teczcape - Escape to Food -recipes, cooking, reviews

Cordyceps Flowers Steamed Cod EnPapillote

2026-03-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

Parchment cooking En Papillote did not fail me. This Asian-Style Steamed Cod Fish Fillets with Cordycep Flowers, Gojiberries, Woodear Mushrooms turned out wonderfully delicious.

Cordyceps Flower or Cordyceps militaris is a type of mushrooms in family Cordycipitaceae, and are usually cooked in soups.

Instead of steaming the fillets over the stove, the fish wrapped in "parcels" are "steamed"/roasted in the oven.

Steamed Cod Fish Fillets with Cordycep Flowers
Ingredients:
2 Alaska Cod Fish Fillets, thawed from frozen
Pinch of ginger powder
Pinch of ground white pepper
Handful of dried Cordycep Flowers, rinsed under running water, then set aside
1-2 tbsp gojiberries, rinsed under running water, then set aside
3 dried woodear mushrooms, rehydated in water for about 15-20mins, then sliced thinly, set aside
2 tbsp Japanese sake/ Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp soy sauce

Directions:
Gently rub fish fillets with ginger and white pepper to season/marinate. Place marinated fish on parchment paper. Mix sake and soy sauce and pour over fish fillets. Place Cordycep Flowers, gojiberries, and thinly sliced woodear mushrooms over the fish. Wrap the fish into parcels. Roast/cook in preheat oven 375F, for about 20 mins or more, depending on fish thickness. If the fish fillets are thick, it may take longer to cook.

Dragon Fruit Muffins - No Eggs, No Flour

2026-03-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

These Dragon Fruit Muffins are adapted from my Homemade Muffin and Bakes category. The red hue is coming from red dragon fruit puree.

Basically, I used a foundation oat muffins recipe for this Dragon Fruit Muffins. Instead of mashed ripe banana that is usually added as natural sweetener, dragon fruit smoothie pack (100% dragon fruit puree) is used instead.

The dragon fruit smoothie pack is definitely less sweet than ripe bananas but still does its job of pulling the muffin mixture together, working like a "binder" just like how ground flaxseeds is the "binder" in this same act.

Dragon Fruit Muffins
Ingredients:
100g dragon fruit puree (Pitaya Foods Organic Dragon Fruit Smoothie pack)
1 tbsp ground flaxseeds (acts as "binder" in replacement of eggs)
1 cup old-fashioned oats
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Crushed salted almond/salted almond pieces as topping

Directions: Preheat oven 350°F. Mix all the ingredients, then divide oat mixture into baking cups, then top muffins with almonds. Gently press the toppings into the batter. Bake about 20-30 minutes till top turns slightly golden brown and inside is set and cooked.

Garbanzo Beans Chickpeas with Vegetables

2026-01-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Happy 2026 and we hope your 2026 has been off to a great start!

The new year starts off with this healthy nutritious vegetarian/meatless bowl meal nicely balanced with a variety of cooked vegetables, roasted chickpeas/garbanzo beans, and black rice.

A variety of vegetables fills you with fiber, different nutrients and minerals. As source of plant-based protein, you can substitute garbanzo beans with black beans, red kidney beans, navy beans or simply, any of your favorite beans or even lentils

Onion Cheese Crisp Chips

2025-12-16T17:12:00.000-08:00

This is another viral recipe tried (and tested). A savory crispy snack or appetizer Onion Cheese Crisp Chips made using 2 simple ingredients. Onions and cheese.

There is no batter involved. So, for those looking for low-carb "onion rings" alternatives, rejoice!
This is very addictive. Every time I make a batch, it's never enough.

Onion Cheese Crisp Chips
Ingredients:
1 onion, thinly sliced
Thinly shredded white cheddar (parmesan cheese might be better choice but I did the cheddar substitution since that was what's available)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle thin, even layer of cheese across the baking sheet. Place sliced onions single layer over the cheese. Sprinkle more cheese, season with garlic powder and bake in preheat 400F oven for about 20mins or until golden brown and crispy. Let cool for 10 minutes before breaking apart into chips.

Winter Melon Soup

2025-11-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

We are heading towards soup season here, as temperature starts to drop. So it's soup dish today-Winter Melon Soup.

