HUMMing Bird

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:

1. Put in a hot pan a drizzle of Canola oil
2. Then drop in some slices of fresh ginger (and chopped fresh garlic/scallions depending on personal preference)
3. Add cauliflower cuts, stir well
4. Wait for a few minutes, and add diced bell peppers
5. To enhance the flavor, add some vegetarian oyster sauce (my secret ingredient )
6. Again stir well and keep the the lid on till the veggies are softer before serving

To make the soup:

1. In a sauce pan, pour half of a can of vegetable broth and mix with twice amount of water
2. 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)
3. Add some gouqi (dried goji berries) and wild mushrooms (any kind but smaller ones)
4. Add a bag of fresh spinach the last
5. Keep simmering for a minute or two then it’s done
6. 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?