Coffee and Chilli Steak Salad

I"m a people pleaser at heart. It's a feature, and a flaw. I guess in cooking, it's more of a positive! My husband certainly appreciates that I have honoured him by not becoming a vegetarian.

In general, I find meat boring. I don't enjoy the taste, and that, together with the environmental impact and the cost, leads me to not prioritise it in my thinking. However, I keep making meals with meat as a way of pleasing my husband. And thankfully, over the years we've been married I've learned to cook meat in ways that both of us find interesting.

This salad makes us both very happy. Raw spinach is my favourite food and steak is his. The steak is crusted in a mixture of coffee grounds, chilli powder, smokey paprika, and cumin. The cooking time is short and so this made a fast weeknight dinner. It uses a single steak and made enough for three salads (his, hers, and one lunch).

Beef with Parley Pesto and Sauteed Vegetables

People are always asking me how I eat complete meals with no carbohydrates. First, I answer by pointing out that vegetables are carbohydrates, and actually I only avoid starchy carbs such as pasta, bread, and grains. Secondly, I make meals like this: full of veg and filling, too, thanks to the protein and fats.

Courgette, Corn, and Tomato Sautee

Fresh corn looses its sweet flavour soon after harvesting. I read (in The Vegetable Bible) that corn is past its best only a few hours after it is picked. I guess this explains why frozen corn often tastes so good. It is frozen immediately after harvest, thus preserving both nutrition and taste.

Chez Panisse's Baked Goat's Cheese Saald

During our honeymoon we had one memorable meal. We were young and poor at the time, so we planned to have one fancy meal out during our week in Quebec City. We went to a restaurant called Toast near our auberge (inn). It was the most expensive meal either of us had eaten up to that point in life. (I seem to recall that it cost about $100. This was ten years ago, by the way.)

We still talk about some parts of that meal. We remember Anthony ordering a salad that came presented in a massive bowl that tilted the spinach leaves towards him. There was a piece of baguette balanced on the leaves, covered with two pieces of oozing, baked goat's cheese.

Cherry Tomatoes with Asian Greens and Garlic

I was having the kind of work day which I wished would end. I love my job is so many ways--I'm a teacher and I love my students and my subject. But I really don't like marking student notebooks. It's an essential part of my job and so I do it a lot. But I was having the kind of day in which success at marking had to be be achieved by comfort eating chocolate at the same time. Ugh.

By the time a class set of books were marked, I think I had eaten four mini bars of mint chocolate and three mini packs of M&Ms. My stomach felt awful but I was so relieved to be finished. I packed up and left from a twelve hour day. Dinner could be simple, since my husband was not going to be present. In the end, all I wanted to eat was a bowl of vegetables. Do you have days like this?

Daikon "Risotto" with Spinach, Feta, and Pine Nuts

I have so many ideas to share about how to eat more vegetables! Recently I have been replacing different parts of our meals with vegetables. Last week and this week I made vegetable "risotto". Last week I made turnip rice for a red wine risotto and this week I am sharing a recipe for daikon rice. Daikon is a little like radishes in taste and like a rolling pin in size. It is quite crunchy when raw and cooks up quickly. This risotto made an excellent weeknight meal.

Seared Salmon with Coconut Spinach

This week's speedy dinner is so easy - wilted spinach with some tasty additions, and pan-fried salmon. It all came together in just a few minutes. I added some reheated rice for my husband, extra spinach for me, and plated it up.

It turns out that spinach and coconut milk is a really great combination. I didn't find the coconut flavour too overwhelming. It was just enough to add an exotic touch. Supper felt exciting in a way that spinach and salmon wouldn't normally. I'm converted!

Spinach with Sesame Dressing

If you are looking for a quick side dish, look no further! This is officially the recipe with the shortest cooking time on this entire blog.

Let's play a guessing game. Look at this beautiful spinach with sesame dressing, adapted from a recipe by Donna Hay. How long do you think the spinach is cooked for?

Weekend Links #25

Weekend Links is a way of sharing all the engrossing things I see around the internet. I publish Weekend Links approximately every two weeks. As usual, I welcome your ideas and feedback.

food reading links:
--The University of California at Berkely has been running a course this semester called Edible Education. All the lectures have been videoed and are available online for free. Listen to lectures by Marion Nestle, Michael Pollan, and others.
--A review of the film Toast, about food writer Nigel Slater's childhood (from Lettuce Eat Kale). I am very much looking forward to seeing this.
--Ten tips to manage mindless eating (from Casual Kitchen). What strategies do you have (or need)?

Weekend Links #22

Weekend Links is a way of sharing all the engrossing things I see around the internet. I publish Weekend Links approximately every two weeks. As usual, I welcome your ideas and feedback.

food reading links:
--An analysis of the recent media coverage of Bill Clinton's veganism and other nutrition in the media (from Small Bites).
--A five part series about food photography by Gourmande in the Kitchen caught my eye, thanks to my brother sending me a link. I love the pictures which show balance in food photos, seen in part two.

