Indian Creamed Spinach

I love the Indian dish, Saag Paneer, but can't do the cheese so I have sometimes made it substituting various things like little squares of tofu or potatoes to make it look authentic.  But to be perfectly honest, the thing I love most about this dish is the spinach itself - it's soft, creamy and unctuous with that little hint of Garam Masala that makes it exotic and the touch of Cayenne Pepper that gives it slight bite.  So, now I just make the spinach without anything else.  It's a wonderful side dish, especially served with a steak in place of the usual Creamed Spinach.  I make it with Lactaid Milk and if I want to make it really creamy, I will use real cream as it has a low lactose content too.  It's also lovely served over rice or folded into a flatbread or even made into a dip if you add more cream.  It's really such a wonderful way of eating spinach.  And, once you make this version, you may never go back to regular Creamed Spinach again!

Indian Creamed Spinach

2 heads of Spinach, washed and large stems removed

2 large cloves garlic, minced

½  inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon water

¼ teaspoon Garam Masala

1/8 teaspooon Cayenne Pepper

1/3 cup whole milk (or cream if you like it richer)

1 Tablespoon Ghee (or butter)

Chop spinach into small pieces and set aside.  Take the garlic and ginger and put into a Mortar with the salt and water and grind with the pestle until you have a smooth paste. 

Heat ghee (or butter) in a frying pan.  Add in garlic and ginger puree and cook for just a few minutes.  Add in the chopped spinach.  Cook until the spinach wilts.  Add in the milk (or cream), Garam Masala and Cayenne Pepper and cover for 10 minutes, stirring often.  Spinach should be soft and smooth. Season to taste and add more salt if necessary.

Five Element Analysis

Spinach is a Wood food so that element is covered.  The garlic, ginger, Garma Masala and the milk (or cream) add the Metal Element. The Cayenne Pepper brings in just a hint of Fire, but that element needs support. So, serve this dish mea with something fiery such as another spicy dish and you need to make sure you also add in a Water food and an Earth food to create a balanced meal. I served it with Peppercorn Crusted Steak, which is an Earth meat with a Fire Space and I served some eggplant too, which added in the Water Element. 

Seaweed and Carrot Salad

I've had a cold since coming back from Europe and besides all the chicken soup and hot tea with lemon and honey, I've decided that I need to build up my kidney energy. I've been too run down and yes, my low back hurts (from the long plane rides and heavy suitcases) but I also simply don't get enough sleep from all the jetlag.  And with all that coughing and sneezing I've been doing, I am very dehydrated. So it's time for seaweed to come to the rescue! In Chinese Medicine, it is one of the best foods for restoring optimum kidney function because it is full of minerals that help you retain the water your kidneys need to function. I actually love seaweed and I consider it one of my most healing foods for me. And, since I spent my early years in Japan, making a Japanese style Seaweed Salad makes it a comforting food as well. Plus the flavor of Sesame Oil is one of the few flavors I can taste besides salty and sweet. It's really simple to make: all it requires is rehydrating dried seaweed for about 20 minutes and then cutting carrot and green onion shreds. The dressing is made of Sesame Oil, just a little rice wine vinegar, a touch of honey and a hint of soy sauce. That's it except for the Sesame Seed garnish. It's delicious and healthy too!

Seaweed and Carrot Salad

1/2 cup dried Wakame Seaweed, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes and cut into 2" strips

2 carrots, trimmed, peeled and cut into 2" long thin shreds

2 green onions, trimmed and cut into 2" long thin shreds

2 Tablespoons Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar

2 teaspoons Tamari

1 teaspoon honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 - 3 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds

Mix together the dressing ingredients except the salt. Taste and adjust for saltiness before adding salt, if necessary. Toss the dressing with the seaweed, carrot shreds and green onion shreds.  Sprinkle with Sesame Seeds and serve.

Five Element Analysis

Seaweed naturally belongs to the Water Element and so does the Sesame Oil, Tamari and Sesame Seeds.  So this is a very Watery dish. The Vinegar adds just a bit of Wood and the Green Onions add a  little of the Metal Element. The carrots and honey contribute the Earth Element. The only element that is really missing is Fire so be sure to serve this as part of a meal that has Fire in it and this dish will contribute lots of Water! 

