Tag: vegetables

Leftovers dinner

Spending the weekend in the country after three weeks is just so nice! Even if the weather is not up to my expectations, I enjoy cooking some really nice fresh vegetables and fruits for A. and our friend D. who is staying with us for the weekend. Hopefully we manage to play tennis and to go for a small hike in Yorokeikoku in between the rain. In terms of cooking I chose to prepare very simple dishes that take advantage of the quality of the food we find in Ohara. Mostly now it’s kabocha, it’s sweet potatoes, it’s persimmons of course that are central. Since I’ve cooked slightly more rice than usual, I’ve had leftovers and decided to use them for some cha-han with vegetables. I ised 1 carrot, 1 sweet potato, 1 piece of lotus root, 1 small leek and kabocha, added the rice, and in the very end added a tsp of soya sauce. Have a good “sports’ day”!

Vegan curry pasta

While curry rice is an institution it in Japan, I decided to try an other combination, of course with a slightly different recipe, and was very much surprised with the way it ended. As the title saus, it’s curry pasta. For two not too big servings I used 3 tomatoes, 4 okras and 1 carrots, a bit of olive oil, 1 tsp of curry powder and salt and pepper. It’s really simple. Boil some big pasta: penne or whatever you like. In a heated and greased pan I put the tomato cut in pieces, cook at high heat for 2min than at low heat. I add the carrot sliced, the salt pepper and curry and cook under cover until the carrots are almost done. Add the okras, remove the cover, cook until the moisture is almost gone. Serve with the pasta. The taste of curry must be subtle and should not hide the sweetnes of the tomatoes and carrots.

Summer vegetable soup

The summer is chilly so far and the rainy season is surprisingly not yet finished. It is very nice to eat a warm dinner at night and summer vegetables soup is always a good pick. Ready in less than 15min, full of delicious vegetables, warm and tasty with infinite variety, it is really easy to prepare. For the bouillon I use a veggie bouillon base when I don’t cook leek or onion. As for the veggies: whatever I find at the farmers market. This time green beans, flat beans and tomatoes. While the bouillon is heating up I wash and prepare the beans, cut them in small pieces and add them to the bouillon. I also add the tomato (peeled) cut in two halves. When it is boiling I add some optional little pasta (here Sicilian little soup pasta) and cook until the pasta are ready: about 11min. Serve directly and add for those who like, some gratted parmegiano. That’s it!

Coconut oil curry

I am not too much in food trends and I am not too keen in trying new fashionable products. I see them on the shelves of super market: hemp, egoma… but never or rarely buy any. Three months ago when our friends from Germany visited us and we went food shopping for organic rice and Japanese products for them to bring back home, they convinced me that coconut oil was nice, and before that I read that it has many virtues so I bought some. And then I kept it in the fridge since then. Open it once or twice, but the smell rebutted me and I continued cooking with olive oil as usual. Last night I decided it was time to try. So I come up with a recipe where I could as well have used a little coconut milk: a spicy vegetables mix to serve with grilled snapper and black quinoa. I used 1 onion, 1 potato, 1 capsicum, 1eggplant and 1yellow zucchini all cut in bites. In a big pan I heated one large teaspoon of coconut oil and added the vegetables: onion first then potato, eggplant, then the rest a little while after. And cooked under cover. I added 1tsp of curry powder a little of cumin powder, a tsp of anise seeds and a very little of nutmeg powder. Added 10cl of water and stir. Cooked an additional 5 minutes without cover. The curry is ready!

In the meantime I prepared the black quinoa and grilled the fish. Prepared the plates and served immediately. 

Then what about the coconut oil? The smell is quite strong and the taste persistent in the food, which for my preparation was perfect but it can be slightly repelling in some dishes or may be one needs to get used to it. It is vey nice for golden brown veggies, I obtained a very beautiful color and texture. So yes it’s nice, but for me it is going to take a little more brain to find recipes where to use it. Any suggestion to start with?

New plates and colorful one-plate

You may have noticed that new plates have suddenly appeared since Saturday. Watching to many beautiful plates on IG I thought it was high time to renew our plates, to offer different plating options. After looking for quite some time and not being able to find exactly what I wanted I finally opted for simple Arita yaki (Japanese ceramics) with a white smooth inner side and a rough black outter side, not as refuned and beautiful as the one I was having in mind, yet simple and so far very easy to use. The right portion size too if you don’t use a ton of salad!!! So to inaugurate them I prepared one of my favorite dish: seasonal veggies sautéed and creamy scrambled eggs. The veggies are new potatoes from our neighbours garden, little carrots, green beans, and jumbo radished. Simple as usual but really delicious. And I find the new plates really easy to use and not bad for plating, knowing that my own ability is quite limited!!

Quick dinner fix

I left work earlier than usual on Friday to have time to boil some potatoes and prepare our bags for the weekend because I knew that once we would arrive in Ohara we will be more busy with the kittens than actually thinking of having dinner!! And it was so true!!! First I had to do a bit of cleaning, then we played until quite late in the night with our four fur balls. Only to have dinner around midnight, when my boiled potatoes just needed to be peeled and cut in quarters, add an avocado diced, a handful of baby leaves salad, onr of fresh coriander. Seasonned with olive oil, salt and curry powder. So dinner could be ready very quick!

Japanese quiche

When the quiche lirraine meets Japanese ingredients it gives that: 

The dough is made with plain white flower and olive oil, black pepper and soya sauce. The filling is made of seasonal vegetables: paprika, lotus root, tomato, green peas, broccoli, and an egg and cream base with plenty if katsuobushi and soya sauce again. A very good match of tastes, texture and a versatile dish.

Cauliflower risotto

Though I love risotto and I cook some often, I don’t post recipes as often as I would like just because I really fond it hard to photograph. I already mentioned that before, I’ve tried several techniques but I am not often satisfied with the results. In particular because I cook chiefly for dinner and don’t use professional equipment, lighting is hell. Plating is not always easy too. Anyway, I managed to get my hands on a lovely little cauliflower, probably the last for this year, and with chilly evenings a warm dish was much needed. I prepare a simple risotto with nothing extra. I roasted the cauliflower cut in little bouquets in olive oil, the added the rice, some vegetables bouillon and cook without cover until the bouillon was all gone. And serve with grinded pepper. Nothing more.

An other dinner at home

What to cook for your friends visiting Japan when you are back from work past 21:00 and everyone is starving? A soba salad with spring veggies of course!!! Spring veggies: asparagus, snap peas, green peas, are very easy to prepare and require very little cooking, just blanching them for 2min. Soba are also quick to cook, so in 15min I can have a dinner plate ready for 4 people. To the spring veggies I’ve added some cucumbers and a bit of brocoli sprout, as for the dressing, I mixed a bit of soy sauce with vegetal oil and just add a bit to prevent the soba for getting too sticky. You can also top the plate with some Japanese salmon, shredded nori…

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