Tofu Vegetable Hot Pot

Adapted this Cooking Light recipe to use slightly more accessible ingredients and last two people about 8 dinners (4 days). The original recipes is found at MyRecipes.com (Tofu Vegetable Hot Pot ).

This is a great way to introduce people to the joys of tofu. The spice is not so shocking because of the coconut milk and if served over rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup thinly sliced shallots
• 6-8 tablespoons sriracha, depending on how spicy you want it (or any type of Thai, chili paste or sauce)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage
• 4 medium/large shiitake mushroom caps, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
• 1 pound water-packed firm tofu, drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tomatoes, cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
• 1 bag frozen vegetable mix that can includes: carrots, baby corn, onions, snap peas and other stir fry type vegetables
• 1/4 cup (1-inch) sliced green onions
• 2 cups hot cooked jasmine rice

Total prep time: 15-20 mins

Total cook time: 25 mins

Serves: 2 for approx. 4 dinners (8 meals total)

Cooking Tip: Begin cooking the rice first, so it will be done by the time the entree is ready.

Defrost frozen vegetables and set aside.

• Heat oil in a large nonstick saucepan and add shallots; sauté 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic, cabbage and defrosted vegetables. Cook 2 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in water, soy sauce and coconut milk; bring to a boil. Add tofu.
• Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Add tomato; simmer 3 minutes. Stir in onions. Serve over rice.

Sides: Avocado Salsa

California has some of the best produce I've had the pleasure of cooking with. Everything seems to be ripened just right and it's always fresh.

This avocado salsa takes advantage of the great seasonal produce, and at the same time is super tasty and is a one bowl meal!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe medium sized Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 ripe medium sized avocado
• 3/4 cup of fresh, chopped cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon of lime juice
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced and seeded
• 1 minced garlic clove

Great 1 step dish: combine all ingredients together and mash with spoon.

Serve with tortilla chips or as topping for dishes.

Home Cooking: Quick Vegetarian Chili

Another adapted recipe from Cooking Light-which is honestly a great resource. I like to play around with the list of ingredients, but for those purists, here's the real recipe: Quick Vegetarian Chili with Avocado Salsa

This can easily feed 2 people for 5 days and uses the handy Avocado Salsa recipe

Ingredients:

• Cooking oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles
• 2/3 cup uncooked barley
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (14.5-ounce) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (fresh is key)
• sour cream
• tortilla chips
• (optional) lime wedges

2 hours before meal time: cook the barley. The recipe originally calls for quick cook barley, but I couldn't find it. The regular stuff works just as good, but takes a bit of time.

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a soup pot at medium-high heat.

Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 3 minutes. Add chili powder and next 4 ingredients (chili powder through green chiles); cook 1 minute.

Stir in barley and next 4 ingredients (barley through broth); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Top with cilantro and serve with sour cream, lime wedges (optional), chips, and Avocado Salsa.

Techniques: Shredding Chicken

One of the most useful techniques I've come to appreciate is how to shred chicken. You don't need any fancy machinery or technical know-how, just two forks and some elbow grease. Chicken is very much a utility meat, and shredding is just another way to use it.

I start with thinly cut chicken breasts. Brown the chicken and once cooked, go to town with the two forks. Use one fork to hold the meat while the other pulls away from it.

I've used shredded chicken in soups and casseroles, but I'm sure there are a hundred other uses.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

In honor of my move to the West Coast, I tried my hand at making some Mexican cuisine. I adapted the Green Chile-Chicken casserole recipe from Cooking Light . This is definitely not light, but it sure is tasty. I added jalapenos to give the dish a little bit of a kick. I also saved a bit of the soup mixture to add to the last layer.

