Veggie Rolls

I love Japanese food! Since moving to western NY from California, there is definitely a lack of great restaurants. I was very happy to learn how to make veggie rolls (like california rolls minus the un-kosher fish)

You will need:
Half a Cucumber, sliced very very thin
One Avocado, sliced thin
Sprouts, optional
A couple pieces of nori (roasted seaweed, available in the Japanese section at the grocery store)
One batch of sushi rice (see below)
3 tb, Wasabi powder, (please don't buy premade wasabi, awful awful ingredients!)
3 tb, Water
Sushi mat (amazon sells them)
Plastic wrap
Sesame seeds


First, make a batch of sushi rice:
2 cups, sushi rice. Lundberg makes an awesome organic non-gmo one!
2 cups, water
2 tb rice vinegar
2 tb sugar
1 tb salt

Place the rice into a fine strainer and run cool water over it. Continue until the water runs through clear.

Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover(please don't forget to turn the temp down...your pot will thank you later...may mine rest in peace). Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in a small pot for a few minutes until warm. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi or sashimi. Continue to fold periodically until cool. You can also fan it with a paper plate, or a Japanese fan if you so happen to have one.

While the rice is cooking and cooling, prepare your veggies.
Cover your sushi mat in plastic wrap. Now I'm not keen on this, I don't like plastic wrap touching my food at all. Maybe wax paper would work, I don't know (let me know if you try it). If you really want to avoid this, you can make your rolls with the nori on the outside. I don't like the first thing I taste to be seaweed, so I put my nori on the inside. Here's how I do it:

Lay your sushi mat on the counter. Cut nori in half lengthwise. Lay nori on top of sushi mat, shiny side down. Spread 1/2-1 cup of sushi rice to cover nori. Sprinkle sesame seeds over rice. Flip it over so rice is now facing down. (to avoid using plastic wrap, skip this step) Lay pieces of cucumber, avocado, and sprouts all along the nori lengthwise. While holding veggies in place with your fingers, use mat to roll into a cylinder. Give it a couple squeezes all over. Unroll and set roll aside under a damp cloth on a cutting board. Repeat with the rest of the rice and fillings. Once done, lay all the rolls next to each other and use a long knife to cut into individual rolls (each roll should make 6 small ones).
Prepare wasabi. Taking equal parts of water and wasabi powder, mix together in a small bowl. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Organic soy sauce is widely available for dipping. I also like to Braggs Liquid Aminos. I don't consume soy normally, but organic fermented soy is the best choice for consuming soy.

Note: It may take a few times practicing making the rolls so they actually look like rolls instead of sandwiches, so don't plan to make this the first time for a dinner party =)

Thai Curry Chicken

This recipe isn't completely from scratch since the curry sauce is actually from a can. You could by all means make your own curry paste. If you do, please feel free to comment and share your recipe! I've just  never done it...I will someday...but I have four kids....sometimes someday is very far off =) I use the brand Maesri, Red Curry Paste. I've tried others and the thought of them makes me want to gag, ha, I really really like this one. I didn't even LIKE curry until I tried this one. It has all natural ingredients and spices...but it's not organic =( This recipe can be made the day ahead for an even bigger explosion of flavor.

Thai Curry Chicken

1 large onion, diced small
1 red bell pepper, diced small
2 lbs organic chicken, diced into one inch cubes
2 tbs oil (I use coconut oil)
1 can red curry paste
1 can organic coconut milk
Sea salt to taste
1-2 cups rice, brown

If making this the day you plan to eat it, cook rice. Heat oil in a pan. Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes. Add peppers and onions. Cook until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Add the can of curry paste, stir it all up. Add the can of coconut milk and mix up well. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, atleast. At this point you can put it in the fridge and save it for tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, throw it in the crockpot a few hours on high, or 4-6 hours on low. The flavors will have melded nicely and you will drool over the aroma until dinner =) If desired, add another can of coconut milk for a very sweet/savory dish. Plan accordingly and start the rice at the appropriate time. Serve the chicken and sauce over the rice. Pair with a nice salad or veggie rolls. Enjoy. You're welcome =)

Homemade mayonnaise

This is the best mayonnaise I have EVER had!