Abeit the word "winter", winter melon is actually not a winter squash. Named winter melon because of the "sugar" concentrated on the outer green skin that resembles frost, thus the term "winter".

Winter melon is perishable when already cut and sold in wedges; compared to hairy melon/fuzzy squash typically sold whole and can keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. You can also use hairy melon/fuzzy for this soup if you prefer, depending on what's available in your local market.

One of the most common ways to cook winter melon soup is to have a pork-stock base but I did not have any pork or any poultry-based stock ready. I turned to pantry-friend dried flavor enhancers - krill and bonito flakes, both available and ready to use.

Winter Melon Soup
Ingredients:
2-3 thin slices of ginger
1tbsp krill/dried shrimps (available in Japanese grocers/supermarkets)
1 packet of dried bonito flakes (available in Japanese grocers/supermarkets)
3-5 handfuls of winter melon bite-size pieces (already peeled)
1tbsp gojiberries, hydrated in 2tsp cooking wine
1 green onions, thinly sliced
Dash of sea salt and ground white pepper
Dash of sesame oil

Directions: Saute ginger and krill in cooking oil for a few minutes, add water and bring to a boil. Add winter melon and simmer/boil till winter melon appears translucent (which means cooked). Add gojiberries and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Turn off heat and garnish generously with green onions and bonito flakes. Salt and ground white pepper to season, and sesame oil for aroma.

Fried Chicken Bowl

2025-09-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Never would I have thought that fried chicken would one day be featured in my bowl meals because fried chicken - KFC style, the fried chicken we grew up eating, is one of the last food dishes I would cook at home.

Out of sight, out of mind. Well, that was until this $2 off fried chicken coupon was sighted in my supermarket shopping account. And what can be better than using this discount to buy an item that I would never prepare/cook at home.

How about waiting for a double discount deal? That popped up in my mind. I will wait for a 5-dollar Friday - that's when 8-piece fried chicken goes on sale for $5 (vs other times, almost twice the price, about $9); then use this $2 discount on this 5-dollar Friday.Woot! 8-piece fried chicken (mix of fried drumsticks and thighs) for $3! (pardon the overuse of exclamation marks).

That's frugal living (did you know: our family also uses store-bought whole rotisserie chicken to prep the family's protein bowls); and planning ahead is part of frugal living including today's semi-homecooked bowl meal.

Fried Chicken Veggie Bowl
Ingredients:
4 servings of assorted vegetables - mix of zucchini, cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, leafy greens
1-2 serving fried chicken, (store-bought, Safeway)

Directions: Using single-tier steamer (or multi-tier steamer converted to single-tier), steam veggies with garlic for 5-8 mins (Note: I steam vegetables quite a lot, almost everyday. It's an easy and fuss-free method of preparation/cooking and retains vegetables' nutrients. Remember - don't over-steam/over-cook). Serve chicken with freshly steamed vegetables.

Banana Peanut Butter Yogurt Bites

2025-08-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

As there were no plans to stock up store-bought ice-cream this summer, I had to find ways to satisfy cold and chilled cravings on hot summer days. I could have made 1-ingredient Banana Ice-Cream again but let's try something different. First, is to use what is already in the kitchen, pantry or fridge. Greek yogurt came to mind, peanut butter as well. And banana as the natural sweetener.

Here comes Banana Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Frozen Bites. Perfect.

Banana Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Frozen Bites
Add peanut butter to bottom of silicone mold cup. Add small banana chunk, then dollop of Greek yogurt plus raw cacao powder (as shown), and finally topped with crushed peanuts (optional).

Freeze overnight. Remove from mold the next day, and store in air-tight container or Ziploc bags in the freeze. Enjoy when in need of cold sweet treat.

Shishito Peppers (Twist Chili) Tofu Bowl

2025-07-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

This is a vegetarian version of Shishito Peppers Protein Bowl, substituting chicken with tofu.

