Low-Carbing It

Although I’m lucky to never worry about carbs for the sake of dieting, I have gone off refined sugar a few times, which is always advisable if you have the willpower. Since Rich and I are doing a cleanse, it seemed like a low-carb diet might enhance its effectiveness. It’s been an interesting challenge in the kitchen and I’ve discovered new dishes, both veg and non, a few of which will even become classic favorites, I’m sure!

Breakfasts:

Miso Soup with extra veggies

can easily make for lunch or dinner, too!

Breakfast Casserole

very portable, so easily doubles as a work lunch or snack

            

Savory Pancakes with carrot juicing pulp

Another incarnation of these oat bran pancakes

Fried egg with greens and grilled tomatoes

Green Tea-Avocado Smoothie

• Chia-Flax-CoconutPorridge

Lunches:

Leftovers!! - the cooking's already done

Grilled mackerel, Baba Ganouj and stir-fried greens

Chickpea Pancake

Based on this and that recipe, served with DIY coconut yogurt

• Veg and Tofu from a veggie buffet: the easy and cheap option here in Taipei

Dinners:

Grilled Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes and Stir-Fried Veg

our kick-off gourmet dinner

Slow-Cooked Tofu & Veg Curry

  loosely based on this recipe

Slow-Cooked Balsamic Chicken

Sooo easy and really good. Def a new fave. 
I didn’t even have to touch the meat, just dump it into a bowl to marinate overnight, then slide into the slow cooker! ;)

This Balsamic Chicken came from The Mediterranean Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone, which is a great cookbook. The recipe goes like this:

1. Oil insert of large slow cooker.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 large finely chopped garlic cloves,1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, 2 Tbsp chopped drained capers, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Dip 4 lb of bone-in breasts, thighs and legs chicken pieces into mixture, turning to coat on all sides. Place chicken in cooker and pour on any remaining coating.
3. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, or until chicken is very tender and coming away from the bone. Serve hot.

Veg Stir-Fry with Edamame and Tofu 

Snacks:

• Nuts (soaked for easier digestion)
• Broth
• Cheese Cubes
• Raw or Stewed Fruit (no added sugar)
• Smoked salmon, goat cheese and cucumber, wrapped in lettuce leaves
• Savory Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread
• Yogurt, dairy or non, with nuts or ground flax
• Lassis

• Fresh Green Juices

we’ve splurged on a cold press juicer and are even growing wheatgrass

Keralan Curry

Lacto-veg (optional yogurt dressing)

A very pretty, easy and delicious dish from Jamie Oliver's 15-Minute Meals Recipe. It took us a bit longer, but really was a breeze to make and is now a favorite around here. :)

Enchilada Cornbread Casserole - Slow Cooker

Ovo-lacto

This was a real treat of flavors and rightfully stepping into the slow cooker season, since it's winter and all. I'm borrowing the original recipe's picture, since mine was sloppy but the flavors and satisfying factor really fab.

recipe and photo from Some the Wiser

I had a cornbread mix from Bob's Red Mill, but the recipe links to a DIY mix.

Also made this Red Enchilada Sauce to go with it - very easy.

Subbed brown rice for quinoa. 

Yum yum!

Gallo Pinto: Costa Rican Beans n Rice

Vegan

I followed this recipe

This is one of those dishes I had wanted to make for ... years! It turned out to be so easy, I don't know what took me so long. As it was, I inaugurated the huge new non-scratch wok Rich got for us. Yay!

BTW, beans + rice = complete protein.

Zucchini-Crust Pizza

Ovo-lacto veg
From the garden: fresh thyme, basil

Based on http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/zucchini-crust-pizza

Be sure to squeeze out the liquid from the zucchini before baking the crust.
It has a nice frittata-like eggy flavor and I love having extra veggies all throughout the dish.

Impromptu Coleslaw
Shredded kohlrabi and carrot, diced celery, blanched broccoli and pea shoots, sliced cucumbers

Dressing (lacto-veg)
fresh cilantro, parsley and ginger; plain yogurt, apple cider vinegar, S&P

Middle Eastern Mezze Platter

Lacto-veg (omit yogurt in tahini dressing for vegan)











We recently went to Singapore and stocked up on all manner of spices at the super fun shopping excursion of a mall called Mustafa Center.

While most spices were Indian, we also picked up some za'atar. I later realized this was the stuff from my memories of the streets of Montreal in the wee hours after the bars as I picked out some Lebanese pizzas with this liberally sprinkled on top. (Note: I guess it's technically a flatbread called mannakish za'atar and I should make it sometime, too.)

