Spinach Sesame Salad

5-minute Japanese style salad.  Healthy and very tasty.

INGREDIENTS 

2 bunches of spinach

1 tsp salt

water

Salad dressing:

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

4 tbsp mirin 

1 tbsp rice vinegar 

1 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

PREPARATION

  

Wash the spinach -DO NOT CUT ANYTHING YET!

Add 1 tsp salt to boiling water.  Cook the spinach for 2 minutes.

Prepare salad dressing (while cooking the spinach): 

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.  Reserve.

Turn off heat and strain spinach.  Rinse with cold water.

Squeeze gently with your hands, not too much.

Cut off the stem ends (1/2 inch).

Form a "ball" with the spinach and cut in 2-inch-long pieces.

Add salad dressing.  Mix well.

Enjoy!

VARIATION: Add tofu cubes to this salad... it's delicious!

Enoki Spinach Soup

10-minute light and tasty soup

INGREDIENTS (for 2)

Soup broth:

4 cups water (or vegetable stock)

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable boullion paste* (skip this if you are using vegetable broth)

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp rice vinegar

1 cup fresh spinach

1 green onion

1/2 pack enoki mushrooms

1 pack udon noodles**

*I usually use "Better Than Boullion".

**Use soy, sweet potato or rice noodles for GLUTEN-FREE.

PREPARATION

Place water and vegetable bullion paste (or vegetable stock) in a pot over medium heat. Mix well.

Add soy sauce and sugar. Stir.

Wash the spinach and remove the stems. Add leaves to soup.

Add noodles and cook for 5 minutes.

Cut the green onion into thin slices and add. Stirring occasionally.

Add sesame oil, enoki mushrooms and rice vinegar. Stir and serve immediately.

Avocado Tofu Ginger Salad

This salad is incredibly simple and super tasty!

INGREDIENTS (for 2)

1 avocado

1/2 tofu block (soft or firm, whatever you prefer)

1 green onion (or 2, depending on how big the onions are)

1 tbsp shredded fresh ginger

1/4 sheet nori seaweed 

1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds

Salad dressing:

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 1 tbsp rice vinegar

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tsp sugar

- 1/2 lime juice

PREPARATION

Cut the avocado into small cubes and place in 2 bowls.
Squeeze the lime juice on top of it.

Cut the tofu into small cubes and add.

Cut the green onion into very thin slices and add.

Cut out a quarter of a nori sheet (reserve the other part for future cooking). Then cut it in half, put the halves together and cut in half again. Put together and repeat again. You should have now layers of small rectangles together. Cut them into thin strips and add.
Add the shredded ginger.

Add the sesame seeds. (If you don't have the toasted kind, just put a skillet over medium heat -no oil- and toast the seeds for a minute or two. You'll know when they're ready because they will smell really nutty and good).

In a separate bowl, put all the ingredients for the dressing together and whip them until it's well mixed.

Add to bowls and serve immediately.

Veggie Maki (Sushi Rolls)

INGREDIENTS (for 6 rolls)

6 sheets nori seaweed 

2 cups of Japanese rice

1 avocado

1/2 cucumber (make sure it's not bitter!!)

1 carrot

Rice seasoning: 

- 2 tbsp vegan white sugar

- 4 tbsp rice vinegar

- 1/2 tsp salt

Soy sauce (for sushi/sashimi, if you have it)

Wasabi

Bamboo rolling mat

PREPARATION

How to prepare Sushi rice:

(Always start making this because it takes a lot of time)

Wash rice in cold water, stirring the pot and drain the water until it run clear (about 10 washes).

Leave the washed rice in the pot and add 3 cups of cold water. Bring water to a boil over medium/high heat, and when it starts to boil, cover the pot and keep it cooking for about 4 minutes.

Reduce heat to low/simmer and cook about 10 minutes. DO NOT UNCOVER the pot at any time!!! Turn off heat and let stand 15 minutes. DO NOT UNCOVER YET!!

After 15 minutes, you can uncover the pot and leave it standing for 10 minutes, without stirring yet. Just wait. (Only if you are not sure if the rice is well cooked, grab a teaspoon and take a little rice so you can taste it. If by any chance rice is not well done, add a little more water and cook for a few more minutes. Sometimes it depends on the rice type or brand, but I always cook it this way and it's always perfect!).

Meanwhile, place the sugar, salt and rice vinegar in a small pot over low heat until it dissolves (about 1 minute), while moving the pot and shaking it slowly.
Turn off heat and wait for it to cool.

After 10 minutes, add this seasoning to the rice, slowly, while gently stirring the rice with a wooden spatula. Rice should be shiny and quite loose.

How to make the rolls:

Place the nori sheet on the bamboo rolling mat.
Place the rice in the nori sheet (see photo below).
Add the vegetables, cut into long strips, approximately in the center:

Roll the mat slowly, maintaining uniform pressure along the roll. This first round should be very compact:

Once rolled up, set aside and continue rolling the next one.

When you're finished, cut roll in half and put these two pieces together in parallel, re-cut in half, and again. Do the same with each roll (good way to keep the proportions of each piece).

Serve with wasabi and soy sauce, for dipping.

IDEAS FOR DIFFERENT FILLINGS:

Fried tofu, homemade vegenaise, oshinko (pickled daikon), avocado, cucumber, carrot.

1) Arugula, avocado, "Snapea Crisps" (original), green onions.

2) Cooked spinach, tofu, carrot (this is my version of the Korean "Kim Bap").

3) Kanpyo (cooked dry gourd).

I guess I'll have to post a few more recipes on how to make these...

Miso Soup With Shiitake, Tofu And Udon Noodles

INGREDIENTS (for 2)

6 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 1/2 tbsp Japanese white miso
1 tbsp dried wakame algae
1/2 piece of fresh silk tofu (soft)
1 package udon noodles*
2 tsp vegetable bouillon paste**
1 green onion
4 cups water

*Use rice, sweet potato, or soy noodles for GLUTEN-FREE.
**I usually use "Better Than Boullion".

PREPARATION

Place shiitake mushrooms in a pot and add water. Bring to boil and then simmer on low for 15 minutes (or until mushrooms are soft).
Remove the mushrooms and cut out the stem. Slice mushrooms into thin strips. Reserve.
Add the vegetable bouillon paste to the pot.
Keep broth temperature on low.

Take 1/2 cup of the shiitake broth from the pot and in a separate bowl add white miso.
Mix well. Stir until smooth. Reserve. (This step is important because if the miso is added directly to the pot it does not mix well, thus affecting flavor and texture).

Add shiitake mushrooms, wakame seaweed and noodles to the pot.
Cut tofu into small cubes and add to soup. Cook for 5 minutes.
Remove the outer layer of the green onion. Cut into small thin slices and add to the soup.

Slowly add the miso broth prepared from bowl to the pot and stir well (miso should not boil at any time). Serve immediately!