Tamari Roast Chicken

I've been traveling, which I am sure you must have figured out since I haven't been posting any recipes. I've been desperate to get back to the kitchen and when I return from a lecture tour, I like to make things that I consider comfort foods and one of my favorites is roast chicken.  Now, I often make roast chicken with lots of potatoes, onions, carrots and celery seasoned with thyme, but I was in the mood for one of my childhood favorites that I used to call "Soy Sauce Chicken."  It is basted with a combination of soy sauce and rice wine and is served drizzled with the pan sauce that forms. My grandfather used to make it as a braised dish, but I discovered that I liked it better from the oven.   It's really easy to make and only requires that you turn the chicken once.  You start off by cooking it breast side down and then turn it over breast side up and that is when you start basting.  But, since I am gluten sensitive and one of my good friends is Celiac, I use Tamari instead of soy sauce.  The good news is that it is not as salty and still tastes wonderful - it's just missing the wheat in the processing. I served it with some stir fried cabbage, some chili sauce and rice and my friend was happy and I was comforted. This is also an easy dish to make for Chinese New Year when you want to serve chicken as a lucky food.

Tamari Roast Chicken

1 3 - 4 pound chicken

1/2 cup Tamari

1/3 cup Shaoshing Rice Wine

1/4 cup Hot Water

1 - 2  Tablespoons Honey

2 green onions, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces

2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced in half

3 - 4 slices of fresh ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Stuff chicken cavity with green onions, garlic cloves and ginger slices.  Use an 8 inch square Pyrex dish or baking dish and put in hot water and honey.  Mix to blend and then add in the Tamari and Rice Wine.

Put chicken breast-side down into the Tamari mixture and put into the oven to bake for 40 minutes.  Take out of the oven and turn carefully, using two sets of tongs.  Put back in oven and baste frequently cooking for another 45 minutes.  Test for doneness - thermometer should read 165 degrees.

Remove from oven and put chicken on a serving plate to cool slightly for about 10 minutes.  Strain Tamari liquid and put into a serving bowl.  Cut up chicken and drizzle with sauce.

Five Element Analysis

Chicken belongs to the Wood Element so that one is already covered.  The Tamari adds the Water Element and the Rice Wine brings in the Fire Element.  The green onions, ginger and garlic add the Metal Element, but the Earth Element only has that little bit of honey to represent it.  Therefore, it would be good to serve some other Earthy foods like cabbage or cucumbers with the chicken or some Earthy fruit for dessert.  The Metal Element also needs some support, so serve it with rice and the Fire element can be added with some chili sauce on the side or by serving with a green salad.  

Thai Lemongrass Seafood Salad

We had a lovely sunny day yesterday and that always puts me in the mood for salad.  I had some leftover Steelhead Salmon and some octopus that I needed to use and I didn't feel like making Sunomono (see previous post). I also had some Lemongrass languishing in the vegetable drawer so I decided to make a Thai Salad, but alas I didn't have any limes.  But, I did have lemons.  So I tweaked my traditional Thai salad dressing and came up with this one instead. Of course, the Lemongrass and lemon juice went so well with the seafood. You can use almost any seafood and it would be just as good. This salad has a lovely bright taste and the salad was wonderfully light. Although this dish may not be completely authentic Thai food, it was delicious. In fact, I loved it so much that I had to share it with you!  

Thai Lemongrass Seafood Salad

For Dressing:

½ cup fresh lemon juice

¼ cup Asian Fish Sauce

¼ cup or more sugar

1 Tablespoon Lemongrass (tender front part) finely minced

1 small shallot, cut into small pieces

2 garlic cloves minced

1 small Serrano chili, deseeded and minced finely

2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

For Salad:

3 - 4 cups of washed lettuce broken into small pieces

1 cucumber with seeds scooped out, cut in half, again and sliced into small chunks

1/2 cup mint leaves

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

3 green onions cut in small pieces

1 small red pepper - cut into small pieces

8 oz cooked fish (I used Steelhead), cut into small pieces

4 ounces of squid (cut into rings), cooked cut up octopus or cooked small shrimp

Precooked rice noodles (boiled 4 - 5 minutes, drained and rinsed in cold water) - about 1 cup

In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice, sugar, fish sauce, lemongrass, shallot, garlic, oil and Serrano chili.  Stir to blend and taste.  Adjust for sweetness

Place noodles on the bottom of the bowl.  Add lettuce, cucumber and red pepper on top.  Place seafood on top of that and then sprinkle with mint and cilantro leaves. Pour dressing over the salad when ready to serve and toss to coat thoroughly and with each serving.  

Five Element Analysis

Seafood always belongs to the Water Element so that element is covered by any variety of fish and shellfish and the Fish Sauce adds even more Water.  The lemon brings in the Wood Element and the Serrano Chili and Red Pepper contribute the Fire Element.  The Metal Element is represented by the Rice Noodles, the garlic, shallot, mint, cilantro and lemongrass.  And, that makes this a completely balanced dish!

