Asian Dinner

Okay, what's on the menu tonight? Thai? Japanese? Korean?  How about all of the above!

I'll post a little bit more on the 'how' of things in another post, but in the meantime, I wanted you to see how delicious raw can be.  Here are some easy recipes that are lots of fun, quick, colourful, and packed with nutrients.

Tonight we had:  Asian avocado salad with ginger dressing, veggie sushi, kimchi, and tom yum soup.

I had some veggies that needed to be used, so I'll let you know what I substituted, and why it worked.  All of these recipes are my own creation, except for the kimchi, which I found on an awesome Korean website, and adjusted for my taste.

ASIAN AVOCADO SALAD WITH GINGER DRESSING

Salad:
4 handfuls of mixed greens
1 large carrot grated
1/2 avocado chopped (not too ripe/somewhat firm or from fridge)
1-2 green onions thinly sliced
3-4 inches of English cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly, then cut in half
1-2 sheets of dried seaweed
-Toss all ingredients in large bowl

(I added shredded jicima because I had it.  It's not necessary because the cucumber already adds crunch, but it does add a little bit more texture.  I also like to add a handful of chopped cilantro sometimes.  Cilantro is great for cleansing the body of heavy metals.)

You can dice the avocado in the skin and invert it to make the pieces pop out, like shown above.  Also, if you aren't going to use the other half right away, make sure to keep the pit in it, it will keep much longer in the fridge (1-3 days).

Dressing:
1 T sesame oil
2 T sesame seeds
2 limes (juice from)
2 T ginger
1 T lemongrass
1 T chopped cilantro
1-2 T chili flakes (depending on how hot you want, 1 T is very mild and gives a spicy/sweet to the dressing)
1-2 T Braggs liquid aminos
1 T honey (optional)
3-4 dates, diced into small pieces (depending on how sweet you want it)
-Combine in small bowl with fork and toss with salad

Salad serves 3-4

 VEGGIE SUSHI WITH CAULIFLOWER RICE

Filling:
1/2 an avocado, thinly sliced (How convenient!  I'll just use the one from above!)
1 medium sized carrot, use a potato peeler and peel the entire carrot into long, thin slices
4-5 inches of cucumber, seeded and cut into spears
1/4 cauliflower, pulsed 30-40 times in food processor (or until 'fluffy') to make "rice"
1 T sesame seeds
-This is a great place to get creative.  You can really add any hard or leafy veggies that you want to this roll.

Prepare all ingredients, and you're ready to ROLL!

Paste:
1 T Bragg's liquid aminos
1 T chili pepper
1 T garlic
1 T ginger
Squeeze of lime juice
-This is used to hold the roll together.  Some people just use water, but I find it adds complexity to the roll.

Rolling
-Set up your piece of seaweed on your bamboo sushi roller (these are about $3 USD in most grocery stores, even here in Texas).  Take a brush and paint on some paste about an inch from the end of the seaweed.
-Layer "rice", carrot strips, cucumber spears, and avocado, and then sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
-Hold the roll in place with your pinkies and ring fingers, while using your forefinger and thumb to grab the 1" of seaweed and bamboo sushi roll and lift it over the filling.  Pull it back tight (but not so tight as to tear the seaweed) and push firmly across the entire roll until it's packed nice and tight.  Finish rolling, and paint some more paste on the end for the last bit.  Place sushi roller over roll, and give one last squeeze.

Makes 20 sushi pieces

TOM YUM SOUP

Broth ingredients:  
2 c. Pho base (I used organic Pacific brand, but any mushroom base will do. You can even take mushroom, onion and green onion discard pieces, and put them in warm water for 2 hours and make your own base)

1 c. Coconut Milk
1 medium sized tomato
2 juiced limes
1 T Garlic
1-2 T Ginger
1 T Basil
1 T Lemongrass
1-2 T Chili pepper (1 T gives a light heat, but 2 T can be spicy for some. A little goes a long way with soups)
-Combine all ingredients in blender.
-Heat contents to 105-115 degrees F on stove if desired. I keep a thermometer by the pan, check it every couple of minutes and keep the soup covered.

Texture ingredients:

1 small handful diced Cilantro
1 small handful diced Parsley
1 medium grated Carrot
3 thinly sliced medium mushrooms (try to get as thin as possible, it almost gives a noodle texture)
-When soup is warm and ready to serve, mix in all texture ingredients and serve right away
-You can add spiralized zucchini for "noodles" if you want to. I added grated jicima and it added a nice texture.

Serves 4-5

EMERGENCY KIMCHI

1/2 a head of cabbage (really, I just make this if I've got a lot of cabbage lying around, so however much you want to use, and then adjust for taste)
3 T salt
1 c. cold water
-Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes

1/3 c. hot pepper flakes
1 T honey
3 T Bragg's liquid aminos
3 T minced garlic
3-4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 c. grated carrots
sesame seeds and sesame seed oil to taste
-Wash cabbage well and combine all ingredients.
-Cover to prevent air exposure and leave at room temperature to ferment for 3 days (can also be eaten right away, but it gets more yummy with age).

The end product, bon apetit!

I like to accompany my meal with a nice cup of loose leaf Yerba mate green tea.  These flavours all work really well together.  You don't have to make all of this for one meal, but it does offer a nice complexity.  The soup is slightly creamy from the coconut milk, the kimchi is sour, the sushi is chewy and has great mineral flavour from the seaweed, and the salad is full of basic greens, creamy fats, and sweet and spicy dressing.  The leftovers also make a great lunch the next day.

Leftover salad served on top of "rice", leftover jicima combined with sesame seeds, sesame seed oil and seaweed for a seaweed salad, and kimchi and sushi fill Christian's lunch bag for work tomorrow.

Stay tuned!  We do eat everyday...