Homemade Brown Rice Mochi 玄米もち
Happy Happy New Year! I have this really giddy feeling that 2016 is going to be the best year yet. I suppose that it’s always a matter of perspective, so I guess I’m just going to choose it. This IS going to be our best year yet! And in Japanese fashion, what better way to start the year than with some mochi? Never heard of it? Then I’m glad you’re here, because it is time you are introduced.
Brown Rice Rolled Sushi 玄米巻き寿司
This is honestly my favorite time of the year. I don’t necessarily like the cold weather (in fact I’m a little bit relieved that we had nothing near a white Christmas here in the Midwest), but basically from Thanksgiving to a week or so after New Year’s Day, I’m cooking and eating and relaxing and celebrating with people I love. So much good food and so much good company. But now that Christmas is over, it’s time for my brain to switch gears from my American heritage to Japanese traditions. In my mind New Years is a Japanese holiday. We prepare for days, and on the day of we sit around and spend time with family and loved ones. The celebration lasts for days. And there’s just something so refreshing and nourishing about how the Japanese feast.
Wild Mushroom and Spinach Savory Bread Pudding
I feel like Christmas day should be easy-breezy. We wake up at a ridiculous hour thanks to the kids (but let’s be honest, I’m too excited to sleep, too), open presents, play, relax, and have fun. I don’t want to be standing in the kitchen flipping pancakes while everyone else plays with their new toys. But I also want a nice meal. This is where bread pudding comes in. You make it the night before, let it soak over night in the fridge, and bake it in the morning while everyone opens presents and the smell gets our tummies ready to eat at a normal breakfast time.
Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
This was my first Thanksgiving where I took care of all of the food. It was terrifying and thrilling all at once. And though I bought a relatively small turkey, we still ended up with an obscene amount of leftovers. Is anyone out there in the same boat? So of course for a couple of days I ate a ton of turkey sandwiches which, let’s be honest, is actually better than the turkey that you eat at Thanksgiving dinner. But then by Monday here, I was ready to be done with turkey. So to finish off the rest of the meat sitting in my fridge, I made my favorite soup, but with turkey instead of chicken. And seriously, it was so quick and easy and amazingly delicious.
Pumpkin Coconut Curry
Last time I showed you how to make your pumpkin purée, which will work wonderfully in your usual pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins. But today I’m going to show you a completely different way to use it that is super delicious and also super simple. And completely from scratch.
Loaded Salsa
I started college in the Summer, and for that term I was in a dorm with 5 other girls. There were 3 bedrooms, a big bathroom with multiple showers, and a little kitchen. We all got along really well, stayed up super late every night playing beach volleyball, and ate a lot of food. In fact, I’m pretty sure I gained the dreaded freshman 15 in that short Summer. And I’d like to give full credit/blame to my super cute roomate from Mexico.
Bean, Green and Coconut Milk Soup
Here’s another idea on how to use those beans you soaked, cooked, and froze for quick meals.
I love soup. It’s such a great one-bowl meal. You often find your carbs, your veg, your protein, lots of flavor, and it’s hydrating on top of all of that. This recipe comes from me scrounging through my pantry and fridge, not knowing what to make for dinner, and having a lightbulb moment. But more importantly, it comes from knowing some crucial soup-making basics.
Cooking beans 101
Beans. Don’t we all have a love-hate relationship with them? The love because they are so good for you! Depending on the specific type you eat you can get varying amounts of soluble fiber, protein, antioxidants, copper, folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, just to name a few. And the hate because, well, how do I approach this delicately? We all know the end result problem with beans, right? [cough, cough]
Pesto Basics
When I was a little kid, my parents invited family-friends over for dinner once in a while. Honestly, I have no idea how often it was. It’s all a big blur for me. I just remember waiting at the window, asking my parents (probably every 5 minutes because that’s the kind of annoying thing that all kids do) when the guests were going to arrive.
And, I remember the meal.
Step-by-step: Onigiri (Japanese rice balls)
You know how when you think of a typical packed lunch, there’s a sandwich in there somewhere? Peanut butter & jelly or ham & cheese, maybe? Well, the Japanese equivalent is the onigiri. It’s basically rice (always Japanese short grain rice), gently shaped into a ball or a triangle, either with some kind of filling or some seasonings mixed in, and then usually wrapped in nori, a crispy roasted sea vegetable. And pretty much every Japanese kid has these in their bento box everyday. I did. The 2 most traditional fillings are probably either a little piece of salmon or what’s called umeboshi, which is a pickled plum. Onigiri are so common and classic that they sell them in convenience stores everywhere. And the fillings are anywhere from classic to super updated and unique.