For me, the prep took about 45 minutes and I had another set of hands for help.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups chicken broth


• 1.5 cups canned chopped green chiles, drained


• .5 cup jarred chopped jalapeno peppers


• 1 chopped, medium onion


• 1 cup sour cream


• 3/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin


• 2 (10 1/2-ounce cans) cream of chicken soup


• 2 garlic cloves, minced


• Cooking spray


• 24 (6-inch) corn tortillas


• 1.5 lbs shredded cooked chicken breast


• 1.5 cups finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, with extra for topping
  

Equipment needs:

• 2 large frying pans


• 1 Pyrex/casserole dish, 13x9


• whisk


• ladle


• cutting boards, knives

1. Brown the chicken in 1 pan. When cooked, shred the chicken using two forks




2. Pre-heat oven to 350 and coat pan with cooking spray


3. In the second pan, combine the first 9 ingredients (chicken broth to garlic), bring to a boil and continuously stir with whisk


4. Using the ladle, spoon a little less than 1 cup of the soup mixture on the bottom of the casserole dish, just enough to cover the bottom. Layer 6 tortillas, followed by 1/3 of the chicken, and 1/3 of the cheese. Do this 3 more times, with the last layer being chicken, cheese and the remaining soup mixture


5. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly

Eating Around the Bay: Tataki

Who knew that I would seek out a sustainable sushi bar? Didn't think it was a thing-but then I forgot that I'm in San Francisco.

Decided to stop by over the weekend and was really pleasantly surprised. One of the highest quality sushi restaurants I've visited in awhile. Sampled a California roll (natch), the double-double roll (tempura fried spicy albacore roll, masago, green onion and sesame seeds) and the very awesome looking extinguisher roll (albacore tuna, avocado, habanero sauce, and spicy aioli). Did I mention that the extinguisher was on fire? Cause it was.


Everything tasted fresh and was awesomely made. It's a small space so expect a wait.

Two locations in the city. Peep the menu and all the details on their site: Tataki Sushi Bar

Weekend Meal: Southwest Chicken Soup

Count this as one of the easiest and thriftiest meals out there. The long and short of it: mix some things and let them simmer in a slow cooker for about 6 hours. I found the original recipe from a Campbell's book, but made a few adjustments.

Those things to mix are:
Serving size: 6-8 bowls of soup

• 1 lbs chicken breast, browned and shredded
• 1 large onion, diced
• 8 oz chunky salsa-with heat depending on taste
• 1 cup frozen, whole corn kernels
  
• 2 tablespoons of garlic pepper
• 5-8 dashes of your favorite hot sauce
• 1 3/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

Brown the chicken breast and onion. Cube or shred the chicken. I think shredding it spreads the chicken love more evenly throughout the soup. To shred the chicken, take two forks and pull the chicken apart.

Mix the onion, salsa, corn, garlic pepper, chicken and onion in the slow cooker. Turn it on low for about 6 hours.

This meal is a great fix for the whole week.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Fail: Homemade Chips

I, like 99% of Americans, enjoy delicious crispy potato chips. One day after the holidays, I found myself with about a pound of potatoes. Laziness drove me to think I could make my own chips. The fatal flaw was were thick, uneven slices and oil that wasn't hot enough. However, out of this came circular fries, which were welcome, but not the intended end result.

A kitchen gadget to consider is a mandolin that will slice the potato thinly and evenly.

You know what they say though, practice makes perfect, so I'm going to keep eating chips...wait, that's not right...

UPDATED: SF Kitchen Pics, coming soon!

[UPDATED 2/6/11] We're happy to present our new West Coast home, complete with tons of granite counter space and a regular sized fridge!

Happy cooking!
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We're all settled in the new kitchen. Tons of storage space and granite counter tops...oh my! Pictures coming soon.

Late to the Christmas Party: Christmas Cookies

Experimented for the first time with cookie cutters over the holiday season, and I must say there's a lot more than meets the eye. While I do call these Christmas cookies, this recipe is great to use for any shaped cookie cutters and makes about 12-18 cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutters.

A word to the wise on cutters: try to go for simpler shapes. The more complicated ones with intricate designs tend to not come out as planned.

Icing: This is enough for 15 to 18 cookies. Liquid or paste dyes will work.

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg whites
• 3 or 4 drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Food coloring

Mix the sugar, egg white, and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. It should have the consistency of heavy cream (you may need to add a bit more sugar). Add desired food coloring.

Sugar Cookies:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, nutmeg or any other flavoring
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg, milk and flavoring. Sift flour. Mix baking powder with 1 cup flour, combine mixtures, then add the rest of the flour. Chill for at least 39 minutes. When rolling the cookies, generously flour the board and rolling pin. Roll to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, chopped nuts. Bake in a moderately hot oven, 375 degree F., 8 to 10 minutes.