They are many ways to make delicious tofu including Chimichurri Tofu, Korean Spicy Tofu, or Chilled Tofu, Five-Spice Marinated Tofu. Instead of tofu, you can also use Tofu Sheets/Yuba - another great meatless high-protein option. Yuba/Fresh Tofu Sheets Salad is one of my favorite ways to enjoy yuba/fresh tofu sheets

If you going for a simple, no-frills tofu recipe, a little salt, black pepper and garlic powder also goes a long way.
Shishito Peppers (Twist Chili) Tofu Veggies Bowl
Ingredients:
Firm tofu, cut to cubes, season with salt, black pepper, garlic powder
8-10 Shishito peppers/twist chili, rinsed
About 3-4 servings of mixed vegetables of your choice e.g. cauliflower, leafy beans, red cabbage
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Preheat oven 400F. Roast peppers ~10mins till blistered); also cook/roast tofu in oven at the same time. While roasting peppers and tofu, steam vegetables with garlic for about 5-8mins. When done, layer the base of the salad bowl with colorful steamed vegetables and topped with chicken and blistered peppers.

Steamed Eggplant with Garlic Chili

2025-07-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

Besides Roasted Eggplant/Brinjal with Garlic and Spicy Chili Eggplant/Brinjal, steamed eggplant/brinjal is also my go-to eggplant/brinjal preparation whenever I want to put together something easy, quick, healthy and delicious.

Today, this Steamed Eggplant with Garlic fits the bill of being easy, quick, healthy and delicious.

Asian eggplant variety such as Chinese eggplant and Japanese eggplant which have thin delicate skin and sweeter flesh are more suitable for steamed eggplant dishes.

This time, I tried a simpler and easier way to prepare/cook eggplants - to steam them whole or in huge chunks/halves, then prepare (shred or tear them) into desired smaller lengths-portions before topping them with homemade garlic, green onion, chili sauce-dressing.

The advantage of steaming them whole/halves is to minimize surface area exposed to oxidation. Typically, when eggplant is cut to shorter lengths or smaller cubes, these smaller portions are soaked in water (with salt) to prevent oxidation. However, since they are steamed whole or huge chunks, oxidation will also be minimized, hence the "soaking" step is skipped.

Steamed Eggplant with Garlic Dressing
Ingredients:
2 medium-size Chinese eggplant, lightly rinsed
3-5 cloves garlic, finely minced
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 red chili, thinly sliced
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Directions: Steam eggplant whole for 5-8 mins (shorter time for small eggplant, adjust timing accordingly). Remove eggplant from steamer and set aside to allow them to cool down. Shred/prepare them into desired lengths by "tearing" them to thinner slices, and set on a plate. Place garlic, green onions and chili in a bowl, warm cooking oil in a ladle over stove till oil is hot. Pour hot oil over garlic, onions, chili mixture. Add soy sauce and chili sauce into the garlic mixture, mix well, then gentle pour the dressing over the steamed eggplants

Cabbage Quinoa Chicken Salad

2025-06-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

A salad fit and mighty as a main dish protein salad bowl featuring shredded chicken, quinoa, red cabbage, Brussel sprouts, snow peas.

Quinoa is nutritious whole grain that can be easily added to vegetable salads and make salads a meal. Make Smoked Salmon Turmeric Quinoa Bowl, Broccoli Cauliflower Celery Quinoa Bowl, Biryani-Inspired Quinoa Pilaf, Asparagus Quinoa Bowl.Cabbage Quinoa Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
1 serving shredded chicken breast, leftover from rotisserie chicken
1 serving of cooked quinoa (can be batch-cooked and prepared in advance)
3-4 servings of vegetables - red cabbage, Brussel sprouts, snow peas, or your own preference

1-2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil + 1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar dressing

Directions: Blanch/steam/stir-fry Brussel sprouts and snow peas. Assemble cooked ingredient as shown. Gently toss with dressing.

Leftover chicken is also good for Broccoli, Cabbage, Chicken Salad, Tandoori Chicken Salad, Chicken Salad Sandwich, Avocado, Cucumber, Kale Chicken Burger.

Smelt Fish Protein Bowl

2025-04-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

Besides salmon, mackerel, milkfish, hairtail ribbon fish, this high calcium smelt fish (oven-roast or pan-fried) can also be protein entree to these protein bowl meals.

Oven-roast or pan-fried, these smelt fish (also known as capelin or Japanese masagos) are deliciously crispy and makes protein bowls such a healthy delight to enjoy.

If you are not a fan of fish, you can opt for other seafood option or stick with chicken.