2 eggs
1 tsp dry mustard (you can use more for taste if you wish)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar because we like it, use whatever you like)
2 TB lemon juice, usually about half a lemon
sprinkle of paprika
1 cup oil (more if necessary to thicken more) ( I use light olive oil, evoo is very strong!)

Blend all ingredients except oil in a blender until mixed. IMPORTANT: if you have a vitamix, use setting 6. Use the lowest setting only on a regular blender!
As you are mixing the ingredients in the blender, pour oil in a thin stream through the lid while blender is going. Keep slowly pouring until some of the oil floats on the surface. If mayo is still runny (though it will thicken when chilled) scrape the sides and start again adding more oil.

Chicken noodle soup

Tis the season for Chicken Noodle Soup! And there's nothing better than making it with organic ingredients!

Chicken Noodle Soup

4 quarts chicken broth (I used Pacific's organic free range chicken broth)
1 lb of chicken (I used thighs)
5 carrots peeled and sliced
5 stalks celery, chopped (reserve leaves)
2 onions, diced
1/2 ts ground pepper (more or less to taste)
1/2 ts salt (more or less to taste)
pinch of thyme
1 ts lemongrass paste
3 bay leaves
1/2 ts garlic powder
1 pkg of organic egg noodles

Boil chicken in chicken broth until cooked through. I boiled them for an hour because I walked away and went and did something else. It by all means doesn't need that long, but it was pretty tender. Pull out the chicken and shred or dice, and throw back in the pot. Add the rest of the ingredients except the pasta and celery leaves. Simmer for an hour, or low boil for 30 minutes until carrots are tender. Meanwhile cook pasta in another pot, drain, and set aside. Once the carrots are tender, throw in the celery leaves and cook for a few minutes. Fish out the bay leaves. Dish out the pasta into the bowls and pour soup on top. For an added kick, sprinkle in some cayenne for a sinus clearing! This made approximately 6 big bowls. It could easily be doubled, tripled, or halved as needed. This is a very forgiving recipe! Enjoy!

This by all means could be made in the crock pot too. Boil the chicken first or use precooked left over chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours.

BBQ Red Bean Burgers

Normally I'm not one for veggie or bean burgers, but these were super good!!! Jillian Michaels from Biggest Loser posted a recipe on facebook awhile back and I had been wanting to try it for awhile. Well, as with any new and strange recipe, I put it off, put it off, and put it off. It was on my menu for about 4 weeks. I finally tried it tonight! I made some changes so I will post below how I made them.

BBQ Red Bean Burgers

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 minced onion
• 2 chopped and seeded tomatoes
• 1/2 minced jalapeno (I only used half since I'm feeding kids. If I was to make it for myself, I'd use 2 jalapeno's probably)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 (25 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed,well drained(that's a big can, use 2 regular ones if you can't find a big one)
• 1 cup dry breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce ( I use Trader Joes BBQ sauce, YUM)
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 4 whole grain buns, toasted (I used Ezekial buns)
  
  
  Toppings: (any, all, or none) jack or cheddar cheese, organic of course
    lettuce
  slices thick tomatoes  
  avocado
  bbq sauce
  onions
  
  
•  Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.
• Add onion, tomato, jalapeno, garlic and chili powder; sauté 5 minutes.
• Using fork or potato masher, coarsely mash beans in bowl.
• Combine with onion mixture, breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons of the barbecue sauce and egg white.
• Shape mixture into 8  1/2-inch-thick patties.
• Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill
• If grilling, oil the rack or spray grill rack with nonstick spray, then fire up coals to medium heat.
• If pan-frying, heat a little olive oil over medium heat.
• Place patties on grill or in skillet and cook until golden brown and heated through, about three minutes per side. (I did them in a skillet. I did them three minutes on each side, twice.)
• Place burgers on buns.
• Top with any of the above toppings or use your imagination!