DROP IT LIKE ITS HOT

LASDI©

It is SO HARD during the holidays to eat healthy, isn't it??  What is it about the season that makes us (me included!) think that it's a free-for-all?  Well this year I have been super-intentional about making sure The Hubster and I don't constantly indulge, but rather try to make healthy foods that taste rich and delicious; like we're not missing out.

So for Meatless Monday (which does NOT sound rich and delicious, does it?) I decided to make something souper-rich (see what I did just there?) with an Asian flare.  And this low-almost-no carb meatless dish did NOT disappoint!  Hot soup on a cold day!  PS  This is so easy it shouldn't taste like the indulgence we experienced!

CARAMELIZED ONION AND EGG DROP SOUP

1 onion, halved, both halves sliced thinly

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 tsp sea salt

pepper

32 oz box chicken broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 green onion, chopped coarsely

3 eggs

1 tbs water

2 tbs sesame oil

Sprinkle evoo into a soup pot and heat on medium-high for about one minute.  Add onions, stir, and let them cook, untouched, for about three minutes.  Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper to taste, stir, and let them cook, untouched, for another three minutes.  Stir, and let cook, untouched for another five minutes. or until caramelized and brown.  Pour chicken broth and soy sauce over onion and bring to a boil, add green onions then turn heat down to low.  Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes and turn heat back up to medium.  Whisk eggs and water in a separate bowl until well-blended and a little frothy.  Slowly pour into the soup mixture, whisking the soup as the eggs go in.  Cook an additional minute or two.  Turn off heat, add sesame oil and gently stir.  Serve with garlic sesame not-bread sticks. 

NOTES: I garnished with chopped parsley, but cilantro would also work here, or no garnish at all would still be yum!

GARLIC SESAME NOT-BREAD STICKS.

(a variation of Fat Head Dough)

3/4 cups almond flour

2 tbs cream cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 tbs garlic powder

pinch of sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 egg

1/4 cup sesame oil

sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a bowl, add almond flour, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper.  Microwave for one minute.  Stir and microwave another 20 seconds.  Add egg and stir until egg is blended into dough.  place between two pieces of parchment paper (see notes) and shape into a rectangle about 1-inch thick.  Remove top piece of parchment paper and bake for about fifteen minutes or until just golden brown.  Spread sesame oil over top of baked dough, sprinkle with desired amount of sesame seeds and bake another five minutes.  Take pizza cutter and slice into bread sticks.  DIP INTO CARAMELIZED ONION AND EGG DROP SOUP!!

NOTES: Parchment paper is key here.  I've tried this with foil and it is sorely disappointing.  PARCHMENT PAPER.  Trust me.

This combo is PERFECT and comforting for this cold holiday weather as well!  Merry Christmas!

SES-A-YOU, SES-A-ME!

LASDI©

I think we are all the busiest person we know these days.  I know I am!  I am really trying to get every piece of the Life As She Does It quadrant perpetuated, and sometimes that means no time for a healthy dinner, or no energy for one......or BOTH!  But I have learned from the tragic example of ex-300-pound me that not carving out that time or energy can cost both my hips and my wallet!  The other night after a crazy-busy day, I found we had two tuna steaks in the freezer, some lettuce, cabbage and onion, and some sesame seeds in the spice cabinet.  This dinner litch-rah-lee took five minutes to make, was inexpensive, healthy, delicious, and SHEtox Week Two-friendly!

SESAME TUNA OVER ASIAN SLAW SALAD

4 tbs coconut oil

2 tuna steaks

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp coriander

2 cups toasted sesame seeds (for color: 1 cup black, 1 cup regular)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 head lettuce, shredded

1/2 head cabbage

1/2 onion, slice fine

1/2 cucumber, sliced

4 radishes, sliced fine

Heat the coconut oil in a heavy skillet (I use my cast-iron skillet, of course!) on medium-high heat.  While it is heating, mix sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, coriander, and sesame seeds in a small bowl.  Roll your tuna steak (see notes) in the spice and sesame seed mixture until all sides are coated and press down into the steak with your fingers.  Place the coated tuna steaks carefully into heated oil and cook for 45 seconds before turning and heating on the other side for 45 seconds (see notes).  With tongs, carefully stand up the steaks on it's perimeter and sear for five seconds on each side, and remove from heat.  Place on a cooling rack or paper towel.  Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sea salt and pepper in a medium-sized bowl ans whisk for about 45 seconds.  Add the vegetables to the bowl and stir.  Serve on a plate with the tuna on top.  Delicious, fast, and inexpensive!  (Ses-a-ME!!)

NOTES: If your tuna is frozen, as mine was, run the water from your faucet until it gets warm, almost hot and put in a bowl.  Place your tuna steaks in the bowl for about a minute or two and they will be ready to roll in your sesame seeds and seasonings to sear!  If you like your tuna somewhat rare, the recipe above is good.  If you like your tuna a little more medium, sear for one minute on each side.  Like it cooked through?  Cook for one minute, fifteen seconds on each side.  It will still be fantastic!  Trust-a-me!

