Honey Gochujang Zucchini

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Zucchini has always been a versatile ingredient to me. But I’d never say no to another delicious way to cook zucchinis

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Ingredients:

• 4 Zucchinis, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

• 1/4 cup Honey

• 1/3 cup Rice Vinegar

• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce

• 1/4 cup Sambal Oelek

• 1 tbsp Sesame Oil

Optional:

• Lime wedges, garnish

• Cilantro, garnish

What’s Next:

1. Toss the zucchini slices in a colander with a tsp of salt, let sit for 10 minutes and drain excess water

2. Combine honey, vinegar, soy sauce, and sambal oelek in a small saucepan. Cook over medium low heat until it’s reduced to an almost syrup consistency. Remove from heat and mix in the sesame oil

3. Prep the zucchini slices for grill or broiler. Brush the top side with glaze and cook for 3-4 minutes (likely longer for broiler), until the top side is lightly charred

4. Flip the zucchini slices and brush the other side with glaze, cook for another 3 minutes or so until this side is lightly charred as well

5. Remove from heat and serve!

Strawberry Rhubarb "Crisp"

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Nothing reminds me more of summer than strawberry rhubarb. There is a distinct tartness that makes you crave one more bite. The reason why I say “crisp” is because typically a crisp or cobbler have butter, sugar and flour mix together to create the texture. But I want to make this more guilt free! So it certainly won’t be as crunchy but is certainly better for you!

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Ingredients:

Filling

• 1 Cup of Rhubarb, chopped (This is about 2 stalks for me)

• 1 Cup of Strawberries, chopped

• 2 Tbsp of White Sugar

• 1 Tsp of Vanilla

Topping

• 1 Cup of Rolled Oats

• 1 Cup of Nuts (Chopped Pecans and Sliced Almonds work great)

• 1/3 Cup Brown or Palm Sugar

• 1/2 Tsp Salt

• 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

• 1/4 Coconut Oil, Melted

Optional for the Topping:

• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg or Cardamom

• 1/3 Cup of Coconut Flakes (for the crunch!)

Required Equipment:

• Pyrex with flat bottom or deep dish for baking

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the filling ingredients (strawberry, rhubarb, vanilla and sugar) together and spread across the bottom of the baking dish in one layer

2. Mix the rest of the topping ingredients together (oats, nuts, sugar, salt, spices and coconut oil). Sprinkle evenly across the fruits in the baking dish

3. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown!

4. Serve warm with ice cream is highly recommended!

Easier-than-you-think Granola

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For some reason for years I’ve always bought granola from the store. Thinking it’s not worth my time to figure out how to make this myself while hating the amount of sugar is in these commercial products.

Then I came across this easy recipe and you can tailor it to your liking

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Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Rolled Oats

• 2 Cups of Nuts (I do Pistachios, Almond Slices, Pecan and Cashew)

• 1/3 Cup Coconut Flakes

• 1/3 Cup Cranberries unsweetened

• 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

• 1/2 Tbsp Honey (Can scale this up if you like it sweeter)

*Don’t sweat it if you don’t have all the nuts mentioned above. Variety will give you different texture and flavors, but as long as you don’t mind, any type of nuts will do!

**This will make a loose granola ; if you like granola with larger crunch that stick together, I think adding more honey will be what you need to bind them together

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil or silicon baking mat

2. Melt the coconut oil in a small heatproof bowl gently in the microwave, 7-10 seconds at a time. Then add the honey into the coconut oil, mix well. They might look a little separated, but it’s fine

3. Sprinkle the oats, nuts, coconut flakes and cranberries onto the baking sheet. Drizzle the coconut oil honey mixture onto the oats and nuts. Mix them gently to coat them as much as possible. If your oats look dull, then add a bit more coconut oil ; if it looks too shiny then add a bit more nuts or oats to avoid the granola tasting greasy. The nuts will release more oil during baking.

4. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, depending on the mixture of your nuts, this time will vary (i.e. Pecan tend to burn a lot easier). I find coconut flakes to be a good indicator, when the edges of the coconut flakes are brown, it’s ready!

Soy Ginger Kabocha Squash

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Firstly, I will admit that I always thought these are just pumpkins in the grocery stores.

This is the recipe for when you have a kabocha squash, want a light veggie dish and don’t want lots of ingredients to prep for

And you can eat the skin! No peeling required!

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Required Equipment:

• Some sort of steamer inserts or bamboo steamers.