Smelt Fish Protein Bowl
Ingredients:
Smelt fish, thawed from frozen
3-4 servings of vegetables - cauliflower, collard greens, red cabbage, or your own preference

Directions: Prepare and cook smelt fish - oven recipe or pan-fried recipe. Steam vegetables about 8mins to serve as base of the protein bowl. Serve fish with vegetables.

Easy Rolled Oats Muffins

2025-04-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

Whole-grain oats is a great way to get soluble fiber in your diet. Research suggests that increasing your intake of soluble fiber each day may result in a drop in "bad" LDL cholesterol.

Rolled oats are usually incorporated as breakfast foods e.g. Homemade Granola or Muesli, High-Fiber Breakfast Oats with Milk. However, not restricted to morning consumption, you can also add rolled oats when making multi-grain rice for lunch or fish + oats egg frittata that tops a lunch protein bowl.

During the course of making these homemade healthy bakes such as Eggless Banana Cacao Oatmeal Cups, Banana Bran Muffins, Eggless Pineapple Cacao Muffins, Peanut Butter Powder Low-Fat Low-Cal Muffins, a personal baking-style has also evolved - call it easy, fool-proof style. Today's bakes returns to this basic, simple ingredients Rolled Oats Muffins - truly easy and fool-proof.

Whole-grain rolled oats are healthy but be sure to stay clear of oatmeal packets that are loaded with added sugars. When baking homemade muffins, you have the option to use banana as the natural sweetener.

Easy Rolled Oats Muffins
Ingredients:
1 large egg
3/4cup milk (dairy or non-diary)
1 ripe banana, mashed
1tsp coconut oil
1.5 cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Raisins, pumpkin seeds as toppings

Directions: Preheat oven 350°F. Mix wet ingredients: Whisk eggs, milk, banana in bowl, until smooth. Add the dry ingredients - oats, cinnamon and fold until combined. Divide oat mixture into baking cups, then top muffins with raisins and pumpkin seeds. Gently press the toppings into the batter. Bake about 20-30 minutes till top turns slightly golden brown and inside is cooked.

Shredded Chicken Curry Bowl

2025-03-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

When there was leftover curry chicken, we made Curry Chicken Protein Veggie Bowl. But this time, only gravy remaining and no chicken leftover in the curry chicken! The frugality in me simply wants to "save" that precious gravy (can't waste the essence of curry chicken, right?).

The following day, two different leftovers: shredded chicken breast and curry gravy became good friends - combo created by adding leftover shredded chicken breast into the leftover curry gravy, then reheated to make this Shredded Chicken Curry Veggie Bowl.

Shredded Chicken Curry Veggie Bowl
Ingredients:
Shredded chicken breast, leftover from rotisserie chicken
2 cups of leftover curry gravy (not much but it's enough to flavor the chicken breast)
3-4 servings of vegetables - cauliflower, collard greens, red cabbage, or your own preference

Directions: Add shredded chicken into the curry gravy and mix well. Reheat (steam) for about 5minutes, same time as how long you would steam the vegetables using a multi-tier steamer. When done, spoon the curry chicken over the cooked vegetables.

Leftover chicken is also good for Broccoli, Cabbage, Chicken Salad, Tandoori Chicken Salad, Chicken Salad Sandwich, Avocado, Cucumber, Kale Chicken Burger.

Roast Cauliflower with Cheese

2025-02-20T15:06:00.000-08:00

Camp broccoli or team cauliflower? It's hard to choose which one because each vegetable shines in its own special way, especially with how it's being prepared. For example, if it's a dish that needs slightly longer cooking time Whole Spiced-Roasted Cauliflower, cauliflower might be a preferred choice as it may withstand extended cooking duration without turning over-sulfurous.

Well, for this side-accompaniment today, both broccoli and cauliflower should be interchangeable. Adapted from Roast Broccoli Steak with Cheese, is this Roast Cauliflower with Cheese.

Roast Cauliflower with Cheese
Ingredients/directions: Lightly coat cauliflower with olive oil, roast for about 15mins. Remove from oven, give the tray of cauliflower a gentle jolt (so that cauliflower don't stick to the tray), add shaved cheese, dried parsley and continue roast in oven for 5-8 more minutes till the cheese melts and crisp up.