SCALLOPED PLATE

SHE2016©

Fast, easy, healthy, DELICIOUS!  The night I made this I was cooking all week for a catering gig and needed to be able to put dinner on the table without fuss.  I heated some fettuccine foodles (my name for organic tofu shirtaki noodles) and seasoned them with sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder and made them the resting place for these gorgeous scallops, so it was not only low-carb, it was super-fast!  I had some baby bok choy in the fridge that I got from the Asian market (have I mentioned I LOVE the Asian market??) so I threw them in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil for about five minutes and seasoned them with sea salt, pepper, Chinese five spice, and a dash of soy sauce at the end.  Boomshakalaka.  Literally done in about five minutes.  So below is the recipe for the perfect scallop.  The PERFECT scallop.   

THE PERFECT SCALLOP

sea scallops, patted dry with a paper towel (in this case, there were 10)

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 tbs butter

sea salt 

pepper

In a heavy pan (I use my cast-iron, of course!) on medium-high heat, sprinkle enough evoo to cover the bottom and add the butter.  While the oil is heating, sprinkle your scallops with sea salt and pepper on both sides.  When your butter is melted and your oil gives a little smoke, carefully add the scallops, making certain they do not touch.  Cook for about a minute-and-a-half to two minutes on each side, depending on the size.  Each scallop should have about 1/4-inch crust before turning and removing.  Remove from heat and serve immediately.

NOTES: Fresh cracked black pepper is best for this recipe, but if you don't have that, regular ground pepper will work.  Get that pan screaming hot before placing your scallops in the pan or else they will steam cook and you won't get that beautiful golden brown crust.  

On the Third Day of Christmas - I Got Goosed!

SHE©

Our tradition after Christmas Eve Service is Chinese Food takeout because we have usually worked the service somehow, whether I'm leading worship or we are managing the Guest Services Team; this year, I catered with 600 cake ball truffles.  Soooooo, no cooking on Christmas Eve!  Of course, that changes come the next morning when we make the traditional Christmas goose.  So by day-after-Christmas, it's time to figure something out for leftovers!  I took the leftover goose and stir-fried it with veggies in the fridge needing to be cooked, and put it over the leftover fried rice.  It was pretty dang good!!

canola oil

1 pnd leftover Christmas goose (or any comparable meat like chicken or turkey)

1 crown broccoli, chopped

1/2 bok choy, choppped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 cup red cabbage, chopped

1 cup cilantro

1/4 cup peanut butter

3 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs brown sugar

2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced

sesame oil

leftover fried rice (or your own home-made!)

In a wok or heavy pan, coat the sides and bottom of pan up to about 1/2 inch and heat on medium high for about a minute or so.  Add all ingredients up to peanut butter and cook through, about three minutes, stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, and garlic cloves.   Add to the wok, stir through and let cook for one more minute.  Remove from heat.  Serve over reheated (or fresh) fried rice!

NOTES:  Want low-carb?  Simply omit the rice!  

STAPLE IT - WITH A TWIST

I am all about staples.  Some people have one, some have a handful.  They're the go-to's.  You know.....it could be your spaghetti and meatballs.  Or maybe it's the chili you make every winter.  Perhaps it is your mac-n-cheese with the recipe you got from your grandmother.  I have staples, too!  One of them happens to be mini-turkey patties with pan gravy over rice with a side salad.  It is definitely one of my go-to's in a pinch and a staple when I just can't think of something new to make. HOWEVER COMMA, this particular night I had some Asian leftovers to get rid of - and you know me and leftovers!!  So here's what I did: I made the staple, but with a twist.  I created a new-but-old-go-to-staple!  

This image is © 2015 by Life As She Does It. Please link back or credit if any content or images are used.

MINI-ASIAN TURKEY PATTIES 

2 pnds ground turkey

1/4 cup oats

1 egg

1 tbs sea salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tbs garlic powder

1 tbs cumin

1 tbs Chinese five-spice

1/8 cup soy sauce

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

4 tbs extra virgin olive oil (evoo), for cooking

Mix everything down to second evoo in a bowl until just combined (see notes).  With the side of your hand, score the meat mound into eight equal parts.  Roll each one and flatten to a small patty.  Sprinkle the four tablespoons of evoo into a pan and heat on medium for one  minute.  Place four patties at a time into pan and cook for 8 - 10 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and brown on each side.  Let rest on paper towels and serve with pan gravy over rice.

NOTES: Do not mix too much or the meat can get tough.  I use organic turkey for this recipe and it does seem to make a difference in flavor.  I sauteed mushrooms and added atop the patty with gravy for a super-delish punch!

This image is © 2015 by Life As She Does It. Please link back or credit if any content or images are used.

