Peanut Butter Cold Noodles

I’m all about quick meals these days.  I find myself eating a lot of different kinds of pasta, but unfortunately, I have a picky eater at home who can’t eat the same thing consecutively for too long.  Reminiscing back to my childhood, my mom used to make this Asian inspired cold-noodle dish and she always used peanut butter as the base.  I went online to research other peanut butter based recipes that had a little bit more complexity and came across one by The Cozy Cook. It’s such a easy dish that takes me 20 minutes to throw together–not healthy, but super easy.

Usually, I double the sauce because …why not.  I also made a few modifications to suit my family’s tastes.

See her original recipe:

https://thecozycook.com/cold-noodles-peanut-sauce/

Ingredients

Peanut Sauce

• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Sriracha hot chili sauce
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1 cup water

Pasta

• 1 pound spaghetti
• 4 green onions
• 1 small persian cucumber julienned
• 1/2 of rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 1-2 teaspoon of sesame oil

Instructions

1. Combine all of the peanut sauce ingredients in a large bowl until well incorporated.

2. Cook the pasta per package.

3. Drain the pasta and add it to the large bowl of peanut sauce. Add in the shredded chicken. Use tongs to toss and coat the pasta, the peanut sauce will thicken in the fridge.

4. Refrigerate – usually good after a couple of hours, but best served the next day

5. When ready to serve, remove the noodles from the fridge and drizzle them with sesame oil. Use tongs to toss the noodles loosen them up a bit. Transfer them to a glass serving bowl and top with diced green onions.

Açaí Bowls-the cure to my Hawaii withdrawals

So much has happened since I last blogged! I finished residency–hooray for the end of homework forever! Next big thing–I got married!! That was a crazy several months!

My husband and I ended up going to Hawaii for our honeymoon.  I developed 2 obsessions on this trip- one was with sea turtles (ermehgerd they are so cool!) the second was açaí bowls. When I was in Hawaii, I hit up several açaí bowl places. I noticed that one of the places used the Sambazon frozen açaí mix.  By some miracle of God, I stumbled upon the same mix at Costco! Tah-dahhhh!

Açaí is phonetically pronounced as “Ah-sai-yi.”  The berry fruit is initially derived from the Açaí palm, which is a native to Brazil.  The bowl migrated over to Hawaii, and since then, Hawaii has come up with some pretty creative stuff. Açaí’s claim to fame was when external marketers hyped up the berry’s antioxidant levels. Even Dr. Oz has toted it on his show and claimed that it has good weight loss properties, anti-aging, the new cure to diabetes, etc…To date, there hasn’t been a study that can prove statistical significance on any of these claims. I will say this, after making it myself, I really can’t say that this is a diabetic friendly recipe.  The common misconception is that “fruits are always healthy.”  That statement, on a general level is true if you have a normal insulin level, but most people fail to acknowledge that some fruits such as bananas are also very high in sugar and the recipe also contains apple juice. Aside from that, no one can deny how yummy it is! What I love about açaí bowls is how customizable they are.  The basic and most classic Brazilian bowl always consists of strawberries, bananas, and açaí.

So here is my twist on it:

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of frozen açaí berry
• 1/4-1/2 cup of apple juice
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/2 fresh banana
• Granola
• Strawberries (fresh), Kiwi, or any other fresh fruits
• Additional frozen fruits (1/4 cup)
• Honey

Directions:

1. Break up the açaí bar into a blender and add in 1/2 frozen banana and 1/4 cup of the apple juice. It is important to ensure that the banana is frozen because the frozen banana lends the açaí bowl its creamy texture.
2. Optional Step: Add in additional frozen fruits. I prefer mango, pineapples, and strawberries. Just add in a few (~1-2 pieces of each) because if you add in too many, you will have way too much açaí base. If you want to blend in more flavors to the açaí base, I would recommend using frozen fruits if you prefer a creamier texture.
3. Blend away until everything is uniform.  Add apple juice 1/4 cup at a time. I prefer having a creamier texture and adding apple juice will thin it down accordingly.
4. Chop up strawberries and arrange in a straight line along the side of the bowl, do the same with the bananas, kiwi, and granola.
5. Drizzle honey and serve right away!