Chinese New Year Pork Trotters with Noodles and Vegetables

2025-02-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

Braised pork trotters is one of the Chinese New Year dishes enjoyed during this festive season as pigs are auspicious animals in Chinese culture and symbolize strength and good fortune.

This dish is prepared using store-bought boneless pork trotters, tossed with noodles symbolizing longevity equivalent to being in good health and paired with "lucky" vegetables combo.

You can choose to stir-fry e.g. Vegetarian Stir-Fry or steam the vegetables setting it up like this:

Egg Frittata Breakfast Sandwiches

2025-01-12T18:48:00.000-08:00

Skip store-bought breakfast and make your own healthier version. This time, I improved on these breakfast sandwiches with egg frittata as sandwich fillers. These are great make-ahead breakfast sandwiches.

Our family enjoys egg frittata including Onion Egg Frittata, Gouda Cheese Egg Frittata, Pico De Gallo/Salsa Egg Frittata, Frozen Veggies Egg Frittata, Fish & Oats Egg Frittata (made with leftover fish!).

Make a batch, wrap up the extras and warm them up when required.

The idea of make-ahead is to save time especially when the day gets busy. However, you still have to fork out some time about 20 minutes or so, during less hectic days to make this happen; or more accurately, make the egg frittata happen. This is an easy version of entirely-oven-baked egg frittata, all for the sake of us, the busy humans.

Egg Frittata Breakfast Sandwiches
Ingredients:
6 eggs
6 whole wheat English muffins
1/2 organic red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced red onions
Salt and pepper
Sliced cheese (I used cheddar this time. Option is to use Swiss or any less-sodium cheese)

Directions: Roast bell peppers and red onions at 400 for about 15 mins. While roasting the veggies, prepare a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Lightly oil the parchment paper, Whisk the eggs. Set aside. When veggies are done, add them to the egg mixture and lightly whisk again just to mix the veggies in. Pour the egg mixture into the lined loaf pan, bake 400 for about 30 mins till done. If you use a shallow dish, the bake/cook time will be much shorter.

Roast Duck with Asparagus, Sweet Potato

2025-01-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year 2025 to all. Hope 2024 has been great and 2025 will be better.

Always love a delicious duck dish come winter time, and Costco's Maple Leaf Farm Roast Half Duck has always been my family's favorite and go-to. Not only these ready-cooked duck make delicious duck protein bowls, they also make meal prep. a breeze. There is also no need to worry if the kitchen oven can fit and roast a whole duck.

I revisited one of our winter favorites - duck, brussel sprouts and sweet potato, and made this Duck with Roasted Asparagus, Steamed Gai Lan Chinese Broccoli and Purple Sweet Potato dish.

Curry Spiced Trout Fillets

2024-12-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

Whole fish tastes better when cooked on the bone; and whole fish, especially when it is still swimming in the tank, is probably one of the freshest!

No whole fish today but fillets of trout are used here; just because fresh fillets (not labeled as "previously frozen") were available from the market's seafood section. These fillets may well work into my favor today, as the marinade will be readily and quickly absorbed into the fish, and certainly makes cleaner and fuss-free food preparation (as with whole fish, comes an additional step to proper clean the inside of the fish).

No time? Season with a little salt and pepper. 2 minutes more? Prepare some spice seasoning as marinade. With 5 minutes extra-time to spare, mince up ginger-green onions paste on top of the spice seasoning.

You can easily make fish protein bowls from these trout fillets. Other fish options include Salmon, Mackerel, Milkfish Belly.

Ginger, Onions, Curry Spiced Marinated Trout Fillets
Ingredients:
3 trout fillets
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 small knob of ginger (half a thumb size), peeled, and finely chopped
1 garlic, finely sliced
1 small tomato, finely diced
1 tsp curry powder, pinch of turmeric and black pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 red pepper powder, 1/2 coriander powder, pinch of sea salt

Directions: Finely mince the chopped green onions and ginger into a paste. Set aside. Marinade the fillets with salt, curry powder, turmeric, black pepper, cumin, red pepper. Place the fillets, skin-side down, on a tray lined with parchment paper or foil. Then smear the green onion-ginger paste (divided use) on the flesh of the fillets. Top each fillet with diced tomatoes, and sliced garlic. Allow the marinade to set in while preheating the oven to 400F. Roast fillets (skin-side down) for 20-30 minutes.

