Millionaire Eggplant

Obviously this was the worst summer ever for growing vegetables in Seattle, but still this plant produced. Clearly Millionaire is THE eggplant to grow in our maritime climate.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Aussie English Breakfasts

I was lucky to be able to take a trip to Australia with my high school marine science group the summer after my senior year. It was simply the best. Australia has fabulous birds and wildlife, including a pelican that is as tall as me. I really hope to go again one day. The trip was 3 weeks long and we camped in these cool almost hostel like campgrounds. We were fortunate to have Judith as a camp cook. She made what I thought were very unusual breakfasts and now are some of my favorites. Beans on toast, toad in the hole etc. I wonder if she is still cooking.

 
 
 

Black Pepper Scallops

This meal was inspired by a family dinner we had at the Wild Ginger. I found some black pepper sauce at Trader Joe's, which made the scallops super easy to make. You just saute them in the sauce. The side is shitake mushrooms and fresh snap peas from the garden, sauteed in a bit of teriyaki sauce thinned with soy. Super easy to make thanks to helpful store bought sauces.

 

Pasta is Splendid

Fast, versatile, and an easy way to eat a lot of vegetables. The combinations are endless.

Chow mein style, with tofu, snow peas, broccoli, mushrooms, and carrots in a light teriyaki soy sauce.
 

Faux Carbonara - cream, greens, "ham", garlic and wine.
 

Gnocchi with Porcini and Thyme. So decadent.
 

Roasted Baby Fennel

Super easy and tasty. I found these at the farmer's market and they were too cute to pass up. Just roast in the oven at 425 for 15-20 minutes or so. Olive oil, salt, and pepper. I love the licorice taste of fennel.
 

Bi Bim Bap

Dolset Bi Bim Bap is my favorite menu item in Korean Restaurants. It's a bowl of rice with veggies, a fried egg (of course) and usually kalbi beef, but of course here I subbed baked tofu. It arrives to your table in a smokin hot iron bowl, sizzling like fajitas. The desired effect of the presentation is not just to impress the diner, but to create this divine crust of rice at the bottom.

And I love the variety of vegetables the dish features. Variety being the key. I've made this version with shitakes, broccolette, carrots, and arugala, but you could use almost any combo.
 

I've replicated Bi Bim Bap by sauteing rice with a bit of hot and teriyaki sauce, and then letting it sit in the frying pan on medium hit to get the rice to form a crust. After a few minutes, I crack the eggs in and put a lid on for them to cook. The vegetables are sauteed separately in another pan with a touch of teriyaki.
 

Then you put it all together to serve. In Korean restaurants, Bi Bim Bap always comes organized like this for presentation, so that is what I show here, but I've also made this more like a stirfry, which is easier and tastes just as good.

 

Home, sweet home

We are back from a most excellent vacation (more later) and though we are mostly out of food, my garden welcomed our return with a fair number of green and yellow beans and a cup of sun gold cherry tomatoes. Eager to get back to cooking, I endeavored to make this salad I'd read about somewhere. The result was shockingly good. I seriously did not expect to be discovering my favorite new food. Granted, the dish was helped by being all picked within a few minutes of serving and the fact that sun gold cherry tomatoes are the best on Earth. But still! I can't believe what I've been missing out on!

Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad
Serves 2

2 Cups of green beans (or yellow or purple or a mix)
1 Cup cherry tomatoes (sun gold if you can)

Vinaigrette (this is what I used, but use your fave)
1 Tablespoon ev olive oil
1 Tablespoon white balsalmic
1 cube dorot frozen basil
1 cube dorot frozen garlic
(these are awesome trader joe finds that make life easy, you could also chop up a clove of garlic and a few basil leaves)
salt and pepper to taste

To prepare the salad, first wash and de-end the beans then blanch for 4-5 minutes in boiling water. Meanwhile chop tomotoes in half. When beans are done, run them under cold water and set them on a paper towel to dry. Toss beans with tomatoes and vinaigrette. Enjoy!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.9