shala

I am a lucky, lucky girl. When Miss M and I arrived at her piano lesson on Monday evening, her lovely teacher greeted us with three of these, fresh from the oven:

 

Homemade egg tarts. Oh, what a treat! A couple of years ago, my sweet family took me to eat dim sum for my birthday. What we didn't know was that dim sum is definitely not vegetarian friendly. I enjoyed the experience, however, of seeing all the little dishes on carts roll by and being a part of the incredibly lively atmosphere. But the best thing of all were the sweet and savory egg tarts - perhaps the one vegetarian item available that day. I think I ate ten. Happy birthday to me!

So with a gift like that for inspiration, it was time to whip together a little shala feast when we got home. Shala (pronounced shah-lah) is the Chinese word for salad.



My version of a Chinese salad does not involve those little ramen noodles all smooshed up. Sorry. Instead, I have fun with veggies (thank goodness I had a salad bar waiting for me in the fridge!) and top with one of our family's all-time favorites to add crispy deliciousness and excellent protein: Morningstar Farms Chik Patties. These babies sizzle up quickly and beautifully in the oven and can be used in a multitude of ways.

Shala Feast

While the chik patties are baking in the oven, create generously-sized individual salads with freshly chopped veggies:

Bibb lettuce
Baby leaf spinach
Bok choy
Edamame
Carrots
Red and yellow peppers
Pea pods
Baby pea sprouts

Be creative and use what's fresh and organic and strikes your fancy. Sprinkle with peanuts and/or sesame seeds and top with cubed chik patties, still warm from the oven. Drizzle an Asian inspired dressing on top to finish. We really like Maya's Miso Sesame or Brianna's Ginger Mandarin dressings.

 

I served our shala with side dishes of brown rice, steamed broccoli, pan-fried vegetarian dumplings, and mandarin oranges. We all had seconds it was so yummy! The egg tart waiting for me at the end made this a very delicious meal, indeed. Thank you again for the inspiration, Si-fou!

queen of beans

I have to acknowledge the first mention of the queen of beans on my last entry: edamame. For those of you not familiar with my friend Ed, edamame (pronounced ed-ah-MA-may) is a Japanese word for soybeans. Simple, fresh soybeans. There are fields and fields of them in the midwest and if you are lucky, you can find yourself dancing in a glorious one on a perfect late summer day.

 

Many thanks to my sister for taking this fab photo of me and congrats to my cousin Christie for getting married the day before! It's my uncle's field of beans I'm goofing around in here.

Edamame are truly one of nature's perfect foods. As described by local bean entrepreneurs Soy-Zen-Zay, "Edamame is an amazing veggie that is a powerhouse of nutritional value......one might call it the Veggie of all Veggies." Ah, words for my heart!

You can find this wonder bean at your local grocery store in the frozen foods section. Years ago, I had to go in search of and when I found the green beauties, stocked up like mad because I never knew when I would find them again. Now, I buy edamame in the jumbo size at Costco for only $5! Happy, happy times.

We prefer edamame as simple as possible - steamed until bright, dazzling green with sea salt sprinkled on top. An important eating tip: don't eat the furry pods. (Hi, Shelly. Thanks for a dining moment I will never forget. :) Just pop the pod into your mouth and extract the savory, buttery beans with your teeth. You get the saltiness from the outer pod along with the wonderful taste of the edamame. Plus, it's fun to eat!



(Thanks go to http://www.flotation9.net/sweetfineday/ for this gorgeous image.)

Or, you can go to Saks website and spend $70 for fancy shmancy edamame dumplings!



However you choose to incorporate into your meals, I hope you enjoy the beauty of edamame!

chinese please

Oh, to have a giant flaming wok. What I could do with a giant, flaming wok! I'm sure I could create much better Chinese food with one and it's just exciting to say, too. Giant. Flaming. Wok!

Our family loves Chinese food. We've been truly blessed to savor the real deal in China and it was incredible. A particularly memorable meal for me involved vegetable fried rice with chunks of grilled pineapple. If you know my husband, ask him about his most memorable meal. I guarantee you it did not involve pineapple. :) And, a travel tip, let servers know you are a vegetarian and they will bring you LOTS of amazing food! Despite my attempts to convince otherwise, there was a pervasive concern at the restaurants we visited that I was not getting enough to eat. Bonus for me!

But since we don't plan on being back in China for a few years, the Bo Ling's close by keeps us happily satisfied. When we go, I always look longingly into the kitchen, wishing I could spend some time back there observing and picking up secrets. Maybe even some ancient Chinese secrets if I was lucky. Man, that kitchen is humming. Clanging, sizzling, frying, steaming all coming from giant flaming woks!