Mixed Nuts & Seeds Florentines Crackers Biscuit

2024-11-19T16:04:00.003-08:00

Traditionally, florentines are typically made from nuts (most of the times, hazelnuts and almonds) mixed with sugar melted together with butter and honey, then baked in an oven (Best Selling Smart Oven). However, modern day florentines have evolved to be healthier biscuits (or cookies) or more accurately, thin crackers formed from a mixture of nuts, seeds, egg whites, honey.

Our family version of florentines consists of a mix of sliced almonds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, sesame seeds, and in replacement of honey, date syrup (I used Organic Just Date Syrup, 1-Ingredient: 100% Organic Medjool Dates)

Egg whites omitted, just because I did not want the "burdened" of leftover egg yolk. I was also making a small batch, experimenting to see what works and what does not.

So happy that it did work out without using egg white. The nuts and seeds mixture bind and form to a crisp crunchy cracker biscuit, albeit delicately fragile.

Tempeh Protein Bowl with Marinated Feta Cheese

2024-11-11T17:53:00.000-08:00

These bowl-meals are usually built in a few steps which include preparing the vegetables as the base and portioning the protein.

Protein feature in today's bowl is tempeh, and hard-boiled eggs (discover this Rapid Egg Cooker) paired with vegetable base that includes steamed broccolini, red cabbage, mushrooms (check this multipurpose Stainless Steel Steamer)

As there was extra Marinated Feta Cheese Cucumber Lettuce Salad that was prepared earlier, it does not hurt to top the tempeh veggie bowl with this bonus flavor.

Tempeh is an excellent choice if you are looking to include more plant-based protein into your diet. Check these other tempeh recipes ideas e.g. Oven-Baked Tempeh with Green Beans, BBQ Sauce Tempeh.

Shrimps Chicken Multigrain Congee Porridge

2024-10-28T18:09:00.003-07:00

A few days away from daylight savings when we turn our clock back an hour. The days are getting shorter and temperatures are down to sweater weather.

A warm wholesome bowl of multigrain congee (this Rice Cooker /Multicooker will be useful) is a welcoming meal as we embrace autumn and winter. Call this Surf and Turf as shrimps (prawns) and ground meat (pork, chicken) are added to the otherwise plain bowl of congee made from brown rice, millet, quinoa.

You will not get such wholesome congee in any eateries/restaurants as it is a huge investment of ingredients and time.

So many ingredients that this post had to be drafted immediately after the dish was cooked else with days lingering on, the ingredients going into this tasty congee would have been forgotten.

Dried anchovies (ikan bilis), dried baby shrimps, dried krill, onions, garlic, ginger, red dates, carrots, green beans, corn, woodear and shitake mushrooms, ground organic chicken and pork, fresh shrimps (prawns), nori seaweed, green onions, cilantro. Am I over-doing this? Not so when it's going to be a one-dish meal.

Shrimp Chicken Multigrain Porridge Congee
Roast 1tbsp thinly minced onions, 10 green beans diced, 1 small organic carrot diced and 2 shitake mushrooms thinly sliced (seasoned with 1/2 tsp soy sauce, dash of ground white pepper and olive oil) in the oven for about 20 minutes (Note: This step saves some time while the congee cooks over the stove-top. Roasting also intensifies the flavors so that the congee will be tasty when roasted diced veggies are added later. Note1: You can also opt to saute and aromatize the mixture in the pot before cooking the congee).

At the same time, toast 1/3 tbsp dried anchovies (ikan bilis), 1/3 tbsp dried baby shrimps, 1/3tbsp dried krill in a deep soup pot for about 3 minutes. Set aside. Brown the ground meat in the same pot, breaking up the big lump of ground meat to smaller pieces. When browned, set aside. Add the rinsed grains of brown rice, millet, quinoa into the pot, then add garlic, ginger, red dates, then add sufficient water to start cooking the congee. When the congee start to boil, add in toasted anchovies (ikan bilis, baby shrimps) and continue boiling the congee for about 20 minutes till the grains are cooked, then turn down heat and allow it to simmer.

