Marinated cucumber

Picked up a fresh English cucumber at the farmer's market on Sat and decided to make a nice side dish with it. Cucumber is a good source of various Vitamins and minerals and sesame is a high source of minerals. The rich sesame paste contrasts nicely with the fresh taste of the cucumber.

Ingredients:
1 large English cucumber
1 teaspoon of salt for pickling

Sauce:
1.5 tablespoons of sesame paste
1 teaspoon of soy sauce

Steps:

1. Peel all or most of the skin of the cucumber
2. If the cucumber is old, remove the seeds. Slice the cucumber into thin strips of about 3 to 4 inches long
3. Put the cucumber strips in a strainer and mix well with the teaspoon of salt. Let sit for 10 minutes
4. Wash the salt off with water. Take a hand full of the cucumber at a time and squeeze as much water out as possible. This gives the cucumber a crunchy texture
5. Mix the sesame paste with soy sauce until a thick paste is formed
6. Mix the sauce with the cucumber

Whole wheat broccoli and zucchini pannekoek

Panekoek is a savory Dutch pancake. It is usually much bigger and thinner than traditional pancakes. You might ask how anything made from whole wheat, broccoli and zucchini be tasty but trust me, this is a very tasty dish! Whole wheat is good for health but it can sometimes taste rough and dry. Not one to compromise taste for health, I rarely make whole wheat bread or eat whole wheat pasta. But whole wheat pancake is surprisingly tasty. It adds a nice texture without tasting rough. I now prefer it over the too smooth regular white flour pancake.


Ingredients:

Pancake batter
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk or water
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon oil

Pancake filling:
1 cup of broccoli cut into small pieces
1 cup of zucchini cut into small pieces
Note: you can substitute the filling with other vegetables you like such as mushroom and onions

Steps:

1. Mix all the dried pancake ingredients together
2. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and half of the water or milk into the batter mix
3. Mix well with a whisk until a thick batter is formed and no lumps remain
4. Add in the rest of the water or milk and whisk until a thin batter is formed
5. Add in the broccoli and the zucchini. Mix well
6. Heat up a frying pan a bit of oil, just enough to coat the pan
7. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the frying pan
8. Let the pancake batter cook for a few minutes until bubbles are formed and the batter is almost cooked through, as seen in the picture above
9. Turn the pancake and cook for another minute or two
10. Makes 8 large pannekoek

Nutritional info:

Broccoli is high in Vitamin C, K, and A, as well as dietary fiber. It is also high in anti-oxidants. Zucchini  is a source of Vitamin A, Maganese, and Potassium. Whole wheat flour is a good source of Calcium, Iron, and fiber

Fried sticky rice

This is one of my Grandma's recipes and everyone in the family loves it.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of sticky rice, soaked in water overnight

3 dried scallops, shredded

5 shitaki mushrooms, diced

1 handful of dried shrimps

Green onions or cilantro for ganish, chopped

Optional: sausage or ham (I skip them in my dish because they are processed meat)

Seasoning:

1.5 teaspoons of soy sauce

Dash of pepper

Steps:

1. Drain the water from the rice
2. Heat up the pan and drizzle a bit of oil in the pan
3. Pan fried the dried shrimps, scallops and mushroom for a few minutes until you can smell the fragrance from the ingredients
4. Add in the rice, stir it in the pan and then add in 1/4 cup of water
5. Keep adding in small amount of water and stir until the rice turns translucent and cooked, around 10 to 15 minutes. Add in only a small amount of water at a time so the rice doesn't become too soggy.
6. Add in cilantro or green onion and soy sauce and pepper to taste

Salmon baked two ways: sundried tomatoes and garlic & curry seasoning

Salmon is low in fat, delicious, and high in omega 3 acids. I got a large fillet of salmon and decided to bake it two ways.

Ingredients:

A large salmon fillet

2 to 3 cloves of garlic

4 pieces of sun dried tomatoes (either the dried ones or ones soaked in oil are fine)

Salt and pepper to taste
Curry seasoning

Steps:

1. Pre-set the oven to 325F.
2. Put the cleaned salmon steaks or fillet on a large piece of aluminum foil that has been thinly coated with oil.
3. Add salt and pepper to the salmon accordingly to taste.
4. Add curry seasoning to half of the fillet
5. Finely minced the garlic and finely cut the sun dried tomatoes into small stripes. Add the garlic and the tomatoes on top of the other half of the salmon fillet
6.  Drizzle some grape seed oil on top of the garlic and sun dried tomatoes
7. Bake the fish in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. 

Bean curb with dried scallops and mushroom

Bean curb is made from soy beans. It's the skin that forms on top when the grounded soy beans are cooked to make soy milk. Like tofu, it doesn't have much taste but takes added flavour very well.  You can buy bean curb in a lot of Chinese stores. For folks that live in Canada, you can buy packages of them from T&T supermarket or places that specialized in soy bean products. One thing to keep in mind is that it only lasts 2 to 3 days in the fridge if uncooked as there's no preservatives in the product.  I make this dish regularly because it is healthy, simple and delicious. This dish can be easily made vegetarian if the dried scallop is left out.

Ingredients:

1 package of fresh bean curb
1 package of enoki mushroom
1 red sweet pepper
1 green sweet pepper
2 dried scallops (soak overnight)
1 clove of garlic

3 tablespoons of corn starch (only needed if you are not using a non-stick pan)

1.5 tablespoons of soy sauce

salt and pepper for seasoning the mushroom

3/4 teaspoon of  corn starch

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

dash of pepper

Steps:

1. Break the two scallops into small threads and them with about 1/2 cup of water for about 15 minutes. You can let it cook while you do the following steps.
2. Skip this step if you are using a non-stick frying pan. If you use a cast iron or stainless steel pan like me (to avoid the Teflon which causes cancer), you need to coat the bean curb pieces with a bit of corn starch to prevent them from sticking to the frying pan. Put the 3 tablespoon of corn starch in a medium size plastic or glass container. Add the bean curb pieces in one by one so they don't stick together. Cover the lid and shake for a few seconds so all the pieces are coated with a thin layer of corn starch. 
3. Cut of the end of the enoki and separate them a bit. Clean the sweet peppers and slice them thinly.
4. Add a bit of oil to the pan until the whole surface of the pan is covered. When the pan is heated, put the bean curb pieces in and pan fry them for a few minutes until they are slightly golden brown. Turn them and cook the other side for another few minutes. Scoop out the bean curb onto a plate.
5. Add a bit more oil to the pan and add in the finely mined garlic, mushroom, sweet peppers and the dried scallop. Stir fry them for a few minutes. Season them with salt and pepper and put them in a separate plate
6. Mix 3/4 teaspoon of corn starch, the soy sauce, sugar and about 1/2 cup of water in a small bowl and add it to the frying pan. When the sauce starts to boil and thicken, add in the bean curb and make sure that all the bean curb pieces are nicely coated with the sauce. Now add in the mushroom and dried scallop. 
7. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition info:

Soy bean is high in protein, vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and other minerals. Enoki  mushroom is high in fiber and antioxidants. Sweet peppers are high in Vitamin C and Vitamin B6