, add the cold rice. Close the pot. Make sure the lid is on tightly. Turn the heat on to medium. Once the pot has been heated, after about 3-4 minutes, adjust the heat to LOW. Continue cooking the contents on low heat for about 14-15 minutes. Don’t open the lid.
2. While the Kongnamul bap is cooking, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, stir together all of the ingredients for the sauce.
3. Remove the pot from heat once it is done cooking. Leave the lid closed for about a minute.
4. Divide the contents between 2 bowls. Place the rice in the bottom and top with soybean sprouts, then kimchi. Add the sauce on top. Alternatively, you can mix the kongnamul bap in the pot and divide the mixed rice into two bowls, then top with sauce. Serve immediately while still hot. Mix and enjoy!

Cook’s Note*

When you add the sprouts to the pot, pile them loosely in the bottom of the pot. Don’t pack them. Make sure that the sprouts are in the bottom. If kimchi or the rice is in the bottom, it WILL burn. Additionally, if you are cooking for 2 like me, use a smaller pot. I used a 7-inch heavy bottomed pot.

You can adjust the water as you get more familiar with this dish. 2-3 TB should be more than enough to keep the bean sprouts from burning. I tend to add less. In fact, when I just cook the bean sprouts as banchan, I don’t add any water at all. The steaming process and the water that is already present on and in the sprouts are enough to cook the sprouts without burning. But for this dish, a little bit of water needs to be added, because there are other ingredients in the pot with the sprouts.

I used day-old (cold) steamed brown and wild rice for added nutrients.