Red Spinach Pancakes

I'm home alone for a little while as my husband has left on his summer holiday. He is going to the UK for a wedding and to see his friends and family. I, meanwhile, am here in Hong Kong, working again. The beginning of the school year is busy, and I am spending late nights at work. I don't have much time for making meals. And now that Anthony is gone I don't feel as much motivation, either! Producing a big meal seems a waste. Instead I'm eating simple things such as these vegetable pancakes.

With the hubby away, I also like to try out new vegetables. Check out this vibrant red spinach.

weekend links # 16

Weekend Links is a way of sharing all the engrossing things I see around the internet. I publish Weekend Links approximately every two weeks. As usual, I welcome your ideas and feedback.

food reading links:
--A list of cookbooks recently published by Hong Kong chefs (from Asia Tatler).
--Graph: money spent on food vs. ability to cook (from Indexed).
--I recently missed Lima Bean Respect Day. I wish I had known! Think of the themed events I could have planned! :( Keep ahead of the game with this calendar (from Wellness News).

recipe links:
--Spiced coconut spinach (from 101 Cookbooks). This recipe is from a cookbook I actually have. Therefore I can see that I will be making it soon!
--Almond-based yogurt (from Small Bites). I already make my own yogurt but I never thought of trying this. And so I am intrigued.

off-topic links:
--I have been trying out the to-do list software from Remember the Milk. You use tags, location, and searchable lists to keep organised. So far, it's working.
--I've been reading about ways to improve employee satisfaction (from inc.com). Not that I have any employees. Just because I'm curious.

amaranth, chive, and goat's cheese frittata

This beautiful vegetable is amaranth, also called Chinese spinach. It's common and widely used in Africa and Asia; also, it's super healthy, like regular spinach. (Note: all veggies are super healthy!) I buy it in these massive bunches from my local "wet market" and use it any time spinach would be used, for example, in this colourful and tasty frittata.

creamed spinach

Nigel (we are now on first name terms) recently inspired me to try a dish I hated as a child: creamed spinach. At school dinners, creamed spinach was cold, slimy, and tasteless. But with a huge bag of really fresh, local, spinach arriving in my veg box, I decided it might be time to try this easy side dish.


Isn't it amazing how spinach shinks when cooked? I started with a massive amount. I decided to use the whole bag--good thing, too. Although it filled my biggest pot, it cooked down to just a fraction of this.


And then you blend up (or finely chop) the cooked spinach, and squeeze out a bit of the excess moisture. And look at how much was left! This is the full amount of creamed spinach at the end of the process. Ant and I had no problem eating it all with our dinner. The spinach didn't taste at all bland, and the slight creaminess and the nutmeg warmth balanced the earthy spinach. Now that I have created some good memories of creamed spinach, I can imagine eating it, and loving it, regularly.

Contemporary Creamed Spinach
serves 3 as a side dish
adapted from Tender: v. 1: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch

750 g spinach
25 g (2 T) butter
3 T creme fraiche of sour cream
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

Roughly chop the spinach. Wash it and put in it a large pot, with the water still clinging to the leaves.
Heat over medium high heat with the lid on for three or four minutes, until thoroughly wilted.
Squeeze out the excess water and blend (or chop) very briefly. Add the creme fraiche, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Serve immediately, since the spinach cools very quickly.

Mum's best ever meal

My parents go to a little beach resort in their province when they want to get away together and leave the city behind. They rent a cottage on the beach, and even if it's blustery outside, there are walks to go on, and a fireplace to snuggle up in front of each evening.


They were there for a night last week and ate in the resort's restaurant: a gleaming crystal and silverware affair, with a menu to match. My Mum told me on the phone that during their most recent visit she ate what had to be described as the best meal of her life.

Wow, that's high praise! Can you pinpoint the best meal of your life? I can think of two (restaurant) meals that might currently qualify. Both were memorable and extremely tasty. I was eager to hear what Mum had eaten. The food blogger in me was quietly taking notes as she waxed eloquent about her food.

Starter: spinach salad with blue cheese, pecans, apples warmed with cinnamon and maple dressing

Of course, this sounds delicious. And easy to make at home. I bet the pecans were toasted and gave the perfect crunch, the spinach was dark and fresh, while the maple dressing wasn't overpoweringly sweet. It sounds like a great mix of health and indulgence, doesn't it?