Boba Milk Tea

New year means a new recipe! Like a true American-born Taiwanese, boba milk tea has always been my “go-to” comfort drink.

Boba milk tea is also known as “bubble tea” or “pearl tea.”   The drink was actually invented in the 1980s in Taiwan. Since the 1980s, there have been many variations of boba milk tea such as almond boba milk tea, green tea boba milk tea, fruit smoothie boba, etc.

The boba is basically just “starch balls.”  Now, I know that doesn’t sound very appetizing, but I personally love it.

This drink can be found at the Taiwanese night markets and can be purchased for pennies. In the U.S., perfecting this drink has become somewhat of an art form–getting the perfect boba texture, the most ideal tea blend, etc…Boba prices here are kind of crazy–$4-5/8.5oz.  As much as I love the drink, I’m pretty tired of paying an arm and a leg for food I can make myself.

My personal favorite version of this drink has always been the traditional boba milk tea with the black tea base.  Thanks to Seongkyoung Longest from Asian at Home, I now have a new recipe in my arsenal.

Ingredients

3 to 5 black tea bags
1/4 cup quick cooking boba
1 Tbs honey
2 Tbs sweet condensed milk
2 Tbs milk

Directions

1. Brew 3-5 tea bags in 1 cup of water and let steep for ~5 minutes.  Remove tea bags and allow to cool completely. I used Lipton yellow label tea and 3 bags were more than enough.  The goal here is to create a “tea concentrate” because later on we’re going to dilute this down with milk and ice.

2.  Cook the boba! Be sure to prep it according to the directions on the back of the package. The texture of the boba matters. If you don’t do it right, it will come out rock solid in the middle or overly mushy. However, thankfully this is super easy to prep. I opted for instant 5-minute boba. Place 1/4 cup (1 serving) into 2 cups of boiling water (medium heat). When all of the boba floats to the surface, put a lid on the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the flame and allow to sit for another 2 minutes. When you’re done, strain the boba and shock it in a ice bath for about 1 minute.

3. Prep the syrup. At this point, your boba will have no taste, so we want to infuse it with a sweet syrup. Place 1 table spoon of honey in a bowl, place the boba into the bowl and mix well.

4. Make the milk tea. Place 1-2 tablespoon of condensed milk into the bottom of a mason jar or anything you can shake your drink in. Then pour in your 1 cup of tea. Add in the boba with the honey water.  Add in your milk. Fill the rest of the jar with ice cubes and leave a little bit of space.

5. Shake until everything is equally distributed and there is no more condensed milk at the bottom.

6. Add a boba straw and enjoy!

Longan Agar Dessert

Hangry=Hungry+Angry. It’s a thing.

One tip I have for individuals who suffer from hangriness–don’t squash your hunger, feed it with healthy things/healthier options. For me, I’ve been making myself a healthy smoothie or finding a dessert with less sugar.  Here is one recipe from my childhood.  Now, I’ll have to admit, it’s a little bit of an acquired taste since it includes a tropical fruit and it is more Taiwanese. Longan is as also known as “the dragon’s eye.” The only way I can describe it is that it’s a cousin of the Lychee fruit.  It has a sweet yet earthy flavor. This dessert is super easy.  If you can make Top Ramen, you can make this.

Ingredients:

1. ~1 cup (7-8oz) dried Longan  (you can also do this with any diced fresh/dry fruit you enjoy)
2. Agar powder
3. Muffin Tin (makes about 16)

*You can buy these in any 99 Ranch or any Asian super market

Directions:

1. Boil 6 cups of water and bring to a simmer.
2. Pour the cup of Longan or fruit into the pot.  If you’re using dried products, boil for 1 minute.  For fresh fruits, about 30 seconds will do.
3. Pour the packet of powder in and stir until all of the powder is dissolved
4. Ladle the mix into each muffin tin and let cool for about 2 hours. Refrigerate and serve.

