Korean Tacos with Beef or Tofu

Korean Tacos with Beef or Tofu

Time for party! I did Korean tacos at my son's graduation open house and also my friend asked me to make this at a new year's party. You can make it for 10 people (family size) or 100 people very easy. You can use beef with bulgogi recipe (posted earlier this week) and not spicy or spicy pork. You could even use teriyaki chicken (using same marinate as beef -bulgogi). 

For a healthier choice, if you don't want meat you can use the Tofu taco recipe below. 

Ingredients:

1 package Corn tortillas
1 lbs Organic marinated beef ( couple hours or overnight)
2 heads Romaine lettuce, thin sliced
1/2 Red onion sliced (soak 10 minute rinse and drain)
1 Avocado, diced
1 Cucumber, sliced
1 Cilantro
2 Limes, wedged

* Korean spicy sweet sauce
Toasted sesame seed for garnish

* Korean spicy sweet sauce: Makes 1 cup
In a pint jar put 1/2 cup Gochujang (korean red hot paste), 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 tablespoon Agave nectar, 1/4 cup water, mix well together and garnish with 1/2 teaspoon roasted sesame seed.

* Cilantro onion salsa:
1/2 red onion, minced, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon cilantro, 1 fresh lime juice, pinch or 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. Soak minced onion to vinegar, 15 to 30 minute. rinse and drain with cold water. Add cilantro, lime and salt.

* Tofu taco:
Fried tofu with ghee (clarified butter), use extra firm tofu, open the package and drain the water.
Dry the tofu with a paper towel letting the paper towel absorb most of the moisture for 30 minutes.
Cut into bite size pieces. Then fry tofu with 1/2 teaspoon of ghee (clarified butter) on frying pan, sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper, fry until brown and crispy both sides. You may use Southwest Chipotle seasoning (my son's favorite) or any other kind of seasoning you like for extra flavor.

How to serve:
Warm the corn tortillas with foil in the oven 275* for 30 minutes or if you are using fresh tortillas, cook them in a frying pan on the stove.
I used fresh corn tortillas.














Assemble all the ingredients you prepared with corn tortillas and prepare as follows:
On one cooked fresh corn tortilla (if you are using tortillas from store, use 2 regular tortillas to hold ingredients more securely). Put lettuce, Bulgogi (marinated Korean beef), cucumber, avocado, sliced onion, or cilantro onion, salsa and drizzle spicy sweet sauce, garnish with toasted sesame seed.
Writing this right now is making me want to eat this right of the screen! SO delicious! MUST TRY THIS!
Please feel free to make a comment if you have any questions.

I will post the recipe for Spicy Pork soon so stay tuned.

Baked Vegetables with Rosemary

Baked Vegetables with Rosemary

This dish is my all time favorite! All seasons, for party and summer BBQ side dish when you don't know what to cook on the day of the potluck dinner or any meal.... perfect for every where every time any where....
This is a very simple dish you can make in just over an hour.
I have had many people ask how to make this, so I put it here for everyone to enjoy!

Ingredients:

Approx. 2 Cups of each vegetable

Root vegetables:
Red potatoes
Onions
Carrots
Sweet potatoes
Parsnips .....


Green vegetables:
Broccoli
Green beans
Bell peppers (any color)
Leek
Aspragus
Kale
Cabbage ....

Seasonings:
2 TBSP Olive oil
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Rosemary (use fresh or dry)


Directions:

Wash all the vegetables and first cut root vegetables to bite size. In a big bowl toss with olive oil, salt, pepper & rosemary.

 Bake at 400* for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare green vegetables the same way and set aside.

Add green veggies and bake another 30 to 40 minutes or until all the veggies are cooked and little crispy & brown.

Serve with sriracha or any hot sauce you like!!!

Stir fry vegetable with baked potato and yam

Stir fry vegetable w/ baked potato and yam
or with brown rice

Serve 4

After the October cooking class friend Becky told me that her husband can't digest raw vegetables.

Right then, I knew what I would make for the November cooking class So she can make it for her husband.

This is another old recipe my brother in-law Blair used in his cooking class a long time ago. Thanks again to Blair! He wrote;

"This is a meal you will never tire of because you can constantly vary the vegetables in the stir fry.

We try to maintain a mix of about 12 vegetables, some toifying and most dispersing.

If you choose organic vegetables, they will be four time more nourishing than non-organic vegetables. Vegetables are extremely mineral rich, in fact, they are our best source of minerals.