Ingredients:

• 1 Kabocha squash

• 3 Scallions, separate the white and green bits, chop both

• 2 Garlic cloves

• 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar

• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil

• 2 tbsp Soy sauce

• 1/2 inch Ginger, grated

• 2 tsp Honey

Optional:

• Sesame seeds, garnish

What’s Next:

1. Setup your steamer. Start heating up water in the pot.

2. Mix white & pale green parts of the scallions, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger and honey in a small heatproof (pyrex is good) bowl or sauce dish

3. Wash the kabocha squash well, as you can eat the skin. Cut them into halves and remove the seeds. Slice into 1/2 inch wedges.

4. Put the small bowl with sauce into the middle of the steamer. Layer all the squash wedges around it. You can partially cover the sauce bowl if you need to, but careful it might soften and fall in.

5. Steam for about 15 minutes until the squash can be easily pierced through. Remove squash from steamer and serve with the dressing!

Vegetarian Umami Ramen-ish

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I call it Ramen’ish because it will probably be offensive to many the fact that there is no bone used to make the broth.

So… take this more like a noodle soup recipe that you can make basically whenever you like and gives you amazing broth without hours of work.

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Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Oil (Preferably a more neutral one like Peanut oil)

• 6 Garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• 1 tbsp Sesame seeds'

• 3 tbsp Gochugaru (Or other alternative pepper flakes)

• 2 tbsp Sesame oil

• 3 Scallions, chopped and with whites and greens separated

• 1 inch Ginger, grated

• 2 servings of Noodles (Can be zucchini noodles, Shirataki noodles too), blanched / cooked

• 10 heads of Bokchoy, blanched (Depending on what you have in the pantry, you can easily flex for another type of vegetable)

You may not need to have everything here, but at least 3-4 to create a complex umami broth:

• 1 tbsp Tomato paste (double concentrated if possible)

• 3 tbsp Miso paste (if you like miso, you can go heavier on this)

• 2 tbsp Gochujang (Might get spicy, adjust based on your preference)

• 1 tbsp Soy sauce

• 1 tbsp Kombu

Optional:

• 1 tbsp Butter (Can omit if you want to keep this vegan!)

What’s Next:

1. First, let’s make the chili garlic oil. Add the 1/4 of oil in a small sauce pan over low heat. After 2-3 minutes, add in the garlic slices. It should sizzle slightly but not splashing. Stir occasionally to make sure the garlic is colored evenly, the bottom side will brown first. When the garlic picks up light brown color on both sides, add the sesame seeds. When the garlic is in a more medium shade of brown, turn off the heat and let the oil mixture cool in the pan slightly

2. Add the Gochugaru / Pepper Flake in a small heatproof container, pour in the oil mixture and mix well. Set aside.

3. Second, let’s make the broth. Add the sesame oil to a deep pot over low heat. After the oil is heated up, add the grated ginger and white and pale green parts of the scallions into the pot. Stir frequently to make sure nothing burns. The scallions should sweat slightly.

4. When the scallions has fully softened and pot becomes fragrant, add in the tomato paste, miso and Gochujang, however many you have! Continue to stir the paste into the scallion and ginger. Make sure nothing burns on the bottom.

5. After the paste has darkened in color, add 4-5 cups of water and turn up the heat to medium. Add kombu and soy sauce if you’re using. Add the butter and stir until completely melted. Bring the broth to a boil and taste to see how you’d like to adjust the flavors.

6. Third, the noodle and veggies to your liking. Blanche the vegetables just until likely cooked, bokchoy will take probably 1 minute or so. Cook the noodle of your choice. Drain both n a colander, you don’t want extra water in your broth!

7. Assemble the noodle and vegetables in a large deep bowl. Spoon over the broth, sprinkle some chopped green scallion bits and drizzle as much chili garlic oil as you like. Enjoy!

8. scallions

Goma-e Spinach

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What to do when you have spinach and don’t want to be boring?

Here’s your answer

This recipe uses tahini to expedite process, instead of 4 more tbsps of sesame seeds

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Ingredients:

• 4 cups of Spinach

• 1 1/2 tbsp of Tahini

• 1/2 tbsp of Sesame seeds

• 1 tbsp of Soy Sauce

• 1 tbsp of Sugar

Optional:

• 1/2 tsp of Sake

• 1/2 tsp of Mirin

• Sesame seeds

• Scallions

What’s Next:

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a small pan on low heat until lightly brown, careful not to burn!