Source: theKitchn

When I happened upon some Italian eggplants (plumper, much rarer in Taipei than the skinny long Chinese variety) it seemed it was high time for a Middle Eastern-inspired dinner. I based this on this roasted za'atar eggplant recipe and made chappatis for the first time to go with. Delish!

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Vegan

I had this bookmarked for a loooooong time... well worth the wait! Thx again, Oh She Glows!
The only modification I would make is less black pepper. Also, my sweet potato coins burned to a crisp... so they really should be relatively thick and watch them like a hawk ;)

Served  with sautéed kale and carrot strips. Buns or rice work too, of course.

Sweet Potato Falafels

Vegan

That's three falafel balls piled up on top of each other, with tahini sauce, green pepper and basmati rice.

More great recipes like the one above at My New Roots

I'll probably bake them a little longer next time to get them a little crispier

Quinoa Salad

Vegan

This super-easy idea also works well with other grains like rice, barley, spelt and wheat berries and pseudo-grains like kasha, wild rice. Oh, and tiny pastas like couscous.

1. Cook quinoa (1:1 grain to water ratio). Skim off any funky scum you get. Apparently this is normal.
2. In the meantime, dice up any additions you want to stir in (eg. veggies, herbs, flavor bursts like olives, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, etc). Make a dressing (super-simple can be made from two ingredients: some yummy good oil of choice with something sour, like lemon juice or caper or olive liquid, etc).
3. Mix everything together. Sprinkle with seeds for a pleasant crunch and protein boost.

Slow Cooker Inaguration!

Sweet Potato Chili
Vegan

recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking

And the first tomato we've grown in our garden (that we got to before the neighborhood birds ;)

Plumped-Up Miso Soup

Vegan (or Pescotarian*)

If you've been to a Japanese restaurant, chances are you've had miso soup. The stuff is salty, delicious and wakes up your digestive system, so it's usually served as an appetizer.

For some years I had been making it a meal in and of itself, by adding vegetables and rice noodles. The process is dead easy and results delicious and filling:

1. Heat sesame oil in a pan (careful, as it goes from hot to smoking rather quickly)
2. Briefly saute thickly sliced carrots
3. Fill pot with boiling water and use a bit more hot water to dissolve a glob of miso paste in a bowl with a whisk (you can add more later according to taste)
4. Keep soup at a gentle simmer (if it goes into a rolling boil, the miso will lose some of its nutritional value)
5. Add quick-cooking veggies like broccoli, bok choy, as well as dried seaweed (I've used wakame, nori, arame, hijiki)
6. Rice noodles: the easiest method is to toss them in at around the same time as veg in step 5, but if making a big pot of soup, they will start to disintegrate after being heated repeatedly. The other option is to make them separately. Cooked brown rice is yet another alternative.
7. To serve, put cooked rice or rice noodles in individual bowls, add cubed soft tofu and ladle broth and veggies on top. Enjoy!

* Since coming to Asia, I've discovered miso paste with fish, as well as miso soup cooked with fish pieces, making it that much heartier and richer in flavor. I like it both non- and veg.

Stewed Carrots, Portobellos and Edamame

vegan

Saute, covered:
- coconut oil (the best for cooking, they say!), diced onion and portobello mushrooms with a few twists from the salt grinder
- add grated carrots, plus a bit of soy sauce and hot water to keep everything juicy
- shell cooked edamame and mix in, leave a few minutes until heated through
- just before serving, mix in and also garnish with chopped parsley
- serve on a bed of grains (I happened to have a cooked pot of red Job's tears and mung beans)

Quiche

Ovo-veg, easy to make dairy-free



This is an easy, quick, pretty and delicious meal and works really well for potlucks.

Preheat oven 350-400F

Crust*
I use this oil crust recipe below

1. Mix 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp salt with fork.
2.  Beat 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup fridge-cold water with whisk or fork to thicken. Add to flour and mix with fork.
3. Press it into pie plate by hand and although it doesn't say, pre-bake it after poking some fork holes all over so that you will actually get a crispy crust (5-10 minutes seems ok in a hot oven)

Filling
1. Sauté veggies if using anything you want cooked before eating (onions, mushrooms and spinach are a rockin' combo). Something like tomatoes can just get sliced and added raw. Sweet peppers can go either way, but I think they really come to life in a gourmet way after being sautéed.
2. Whisk 4 eggs with ~1 cup "milk" (I use non-dairy, also try half yogurt), season with s/p and Italian herbs. Pour over veggies in crust.
3. Sprinkle with cheese if using, can top with fresh basil leaves - press them just under the egg mixture so they don't burn
4. Bake 30-40 min

* The crust can also be made out of thinly sliced potatoes. Line the pan with them, spray or sprinkle with a little water and pre-bake for ~10 minutes.