Support Japanese Home Cooks! - Daikon Salad

One month has past since the devastating magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.  Right after I saw the news on March 11th, I called my family in Tokyo.  The phone line was down, and that made me nervous and very worried.  When the phone finally rang a few hours later, my aunt picked it up and said, "I thought I was going to die."  Even in Tokyo which is far from the epicenter, the magnitude was close to 6.  More than ten thousand people died, mostly from the monstrous tsunami in northern Japan. Fifteen thousand people are still missing, and more than one hundred fifty thousands are displaced and living in shelters.

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Tilapia with Mediterranean Tomato Sauce

Quick and easy dishes are important for any domestic chef to have in their repertoire, and if they happen to be health and tasty too, then even better. This recipe covers all the bases. The sauce is super simple, and the tilapia fillets cook in a few minutes. The sauce goes well with cod and swordfish as well. If you happen to have feta cheese at hand, sprinkle some on top. It will add another layer to the flavor.

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Chicken Marsala Pasta

Chicken Marsala is one of my go to dishes. I always serve bread with it to soak up all the sauce on the plate. I was running out of bread the other day but didn't want to waste the sauce either. My solution was to use it as a pasta sauce. I cut the chicken into bite size pieces. It's quicker to cook, and no knife is necessary while eating!

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Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese Mousse

It's nice to have several "go to" recipes for quick appetizers for when you have impromptu parties. They could be casual or elegant depending on how you serve them. A while ago, a friend invited me to a Christmas party, and I particularly liked one of the appetizers: smoked salmon with goat cheese mousse. She served the mousse in glasses and topped them with chopped smoked salmon. What a great idea! In my version, however, I used cream cheese instead of goat cheese and served it in shot glasses. If you are going for something more casual, mix the smoked salmon into the mousse and serve as a dip.

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Tofu and Mushroom Stir-Fry with Peanut Butter Sauce

Chinese style stir-fry is quick, easy and perfect for weekday dinners. I often season stir- fry dishes with soy sauce and oyster sauce. Sometimes though, I get the hankering for stir-fry flavors. I needed a stir-fry make over.

I replaced soy sauce with miso paste and added some peanut butter. These two ingredients added depth to the sauce. I also dropped a bit of and hot chili paste to give it a good kick. My carnivorous husband said he didn't miss the meat. Based on that, I guess this recipe seemed like a success.

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Fig and Goat Cheese Salad with Fig-Vinegar Dressing

My husband and I became frequent visitors to Long Branch, NJ this year. The beach, boardwalk and many outdoor concerts entertained us throughout the summer. The beach season is over, but Long Branch has a lot more to offer than just sunbathing and watersports. We enjoyed Mexican/Hawaiian quick bites at Shaka, sipping great martinis at Avenue, and relaxing at Wine Loft with a glass of wine and tasty tapas-like plates. Last but not the least, there are interesting stores to satisfy shoppers. Among all the stores, my favorite is Carter and Cavero, an olive oil company where you can taste all sorts of olive oils and balsamic vinegars. We sampled most of their vinegar selection (some fifteen or more types of infused vinegars) from coconut to tangerine, though eventually getting a bottle of fig vinegar. There are many ways to use this slightly sweet vinegar, but I decided to pair it with the most obvious, fresh figs.

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Corn Flake Crusted White Fish with Butter Sauteed Snow Peas

Aside from a morning bowl of cereal, cornflakes are a great alternative to bread crumbs when making crusted entrees. You've probably seen or heard about corn flake crusted baked chicken, which was in fact on the Wegman's corn flake box. I've done that before and remembered I was satisfied with the result. This time, I went beyond chicken. This flavorful crust is a mixture of corn flakes, pine nuts, mayonnaise and lemon juice. I simply put it on white fish fillets and baked in the toaster oven. Any type of white fish will work fine, but I have found cod to be the best so far. My husband also loved the butter sauteed snow peas. It's a great side dish for light entrees.

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Pork Saute with Herb Butter and Traditional Balsamic Vinegar

This isn't really a recipe. This is totally a 30 minutes meal, but doesn't it look elegant? I simply sauteed a pork tenderloin with a bit of salt and pepper and served it with salted herb butter and traditional balsamic vinegar, which I paid a small fortune in Italy last winter. It is basically aged vinegar which lists grape juice as its only ingredient. A little bit of this balsamic vinegar goes a long way.

If you don't have aged balsamic vinegar, you can substitute with a balsamic vinegar reduction. Simply boil the vinegar over medium heat stirring constantly until it is reduced by half. I like it over sauteed meat and fruits, especially strawberries.