Our body can manufacture most vitamins, but we can't manufacture a single mineral. If you desire great health, vegetables need to make up 30% -40% your diet.

If your time is limited, buy the vegetables one day a week; sock in salt water, clean them, and cut up enough to last for seven days (at least one gallon per person). You can store them, after you divided it up according to your family size for one meal, folding them up with cheese cloth or a dish cloth and in a tightly sealed plastic gallon bags.

You give up some food value by cutting the vegetables in advance, but it allows you to put a meal on the table in about 10 minutes total time whenever we need it. For some this is very important. 

Most people seldom get his kind of nourishment and you'll feel fantastic when you try it. Your body will let you know how thankful it is."

It was another beautiful Saturday in Cheyenne. I harvested carrots, beets, kale, and tomatoes from our garden for the cooking class this morning! 

It's tiny carrots and beets but taste amazing! It's fresh, tender and sweet.

This dish doesn't require any cooking skills besides cutting vegetables.

Also it is perfect for who can't digesting raw foods. You can call it "cooked vegetable salad" :)

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice (soak over night and cook with 2 and 1/2 cup water, boil and simmer 40 min.)

2 Yam and potatoes (bake 375* an hour) or steam it on stove.

4 medium sized shiitake mushrooms

1 medium carrot

1/2 small onion

1 small stacks of celery

1/2 or 1 small head of broccoli 

1/2 peppers (red, yellow, or orange)

1 small zucchini

1 handful spinach

1or 2 cloves of garlic

Optional possible ingredients: 1/2 cup cooked Spelt

1/4 Diakon ( Asian radish,  white round and long)

cabbage, bokchoy, kale, beets with green.... also why not with quinoa!

Directions:

1. First 1 cup of water in the wok, stove on high heat and put in the shiitake mushrooms in the water so they can get moisturized.
 chop the onions, carrots, celery and daikon put them in the boiling water. You can add potatoes if you are not baking potatoes with this meal.

Don't forget to put the lid on every time after the add vegetables.

2. Then keep on cooking, and pepper, asparagus, and cabbage are cut, put those in too

3. In the mean time cut and add squash broccoli and cauliflower..  Now that the shiitake mushrooms are moisturized take them out and cut them. You can keep add more water as you need it.

4.  Last you put in spinach and cook this stir fry for 30 second to a one more minutes with lid on.

4. Add fresh minced garlic and mix it together.

Once that is done drain the water in the jar and keep it in the refrigerator to use as vegetable broth.

5. Serving:

Put stir fry on brown rice or as a side dish. Add flax seed oil, and Bragg's aminos (natural soy sauce), and hot sauce ( we love sriracha!)

even on the baked potato and yam!

Bake 375* yams and potatoes in foil around an hour.
The baking time varies on the size of the vegetable.
or steam them on the stove until soft. 

Whole Wheat and Oat Meal Pancake

Whole Wheat &Oat Meal Pancake : Makes 16 (4-inch) pancakes

I adopted this recipe from Whole Foods for the whole family cook book. 

It is very easy to make this batter and it is very moist and healthy!.

I haven't purchased a pancake mix from the store for a long time.

My niece Oura Hill (8 years old) calls this "the special good pancake" and she loves it!

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole wheat flour (I used hard white wheat)
1 cup or less of old fashion rolled oat (or up to 1 cup cooked millet)
2 cups almond milk
1-2 organic eggs
2 tablespoons or more agave nectar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ghee (add to batter or add to the pan as you make it) I added to a pan.

* The idea is that the flour and oats amount should total 2 cups so when you substitute any grains for that it should be no more than 2 cups total but you can add more milk if it needs more liquid.

Also, try half and half of pumpkin puree with rolled oats.

Directions:

In a large bowl put in milk, eggs, baking power, salt, agave nectar, oat, and ghee (if use it to batter); mix well.
Add flour and beat only until large lumps disappear. Set a side at least 30 minute.

Batter may also be made the night before; store in covered container in refrigerator,
also can keep 3-5 days in refrigerator.

Pour a small amount of battle onto greased preheated pan or griddle. Cook until brown on both sides.

Freeze extra cooked pancakes and heat in toaster for snacks or busy mornings.
May substitute soy milk or organic milk or any combination of whole wheat, rye, buckwheat flour.

