Loved the handmade pasta when I saw them in Venice and couldn’t help but buying a bag of boat-shape pasta as souvenir of my trip in Italy….Not mention how much I enjoyed cooking it at home with all the sweet memories =)
Handmade Pasta shop in Venice
Pasta in the shape of Venice boat
My Pasta
A close-up
Ingredients: Durum wheat flour, if black with black squid 2%, if green with spinach 2%, if red with tomato – bee troot 3%, if yellow with turmeric 2%, without artificial colouring or additives.
Even though the garlic in the States was not as fresh or garlicy as in Italy, I still loved the smell on my hand after I made the pasta =)
I learned to make Maria Bread from Emma – a delicious and healthy breakfast! Upon my request, my friend agreed to make this short video clip to introduce Maria Bread to the rest of the world…and Emma did a fantastic job! Enjoy!
Had okra for dinner today and my roommate was asking me what it was and what’s it called in Chinese, etc.
Introduced by a friend a while back, I started enjoy making quick stir-fried okra slices with chopped fresh garlic – yummy in the tummy! But I always forget to check out the Chinese name for it … wanted to give a good answer … I looked it up. So it is actually called 黄秋葵…It doesn’t seem very common to see okra in supermarkets in China, but can definitely be found in the Asian supermarkets in LA.
Some people are crazy all about okra…It is for sure one of my healthy favorites
Went to try out this Japanese vegan restaurent in Little Tokyo a couple weeks ago…Totally enjoyed the dining environment, entrees, and desserts there! I like the artwork on the wall and on my plate Too bad that I didn’t bring my camera..so sharing some images posted on Yelp:
Green Tea "Moss" Cake
Pumpkin Cheese Cake
We had Katsu Curry and Avocado Tomtato Soba – absolutely delicious!
Tomatoes and eggs make a perfect match in Chinese cooking …good colors, texture, taste, etc.
One of the most authentic homemade Chinese dishes is called tomatoes with scrambled egges [西红柿炒鸡蛋]. Likewise, they both often appear in dinner soups like this one I will show you today… ah, pictures first, hehe
Beautiful & Delicious!
These pictures are from a few weeks ago…well, been a bit busy lately. So I was in a mood for some soup at the end of the dinner and this came to mind as the most convenient choice. In no time, it was on the table – and I was heavenly satisfied
What you need:
1 fresh tomato (best to use cluster tomato, not rome tomato for better taste), diced
1 egg stirred
cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 can of Swanson vegetable broth
a few slices of fresh ginger root
maybe 2 tablespoons of corn starch mixed with cold water, well stirred
How to make the soup:
In a sauce pan, drop a drizzle of oil
When the pan gets hot, put in the ginger slices, stir – then tomatoes
Let the tomatoes cook for a few minutes to be softened, and the juice is out – pour half a can of vegetable broth, cover and bring to a boil
Stir the mixture of corn starch and water very well before adding to the soup base
Than add the stirred egg using one of the two ways: (1) drop the egg mixture into the pot through a chopstick; or (2) drop the egg mixture directly into the pot, but quickly stir the soup to create the “egg flowers”
Let it soup simmer for a minute and turn the heat off before dropping in the chopped cilantros
Yummy – enjoy! The taste of the soup comes from the ingredients, you may add salt/pepper to your own taste if it is too light for you…
I’m just starting to become obsessive with these snack bars called “Energy 99″… It has all the goodies in it: Brown rice, husked lotus, pearl barley, buck wheat, oatmeal, pea, small read beans, mung beans, speckled kidney beans, black soy beans, black glutinous rice, corn, egg powder, etc. you name it!
Oh, one other favorite of snacks of mine: homemade Nuts Boxes! I enjoy buying fresh, raw nuts from farmer’s market and putting them into used snack boxes. My current version includes walnuts, raw Spanish peanuts, cashew nuts, and macadamia nuts. I have one for Larry in San Diego, one for dad at home, and one for myself in the office AND my version of 5-A-Day: multigrains, fresh veggies, fresh fruits, nuts, and water … it can’t sound healthier than that, right
I am starting this new blog on wordpress.com today to use it as a mechanism of motivation and documentation about my interest in healthy cooking and dining – particularly my passion about vegetarian and Chinese medicated diets!
A friend had given me a gift bag of nutrition bars back in December 2006. Those were the best ever! [Yeah, they were from Al Gore, no wonder!] Yet, at the time I did not expect what these little fresh and tasty nutrition bars would have influenced my way of thinking and living in a healthy lifestyle…
On Feb 10, 2007, I learned about the concept of “humm” vs. “beckoning” foods from a leaflet of those delicious LÄRABARs and wrote on my other blog a short note called “Go humming! Ingredients of a healthy life” where I reiterated the story of the owner of LÄRABAR and her introduction of the “humming” idea:
I started Humm Foods®, the creator of LÄRABAR®, because of my firm belief that good health and well-being are derived from what you eat. At Humm Foods, we develop natural food products that enliven the body, mind and soul. Our company name comes from an ancient belief that food falls into two categories:
Beckoning Foods, which beckon consumption again and again, sapping the body of energy without any real health benefits. Today, they’re called “junk foods.”
Humm Foods, on the other hand, resonate with energy in a whole natural state. When consumed, they cause you to feel vibrant and alive.
That’s what you get in every LÄRABAR® – real food that creates an unmistakable urge to, well, hum! Enjoy and start humming!
