February 14, 2009 at 8:27 am (Soups, Uncategorized)
Tags: glass noodles, Recipes, Soups, spinach, tomato
Was traveling in China and found that it was pretty challenging to be a vegetarian as people would kindly show their “disagreement” and generosity by providing and insisting that you taste their best dishes which almost always come with meat or fish.
Finally back on my healthy routines, and try to cook several times a week. This soup I’m about to introduce to you is very simple, and definitely can be a key showcase in your own 30-min meals 
Key ingredients:
- fresh baby spinach
- glass noodles (either thick or thin is fine, best made of green beans and mixed with some wild veggies)
what I used today was mixed with fiddlehead fern – a very healthy green wild veggie, hehe
- one tomato diced
- mushroom (the thin type like golden mushroom)
what I used today was a kind with brown-ish heads, imported from Korea
- a can of vegetable broth
Steps:
- In a saucepan, pour the vegetable broth and add equal amount of water or a bit more and bring it to simmer
- Drop the diced tomato
- When the tomatoes become soft, add mushroom and the glass noodles
- Check on the glass noodles every once in a while so it’s not too soft or sticky
- Put the spinach only a couple minutes before you turn off the heat, and let the soup sit for a minute before serving
- Drop a bit sesame oil for a final touch
- Add salt or black pepper to personal taste
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October 27, 2008 at 1:23 am (Main Dish, Recipes, Soups)
Tags: bell pepper, cauliflower, glass noodles, gouqi, Lunch, mung bean, Recipes, rice, Soups, spinach
For all you can have for lunch on a warm, sunny autumn Sunday in southern California:
- Rice cooked with whole mung beans (Mung beans are good for your health, I’ll write about it another day)
- Cauliflower and bell pepper of colors
- Spinach and glass noodle soup
Tips for making these dishes:
- Soak the mung beans for a half day before mixing them with the rice and put into the rice cooker
- Cauliflower and bell pepper of colors is a great vegan dish that I learned from a Buddhist cooking guidebook. Choose a combination of red, yellow, and orange bell pepper in this case, but not green bell pepper which has a slightly different taste.
To make cauliflower and bell pepper of colors:
- Put in a hot pan a drizzle of Canola oil
- Then drop in some slices of fresh ginger (and chopped fresh garlic/scallions depending on personal preference)
- Add cauliflower cuts, stir well
- Wait for a few minutes, and add diced bell peppers
- To enhance the flavor, add some vegetarian oyster sauce (my secret ingredient
)
- Again stir well and keep the the lid on till the veggies are softer before serving
To make the soup:
- In a sauce pan, pour half of a can of vegetable broth and mix with twice amount of water
- Bring to boil, and drop a small bundle of glass noodles (those made of mung beans, potatos, or with special flavors such as fiddlehead fern are good)
- Add some gouqi (dried goji berries) and wild mushrooms (any kind but smaller ones)
- Add a bag of fresh spinach the last
- Keep simmering for a minute or two then it’s done
- Some people like to put a drop of sesame oil right before serving (it smells great and puts a layer of shine on the surface of the soup ~~)
And I know, I know – next time I’ll remember to take pictures before I dive into the delicious meal, okay?
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August 21, 2008 at 9:09 am (Recipes, Soups)
Tags: carrot, daikon, fiddlehead fern, glass noodles, gobo, gouqi, Recipes, Soups, vegetable broth
Special ingredients:
Gobo [牛蒡]： greater burdock root, good for cancer prevention and control.
Gouqi [枸杞]： also known as Chinese wolfberry, or goji berry.
Fiddlehead fern glass noodle [蕨菜粉丝]: thin glass noodles made of a mix of fiddlehead fern powder and flour.
Other ingredients: Daikon, Carrot, Black mushroom, Ginger root, Cilantro, vegetable broth
How to prepare:
- shred half of a daikon, 1/5 of a carrot (for color)
- slice a handful of gobo and a half of the ginger root
- coarsely chop up the cilantro
How to make the soup:
- In a medium size pot, boil a mix of vegetable broth and water (about 1:2)
- Put the gobo slices and fiddlehead fern glass noodles into the boiled soup base
- In a cooking pan, put a little canola oil, drop the ginger slices into the hot pan, then the daikon and carrot shreds together with some freshly ground black pepper. Stir for a few minutes till the smell of the daikon comes out, then add some water and pout the mixture into the soup base
- Add black mushroom and gouqi
- Let the soup simmer for a few minutes, turn off the stove, and add chopped cilantro to garnish （no need to add other seasonings)
Super natural, super nutritional, and super simple!
牛蒡枸杞蕨菜粉丝汤
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