Frozen Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce

There was a bag of squash frozen ravioli in my freezer for a while, and they became a bit frosty. It was the time to use them before they become completely freezer burned. I was tired and didn't want to spent too much time making a sauce, but a store bought marinara sauce was too strong for the delicate squash flavor. Fortunately, I had some fresh herbs and a stick of butter at hand, so I simply browned a few tablespoons of butter and added chopped herbs. The nutty flavor of the browned butter nicely complemented the squash ravioli. This very simple sauce kicked up the frozen raviolis a notch, and made my husband say,”wow, we are having a gourmet dinner!”

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Herb Butter

My co-worker recently gave me this beautiful edible bouquet of herbs from her garden. It had rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano and Asian basil. Apparently, she is a master gardener. This bouquet could have been a perfect decoration for my kitchen, but unfortunately these herbs don't last long. Once they are picked, they should be consumed fairly quickly. I used them for pastas, salads, meat and fish, but there was still plenty left, and I didn't want to waist any.

Herb butter is a great way to preserve fresh herbs, and it is easy to make. It is perfect for toasts, mashed potatoes, sauteed vegetables, pasta, fish, meat and more. I use unsalted butter just because I'd like to adjust the sodium content depending on the dishes. If you like to keep it longer, shape the butter back into a stick, and keep it in the freezer. This way, you can enjoy the fresh herbs all year long.

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Tomato and Orange Salad with Fresh Mint

It's very unfortunate that I have to write an obituary. My mint plant couldn't survive the heat wave that hit the east coast last month. It had kept two green leaves for a while, but they are all gone. It is now officially dead. I killed a mint plant, which, for many, seems to be more difficult than growing it. Anyhow, I did it again.

It wasn't a good feeling. I confessed to my co-worker that the mint plant wasn't growing well. She kindly brought mint leaves along with a bunch of thyme, both of which were freshly picked from her garden. I cut a tomato and an orange, then simply mixed them with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and mint. When the ingredients are fresh, simple is often best.

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Salmon Burger and Cucumber Relish

Precooked frozen food would never be on my mother in-law's grocery list. She is one of the healthiest eaters I know. Her daily meals consist of a lot of vegetables and fruits, some nuts, some type of whole grains and a little bit of animal proteins. She cooks with a tiny bit of salt (I highly respect that!), and extra virgin olive oil. Bacon and sausage would never be in her refrigerator. However, on her last visit to our house, she went to Costco and came back with a bag of frozen salmon burgers, which was completely unexpected. The mother-in-law approved salmon patties are from Trident (not the same company that makes the chewing gum.) They are made of wild Alaska salmon, are lean and meaty, and are pretty flavorful. They are in fact good as is, but I felt a little sad looking at an obviously store bought salmon patty, alone, on my plate. It was calling for an accompaniment. I browsed the fridge and found cucumber, fresh dill and a lemon. They seemed like a perfect combination for a refreshing relish. I chopped up the cucumber and the dill, squeezed out the lemon juice, and then mixed them up with a touch of honey. The salmon and dill paring is so cliché, but hey, it's cliche because it's really good.

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Papaya & Banana Yogurt Smoothie

The problem with making smoothies at home is crushing the ice. If you have a serious, semi-professional blender, it's a different story. My consumer-grade six-plus year old blender can't handle rock-hard ice cubes. When I tried, it felt like my blender would break before the ice would break. My solution was to use frozen bananas. Frozen bananas are not as hard as ice cubes and give the drink a smoothie-like texture. And of course, it tastes great. Bananas don't have that much flavor, so you'll want to add a second fruit. I happened to have a ripe papaya looking for a drink to hop in to, and I'm sure strawberries or raspberries would work nicely also. This quick and easy smoothie is perfect for a summer breakfast. It's always nice to start the day off healthy.

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Easy & Healthy Banana Ice Cream

Okay. Here is a problem with ice cream: I can't stop eating until it's all gone. Whenever I buy a pint, it's gone within a day or two, if not within an hour. One of my favorite ice cream contains 250 calories per serving, and one pint is for four servings. You do the math. Too much fat and too much sugar... good for the taste, but not for the health. My solution? Don't buy it. No ice cream in the freezer. But then there are days when I crave for it, and stressing out by not having any is, in my opinion, unhealthy.

This is the recipe that solved my dilemma. The main ingredients are just a frozen banana and a bit of milk. Put them in the food processor and you'll have soft served banana ice cream in five minutes! This recipe is for two, but if you like to have it all to yourself, go for it. It's just a banana. How unhealthy could it be?

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Butter Bean Dip

I wonder if an appetizer can be simpler and easier than this!  It takes only 10 minutes including preparation time and is perfect for a snack, supper, and/or casual gathering.  Almost all ingredients are refrigerator staples such as garlic and lemon.  Keep a can butter beans, and you can have this tasty dip anytime you want!

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