Cheesy Chicken Breakfast Whole Wheat Burritos

中文菜谱： 鸡丝奶酪全麦卷饼

I am a firm breakfast believer, which means I believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  T provides nutrition and energy for us to through the day.  And I never skip breakfast without a really good reason.  

One of my frequently homemade breakfasts is cheesy chicken burritos.  They are super easy and fun to make.  Just gather all the ingredients you need; lay them out on the countertop; and then wrap them up one by one.  You can even recruit little young children to do it together.  It is never too early to inspire a young chef, isn’t it?  O(∩_∩)O~

These cheesy burritos melt beautifully in double sided griddle skillet or a Panini machine.  

ingredients：

1 rotisserie chicken 
1 to 1.5 lb mozzarella cheese or any of your favorite shredded cheese
6 to 8 large eggs
1 cup crumbled bacon
2packages of whole wheat tortillas (16 to 20 in total）
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
3 to 4 tablespoons oil for making scrambled eggs

Directions：

Debone the whole rotisserie chicken.  Use your fingers tips to shred the chicken as finely as possible.

Heat a wok over medium high heat.  Add oil and eggs.  Cook the egg just until they settle.  Season with salt and black pepper.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool down to room temperature.

Add chicken, cheese, scrambled eggs, and crumbled bacon to a large bowl.  Season with salt and black pepper, and gently toss everything together.

Grab a handful of the chicken cheese filling.  Add to the center of a whole wheat tortilla.

Roll and wrap it up.

Seal each burrito with plastic wrap, which will help them to stay in shape and easier for storage too. 

Pack any extra burritos in large Ziploc bags.  Freeze for later use.

Preheat a double sided electric griddle skillet.  Add burritos with seam side down.  Grill until they are golden brown and cheese is melted inside.  

If you don’t have a double sided electric griddle skillet, a Panini machine will work just fine too.

The outside is crispy and crunchy, and the inside is moist, cheesy, gooey and loaded with tons of delicious flavors.  Yum!

With a cup of coffee or soy milk, you have a perfect breakfast!  O(∩_∩)O~

Stir-fried Eggs and Wheat Berries

中文菜谱： 葱花蛋炒小麦粒饭

We all know how good stir-fried eggs and rice are.  But have you ever thought about substituting white rice with healthier whole grains?  I have.  I tried with wheat berries.  And guess what?  It tastes amazingly delicious! O(∩_∩)O~

Wheat berries have a much lower GI index than white rice.  And it can keep you full longer.  Not to mention they are also high in fiber, minerals and nutrition. 

When fully cooked, wheat berries have al dente texture similar to a combination of brown rice and pearl barley. 

Just a perfect little bit of chewiness makes it my new favorite whole grain now.

This is what wheat berry looks like.

Ingredients：

1 cup hard winter wheat berry
3 to 4 tablespoons crumbled bacon
water for cooking wheat berries
3 to 4 large eggs
1/4 cup chopped green onion
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt to taste

Directions：  

Rinse the wheat berries under running water.  Add to a rice cooker.  Add water according to rice cooker’s brown rice cooking instructions.  And then press “brown rice”. 

The whole cooking process takes about 100 minutes.   

This is what it looks like when wheat berries are fully cooked.

Eggs and green onion are essential to Asian style stir-fried rice.

Heat a cast iron wok over high heat.  Add oil.  Seconds later, add beaten eggs. 

Add cooked wheat berries when eggs are beginning to settle at the bottom of the wok.  Stir fry constantly over high heat with a spatula.  Use the spatula to break down any large pieces eggs when stir frying.

Add crumbled bacon and salt to taste.  

Sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Continue to stir fry for another 10 to 20 seconds. 

Remove from heat and serve hot immediately.

Pan-fried Multigrain Calzones with Pork, Eggs and Vegetable Filling

中文菜谱： 荠菜猪肉盒子（杂粮版）

Ok, I know these are not the real authentic calzones you are expecting.  They are more like extra extra extra large pan-fried Asian dumplings.  People make them into these beautiful half moon shape dumplings with pretty wrinkles seal the edges.

Every family has its own unique traditional way to make them.  And probably everyone considers the best ones are made in their grandma’s kitchen.

I make them at home all the time too.  But this time I substituted regular with freshly ground multigrain flour to make a better healthier version. 

Like a lot of people, I too, used to hold this biased opinion against multigrain food; thinking they are all rough and tough and taste like cardboard.  However, after I start to make my own multigrain food at home, I realize how wrong I was before.   Multigrain food can be tasty and healthy at the same time!

Ingredients for pork, eggs and vegetable filling：

400 g ground pork
3 to 4 large eggs
500 g frozen Shepherd’s purse (sold in Asian grocery stores; can be substituted with frozen spinach)
2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1/4 to 1/3 low sodium soy sauce
1 to 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/4 cup chicken stock/ water
salt to taste

For multigrain calzones：

200 g multigrain flour
50 g gluten flour
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup water (give or take a couple tablespoons depending on multigrain flour mixture)
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (for pan frying)

Directions：

I usually buy different high fiber whole grains from Sprouts and Wholefoods market and mix everything together in a big jar later.  Top choices are but not limited to kidney beans, split green peas, yellow peas, barley, oats, wheat berries, lentils, wheat bran, flax seeds, and so on.

Add 2 cups multigrain mixture to a Vitamix blender dry container.

Grind on high speeds for 20 to 30 seconds.

Add 200g multigrain flour and gluten flour to a large bowl.

Add water, salt and oil.  Combine everything together in the bowl and knead into a smooth ball of dough.