Pancakes

Pancakes.  Always a part of the perfect all-American breakfast. I will admit, there are many  things I can make very well and pancake has always sort of been a weak spot. Usually, I’ll reach for the Bisquick mix to ensure that I don’t screw up.  Today, I woke up with new found determination that I was going to make my own mix. Credits to “kris” on Allrecipes.com.  The pancake came out nice and fluffy just like the recipe promised.  I chose to use lemon juice as a substitute for vinegar.  The whole point of that was to simply curdle the milk a.k.a make your own buttermilk.  I don’t know about everyone else, but I don’t usually like to purchase buttermilk since I never use it up and it just goes bad. My other tip would be to sift the dry ingredients as it minimizes the clumpiness prior to mixing.  Other thing worth noting is that the batter is a little bit more sticky so don’t get nervous! If you want to thin out batter you can add about a teaspoon of milk.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups of milk
• 2 tablespoons of white vinegar (may use lemon juice instead)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

1. Mix the vinegar/lemon juice and milk and set aside for 5 minutes to allow for curdling. Then add the egg and butter.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Combine the dry and wet ingredients.  Mix until all of the lumps are gone.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Caesar Salad

Truly, nothing beats the simple pleasures in life.  I think that after 21 years of schooling, I really appreciate being able to stop and smell the roses. I have also been enjoying eating “cleaner.”  I was so busy the last few months that I have been loading up on top-ramen, hot cheetos,  and other junk. As a result, I gained about 6 lbs and have been experiencing the low-energy phenomenon that occurs when you treat your body like trash. Not to mention the acid reflux feels terrible. So, I’ve decided to really show some love to the simple and clean ingredients.

One of the recipes that came from my “simple and clean” initiative is this Caesar Salad Supreme.  The recipe came from Allrecipes.com by Karen Weir. I loved this recipe because it just tastes so fresh.  I posted the original recipe.  However, when I actually made it, I used some substitutions. I felt this recipe could have used less anchovies  since the anchovies really amped up the saltiness(4 filets would have done it and use salt to season to taste).  I also subbed out white bread for wheat bread and since I didn’t have 1-day old bread, I toasted it slightly. Disclaimer: the recipe tastes better using more fatty ingredients.

Caesar salad is currently my new love.  I’m really hoping I can keep this healthy thing going. More to come!

Ingredients

Dressing/Salad:

• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3/4 cups of mayo
• 5 anchovy filets
• 6 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• salt and blackpepper (to taste)
• 1 head of romaine lettuce

Bread Crumbs/Croutons:

• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 4 cups of 1 day-old bread

Directions:

1. Mince 3 cloves of garlic, and combine in a food processor with mayonnaise, anchovies, 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.

 

2.Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cut the remaining 3 cloves of garlic into quarters, and add to hot oil. Cook and stir until brown, and then remove garlic from pan. Add bread cubes to the hot oil. Cook, turning frequently, until lightly browned. Remove bread cubes from oil, and season with salt and pepper. If the bread is still moist, place on parchment paper and cookie sheet and “dry” it in the oven at 275 degrees for about 15 minutes.

3.Place lettuce in a large bowl. Ensure that the leaves are dry.  Toss lightly with ~ 1 teaspoon of lemon juice if desired.  Then toss with dressing, remaining Parmesan cheese, and seasoned bread cubes.

Spicy Yogurt Cream Sauce

So I mentioned in my last post that I served the pork loins with a baked potato.  I promise that baked potato recipe will come shortly after this one. I just HAVE TO post this one first. My guilty pleasure whenever I eat baked potato is sour cream. I loooovvve sour cream. I love the cooling effect and the sour bite from the cream. However, I always wondered if there was a way to get all of the delicious goodness without compromising on health. THERE IS!  I usually serve my baked potato with a yogurt based sauce.  I actually tricked my boyfriend into eating it and he liked it!

Everyone knows that fatty foods always taste better than healthy ones.  In diabetes clinic, I often have the opportunity to work with patients who struggle with making lifestyle changes.  Diabetics are often forced to give up on foods that they like and trade it for healthy bland food to control their blood sugar. My advice to them is to amp up the spice level.  Spices are the most ideal way to elevate bland healthy dishes into a dining experience. Without further ado, here is the play on sour cream:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, juiced
• salt to taste

Directions:

Mix yogurt and mayonnaise. Stir in 1 pinch of cayenne pepper, dill weed, 2 tablespoons of cilantro, lime juice, and salt. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Combine 1 1/4 cup of cilantro and onion in a bowl.

