Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

  I recommend going heavy on the peanuts I recently finally branched out and tried something new at  Angkor Cambodian Restaurant , and now I'll never branch out ever again because my new favorite dish is too good. They call it Cha Krung, though I've seen a lot of other spellings in my attempt to find recipes. It's a lemongrass stir-fry and they do it with green beans, carrot, onion, and jalapeno, with peanuts on top. The peanuts are amazing in this, but I also really love the way they stir-fry the jalapeno as a vegetable, by removing the seeds and veins and slicing it thin. In my version above I used what I had, which was broccoli, eggplant from the garden, thai chilies instead of the jalapeno (but I'm going to grow jalapenos next year for this purpose), and fresh basil since I found a lot of recipes calling for it. And tofu, though it sounds like chicken is most traditional. I was a bit discouraged when researching recipes because I would need to acquire fresh lemongra

Showing off my banchan setup I've been trying for a long time to branch out from  doenjang jigae  (not that I'm tired of it), and I keep trying to find soondubu jigae that I like, but until now I hadn't succeeded in either a restaurant or a recipe at home. I prefer it without seafood or meat, and as much as I like kimchi, I don't love it in stews. So in the end I keep having stew that feels like it's missing something. But this one! This one is delicious. I worked from  this recipe from Food52 . It's the first soondubu jigae recipe that I've found that has gochujang and doenjang, so maybe it's less traditional than some, but I like it. It gives it the richness that I enjoy in doenjang jigae, but it's different enough that I feel like I have a second korean stew in my repertoire now. My changes were to omit the kimchi and to substitute dried shiitakes for the enoki mushrooms, though I'd love to use enoki mushrooms in this when I have some. This wa

  Next time with toasted sesame seeds on top? I had a hot tip that green beans were good with ssamjang, and I've been waiting for this summer's garden green beans so I could try it. I came across  this recipe  and was intrigued by the inclusion of fresh tomatoes, so I used it as my starting point. My changes were baking the tofu (with olive oil and salt) instead of steaming it, skipping the black pepper, and adding a chopped thai chili that I'd found in the garden when I went out for the green beans. I think there's room for more experimentation, and I'm thinking it'll be a drizzle of sesame oil at the end, plus some toasted sesame seeds on top. But I love the richness of the tomato+ssamjang, and it was a great spice level. The Recipe: 2 handfuls green beans, trimmed 1 fresh chili pepper, minced 1 block tofu, cubed and fried or baked 2 whole tomatoes, boiled a few minutes until softened 1/2 onion, sliced 1 tb ssamjang salt, to taste rice, for serving In a pan, s

  If I'd known how good this would be, I would have taken a better photo. Will update next time. The inspiration for this one came from the same place as the pav bhaji -  Beryl's video  about foods that kids love around the world. And just like the last one, the kids weren't into it (yet?) but the husband loved it. The only time I'd previously had groundnut stew is at  Cafe Yumm . It's my favorite soup to put in their "souper" bowl, which reminds me that I should have set some of this stew aside to make my own Yumm bowl with it. Next time. This version is much better than the one at Cafe Yumm, and the husband says it's his new favorite food. It's going into the rotation. I worked from  this recipe  from SimplyRecipes, and the only changes I made were to make it vegetarian. I replaced the chicken stock with vegetable stock and I replaced the chicken with Quorn's Meatless Chicken Pieces, which I know is a weird unnatural and probably unhealthy fo

  This looked like too much red onion, but it was actually not enough. I watched  this Beryl video  about meals that kids love around the world, and it said that kids in India love pav bhaji. I had doubts that my kids would be into it, but I thought it looked delicious, so I looked it up.  I used  this recipe  from Ministry of Curry. The only changes I made were 1 red bell pepper instead of half of two different peppers, snap peas instead of frozen peas because I have lots in the garden, no tomato paste because I didn't have any, a few more tomatoes to make up for that, and unbuttered untoasted brioche buns instead of buttered toasted potato buns, because that sounded better to me. When I saw Beryl's plate with all of the red onions, I didn't get it. I get it now. Lots of red onion is the way to go. One kid didn't like it and the other wasn't even willing to taste it, but I have hopes for the future. Also, it seems like it would be good just over rice with a dollop

  Nobody point out to the kids that this muffin is green. This is the latest installment of my ongoing efforts to get the toddler to eat more vegetables and fiber. Both kids like these, and nobody has questioned the greenish tint. I worked from  this recipe . The changes I made are: adding spinach, replacing the two egg whites with one whole egg, replacing the honey/molasses with extra brown sugar for FODMAP reasons, and adding some (gluten-free) flour because I just didn't trust that oat bran alone would allow these to set in the oven. The Recipe: 1c oat milk 1 egg 1/2c frozen spinach, defrosted 2 tb canola oil 2c oat bran 1/3c brown sugar (or a little more, depending on toddler's pickiness level at the moment) 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/3c gluten-free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill 1:1) 1/2c blueberries In a food processor (I used a magic bullet), blend the spinach with the milk, egg, and oil. In a bowl, combine this mixture with the sugar. Add the dry ingredients a