Main course: pan-fried haddock with a creamy lobster sauce, served with roasted smoked potatoes

Fish and lobster in the same main course? What an idea. She said the lobster was in chunks, not loads of it, but enough to add the touch of luxury to the dish. The smoked potatoes were wonderful, she reported. She had never tasted anything like them before; nor have I ever heard of it. I did a bit of reading, and saw that smoking potatoes can be done in a double boiler. Put oak chips in the bottom (no water) and the boiled potatoes in the top with the lid on. Open a bunch of windows and turn the heat up to high. Let it smoke for five to ten minutes. (So I suppose you could do this at home, but I have a feeling I'll leave it to the professionals for now.)

My Dad talked about his dessert, but Mum didn't say if she had any. I guess the first two courses were enough for her to sit back with a contented sigh and update the list of great food she has eaten.

I'm interested to hear about your best ever meals. I reckon there should be a separate category for best restaurant meals and best home-cooked meals. Over to you!

fragrant spinach and turkey

Nigel Slater's distinctive handwriting adorns the top of my new cookbook: The 30-Minute Cook: The Best of the World's Quick Cooking. I was so happy to receive it as a gift from Sonya for my birthday: Nigel is my new favourite, friendly writer. I was watching him on TV recently. "I'm a cook, not a chef," he says. This cookbook is full of practical ideas for the home cook. I can't wait to try out loads of them, like Turkish Carrots (with mint and yoghurt).

The first small green sticky note landed on a recipe for fragrant spinach. I adapted the side dish recipe by adding onions and turkey pieces and served it as a main with bulgur wheat. As always, the current contents of the fridge meant that a few substitutions had to be made. And a hungry husband with a love of non-vegetarian food is my other eater, so he had to be satisfied.

The recipe includes a technique which is new for me. At the very end of the recipe, Nigel directed me to melt some butter in a pan and add garam masala for a short time, until it foamed (as pictured below). Then I poured this onto the main part of the dish. This adds a deep, nutty spice to the earthy spinach.

Fragrant Spinach with Turkey
adapted from The 30-Minute Cook
serves 2

1 onion, thinly sliced
1 T olive oil
1 turkey or chicken breast, diced
4 large double handfuls of spinach (about 400 g), washed, and sliced if large
1/2 t harissa paste
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t mustard powder
1/2 t fennel seeds
2 T butter
1/2 t garam masala
juice of 1 lemon

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and gently sautee the onions.
Add the diced turkey or chicken and cook until it is no loner pink.
Meanwhile, boil a pan of water and plunge the spinach into the pan for 30 seconds. Drain.
Add the harissa paste, cumin, mustard, and fennel to the onions and turkey. Cook until their fragrance rises and then add the spinach. Cook for a minute.
In another pan, melt the butter over low heat and add the garam masala. Let it foam. Pour the foaming butter over the spinach mixture. Top with a squeeze of lemon juice to serve.

house dressing

As part of my degree, I spent a semester in Budapest, in Hungary. I lived on my own and was away from my family for the first extended period in my life. I made a great group of friends on the course, and learned to cook for myself for the first time (there were a few hilarious disasters along the way!). I went armed with The Joy of Cooking and a pink notebook with a few favourite family recipes copied in.

I was somewhat in awe of my friend Kate. She had a more well-defined notion of herself as an individual than I at that time. She was a vegetarian who loved to cook and regularly had our little circle around to eat. I still have a few of her recipes, copied into my pink notebook from her well thumbed cookbooks.


Over the years I have kept in closer touch with Sarah, one of my friends from Budapest, than with Kate. But when Sarah came to visit me recently she brought with her two cookbooks as a gift for me, one of which is the Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. Sarah chose it for me because she also owns the Moosewood book, and got as a present from Kate. When I reconnected with Kate last year I told her about the cookbook. Every time I use it I think of how influenced I was by Kate's delicious cooking.


The house dressing recipe from the Moosewood book is an easy, tasty, and versatile mix. Simply combine all the bits and blend it up.

Moosewood House Dressing
makes 2 1/4 c
adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special

1 c canola or other vegetable oil
3 T cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice
2 t mild honey
1/4 c rinsed spinach leaves, packed
1/4 c fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
2 t Dijon mustard
1/4 t salt, or to taste
pinch pepper
1 c milk or buttermilk

Combine all the ingredients except the milk or buttermilk. Puree until smooth.
With the blender running, add the milk or buttermilk in a thin stream. The dressing will become thick and creamy. As soon as the dressing thickens, stop the blender or the oil may separate.
The dressing will keep for about a week in the refrigerator. Shake before using.

superfood salad

Here's a recipe from the Leon cookbook, which I love. Ant and Kirbie and I enjoyed this salad a few weeks ago when we were eating leftover roast chicken one day. I just happened to have the key items on hand: broccoli, cucumber, seeds (to be toasted) and peas. It was super tasty. I made some aioli to use in the dressing, but messed it up a bit by not reading the instructions through--we were in a hurry!