I’m kicking myself for not having a picture.  I love every ingredient in this faux “cream.”  Right off the bat, you can smell all of the freshness from the cilantro and lime.  The yogurt with the lime gives that similar bite that sour cream has. I love love love love love (x 10 million) this recipe. Credit to Haiderz on Allrecipes for coming up with this.

Baked Maple Pork

This last Thanksgiving,my family had gone to go see my brother, and I got left at home to watch my doggy. At first, I was very upset because I look forward to making a Thanksgiving turkey every year, but then I got over it and actually grew quite fond of living in a quiet house.  Fortunately, I wasn’t completely alone.  I actually got to spend Thanksgiving with the bf and still got to cook a nice meal.

When we went to the grocery store, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the menu.  I couldn’t cook a 20-lb turkey since there just wasn’t the man-count to eat it.  As I scanned the protein aisle, I saw that there was a special on pork. When I reach for a protein, I tend to shy away from pork.  My comfort foods tend to be more fish and chicken.  I think growing up a heavier kid, I was steered away from pork a lot so I’m not as familiar with cooking them. Nevertheless, I was up for the challenge and it was well worth it.  In fact, it worked so well that I actually used it for Christmas dinner.  This was such an easy recipe with minimal clean up!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp of canola oil
• 1 (4-lb) boneless pork loin roast or I used pork loin slices
• Salt and pepper to taste
• All-purpose flour for coating
• 3/4 cup of maple syrup
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup water
• 5 cloves of minced garlic

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium- high heat until smoking.  Season the pork generously with salt and pepper and coat in flour.  Be sure to shake off excess
3. Sear in hot oil until brown on all slides ( 1 minute/side). Place onto a large aluminum foil set on top of a baking sheet

4.  Make the sauce! Mix together the maple syrup, ketchup, water and garlic5. Pour 3/4 of the sauce over the pork and fold the foil over the pork and fold so it looks like a packet

6. Bake in the oven until the internal temperature reaches about 170 degrees (~2 hours)

7. Carefully open up the foil packet and let broil for a few minutes

8. Serve with remaining sauce.

 

Personally, I loved this recipe. A big fear I have with pork loins is overcooking the meat. The annoying thing with pork is that if you overcook it, it becomes dry.  On the other hand, if you undercook it, you can possibly give yourself heart worms, which is why it is absolutely crucial for the internal temperature of the pork to be >170 degrees Fahrenheit.  However, sealing the meat in the packet really helps the pork loin retain its flavor and really allows it to soak up the juices. As a side, I actually served it with baked potato and roasted asparagus. Hope you all enjoy! I promise it won’t be so crazy long before I post again!Aww…Now, who can resist that cute face

Bananas Foster

For someone who does not like bananas, I do have quite a few banana recipes up my sleeve.  Quick side story of why I don’t like bananas….it has to do with Universal Studios pre-2010.  Universal Studios’ old school tram ride used to pass through “King Kong’s subway scene.” I was one of those little kids sitting eagerly on the side of the tram and when King Kong showed up and breathed his “banana breath,” I got the full dose because I was right in front of King Kong.  For all the fellow O. Chem geeks who remember this lab, the scent was Isoamyl acetate…disgusting.  For all you non-O.Chem geeks the scent was the banana car air freshener….absolutely disgusting.

Anyways, the most recent banana recipe was actually inspired by a trip to Downtown Disney. There is a little cafe there called Ralph Brennan’s “The Jazz Kitchen.”   One of their classic dishes is their bananas foster. I did some digging  and it turns out that bananas foster is an old school classic from the 1950s and originates from New Orleans when it was a major port of entry for bananas.  At that time, Owen Brennan owned a restaurant called “Brennan’s restaurant” (not sure if it is related to the Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen).  He wanted his chef, Paul Blange to include bananas in his dessert as a means of promoting the fruit and to spice up the recipe section of the Holiday Magazine. Fun fact: Brennan’s restaurant utilizes 35,000 lbs of bananas annually just for the dessert.  Initially, when I heard of it the first thought that went through my head was cream and bananas…and King Kong. I wasn’t too far off.  In fact, it was ice cream and bananas (no King Kong)! At first I refused it, but once I had some, I wanted the bowl to myself. The preparation of the dessert is actually done in front of you with a flambé finale.  While everyone was watching the flambé, I snuck a good peak at the ingredients and thought…”I can have this every night if I wanted to (diabetes aside).”