2. Boil water in a medium size pot, add in all the spinach until lightly cooked, about 30 seconds

3. Strain the pot through a mesh to collect all the spinach. Run the spinach under cold water to chill. Squeeze the spinach dry and move to a medium size bowl

4. Mix sesame seeds, tahini, soy sauce, sugar, and sake and mirin if using. Pour the mixture over the spinach and mix well

5. Top with sesame seeds and scallions if you like

Roast Carrots with Nuoc Cham

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I have to admit, I had no idea what Nuoc Cham is before I attempted this recipe. I’ve never had it, but thought the ingredients might make a delicious sauce.

I was not wrong.

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Required Equipment:

• Hand blender / Blender / Food Processor

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs Carrots, scrubbed / peeled (cut in half if some carrots are thick or vary significantly in size)

• 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp Oil

• 1 Shallot, thinly sliced

• 2 Thai chilis, sliced (if you don’t have this at hand, substitute with dried chili flakes)

• 1/2 inch piece of Ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

• 3 Garlic cloves

• 2 tbsp of Fish sauce

• 2 tbsp of Brown Sugar (or Coconut Palm Sugar even better!)

• 2 tbsp of Lime juice

• 1 tbsp of Mayonnaise

Optional:

• Cilantro, garnish

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, drizzle 2 tbsp of oil and lightly coat the carrots in a foil lined roasting pan or Pyrex. Lightly season with salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned (this will depend on the size of your carrots)

2. Add shallots, chili, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, sugar and 2 tbsp of water in a small sauce pan. Cook with low-medium heat until gentle simmer, 8-10 minutes just until the shallots are softened. The sauce shouldn’t be thick. Remove from heat and let cool

3. Transfer to a blender or food processor or a deep bowl if you’re using a hand blender. Add mayonnaise and lime juice. Blend until smooth (don’t worry if you’ll still see tiny bits of shallots, it’d be hard to get this completely smooth). Drizzle in another 2 tbsp of oil, mix until you no longer see the separation of oil and sauce

4. Drizzle over carrots just before serving

5. Sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill in fridge.

Avocado Pesto "Pasta"

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Another wonderful way to eat avocado!

Do you have avocado that’s ripe, but not sure what to do with it?

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Required Equipment:

• Blender / Food Processor

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado,

• 1/4 cup of Basil leaves

• 3 Garlic cloves

• 2 tbsp of Lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp of Salt

Pasta

• 9 ounces of uncooked Pasta / 1-2 medium size Zucchini, spiralized / 1 medium Spaghetti Squash

Optional:

• Cilantro

• Pine nuts, garnish

What’s Next:

1. If you’re using pasta, cook as you would normally. If you’re using zucchini noodles, you can saute the zucchini noodles with 1 tbsp of oil on low heat until soft. If you’re using spaghetti squash, preheat the oven at 400 degrees and bake for 40-50 minutes, then rake out the fibers

2. Scoop out the avocado and place in food processor or blender

3. Add garlic, basil (and cilantro if you like), lemon juice, oil and 1 tbsp of water. Process / blend until smooth. You may need to scrap down a couple times. If the sauce is too thick or isn’t really mixing, drizzle a little bit more oil

4. Season with salt and pepper

5. Reheat the pasta of your choice if needed, mix well with the sauce, garnish if you like and enjoy!

Curried Butternut Squash Coconut Soup

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Growing up in Asia, soup is always light and probably clear. More so known as “broth” in western culinary definitions. But I occasionally fall for the famous New England chowder, as well as flavor soup like this one.

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Required equipment:

• Blender / Food Processor

Ingredients:

• 1 Onion, quartered

• Butternut squash (peeled, halved lengthwise, cut into ~1 inch pieces)

• 4 Garlic cloves

• 1/4 cup of Coconut oil (If you don’t have this, olive oil is totally fine)

• 1 1/2 cup of Coconut milk + 2 tablespoons for garnish (optional)

• 1 tbsp Pepper flakes (Feel free to add more if you like the kick)

• 3 tablespoons of Curry powder (any kind that you like, Garam Masala for example) 

Optional:

• Cilantro, chopped

• Shallot, quartered (if I happen to have shallots, i’ll add it along with onion, it gives more flavor to the soup)

• Ginger (treat it like garlic)

• Cinnamon / Cardamom (Warm spices will go really well here)

What’s Next:

1. Toast coconut flakes in oven at 350 degrees or stove top, ~3-5 minutes until light brown and set aside

2. Heat up the coconut oil in a dutch oven or medium size pot over medium heat

3. Add onion, garlic or shallots if you like (optional), 2 teaspoons of salt, black pepper, curry powder, pepper flakes and any spices listed as optional if you like. Occasionally stir with a wooden spoon until onion has softened and become translucent, about 5-7 minutes

4. Add squash to the pot, stir to coat. Then add ~3 cups of water just about cover the squash and add coconut milk. Turn heat up to boiling. 

