Roasted Curry Cauliflower Steaks

I love cauliflower raw or cooked. I enjoy it in salads, soup, stew, stir fry, saute etc.  I came across a recipe on FoodNetwork that looked and sounded really good but I was more enticed with the photo of the cauliflower cut like a steak! It was actually my first time seeing it sliced like that.

The cauliflowers were on sale today at 99 Ranch and I bought 2 heads. I have a couple of other recipes in mind that I will share and post later.

INGREDIENTS & PREPARATION:

1 head cauliflower

1 tablespoon dried safflower

1 tablespoon lemon grass powder

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablesoon Himalayan Pink Salt or any regular salt

Extra virgin olive oil

Mix all the dry spices in a bowl. Trim the base of the core from the cauliflower, and then cut the head into 1-inch-thick slices. Cut any florets that fall off into 1-inch pieces and set aside for cooking another dish later.

Arrange the floret steaks on a flat baking pan. Drizzle each florets with the olive oil. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of the mixed spices over both sides of each floret.

Preheat oven to Roast/Bake 350 degrees F. Roast the cauliflower steaks for 25 minutes. Serve warm by themselves or as a side to your favorite meat.

Butter Garlic Steamed Prawns (Cantonese Style)

I stopped by 99 Ranch today after work to buy fruits and as usual, I bought many other items that caught my eyes. I passed by the fresh seafood section and the live shrimps were on sale!!!! I immediately thought of making the dish I had at my favorite Chinese restaurant (R&G Lounge). I bought 3 lbs of these babies and I couldn't wait to go home and prepare the dinner. I also bought 2 heads of cauliflower to pair with the shrimps as a side dish which I will post as well separately.

This classic Cantonese steamed shrimp with garlic and butter dish takes a little bit of work - mostly for slicing each shrimp in half - butterfly style. The rewarding taste of fresh shrimp in rich garlic steamed to perfection is well worth it! The shrimps are sweet and tender.

I also made this dish a while back. You can check out the same recipe here

INGREDIENTS:

Serves 2-3

2 lbs live Shrimp (butterflied)

1 large fresh garlic bulb (finely minced)

1 stick butter

In a small pan, melt the butter and stir the garlic in it for about 1 minute. Do not let the garlic turn brown. Turn off the heat

Rinse the shrimps thorougly. Split the shrimps in half by cutting them from the back meat side. Make sure that your knife is really sharp otherwise, the shrimps will be mushed. Arrange the shrimps in a round pie platter or large plate.

Heat the wok or steamer or a large pan and add water. Put a bowl upside down in the middle of the wok. Put the plate of shrimp on top of the upside down plate and make sure its evenly in the middle just to make sure that the plate is not submerged in the water. Sprinkle the melted butter and garlic all over the shrimps. Cover and steam for about 8 minutes or until the shrimps have turned bright pink. 

Enjoy with rice and a veggie side. Or serve as an appetizer.

Cumin Sweet White Corn and Kale

Tonight, I decided to make something different for dinner. I wanted to experiment and use some of the spices that I haven't used in a while. I'm so motivated to cook again every night so on my way home while stuck in traffic, my chef brain was bring creative. I immediately thought of the 2 frozen veggies I have in the freezer. Of course, I always know what I have in my freezer/fridge ahead of time.

This side dish was paired with butter fried cajun spiced breast of chicken. It turned out to be a nice simple dinner. The cumin seeds went very well with the corn and kale. Yummylicious and easy breezy to make!!!

INGREDIENTS:

Serves 3

3 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 cup frozen white sweet corn

1 cup frozen chopped kale

salt and pepper to taste

Heat medium frying pan and add sesame oil (don't let it burn). Add cumin and saute for 1 minute. Add kale and corn and stir well. Cover, turn down heat and cook and steam for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with your favorite meat.

Manila Clams & Basil Soup

If you love clams, you will love this soup. It is quite delicious and so easy to make. Make sure you get fresh clams from the Asian supermarket because I prefer those than the frozen or canned ones. Its usually served with rice or bread but I like it by itself (less carb).

I was craving for a good soup since the weather has been cold in the bay area. I did not want the usual rice porridge or chicken noodle soup! So I stopped by my favorite Asian supermarket - 99 Ranch and while I had my eyes on the Dungeness crabs and mussels to make my soup, I decided to buy the manila clams. They were as fresh as you can get them because they were still moving in the water!

Of course, I also bought a couple of the crabs since they are still in season and I devoured those the following day. You can say I love all kinds of shellfish and I don't mind eating them everyday. I just need to make sure I don't overdose myself LOL. Well, enjoy this recipe as much as I enjoy it each time I make it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb fresh manila clams

1 thumb size ginger root thinly sliced

6 minced fresh garlic cloves

1 diced large tomato

1 bunch fresh basil leaves

3-4 chopped bok choy

2 cups of water

2 teaspoon oil

salt & pepper to taste

Use a large pot. On medium heat, saute ginger and garlic until medium brown. Add clams and stir thoroughly until the ginger and garlic covers the clams. Cover pot and steam for about 5 minutes until clams open. Add diced tomato and 2 cups of hot water and bring to boil and let all clams open more. Add the basil and bokchoy, salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to boil and turn off heat. Enjoy!

Homemade Doughnuts / Beignets

Here is a very simple way to make homemade doughnuts. It's a basic recipe from Pillsbury's website and it takes less than 15 minutes to make these yummies! The time I made these, I was amazed on how fast and easy it took! I've made them for the family for breakfast and have served them as a dessert when I entertained friends at home for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:
1 tube Pillsbury Grands
2 cups of oil for frying

-Take dough individually out of the tube and gently pat them down to even rounds and even thickness
-cut a hole in the middle. I used the mouth of champagne glass
-save the dough holes to make beignets
-fry the shaped dough in the hot oil (in medium heat to avoid burning) and flip at least 3 times while browning with a thong or a pair of chopsticks, take out and dry out on a plate with paper towel or a wire rack and let them cool for 1 to 2 minutes before dipping or glazing them with the ingredients below
- do the same with donut holes
- dip the donuts with any of the following:

- white sugar

- unsweetened cocoa powder

- whipped cream and sprinkle with candy

- powdered sugar

- or drizzle with melted peanut butter or Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter
- serve beignets with melted warm chocolate or jam

Avocado Omelette

I love eggs anytime of the day, breakfast, lunch or dinner. I usually boil 2 eggs in the morning and take them with me to the office and eat them with my cup of coffee. On the weekends, I usually make an omelette or have 2 over easy with a toast and a fruit. Omelettes are so easy to make. You can put anything on it and make it a full meal. I like my omelette simple and tasty, I think that when you put more than 5 ingredients in it, it becomes overwhelming! 

Here is my take on simple and tasty omelette. This is also a healthy omelette because it only has 2 main ingredients and is less than 500 calories! 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large eggs (78 calories each x 2 = 156 calories)

1 large avocado (pitted and sliced) (234 calories)

grated cheese (optional)
a pinch of salt & pepper

Instructions:

In a small bowl, beat eggs together well. Place a 7 inch nonstick pan over high heat. When pan is hot, add butter. Swirl butter around to coat. Let butter foam, but don’t let it turn brown. Add egg mixture. Let eggs sizzle, wait 5 seconds, then top eggs with avocado. Move pan left and right, shifting the eggs around to even, then let them settle for about 15 -20 seconds. When the top is almost cook, flip half of the omelette to one side and roll it out onto the plate. Garnish with your favorite grated cheese, hot sauce and salt and pepper.