Below is the original Leon recipe, complete with instructions for marinading the chicken overnight. But I think it's a perfect salad for using up leftover chicken (or any protein item) you have on hand. Also, the recipe calls for very little quinoa. Since you're boiling the water anyway, cook a larger amount and use it to make your lunch salad.

Chicken Superfood Salad
serves 2
from Leon: Ingredients and Recipes

2 T quinoa
1/2 a head of broccoli
300 g chicken thighs, marinated overnight (see below)
2 handfuls of rocket
2 handfuls of baby spinach
2 tomatoes, chopped
120 g frozen peas
1 lemon
2 T extra virgin olive oil
alfalfa sprouts
3 T aioli
2 T toasted seeds (pumpkin, sesame, and pine nuts, for example)
chopped mint and parsley

Cook quinoa according to package directions.
Heat a griddle pan and grill the chicken.
Steam or boil the broccoli.
Pour boiling water over the peas to thaw them, then drain.
Build the salad on two plates: layer leaves, tomatoes, broccoli, peas, the juice of half the lemon, olive oil.
Put the chicken on top, and sprinkle with quinoa, sprouts, aioli, seeds, and herbs. Serve with the other half of the lemon cut as wedges.

Chicken Marinade

Cut each thigh into four portions and marinade overnight with 2 T olive oil, 3 T lemon juice, and 1 or 2 garlic cloves.

bacon and spinach pancakes

I have been working my way through vast quantities of chard recently, which arrives semi-regularly in our veg box. This recipe called for spinach, but it was easy to substitute chard by very quickly boiling it before adding it to the recipe. This recipe is another "Two for One", where half the food is frozen for another day. I made a half recipe so that we had four pancakes to eat and four to freeze, rather than double this. (The original, larger, recipe is below.)

The filling is a mixture of cooked greens, bacon, cream cheese and cottage cheese, seasoned well.


Making the pancakes was quite fun. I added some whole wheat flour to them. The first one was rubbish, but the cookbook had this reassuring statement: "The first one is always the most tricky and you may find you have to give that one up to trial and error." That was certainly the case, but then I was short on batter. The last two pancakes were a lot smaller.

Bacon and Spinach Pancakes
two meals for four people

Pancakes:
2 c flour
3 large eggss
1 2/3 c milk
3/4 c water

Filling:
mild oil
400 g bacon, about 12 rashers, snipped into small pieces
2 bunches of spring onions
500 g spinach (or greens)
40 g Parmesan
300 g garlic and her cream cheese
300 g cottage cheese
4 t butter

Make the pancake batter by mixing the flour and some salt, then add the eggs, milk, and water. Stir well to make a smooth batter.
Heat a little oil in a large pan with a lid. Add the bacon, cook for a few minutes, then add the spring onions. Cover and leave for a couple of minutes.
Add the spinach, and when it starts to wilt, raise the heat to reduce the liquid in the pan and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, mix all but 1 T Parmesan with the cream cheese and cottage cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F.
Make the pancakes by heating a heavy pan with some oil. Pour in just enough batter to cover the base. when the pancake can be lifted, loosen it around the edges and flip it over. Cook both sides to that the pancake is golden. Make eight pancakes, using half the batter.

Once the spinach mixture has cooled slightly, mix with the cheeses. Use half the spinach mixture, divided between the eight pancakes, to make filled pancakes, rolled up.
Put the pancakes into the oven in a buttered pan, with the remaining Parmesan scattered on top, for 15-20 minutes.
While these are baking, make the other eight pancakes and fill them using the remaining filling. Wrap these in foil and freeze for another day.

On the day of reheating, defrost the pancakes thoroughly and bake as above.

quiche

When I got engaged my family church hosted a bridal shower for me. But since I was moving straight to the UK after our wedding, I asked all the ladies in the church to give me their favourite recipes instead of gifts. One of these was for spinach quiche. I made it recently and realised why it was a much used recipe in the home of the lady who gave it to me: it relies mostly on pantry staples, is filling, and easy. Two amazingly easy features: the crust does not require rolling out, nor does the crust need to be baked before adding the filling.

Spinach Quiche

Crust:
1 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 c oil
2 T milk

Filling:
2 kg frozen or fresh spinach, greens, or chard
1 c yogurt
1 small onion, chopped
2 T oil
2 eggs
1/2 c dried milk powder
1/2 t salt
1/3 c grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Combine the flour and salt. Add oil and milk and mix with a fork. Spread in nine inch pie plate with your fingers.
Wash and cook the spinach lightly in only a little water, until just limp. Drain and chop well.
Heat oil in frying pan, add onion and spinach and cook for a few minutes, until onion is tender soft.
In a bowl, beat eggs and stir in yogurt, milk powder, and salt. Add spinach and onions. Stir together and pour into unbaked crust.
Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 375 F/190 C for 25 minutes, until firm and starting to brown.

The dried milk powder adds protein and calcium, but can be omitted.