Quinoa Taboulleh

I’ve been working with a lovely apprenticeship student this week. We were discussing the signs of hypoglycemia on the face - a white color on the bridge of the nose between the eyes - and I suggested that eating protein instead of carbs might be a good way of treating that condition. That led to a discussion of high protein foods, besides meat, and one of the foods that fits that bill is Quinoa. Now most people think of it as a grain, but it's not - it's actually a seed. It is actually a member of the Goosefoot family and related to beets and spinach and is grown primarily in the Andes. What's most incredible about this little seed is it's protein content, which is very high at 18%. It also contains lysine, calcium, phosphorus and iron.  Quinoa also has a slightly nutty flavor and I think it is also really fun to eat because it kind of pops in your mouth when you bite into it.  There are also several colors - white, red and black.  Most Quinoa sold in the US has had the Sapponin coating removed, which makes it bitter. So just in case it hasn't been removed, it is always wise to give it a quick rinse before you cook it.  And, Quinoa cooks so fast that it will be ready in as little as 15 minutes.  Sometimes I eat Quinoa with just butter and salt.  It's also a good breakfast with maple syrup and I love making Quinoa Pilaf as well.

But, for this warm and sunny day here in Seattle (yes I know you are surprised), I was in the mood for a salad and I wanted to give my student a taste of Quinoa since she had never had it before, so I made Taboulleh. I cooked the Quinoa in chicken broth to give it more flavor, but if you want to make this dish vegetarian, you can just substitute vegetable broth or even water.  This is a great salad for anyone who can't eat the usual Taboulleh, which is made with Bulgur Wheat. And Quinoa Taboulleh keeps really well and doesn't get soggy, so it's even good the next day if you want to pack it for lunch.  It's really easy to make and very satisfying and it's really good for you too!

Quinoa Taboulleh

1 cup white Quinoa

1 1/2 cups chicken broth (can also use vegetable broth or water)

3 Roma tomatoes (or one large regular tomato) cut into a small dice

1 medium Cucumber, peeled, cut in half, seeded and cut into a small dice

1/2 cup chopped mint leaves

3 - 4 green onions, cut into small pieces

1 large Meyer (or regular large lemon), juiced (equals about 1/4 cup

1/2 cup olive oil

1 garlic clove minced fine

1 - 2 teaspoons sugar (depending on the sourness of the lemon juice)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Optional:  1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley

Rinse Quinoa in a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth (the seeds are very small and will slip through most strainer holes).  Put chicken broth in a pot with the Quinoa and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and let cool.

Mix lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, sugar and pepper together in a small bowl.  Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.  Put aside.

Mix cooled Quinoa with chopped mint leaves, green onions, tomato pieces and cucumber.  Stir in dressing and toss to coat. Let sit for 10 - 15 minutes to let flavors meld or refrigerate to serve later.

Five Element Analysis

Quinoa is a seed so that makes it a Water Food.  The chicken broth and olive oil contribute the Wood Element.  The Fire Element is represented by the tomatoes, while the Earth Element is brought in by the cucumbers.  The garlic, mint and green onion add the Metal Element  so this ends up being a surprisingly balanced dish!

Fava Beans - Simple Chinese Style

Fava Beans are another food that means Spring to me. My mother and I just love them and my grandfather loved them so much that his nickname at the Original Farmer's Market in LA was Mr. Fava Bean! I guess you can picture how many fava beans I peeled and ate when I was growing up! The best ones are the small ones and you can't really tell easily how big they are when you buy them in the shells.  I look for the narrowest pods that I can find as the little ones are the most tender.

Fava Beans are also called Broad Beans or Horse Beans in other parts of the world and are quite popular in the Mediterranean countries and are even eaten raw dipped in salt. Unfortunately, some people of that region of the world have an allergy to them, but this is one of the foods that I don't have an allergy to - thank goodness! The only difficult thing is that you have to peel them first to get them out of the shell and peel them again (partially) to cook them. You just put your fingernail in the part of the bean that curves inward and pull up so that you remove the top piece where the brown line is where it attached to the outer shell.

Most recipes from other places call for shelling the Fava Beans and then boiling them for a few minutes so that they are easy to get them out of their second shell shell before using them in dishes, but that was definitely not the way the Lowe family ate them!  My grandfather insisted that we peel just the top off the second shell and assured me that they needed to be cooked within this shell or they would burn, so that's the way I do it. The second shell also tells you when they are done because the beans swell and pop out of that second shell. You don't eat that shell unless you really want to, as it comes out very crispy.  But the Fava Beans will be tender and just a bit caramelized. Instead, you pick out all the tender half beans and enjoy that wonderful flavor that only Fava Beans have....