Serve topped with any seasonal fruits such as blue berries, strawberries, peaches, apples (see below picture), You can shredded or mush the fruits and drizzling agave or 100%maple syrup on the top of fruit.

Because of the juicy fresh fruits, you don't need as much as syrup!

Ghee

Homemade Ghee or Clarified butter

I didn't have time to show how to make Ghee at cooking class for the Denver friends yesterday.
 But I'll write it down here so you don't need to wait until next class.
There are many resources available about health benefits of clarified butter. But here are some of the benefits I know:
* Higher smoking point: It's 250*C, 482*F. - You can cook and fry with ghee and it will not break down into free radicals like many other oils.
* Lactose friendly: Ghee is made from butter but the milk solids and impurities have been removed so most people who are lactose intolerant have no issue with ghee.
* Doesn't spoil easily: Does not need refrigeration. If stored in an air tight container,
ghee can last up to 6 months. Someone said you can store up to 100 years :)
* Good fat - I read that it can also improve memory.

Ghee can easily be made at home. It takes about 20 Minutes to make one pound of butter of ghee.
Also the nutty taste makes a great topping for foods like popcorn, bread, rice, and stir fry veggies.
Remember ghee is still a fat. It is however, the preferred choice of oil for cooking, and the best choice of replacement for using as spread for toast and pancakes.

1 lb Organic unsalted butter
makes about 2 Cups of Ghee

Put 4 sticks of butter in a heavy 2 Qt. pot and melted on medium heat stove.

Bring to boil and turn heat to medium low.  Do not cover the pot. Skim off white foam that is forming on top of the butter.

When it stops foaming, and turns to clear yellow you will notice the milk is solid on the bottom of the pan and will be slightly brown in color. Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes.

Keep a close watch on the ghee and remove from the heat when it's done. (If overcooked, it turns brown and starts foaming and will overflow.) Let it cool until it is just warm.

Carefully pour into a dry glass storage jar.  Discard the milk solid left in the bottom of the pan. 

When the ghee is completely cool, cover tightly and store in a dry place.

Remember it does not need to be refrigerated!

Now you can fry millet patties with your very own homemade ghee!
The Recipe for millet patties was posted earlier.

Asian Dressing

Asian Dressing

I made asian dressing for the Quinoa salad in an earlier post. Today in our cooking class we had so much fun learning new things. We made asian dressing to show all the many delicious foods you can add it to. I am posting the recipe again by itself so it is easier to find as promised.

Thank you for all of you who came to my cooking class today!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup Brggs liquid aminos (healthy choice soy sauce)
1/2 cup, more or less cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
2 teaspoon agave nectar
1/4 teaspoon fresh or powder ginger
Optional: 1/4 teaspoon roasted sesame oil, pinch of cayenne pepper

* Liquid aminos is heavier than olive oil, so it sits in the bottom, therefore, You should mix the dressing well each time you use it.

Here is a picture of the asian dressing and the container I use every time I make it. I have found this mixer to be very convenient and easy to use even my kids know how to mix it because all of the ingredients are listed right on the side. It is from Pampered Chef. If you are interested, I would be happy to order it for you.

Asian dressing can be added to:

Any green salad

Millet patty

Baked potato

Zucchini vegetable roll
Spring roll
Sushi and California roll
Pasta salad
Good for dipping bread
Pot stickers and many more!
I will be posting the recipes for all of the above in the near future. So keep checking back to see new recipes.
Have a wonderful weekend!

How to sprout Mung Beans

Sprouting Mung Beans

I've been sprouting seeds, wheat, and mung beans at home for many years. I love adding sprouts on salads, sandwiches, stir fried vegetables, and fresh no bake pizzas. Combine sprouted mung beans with cooked quinoa. There are so many possibilities! It takes around 5 days to grow and they don't require much attention. It is lots of fun watching them grow every day, and just in 5 days you can add it to your meal! Fantastic!

They contain a concentrated amount of key vitamins and minerals such iron, potassium, folate and vitamin C. They are also a good sources of protein.
Eat fresh sprouted mung beans quickly because the longer you store them, the more protein and other nutrients they lose.

I was busy eating fresh produce from garden all summer long. Now My garden is almost done and getting ready for winter but I still can eat fresh sprouts in the winter time.

I am excited to share my mung bean sprouts pictures that I've been taking!
It's very cute and makes me smile. You will not fail!