5. Turn down the heat to medium and let the vegetables cook until tender, about 12-14 minutes. 

6. Transfer the content to a blender or to a large bowl if you're using a hand blender. Fill up to no more than half way. Make sure it's equal parts of liquid vs solid. Better to do this in smaller batches than to have soup cover your kitchen :) 

7. If your blender has a vent, keep that open. Otherwise the steam will blow off the cover as you blend. Start slow and work your way up to high, until the content is smooth and silky. Transfer to a large bowl and continue to work in batches. 

8. Give it a final taste, add salt to adjust to your taste 

9. If your soup has lost temperature during the blending process, pour back to the pot and reheat for a few minutes 

10. Garnish with coconut milk, toasted coconut, black pepper and cilantro!

Miso Spinach Pesto "Pasta"

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Do you enjoy drenching your pasta in sauce too?

This is for you, guilt free!

Obviously the sauce works for regular pasta, but I’ve done it with spaghetti squash and loved every bite of it

Newly found way to indulge in “pasta”

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Ingredients:

• 1 Spaghetti Squash

• 3 cups of Spinach

• 1 tbsp of miso (feel free to double this if you like miso as much as i do!)

• 2 cloves of Garlic

• 1/2 cup of Sesame oil

• 2-3 tsp lemon juice (lean on the heavier side if you like the tanginess)

Optional:

• Sesame seeds for garnish

• Cilantro to mix into the paste

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Cut the spaghetti squash in half, clean out the seeds and brush the inner sides with oil

3. Line them side by side on a Pyrex or baking sheet, bake for 40-50 minutes until the surface is slightly golden

4. Put spinach, garlic, miso, sesame oil and lemon juice in a blender, blend until the sauce is green and you no longer see chunks of spinach (This step won’t work very well if you decide to make less than this amount, the spinach will just get stuck under your lowest blade)

5. Remove the spaghetti squash from the oven, let cool until you can handle. Take a fork and rake all the spaghetti like fiber into a mixing bowl (If you like your food hot like me, microwave this slightly for 30-45 seconds)

6. Add the miso pesto into the mixing bowl, mix well and serve! Garnish with sesame seed if you like!

Coconut Flour Banana Bread

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After a couple attempts at using coconut flour, I was never gonna be convinced that coconut flour would make moist delicate desserts.

But then… I was wrong.

This was the moist-est softest banana bread I’ve ever had!

I love coconut, so this may not be accurate, but I do not think the coconut flavor overpowers anything

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Ingredients:

• 4-5 medium size very ripe Bananas, mashed

• 2 Eggs

• 1/2 cup Nut Butter (Peanut butter, Almond Butter, Tahini)

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

• 2 tsp Baking Powder

• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

• A pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup Coconut Flour

• Butter or cooking spray to coat the pan

Optional Variations:

• Matcha! (for swirled banana bread?!)

• Nuts - Walnut, Pistachios…etc.

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, lightly coat a loaf pan with butter or spray and line the bottom and side of the loaf pan with some parchment paper

2. Add eggs to the mashed bananas and whisk well until combined

3. Add nut butter, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until combined

4. Add coconut flour and mix well

5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and place in the oven

6. Bake for ~50 minutes, use a cake tester or tooth pick to check the middle of the cake. If the tester or toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done! (Unlike cakes made with flour, this one will barely rise. After you take the cake out, the middle of the cake WILL feel so soft and jiggly, but don’t worry, it’s done cooking)

7. Wait for the pan to cool down for 15 minutes. Then remove to let cool on rack completely and cut into slices. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Okonomiyaki

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This is a variation of the delicious Japanese snack (which to note that the style of Okonomiyaki varies significantly in Japan). I absolutely do not claim this is an authentic okonomiyaki recipe, but it certainly gives me all the feels!

