Snow Bean with Mushrooms

Stir Fried String Beans

Tomato Rasam (Moong Dall)

Idea of this soup came from reading Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness'
Indian Home Cooking.

Spice Mixture:
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 black peppercorns
3 cloves


Broth:
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2-3 cups of water
3/4 cup Moong Dall (yellow split pea)
1 topmato
5 okra (optional)
salt to taste

Tempering Oil:
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon black mustard seeds
4 fresh or frozen curry leaves (optional)

Boil lentil and water with turmeric and skim well, until the pea is soft (about 15 minutes). Meawhile grind the spice mixture and add to the soup. Add diced tomato (and okra). In a seperate pan, heat oil and mustard seeds (and curry leaves) over medium heat until the mustard seeds pop (use cover). Pour the tempering oil into the soup.

Roasted Brussel Sprout with Balsamic Vinegar

Idea came from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, the balsamic vinegar glaze was originated from 28cooks.blogspot. This is kept very simple.

16 oz brussel sprouts
4 tbsp olive oil
salt/pepper to taste
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425. Sprinkle some vinegar and oil over brussel sprouts, season with salt and pepper and spread out on a greased cookie sheet. Roaste 25-30 minutes until tender. Then, saute the brussel sprouts in remaining olive oil over medium-high heat, add balsamic vinegar and cook another 3 minutes.

Tofu Okra Soup

Finger Potatoes

Tofu with Pea and Corn

Sautéed Bean Sprout

Lima Bean with Baby Bella (香菇豆瓣)

1. One pack of frozen lima bean (peeled).
2. Baby bella, and/or any mushroom (fresh and/or dried), sliced.
Stir fry the beans for ~3 minutes, add mushroom, stir another ~3 minutes, add broth/water and salt, cook for ~10 minutes more.

Stir fried Vegetables

Stir frying is a simple way to prepare tasteful vegetables. I like to simmer a little more to get the taste into the food. But the timing varies depend on different types. E.g., for cauliflowers, I like to bypass the precook process (by boiling), then simmer a little longer (about 10minutes) after initial stir fry; For green vegetables, it helps to keep the process brief (2-3 minutes) and leave the cover open to preserve the color.

Homemade Natto

The health benefit of Natto is tremendous (prevention of heart attacks, strokes, cancer, osteoporosis, obesity, aging and intestinal disease caused by pathogens-- see http://www.gaia21.net/natto/benefits.htm). Consider the cost of the little package available in the store, it's really worthwhile to make it yourself. The original process is detailed in http://www.gaia21.net/natto/making.pdf. I made a simplified version:

Wash and immerse the soybean (about 3 cups) in water overnight, steam in pressure cooker for one hour. Mix with one package of Natto available in a large bakery pan, cover with aluminum foil and leave it in the oven (room temperature). In weather like end of August, the fermentation process is done in two days. Make sure everything is clean, esp. oil free.

Sautéed Soy Bean with Anchovies

Here's a combination of east (soy beans) and west (anchovies) and the taste is great.

1 pack of frozen green soy beans
1 can of anchovies in oil (rolled or flat fillet)
4-5 pieces of garlic
cooking wine

Heat (high) some oil (the oil in anchovies can is fine) in wok, put in crashed garlic and canned anchovies (cut into about the size of the bean), and a pack of frozen green soy beans (remove some of the ice in the package with a sieve), stir briefly, add some cooking wine, simmer on low heat, 15 minutes or longer, make sure it's not dry (can add water, but not too much), add some salt if necessory.