This is actually one of the simplest recipes I will ever post, but my son asked me to do it so he would remember.  The Fava Beans are just so good with this method, which is a quick saute, that I don't even like to eat them any other way. I used an extra light olive oil as the Chinese don't like oil to have flavors except for Toasted Sesame or Chili.  And then you salt them - that's it. You really should try them this way and you will be amazed at how good they are!

Fava Beans - Simple Chinese Style

1 pound of Fava Beans, shelled from the pod and the upper part of inner shell removed (see photo)

2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat a frying pan and add in oil and wait until it is hot.  Put in the Fava Beans and cook, stirring often until the shells are crisp and most of the beans have popped out of the shell. Taste a few of the larger ones to see if they are done and if not, cook for a few more minutes.  Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Five Element Analysis

Beans of all kinds belong to the Water Element and the added salt brings in even more, so this is almost completely a Water dish.  However, because the Fava Beans are green and not dried, they are also considered a Wood food as well.  So, serve in a meal with foods of the other 3 elements to create balanced meal.

Grandma Szarek's Sauerkraut

I am going to Vienna and Germany soon to teach and usually get ready by starting to eat that kind of food for a few weeks before. It helps if I prepare stomach. So, I was at the health food store and found a package of fresh sauerkraut that was calling my name. I never liked sauerkraut as a kid because it was so sour, even though my German grandmother made it many times.  It wasn't until I married the father of my children that I learned how to make Sauerkraut the German/Polish way from his grandmother.  Actually she made it two ways:  the first was with onion and apple, which tempered the sourness - that's  I the recipe here and the other was a sweet and sour version with tomato sauce - it's also delicious.  I've tried many kinds in the 15 years I've been teaching in Germany and learned to like it, but Grandma Szarek's versions are the only ones that I really love.  Sauerkraut is so good for you. Strangely, it is especially good for getting rid of canker sores and of course, for aiding digestion too.

Once I decided that I was going to make Sauerkraut, I went to the local butcher and got some smoked pork chops and a little bacon too.  I like Sauerkraut with mashed potatoes, but I have to admit that white potatoes with yellowish Sauerkraut on a white plate doesn't really look very exciting!  Luckily the smoked pork chops bring in some color.  Next time, I am going to add some chives and parsley to those potatoes. Anyway, Sauerkraut is quite easy to make.  I use white wine instead of beer because that's what my grandmother-in-law used - I think it must have been the French influence in Poland - and, the apples and onions mellow the Sauerkraut so much. The only thing that I have changed is that I add a tiny bit of cornstarch and water so that the sauce coats the Sauerkraut and makes it smoother. If you are a purist, you don't have to add it or you could use a pat of butter  or cook more bacon in it or add some other fatty pork in instead.  I steamed the smoked pork chop on top instead of pan frying them and it was a wonderful German-Polish dinner!

Grandma Szarek's Sauerkraut

2 heaping cups of Fresh Sauerkraut, preferably unsterilized, rinsed and drained

2 slices of raw bacon, cut up into small pieces with scissors

Extra Oil if necessary

1 medium onion, minced fine

1 medium sweet apple, peeled, seeded and minced fine (I used a Fuji)

1 cup white wine (I used a Reisling)

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 bay leaf

4 cloves

2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with enough water to make a slurry

Salt and Pepper to taste

Put bacon in a large pot and cook until the fat renders.  There should be about 2 Tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan.  If not, add extra oil.  Then put in onion and apple and cook until soft.  Add in white wine and chicken broth and bring to a boil, then put in Sauerkraut and bring back to a boil.  Turn down heat and put the bay leaf on top with the cloves on top of that.  Simmer for about 20 minutes and remove bay leaf and cloves.  If using smoked pork chops or sausage, stir Sauerkraut and place on top and steam for an additional 10 minutes.  Remove and add in the cornstarch slurry. Season to taste with salt, if neccessary (I usually don't add it) and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper.

Five Element Analysis

Cabbage is an Earth food and the mashed potatoes are Earthy too. But Sauerkraut is also fermented so that it becomes more of a Wood food and the chicken broth contributes even more, making this a very Wood dish.  The white wine and apple bring in the Fire Element, whereas the bay leaf and cloves bring in just a bit of the Metal Element and the onion adds even more. The Water Element is found only in the small amount of bacon and needs support, so serving it with a smoked pork chop or sausages that are Water meats makes this a very balanced meal!