  Toasted sesame seeds are maybe not traditional, but they're delicious. This is my attempt to recreate the beautiful simplicity of my favorite dish at  Sabai . I've tried many times to find a good recipe for Thai "garlic sauce," or "garlic and black pepper sauce," but Sabai lists it with a real name (pad pak ruammit) and that led me to my most successful google search yet. I worked from  this recipe from Siam Sizzles . It's good, but it needed a bit more oomph. Specifically: 1) Add freshly cracked black pepper 2) Increase the proportion of soy sauce 3) Drizzle chili oil on top, to taste Sabai still does it better, but this is delicious. The Recipe: 1 tb sugar 3 tb soy sauce, plus more to taste 2 tb oyster sauce 2 tb water 2 tb sesame oil freshly cracked black pepper, to taste 1 block tofu, cubed and baked or fried 1 red bell pepper, sliced 1 handful snap peas, sliced 1 crown broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces 1/2 onion, sliced 2 cloves garlic, minced

BEFORE: AFTER: Still to come: a beautiful new induction range and some wood shelving on the left side, above the backsplash. And maybe the shelving unit on the wall facing the cabinets should be green, but we're going to live with a while before making that decision.

So good with rice. I came across  this recipe  for what promised to be addictive, Izakaya-style salted cabbage, and was excited to try it. I didn't have anything resembling chicken bouillon powder, so I left that out altogether, and even so, it was absolutely delicious and definitely addictive. I'll be trying it again with bouillon powder. The Recipe: 1/4 of a medium-sized cabbage, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 tb sesame oil 1/2 tb toasted sesame seeds 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 1 garlic clove, grated Optional for the future - 1/8 tsp bouillon powder Place all ingredients in a bowl and massage the seasonings into the cabbage to distribute evenly. The Verdict: Overall grade: A Overall reason: The easiest possible delicious healthy side dish! Time to prepare: 5 minutes Husband quote: I was too focused on the cabbage to pay attention, but I think he liked it too.  

  This picture brought to you by dropping the entire loaf on its way out of the oven, thereby losing the top layer. Who is in charge of the photography around here??? Another low-FODMAP recipe for the toddler, and this one packs a good amount of hidden carrots inside! I worked from  this recipe from Flavor the Moments . I swapped the coconut oil for vegetable oil (easier), coconut sugar for brown sugar (I had no coconut sugar), skipped the ginger and nutmeg and coconut and walnut (toddler), and upped the carrot content (nutrition). I also added a little bit of flour (Bob's Red Mill 1-1 gluten free flour) to make sure it would bake ok, since I had added extra carrots and I was also turning a muffin recipe into a bread. It was DELICIOUS, even with all of my changes. This will be a staple around here. The Recipe: 1/3 c vegetable oil 3/4 c brown sugar (could probably get away with less) 2 eggs 3/4 c almond milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 c oat flour 1/3 c flour (gluten free if necessary)

It's more photogenic with real oat flour. This one is made from baby oatmeal powder for the extra iron. I've tried a lot of oat-flour baking concoctions for the toddler. He is generally so excited to have anything resembling bread that he eats them no matter what, but lots of them haven't held together and/or haven't tasted great. This one has been reliable, even when I do things like swap the oat flour for baby oatmeal powder, and it's simple to make. And it tastes good! I never cared before about "healthier" recipes that bragged that they used only maple syrup as sweetener, with no white sugar. It felt all the same to me. But toddler belly definitely seems happier digesting maple syrup, so here we are. It's from  Detoxinista , and I didn't make any changes to the recipe except that I usually use butter instead of coconut oil.  The Recipe: 1.5 c oat flour 3/4 c pumpkin puree 1 c maple syrup 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice 3 eggs 1/4 c melted butter or coc

Since the rest of the family doesn't share my desire to eat Korean stew every day, I've been wanting to try a Japanese-type stew as a compromise. I got excited when I read  this Oden recipe  from Just One Cookbook, because the broth and method seemed to match what I was looking for. I've made it twice so far: once with the traditional fish cakes and hard boiled eggs, and once just with tofu and vegetables. I kept the original recipe's instructions for the broth, and I also kept their additions of daikon radish (because I still have about 15 in the ground from this fall's garden), kombu, and green onion. To that, I added some shredded cabbage, sliced zucchini, and soft tofu in the one without fish cakes, all of which makes it feel a bit more like the Korean stews that I crave. The full array of fish cakes was a bit too much for me, but I think it would be perfect to have just one small package of fish cakes together with tofu and vegetables. The eggs were really good