I put my very nice but non-flaming wok to use yesterday with yet another attempt at a home-cooked Chinese feast. While it wasn't a prize winner, it really was tasty, healthy, and pretty simple, too. The main lesson I have learned from more botched attempts than I would like to mention is that when you are cooking Chinese, get everything ready and at hand. Everything! The cooking time goes really quick, so its essential to do your work ahead of time.

For our humble family feast, I plan ahead by firing up the rice cooker with brown jasmine or basmati rice. If you don't have a rice cooker, that's okay, too. Just plan to have the rice steaming warm when you are ready to sit down to eat.

About 30 minutes before dinner is to be served, you will find me pulling all the ingredients together on my kitchen counter and thanking my lucky stars for this fabulous stuff:

 

Just in case you can't read the label, this is lemon ginger soy sauce that I found (with help, thank you again Si-fou!) at our local Asian market. It has a beautiful taste and scent and is not full of MSG or other mystery ingredients. It was just one of a multitude of options -- I invite you to go explore and find some seasoning / sauce that speaks to your taste buds, too.

You an use any combination of fresh vegetables that you enjoy for your own Chinese creation. Here's what I had on hand and tossed into the wok this week:

Humble Chinese Veggie Stir-Fry

1 block of semi-soft tofu, cubed
3 carrots, thinly chopped
1 large can sliced water chestnuts
1 cup cashews, coarsely chopped
3 bunches bok choy, tops removed and chopped
2 green onions, tops removed and chopped
1/3 C lemon ginger soy sauce
drizzle of olive oil
drizzle of sesame oil

While you are getting all the veggies chopped and ready, marinate the cubed tofu in a small bowl by drizzing on your sauce of choice. Set aside. Know in your heart that tofu will assume the flavor of whatever you add to it, so don't be afraid of the rubbery white cubes. Believe.

Heat up your wok (or large frying pan) to medium high heat and drizzle with a tiny amount of olive oil to prevent sticking. When hot, toss in your thickest veggies first (carrots, water chestnuts) and stir-fry for about 1 minute until just beginning to cook. Then, add in the tofu and nuts and cook about 1 minute more. Finally, add in the greens, drizzle with the remaining sauce and cook just about 1 minute more. Add the drizzle of sesame oil at the last moment.

Go fast, stir well while everything is sizzling together, and finish while the veggies are crisp-tender. Whew! It's quick work, definitely has taken practice for me, but oh so scent-a-riffic and fun to do!

Along with the brown rice, I served this steaming hot with pan-fried vegetarian dumplings (found in the frozen food at the Asian market - yum! I simply cook up on a skillet coated with olive oil spray) and a giant bowl of steamed edamame.

慢 慢 吃!
Mànmàn chī! Enjoy your meal!

 

kuai le!

Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy Chinese New Year!


It is a happy time, indeed. We are so thankful for the bountiful good fortune in our lives - beautiful family, good health, meaningful work, vibrant community, wonderful friendships. All that we need and more and more and more. We are so very fortunate and deeply grateful.

One of these wonderful friendships is with the lovely Tzang family. Si-fou is not only a fantastic, calm, nurturing piano teacher for Miranda, but also an amazing chef. This woman can cook! Their family welcomed us into their home for dinner on CNY eve where we were treated to a traditional feast. She beautifully created ten (10!) dishes, half of which were vegetarian! I was in veggie girl heaven and savored everything. Seconds and thirds and happily accepted goodies to-go, too. I think John was slightly embarrassed with my dining enthusiasm, but I couldn't help myself. :) It's one of the great pleasures in my life to eat lovingly created vegetarian food.

It is also a great pleasure to go exploring for new ideas in veggie cooking. Si-fou has graciously taken me in the past to the fabulous Oriental Supermarket for a much-needed education. I had been in Asian markets before, but was completely baffled as to where to start. Unless you speak/read the language, it's great to have guide. I came out of there with a ton of ideas and the ingredients needed to get started.

To complete our CNY celebration, on Sunday we checked out the new 888 International Market in Overland Park. Ohhh, it's fun. Where else can you find this beauty?

 

We browsed around, giggled at the ugly vegetables, plotted ways to release the live fish to freedom, marveled at the 1000+ dried noodle options, stuck our fingers in the vats of mung beans and rice, and of course, bought some good stuff. But I drew the line on this one:

 

I've got some fun ideas percolating for meals ahead. I will share as I create. Until then, let me wish you many new year's blessings. May the Year of the Tiger be full of good fortune for your family!