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Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Cabbage or Brussels Sprouts, cut in strips

• 2 Medium Sized Sweet Potatoes, cut in strips (about 4-5 cups)

• 1 Scallion thinly sliced

• 3 Large Eggs, beat until just blended

• 2/3 cups of Flour (AP or whole wheat)

• 6 tbsp of Oil (No need to be super precise, as this will vary based on how big your okonomiyaki is)

• Kewpie Mayonnaise

• Okonomiyaki / Tonkatsu sauce (Bull Dog Vegetable Fruit Sauce in picture should be easy to find)

Optional Variation - Shrimp:

• 8-10 Shrimps - Cut into pieces and mix into the batter towards the end

Optional Variation - Sukiyaki-style Beef

• 1 cup of thinly sliced beef (like the ones for hot pot)

• Heat up 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of mirin, 1/4 cup of water with 1 tbsp of water in a small sauce pan

• Add the beef and turn down to low heat, let simmer until beef is no longer light pink

• Set aside in small bowl to use as topping

What’s Next:

1. Combine cabbage / brussels sprouts, scallion, sweet potato and eggs together in a large mixing bowl until just combine. Season with salt.

2. Sprinkle flour over the mixture, toss to combine. The “batter” should not be gummy, it will just about hold together, the vegetables should be coated in light batter)

3. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high

4. Add about 1 handful of batter onto the skillet and flatten slightly, make sure batter is about even across the skillet. Cook over low-medium heat

5. Cook until the okonomiyaki is about light brown on the edges. Shake the skillet slightly to ensure it’s not stuck onto the skillet. About 2 more minutes until one side is cook through

6. Drizzle another tbsp of oil. Carefully flip over to cook the other side. You can use a plate to help you with this process. (Just remember it’ll still taste delicious even if this step falls apart!)

7. After the edge looks golden brown on this side as well, remove from skillet

8. Repeat the process from 3 to 7

9. Serve with (plenty of) kewpie mayonnaise and the vegetable and fruit sauce! (top with the beef slices now if you made some)

Roasted Sweet Potato with Miso Tahini Sauce

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As I’m typing this, I wonder if I’ve let out the biggest cooking secret…

This is a SUPER easy recipe, requiring ingredients that are fairly shelf stable, you can always have this as a back up

Plus did I mention this is plant based?!

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Ingredients:

• 2 small to medium size Sweet Potatoes (No need to peel if you don’t mind the texture, I personally don’t! less work and extra fiber :) )

• 2-3 tbps Olive OIl

• 2 tbsp Miso

• 2 tbsp Tahini

• 2 tsp of Rice Vinegar

Optional:

• 2 Scallions, chopped, for garnish

• Sesame Seeds, for garnish

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Cut the sweet potatoes into pieces, depending on your preference, either just 1 inch cubes or semi circles with 1/2 thickness are ok. Drizzle some olive oil into a baking dish/pyrex or onto aluminum foil on a baking sheet, place the cut potatoes as 1 layer and lightly salt

3. Put the sweet potatoes into the oven. I like to place it on the low rack and then half way through flip the pieces. Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your sweet potatoes.

4. Meanwhile, mix miso, tahini and rice vinegar in a small bowl. Depending on how salty your miso is, you might want to add more tahini or vinegar, or even water. This is completely up to your taste.

5. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven. Serve with sauce, and garnishes!

Crispy Tofu with Honey Glaze

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This is my forever go-to recipe. Super pantry friendly and vegan. Easy 10 minute from stove to table!

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Ingredients:

• 1 pack of firm tofu

• 1/4 cup of soy sauce

• 3 tbsp of rice vinegar

• 3 tbsp of maple syrup / honey 

• 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes

• 1/2 piece of ginger, thinly sliced 

• 3 tbsp of oil

• Scallions (garnish)

What’s Next:

1. Drain the tofu and remove excess liquid with paper towel. Cut into slices with 1/2 inch thickness (size can be to your liking) 

2. Mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup or honey, red pepper flakes and ginger into a small bowl. Set aside

3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is rippling across the surface, gently and slowly add tofu, so it doesn't splash! Cook undisturbed until crisp and dark brown on one side, 3-5 minutes. Carefully flip and repeat on the other side. 

4. Spoon the mixture on the tofu pieces. Then flip each slices to make sure both sides are coated. Let sear for 1-2 minutes. Flip again to make sure the other side is crisp as well, 1-2 minutes. 

5. Transfer to plate and top with scallions!