At this time, the roasted veggies are also ready. Remove the roasted veggies from the oven and add them to the congee, stir gently. Add in diced fresh shrimps, already browned ground meat, and thinly sliced woodear mushrooms and allow the entire mixture to simmer under low-medium heat. Adjust the amount of water required for the congee (more water if you prefer thinner congee consistency). After simmering for about 5 minutes, add in corn and nori seaweed, and continue to stir gently. Green onions and cilantro to garnish.

Tacos Pork Carnitas, Fish Salmon #TacoTuesday

2024-10-01T15:19:00.002-07:00

Our family was never quite into tacos, burrittos, Mexican food and cuisine in general. However, this past year of occasional day-tripping and local travel opened up our travel food world to food trucks, especially taco trucks.

Though we prefer to have home-cooked food (these food storage containers will come in very handy), having to depend on prepared/store-bought food while travelling has become unavoidable. However, eating out past few years has become very expensive. When you are travelling on the road, what is your go-to for food?

For us, it's tacos - definitely not those fancy-schmancy $8 tacos in restaurants but traditional authentic basic no-frills meat tacos topped with onions and cilantro. We are always excited to discover and try great delicious $2-3 tacos on our road trips, and try to keep our meal budget under $15 (for two people).

Semi-homemade: carnitas tacos with pineapple salsa, cilantro

There comes a time to take matters into my own hands with semi-homemade tacos (check this best-selling taco holders) at home, getting some good quality pork carnitas from the store, then putting it together at home.

Semi-homemade: salmon tacos with pico de gallo, cilantro

Semi-homemade because we depend on store-bought corn tortillas but making sure to get good-quality ones made only from stone-ground corn, water, and lime. They are not hard to come by and quite wallet-friendly, usually $1-$2 for a dozen. We also found one or two local tortilleria (tortilla factories) which makes them fresh daily (and sells blue corn tortilla as well).

Semi-homemade: salmon and black bean tacos with onions, cilantro

So many adventurous tacos days with pork carnitas, turkey carnitas, chicken tacos (leftover rotisserie chicken is great for this), shrimp tacos, fish tacos and still going strong.

Shishito Peppers Chicken Protein Bowl

2024-09-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

This thin-skinned, wrinkled-looking, mild- spicy East Asian pepper variety - Shishito Peppers is one of the easiest chili peppers to prep and cook.

When roasted, the natural "smoked" flavor of these blistered peppers make protein bowls extra delicious.

Shishito Pepper (Twist Chili) Chicken Veggies Bowl
Ingredients:
Chicken drumsticks & thigh (or any cut you prefer) or rotisserie chicken (store bought/homemade)
8-10 Shishito peppers/twist chili, rinsed
About 3-4 servings of mixed vegetables of your choice e.g. cauliflower, leafy beans, red cabbage
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Preheat oven 400F. Roast peppers ~10mins till blistered (as shown). While roasting the peppers, steam vegetables with garlic for about 5-8mins. When done, layer the base of the salad bowl with colorful steamed vegetables and topped with chicken and blistered peppers.

Seaweed Avocado Egg Salmon Wrap Sandwich

2024-09-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

I could not wait to try this seaweed wrap hack since the tortilla wrap hack got into me sometime ago.

There are many options to fill the four quarters of seaweed nori sheets. Here is one with egg, cucumber, avocado and salmon.

Here is another one with pork floss, egg, lettuce (salad mix) and avocado.

This seaweed nori sheet wrap hack is great for those on low-carb diet and consider the seaweed bonus serving of vegetable for the day.

Chicken Vegetables with Pine Nuts

2024-08-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

Most of us yearn to enjoy warm and freshly prepared dishes - dishes which are cooked on the stove or in the oven, brought straight to the dining table; but we do not always have the luxury to do so. Those who meal prep lunch in the morning to bring it on-the-go, do you reheat/warm your lunch box (consider this Electric Steamer/Cooker) when you are at work? Our family usually does not reheat the food items especially when it comes to veggie protein bowls.

This Chicken Veggie Bowl is built from a base of cooked/steamed vegetables, then topped with steamed/stir-fried greens, shredded chicken (freshly cooked or leftovers) and pine nuts (our family enjoys nuts quite a bit and hoping to make our own nut milk in the future).

Nutritious, healthy and delicious if enjoyed freshly prepared and warm; also equally good when consumed at room temperature like a salad.