Around the same time I started hunting around for bananas foster recipe, Popsugar food came out with their own and I found it to be quick enough of a recipe to squeeze in between work, studying, and rotation. It was a fantastic “pick-me-up” at the end of a rough day.  Also, if you want to entertain guests, this is the way to go!  One quick tip for this recipe, it is crucially important that you don’t use overly ripe bananas.  Bananas get soft really quickly and once you cook it, it starts mushing. Use bananas that still have a hint of green on it.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 firm bananas, peeled, cut lengthwise, then halved
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch nutmeg
• Pinch salt
• 1/3 cup dark rum
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream

Directions:

1. Combine butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a sauce pan and stir over low to medium heat. Be sure to watch the mixture and to not burn the sugar. Start low and go slow to make sure everything incorporates smoothly. Be patient, and don’t turn up the heat to high otherwise it’ll burn.

2. Toss in your bananas and coat well with the mixture. Let it heat up for a little less than a minute.  Push on your bananas to make sure they’re not goopy soft.

3. Pour in your dark rum.

4. Light it up, baby!  Wait for the flame to self-extinguish and allow it to burn off all of the alcohol leaving behind the spicy after taste. Here are 2 ways to flambé:

• You can tilt the pan towards the flame and allow the fumes to catch the flames
• OR my preferred method is to use a long handled lighter to light the fumes and then watch it burn!

Scoot the pan back and forth to make sure everything gets coated and distributed evenly! Don’t burn off your eyebrows now!

5. Plate and put a generous helping of vanilla bean ice cream on top. Enjoy immediately!

Red Potato Salad

Since I turned 26, I’ve really started feel the downwards trend in my metabolism. I have been starting to feel a little more tubby and bloated. I usually don’t like diets, but my eating habits have been so out of control recently given my school schedule. I have to say, I definitely do not feel well. SO… I’m going to start searching for healthier recipes, with the exception of holidays. Fingers crossed that I’m good for my word.

Speaking of holidays, this last weekend was July 4th. Since I was so proud to be an American, I decided to make one of the most American things I could think of–potato salad with bacon! The recipe that I found online is probably one of the most loaded potato salads I have ever seen.  It was one of  those full on artery-clogging-STEMI-inducing sort of recipe.  Sorry, 8 weeks of rotation, I have to drop a pharmacy related joke in there somewhere.  If I was only making this for myself, I’d leave the bacon out.  I don’t like bacon. Yup, I said it.  Boos and hisses all around.

To be perfectly honest, the recipe came out much better than I expected.  Although, if someone were to ask me about this recipe, I would equate this to making fried rice–too much work for one dish.   The prep work takes forever and although the ingredients are not that expensive there are too many of them; it is a hassle to buy and put together.  This recipe actually will probably make about 3/4 of gallon of potato salad.  I actually doubled this recipe and came out with about a gallon and a half of potato salad.  Good thing my friends are good eaters.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of red potatoes
• 6 eggs
• 1 lb of bacon
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
• 2 cups of mayonnaise
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add potatoes. Cook until tender and refrigerate. Remember not to over cook them! We don’t want mashed potatoes.

2. Boil all 6 eggs.  As soon as the water comes to a boil. remove from heat. You can add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to the water as it is boiling (trick to make egg-peeling easier). Rinse in cold water and let stand for 10 minutes (trick #2 to make egg-peeling easier). 

3. Place bacon in large skillet.  Cook over medium to high heat until it is evenly brown. Aww yea, you know you’re going to start drooling. I don’t even like bacon but this picture looks good to me. Crumble, chop, and lay it aside.

4. Chop the cooled potatoes, leaving skin on. Mix potatoes, eggs, celery, bacom, onion, 2 cups of mayo in a large bowl.

5. Chill for at least an hour before serving