Tag: shiitake mushrooms

Roasted Cabbage with Soy-Glazed Shiitake Mushrooms
The past three months in Buenos Aires have been an exciting time for me – getting adjusted to a new city, learning Spanish, and settling into a new food routine (an amazing verduleria down the street for fresh, great quality vegetables when I feel like cooking and a cheap empanada place for when I don’t). But I’m taking a little break now from Argentina to check out Montevideo for a month. As I was preparing to leave, one of the main things I focused on was cleaning out my kitchen, and this recipe was great for the half head of cabbage rolling around in my refrigerator and the dried shiitake mushrooms sitting in the back of my cabinet. I’m already a big cabbage fan, but roasting cabbage just might be my new favorite preparation. As with most vegetables, roasting draws out the natural sweetness of cabbage and makes it easy to eat a lot of without even thinking about how healthy it is. I brushed the cabbage with sesame oil to pair with the Asian flavors of the shiitake mushrooms which are cooked in their soaking water along with soy sauce and sugar, boiling down to a flavor-packed glaze. Not a bad way to use up the last of some basics on my kitchen – now it’s time for me to start stocking up my new place.

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December 21, 2012
Quinoa Bibimbap
On Monday, I posted a great recipe for when you don’t have the time or energy to cook something elaborate. By contrast, here’s a complex recipe – for when you do feel like dedicating some time to the kitchen. Bibimbap is a classic Korean dish with a rice base and various vegetables as toppings. There are a lot of components here, but you can make this easier on yourself by preparing some ahead of time or omitting some. Or you can get creative and add different components using whatever you have on hand (bell peppers and zucchini, for example, are commonly used).

I stayed mostly traditional with the components here, with two main differences from the bibimbap you may have encountered before. For one, I omitted bulgogi (Korean barbecued beef) for a vegetarian version – you can add it back in, if you’re a meat-lover, or conversely, go a step further, and omit the fried egg and kimchi (or use a vegan kimchi) for a vegan version. For another, intead of rice, I used quinoa, mixed with chia seeds, as a substitute. Quinoa is a favorite of mine – a lot healthier than rice with a bit of a nutty flavor – and the inclusion of chia seeds helps to create a nice, sticky texture (while adding even more health benefits). Of course, using rice will also work just fine. However you customize this recipe, it’s a fun kitchen experiment and a tasty way to eat fresh veggies.

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December 5, 2012
Stir-Fried Pork and Vegetables in Black Bean Sauce
Stir-frying is a really useful technique; it’s simple, fast, and yields delicious results. I especially love it for fresh vegetables where the high heat draws out their natural sweetness while keeping them nice and crisp. This type of preparation is my favorite for brussels sprouts which I think get a bad reputation due to often being overcooked. I like my brussels sprouts only slightly softened, still retaining a crisp nearly raw interior. Chinese long beans (which are very similar to green beans but a bit better suited to stir-frying as they stay crisper) are a great match here, while ground pork marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, and Chinese five-spice helps to round out the flavors. Despite the jarred black bean sauce being used here (as much as I like to make everything from scratch, sometimes it’s just not feasible), this stir-fry is miles ahead of your standard take-out – both tastier and healthier! Once you get the hang of stir-frying, you’ll realize how invaluable it is to be able to toss together whatever vegetables are hanging out in your fridge and end up with a delicious meal.

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April 18, 2012