ASIAN BROWN PAN GRAVY

turkey patty bits and juices in the pan

2 tsp almond flour

1/2 tsp cornstarch

2 tsp brown sugar

4 tbs soy sauce

1 cup of your favorite broth (I use my home-made vegetable stock, but chicken broth works here as well)

sea salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

1 tbs butter

In the same pan the patties were cooked in on medium heat, pour almond flour, cornstarch, and brown sugar and cook for one minute.  Turn up the heat to medium-high, add soy sauce and broth and bring to a boil, whisking constantly until thickened.  Add sea salt and pepper.  Remove from heat, add butter and stir, and let sit one minute before pouring over turkey patties and rice.

This image is © 2015 by Life As She Does It. Please link back or credit if any content or images are used.

This image is © 2015 by Life As She Does It. Please link back or credit if any content or images are used.

NOTES:  I cooked the rice like usual, and once it was cooked just added a little diced red pepper,  soy sauce and Chinese five-spice.  For the salad, I used leftover baby bok-choy and Chinese radish and just added a little ground ginger and ketchup to some mayo and mixed it in with lettuce and green onion.  SO YUM.  And leftovers gone.  Waste not, want not!

FISH BOWL

This image is © 2015 by Life As She Does It. Please link back or credit if any content or images are used.

Well.  What do you do when your chiropractor and The Hubster go fishing and catch some real beauts and you've made (the most awesome ever) fish tacos and still have some left??  ASIAN FISH SOUP.  And let me just tell you - it was OUT - STAND - ING.

ASIAN FISH SOUP

3 tbs peanut oil

4 radishes, sliced thin

1 red bell pepper, sliced thin

1 small bunch bok choy, chopped

6 button mushrooms, sliced thin

4 cups vegetable stock (or broth)

2 cups leftover fish taco meat, flaked (or fresh-cooked of your choice)

3 tbs hot oil

1 cup soy sauce

pepper, to taste

3 tbs sesame oil

1/2 cup cilantro

Watch how easy this is: In a large soup pot, heat the peanut oil on medium heat for one minute.  Add radish,  bell pepper, bok choy, and button mushrooms and cook for two minutes, until cooked to al dente.  Add the fish, and cook another minute before adding the broth.  Bring to a slow boil, add hot oil, soy sauce, and pepper and cook another five minutes on low heat.  Remove from heat and add sesame oil and cilantro.  Then EAT IT UP!

NOTES: I use all organic ingredients whenever I can, including the soy sauce.  This is for clean-eating purposes only, and in this particular recipe does not make a difference in the flavor - the star is the fish!  Be careful not to salt this soup, as the soy sauce acts as the salt.  Look for your hot oil on the International aisle in your local grocery store.  In order to get organic I had to order mine online.  Omit if you don't want the heat, but it is definitely not overwhelming and rests on the back of your palette in a mild way.  This was perfect in a time pinch  

How to Tune a Tuna

This image is © 2015 by Life As She Does It. Please link back or credit if any content or images are used.

This was a Sunday Supper night (hence the bread allotment for The Hubster!).  I decided to go with an Asian theme and did a teriyaki tuna steak with soy-sauce roasted Chinese broccoli and savoy cabbage and Japanese milk bread.  It was one of the best Sunday Suppers ever (and also one of the easiest)!  Prefer low-carb?  Eliminate the bread.  (But I wouldn't recommend it!)

TERIYAKI TUNA STEAK

4 tuna steaks

Teriyaki sauce

2 tbs Chinese five-spice

sea salt

pepper

Turn your broiler on to high.  Dab both sides of the tuna with your favorite teriyaki sauce.  Evenly distribute the Chinese five-spice among the tuna steaks, sprinkling on both sides.  Sprinkle both sides with sea salt and pepper to taste and place on a prepared baking sheet.  Broil for three minutes on each side and remove from oven.  Baste a little more teriyaki sauce on top and let rest for two-to-five  minutes.

NOTES: Organic Teriyaki sauce is hard to find, so use your favorite, but check the ingredients label for MSG elimination.  This is also fantastic refrigerated overnight and sliced into a salad!

SOY-SAUCE ROASTED VEGGIES

1 bunch Chinese broccoli

1 small head savoy cabbage, quartered

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

soy sauce

sea salt 

pepper

On a baking sheet, place your vegetables.  Sprinkle all over with evoo, soy sauce, a LITTLE sea salt (see notes), and pepper.  Toss with your hands.  Bake at 350 for fifteen minutes for crispy veggies, and 20-25 for softer veggies.  If you are cooking with the tuna steaks, use the boiler while the tuna steaks rest and broil for 2-5 minutes.

NOTES: Soy sauce is SALTY so easy on your sea salt.  Remember: you can always ADD, but you can never take away.  I use the organic soy sauce I found in the natural food section of my local grocery store.  For palate contrast, I put some raw heirloom cherry-and-grape tomatoes on the plate.  Plus it just looks purty.

JAPANESE MILK BREAD

I used the recipe I found HERE

NOTES: Because the dinner was so fast-and-easy, I started this bread when I got home from church to make certain it was ready when the dinner was.  I schmeared it with tons of sweet, beautiful butter for Adrian.  He asked me to marry him again.  It's THAT GOOD.