I use ground oat for dusting.  And of course, ground oat is made by vitamix too.

Cover with plastic wrap.  Let it rest for 10 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare pork filling.

I usually buy large piece of pork shoulder and grind them into ground pork, and then divide and freeze ground pork for later use.  It takes longer than buying ground pork from grocery but the taste and flavor is so much better.

Add rice cooking wine, soy sauce, ground ginger, ground white peppercorn, oyster sauce, sesame oil and corn starch.

Whisk clock-wise with a pair of chopsticks.

While whisking, add a tablespoon chicken stock/ water.  Whisk until the liquid is absorbed before adding more.

Defrosted shepherd’s purse

 It might be considered weed here in America.  However, shepherd’s purse is sold like any other vegetables.  It is really a seasonal delicacy only found in early spring time.  Asian people love it for its sweet, delicate, refreshing earthy flavors. 

Make scrambled eggs with a wok.  Add to the pork mixture along with chopped shepherd’s purse.

Mix until well combined.  Season with salt to taste.  

Equally divide multigrain dough into 12 pieces. 

I grind oat flour with Vitamix too.  And use it to dust the wooden board and the dough.

With a small rolling pin, flat out each piece as thin as possible.

Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of pork filling.

Wrap it up.

Repeat the process until all is done.

Preheat a double sided electric griddle skillet.  Add a couple teaspoons vegetable oil and then 4 to 5 pieces of calzones.  Bake for 3 to 5 minutes.

You will know they are ready when the tops are golden brown.

Pipping hot off the skillet, yum!

Multigrain Flatbread

中文菜谱： 杂粮发面烙饼

I recently begin to explore a healthier diet to include more fibers and whole grains.  But we all know healthy foods don’t always equal deliciousness and good taste.  It takes a few experiments in my kitchen to find a way to make healthy nutritious multigrain flatbread.   

Ingredients：

200 g multigrain flour
50 g gluten flour
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
2/3 to 1 cup warm water

Directions：

I usually buy different high fiber whole grains from Sprouts and Wholefoods market and mix everything together in a big jar later.  Top choices are but not limited to kidney beans, split green peas, yellow peas, barley, oats, wheat berries, lentils, wheat bran, flax seeds, and so on.

Add 2 cups multigrain mixture to a Vitamix blender dry container.

Grind on high speeds for 20 to 30 seconds.

Super freshly ground multigrain flour!

Add 200g multigrain flour and gluten flour to a bread machine.

Add warm water and yeast.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Add vegetable oil and salt.  Start “dough” program.

The dough may appear quite dry and rustic at first.

After 15 minutes’ kneading, it becomes smooth and elastic.

Proof the dough until it double in size.

Transfer to a lightly dusted wooden board.

Equally divide the dough into 12 pieces.

With a small rolling pin, flat out each piece into 1/4 inch flat bread dough.

Cover with plastic wrap and proof for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Preheat a double sided electric griddle skillet.  Add 4 pieces of flatbread dough.  Bake for 2 to 3 minutes.

Each batch is done quickly and perfectly. 

They are 100% real multi-grain flatbread, and taste so much better than the store bought version.  When piping hot out of the griddle, they are fluffy, soft and a little bit chewy, with tons of grain aroma. 

Split each piece into halves in the middle.  You can stuff meat, eggs, and vegetables to make some super healthy and awesome sandwiches! O(∩_∩)O~

Pan-fried Mini Potatoes with Bacon and Spices

中文菜谱：香煎培根彩色小土豆

I always have a special enthusiasm for potatoes, especially the mini ones.  When I was living in Michigan, we always visited the local farmers market twice a week to buy some freshly roasted coffee beans and newly harvested potatoes.  Those were two highlights during the week.  

If you have ever tried the freshest potatoes dug out the soil the very same day you cook them, it would be really hard to go back to the ones sold in super market stores.  They are so fresh, starchy, hearty, and earthy with a nutty aroma and super creamy texture.  

One of my favorite ways to cook mini potatoes is to pan fry them with bacons.  The fat rendered from bacons would add a rich porky fatty flavor to the potatoes, which is exactly why they taste so amazingly good.

Ingredients：

1 lb mini rainbow potatoes
6 to 8 slices of bacons, cut into small pieces
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
white sesame seeds
chopped green onion
spicy chili dry mix *

Directions：

Rainbow mini potatoes are sold in most grocery stores.  If you can’t find them, the yellow or red mini ones will be almost equally tasty too.

Rinse the potatoes under running water.  Add to a pot of boiling water along with a couple teaspoons of salt in it.  Cook the potatoes over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until you can easily piece them in the center with a fork.

BTW, the potato skins can help them to stay in shape. I like to leave them on the potatoes.  

Cut every potato into two halves.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.

Add bacons. 

Sauté the bacons until slightly golden brown.

Add potatoes

Reduce the heat to medium low.  Flip the potatoes occasionally.  Keep cooking over medium low heat until they are golden brown.

Season with salt and black pepper

Sprinkle with chopped green onions, white sesame seeds and spicy chili dry mix.

Continue to cook for another couple minutes.  Remove from heat and serve hot immediately.

It is so true that bacon makes everything taste better! O(∩_∩)O~

*  Chili spice dry mix is available in Asian grocery stores.  I love to make my own at home.  It is quite simple to do so.  Separately dry roast chili peppers, Sichuan pepper corns, sesame seeds, cumin and peanuts.  And then grind them together into fine powder with a coffee grinder or vitamix.

The mix can be used in sautés, BBQ, grilling or salads. 

Go ahead play with the spices.  It is easy to make some simple mix with big flavors!