Lettuce Salad

中文： 生菜沙拉

I haven’t been cooking and posting as much as I used to because we eat like a rabbit most of the time recently.  O(∩_∩)O~

I love to make all kinds of salads and make them as colorful and appetizing as I can.  Well, it is true that you eat with your eyes first.  The salad showed in the picture is my portion.  It looks good, taste good and healthy.

Ingredients：

Lettuce (I use Boston lettuce and romaine lettuce）
2 mini cucumbers
1 hard-boiled egg
1/2 avocado
1/2 red bell pepper
1 tomato
2 to 3 radishes
dried cranberries
almond
sunflower seeds
crumbled bacon
feta cheese

Balsamic vinaigrette dressing：

1 teaspoon honey
2 to 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Directions：

Combine the honey, balsamic vinegar, black pepper, olive oil, and salt in a bowl.  Whisk like crazy until they are all well combined.

Rinse the lettuces and spin them in a salad spinner. Cut or tear into bite sizes.  Rinse the radishes and cucumbers and then thinly slice them. 

Spoon out avocado fresh; cut into bite sizes.  Do the same to hardboiled egg, tomato and bell pepper.

Add lettuces, tomato, cucumber, radish, avocado, bell pepper and egg to a large salad bowl.  Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette dressing; sprinkle with dried cranberries, almond, sunflower seeds, crumbled bacon and feta cheese. 

Time to enjoy! O(∩_∩)O~

Deep Green Smoothie

中文：绿色蔬菜水果沙冰

My husband always says March is the most depressing month in Michigan, because everywhere else is warm and flowers are starting to bloom but Michigan’s winter shows no sign of leaving.  I can’t agree more. O(∩_∩)O~

I can’t do anything about that, but I can eat more fresh vegetable and fruits! Deep green smoothies have been a breakfast stable.  They are healthy and nutritious, and more importantly, they are quick and fast too!

I always keep deep green mix in the refrigerator. 

Ingredients：

1 pack green mix (5 oz)
1 grapefruit
1 orange
1/2 banana
1/4 cup crushed ice

Directions:

Peel the grapefruit, orange and banana, and cut into bite sizes.  Add to VITAMIX (Amazon link) container.  

And then add crushed ice and vegetable mix. 

Turn on Vitamix.  Gradually increase speed from 1 to 8 or 9, and then switch to high. Blend for another 20 to 30 seconds. You might need to use the temper to push vegetable down. 

Here you go, healthy and delicious in a bottle! O(∩_∩)O~

Pork and Shiitake Mushroom Meat Sauce

中文菜谱： 香菇肉燥

I made a batch of pork and shiitake mushroom meat sauce.  It goes great with rice, noodles and stir-fry.  I once even made Chinese version sloppy joes with it, and it turned out awesome too!

Shiitake is widely popular in Asian countries.  I think it might be the most beloved mushroom there.  The fresh ones have silky, smooth texture. They are my husband’s favorite.  When cooked, they just melt in your mouth.  The dried ones have more intense aroma because of the dehydration process.  They are used in soup, porridge, and dumplings. 

This recipe calls for dried shiitake mushrooms.  They are available in every Asian grocery store.  Yes, that is how much we love them. 

Ingredients:

240 to 300g grounded pork shoulder
 1 medium purple onion, peeled and minced
6 to 8dried shiitake mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 slice of fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon five spice powder (available in Asian grocery store)
one pinch of white pepper powder
2 tablespoons cooking rice wine
3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 to 2 cups water
salt to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons oil for cooking

Directions:

Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in water for at least 1 hour.  Drain the water through a coffee filter or cheese cloth.  Set the water aside for later use.

Chop mushrooms finely  with a food processor. 

Heat a wok over medium high heat. Add oil.  Add garlic and ginger.  When the garlic turns color, add ground pork. Stir fry over high heat for a couple minutes; add rice cooking wine and white pepper.  Continue to stir fry until the pork is golden brown. About 4 to 6 minutes. 

Add onion; cook until the onion turns transparent. Add shiitake mushroom, along with five spice powder, sugar, soy sauce and salt to taste.  Stir fry for 1 minute; add water which is used to soak shiitake mushrooms and drained before.  

When it comes to boil, cover with wok lid, and reduce the heat to simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

Stir once in a while to prevent burning. 

It goes great with almost everything.  My favorite choice is a bowl of freshly cooked rice. 

Stir-fried Pork and Dried Tofu

 中文菜谱： 香辣豆干炒肉片

As a Chinese, how can I survive without tofu?  No way.  It is like asking how an American can survive without cheese. 

Tofu is an important part of our food culture which we grow up with.  I am glad to see more and more tofu products appearing in grocery store.  That is good. 

The temperature has been crazily low lately.  I gave up my grocery plan and went search in the refrigerator.  Found a package of dried tofu and a piece of frozen pork.  Good enough to make dinner for two on a Thursday night.  

Ingredients:

1 package of dried tofu (available in Asian grocery store or oriental food aisle in most grocery stores)
200 to 300 g boneless pork shoulder
1/3 package of dried daikon (also available in Asian grocery store), diced
a handful dried chili peppers, cut into small pieces
3 gloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 pinch of Sichuan peppercorns (also available in Asian grocery store)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1/4  teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoon oil for stir-frying
salt to taste
 

Directions:

Thinly slice the dried tofu and pork.  

Heat a wok (I like to use cast iron wok, here's one on amazon) over medium high heat. Add oil and pork, along with salt and black pepper.  Stir fry over high heat until the pork turns golden brown.  Get it out and set aside in a plate.

Add garlic, Sichuan pepper corns, chili pepper and dried tofu to the wok, and stir fry for a couple minutes.  Add dried daikon; stir fry for another couple minutes.  Add the cooked pork, along with rice cooking wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, sugar and black pepper. 

Cook over medium high heat until both dried tofu and pork are golden brown.

Serve immediately.  

Bon appetite! 

Baked Sweet Potato Wedges with Brown Sugar

中文菜谱：  红糖烤红薯

Here is another super easy and simple snack.  The sweet potatoes I stored in my basement become sweeter half way through the winter.  I simply just bake them with some oil and brown sugar, and it turns out to be a tasty sweet snack.  By the way, it is healthy too! 

Ingredients:

4 to 6 sweet potatoes
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoon oil
4 to 6 tablespoon brown sugar(use more if you have a sweet tooth or the sweet potatoes are not sweet enough)

Directions：

Preheat the oven to 375F/190°C.
Clean and rinse thoroughly the sweet potatoes.  Peel and cut them into wedges.  Add oil, mix until all wedges are evenly coated with oil. 

Place sweet potato wedges on a baking sheet lined with silicone matt (available on amazon) .

Sprinkle with brown sugar on top. 

Bake for 24 to 28 minutes, and serve immediately.

If you want the wedges to be a little bit chewy on the outside, reduce oven heat to 200F/93°C and bake another 10 to 15 minutes. 

They go well with tea or black coffee.