I’m often asked for a simplified version of the spicy soups I make so here it is.

EASIEST VERSION:
To a one quart pot of water add:
1 or 2 tsp of chicken powder or bouillon
1 or 2 tsp Tom Yum Paste (spicy, tangy)
1/8 tsp tamarind concentrate (it’s very sour)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce (a little hot)
1 tsp dried shiitake mushroom powder
1 capful of apple cider vinegar
Small squirt of ginger paste or 1/2 tsp ginger powder or a pinky-tip size fresh ginger

I always like to add a few dates for sweetness as the lemon juice and vinegar make it sour.

As it heats, I add chopped vegs, right now my faves are okra, cauliflower, spinach

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Homemade hot & sour soup

This is a very simplified version of American restaurant style hot & sour soup. If made with vegetable stock and egg substitute, it’s vegetarian. You can spice this to your liking, this recipe as is will not be very hot nor very spicy.  

6 cups of a good low sodium chicken stock or broth
1 cup of mushrooms, white, portobello or even canned
1 cup of bamboo shoots, cut into strips
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts
1 cup of tofu, cubed (I like the firm style) (NOT frozen first)

I like adding 3-4 dates for sweetness.

2 eggs or equivalent Eggbeaters or vegan egg substitute

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A galpal gifted me with some luscious huge zucchini and I’ve been enjoying roasting them. For a change, I spiralized a zucchini, 2 radishes and a carrot this morning, added slivered onion, red pepper, parsley, kalamata olives and a drained can of chickpeas, lemon juice, coarse ground black pepper and sea salt. Spiralized zucchini really makes a difference in how appealing a salad looks to me.

                My rolling game is tightening up

I’ve been watching Netflix’s Extraordinary Attorney Woo and her fave food is Korean gimbap aka kimbap., what Japanese call nori maki or sushi rolls. This morning I was just gonna make some sushi rice for later, but it turned into chopping and sauteing celery, carrot, kale, tofu and making a very flat cheese omelet, all to be cut into strips for the rolls. I wrapped my bamboo roller in a clear ziplock bag, topped with a nori sheet, shiny side down, then blobbed my cooled rice (mixed with a little sesame oil and soy sauce) in the center and spread it thin. Topped with strips of each item as well as pickled ginger, drizzled with spicy mayo, I made 2 perfectly tight rolls. And they were delish.

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Today I made an easy chicken and veg stirfry that was really tasty. First, I velveted my chicken breast for 4 hours beforehand in a mixture of 1/2 cup egg whites (or Eggbeaters,) 2 tbsp corn flour and 2 tbsp vinegar.  The formula to keep meats tender is egg white, corn flour and an acid.  Velveting is not a tenderizing method, but it keeps foods from becoming tough.  Then I heated my big square grill pan and tossed in 2 tbsp coconut oil and a cup each of chopped (into BIG chunks) celery, onion, red bell pepper and zucchini. After the veg begin to brown, toss into a big bowl for later. Continue reading →

Arroz con Gandules prepared in the rice cooker

I began this site so I could keep all my recipes easy to find. I especially need a reminder to use equal parts rice and water in the rice cooker if I want the grains to be separate.

Here’s my fave easy rice and peas recipe: 
Equal parts (1.5 cups) rice and water.
One can of brown gandules WITH the liquid,
1 tsp each:
turmeric            onion powder         basil
salt                      garlic powder        vinegar
oregano 

1/2 tsp each fresh ground black pepper and red pepper flakes.

At the end I stir in 1/4 cup green olives and 2 tsp capers, and I add more vinegar and tabasco to my plate.

I’ve been using rice paper to wrap Summer Rolls and learning I can roll almost any kind of sandwich into rice paper to avoid bread and save calories. For traditional summer rolls tho, it’s as easy as a little prep ahead of time — chopping vegetables into slivers and having them ready in stackable plastic containers so I can easily lay them out in front of me when I’m making the roll. 

I start by filling the fridge with stackable plasticware containing uniform strips of the vegs that will go in the rolls. I wash, dry, slice and stack when I get home from the store.

I make my dipping sauces, see recipes below.

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Crispy tofu here with broccoli

This was FAR AND AWAY the best tasting, CRISPIEST tofu I’ve ever made. See the original at the vid at Sweet and spicy tofu from tifflovestofu on TikTok 

FIRST, PREPARE THE TOFU AND LET IT SIT
Squeeze excess water out of block of tofu,
Press on a towel for 60 mins at room temp to dehydrate.

NEXT, PREPARE THE VEGETABLES SO THEY’RE READY
Chop garlic (for me, 6 cloves)
ginger (for me, a thumb sized piece)
mushrooms  (3-4 oz)
scallions (maybe 6-8 chopped, you’ll saute the white parts and set the green parts aside to sprinkle on the dish before serving)
bell peppers ( one whole chopped)
onion (one small)
You’ll end up with 4 cups of chopped raw vegs
It’s not in her recipe, but I add broccoli to everything, see pic. Continue reading →

I’ve been making some of these. Warm your tortilla before assembling, it will make it more flexible. The Mission spinach herb tortilla wraps are a little more tender than the corn or flour, so I always make sure I have a solid layer of greens on the bottom (think whole lettuce or collard green leaf) with a few drops of ranch so when I get a bleed thru with the hummus and carrots, it’s not a mess.  For these, I drizzled ranch dressing on the wrap, not much, then romaine leaves followed by a thin layer of carrot matchsticks and a blob of hummus spread over the top. For these, I used the parsley garlic hummus with added cayenne. You can also add a thin layer of pickles, pepper rings, a little cheese.  THIN layers tho so it holds folds in a way you can hold it when wrapped.,

Having 3 hands would help.

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Turkey sandwich with kraut, microgreens, bibb lettuce

I love to read menus to get inspired to make new salad and sandwich combinations at home.  Reading the menu was always a fave part of dining out, deciding what sounded good in the moment, reading the ingredients and realizing wow I can do that at home! Here were some faves from the now closed Tempo Bistro To go in Gainesville, FL:

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