Items you will need:
A quart size canning jar and *ring and screen
1/3 cup of *mung beans

* I like to use a circle cut from a plastic screen. It was left over from my storm door screen.
You can even use a piece from a bag of onions or potatoes.
Trace and cut out the circle and put inside the ring.

* Mung beans can be purchased from any natural grocery store or Asian grocery store.

Put mung beans in the jar and fill with water 1/2 way. Screw the lid onto jar.  Let them soak for 8 hrs. or you can leave it overnight.

After 8 hours soaking the beans, rinse and drain all the water out couple times.  

Repeat these simple steps every morning and every night for 5 days. It only takes a few minutes to do and the results are more than worth it!

You should lay it down in a shady place by the sink and on its side to make more room to grow.

This also helps you to remember to rinse and drain while you are in the kitchen.  If your kitchen doesn't have shady dark place, you can cover with towel to avoid direct bright sunlight.  They like shady dark place!

This picture below is after 2 days

These pictures are after 4 days! Getting excited! You could use them at this point, if you can't wait any longer.

After 5 days!!!!!

It will be 1 or 2 days early or later growing time, It depends on your house temperature, but if you see leaves from the head of beans put closed lid on it after you drain all the water out. Keep it in the refrigerator to stop it from growing until you use it. 

You can add to your salad, sandwich, stir-fry, .... much more!  Enjoy it!

* You can sprout any seeds such as alfalfa, clover, radish using same directions.

Frozen minced garlic

Frozen minced garlic

 I am a garlic lover. Not only for the flavor it gives food, but also the amazing benefits for our body!  I have found out that it is easier for me to use garlic, since I have been using it a lot of garlic in my cooking, especially when I don't have time to peel the garlic and mince it to use in my recipes.
This way, it's always ready to add to your cooking. I'm happy that I always have minced garlic ready for me! You can use a fresh head of garlic from the store, or to make it even easier, you can buy already peeled garlic in a jar. I hope this helps you while you are working and your busy schedules to make life easier and still get the benefit from garlic for your body. This winter, get some benefits from the garlic, that kills cold and flu viruses!


You need:              

5 heads of fresh garlic or 35 cloves of peeled garlic

Garlic press or food processor
Sandwhich zip lock bag
A cup and A knife

* Here is how I peel garlic: Break the cloves down from the garlic head and press the garlic with the knife laid flat. Then the garlic skin will easily come off.

And wash the peeled garlic. Trim the ends of the garlic with paring knife.

Place the plastic bag in a cup and fold the top over the lip of the cup, Mince garlic with the garlic press into plastic bag in the cup or food processor the garlic and scoop them into the plastic bag.

Pressed minced garlic with your hand in the bag thin flat like the picture below and freeze it.

But if you don't have a garlic press or food processor you can use your hand.

Press peeled garlic with knife, same as peeling garlic skin to mash flat and then chop it.

 You don't need to thaw the garlic when you use it. Just brake a piece of the chunk of garlic from the frozen bag and add to your cooking!

* 1 sandwich bag of minced garlic (30-35 garlic cloves) makes around 5 1/2 tablespoons.
   2 cloves mined garlic makes 1 teaspoon.

Spicy Green Beans

Spicy Green Beans

This recipe is all thanks to my sister who lives in Arizona! Two year ago, She wants to try cook green beans different way on thanksgiving dinner. It turned out really good and everyone loved it! Since then I make green beans same way all the time. I don't know where she got this recipe but I changed to the healthier way.  I made spicy green beans at summer family camp and mother's seminar at Idaho. Also I made spicy green beans at a church potluck dinner yesterday. Many people asked me for the recipe. More flavorful than tradition way and red pepper flakes add on little kick to it! You can adjust it more or less spicy.

So here it is!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon or less sesame oil
2 cloves *garlic, thinly sliced
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons braggs liquid aminos (natural soy sauce alternative)

1 teaspoon or less crushed red pepper flakes
Optional:
1/8 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon roasted sesame seed

*For garlic lovers like me, double or triple the garlic portion! and you can use round slices instead of thin strips if you would like.

Directions:

Heat sesame oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, and cook until the edges begin to brown. Add the green beans to the wok, cook and stir until the green beans begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add agave nectar, liquid aminos, fish sauce, pepper flakes. Continue cooking and stirring for several minutes, until the desired degree of tenderness.
you may covered lid to shortened cook time but don't forget to stir!
Remove to serving dish and sprinkle with sesame seed on the top! Yummy!


Happy cooking!