Crunch Crunch Salad

This is my go-to salad on a lazy day because it can be whipped up in minutes.  I love it when recipes contain only two steps!  I made this particular salad during a Mother's Day barbeque a few months ago.  It is a great way to add vegetables to the meal when you are busy preparing other items that need a bit more attention.  It is so easy, you can even let go a little and delegate it to someone else!

Cucumber, Radish, and Tomato Salad

Ingredients
- 6 Japanese cucumbers (I like to substitute with Persian cucumbers since it is cheaper, but has the same freshness and crunch!)
- 2 large tomatoes
- 4-6 red radishes
- 1 Tbsp Japanese sesame dressing (such as this), to taste
- 2 tsp Japanese mayo (such as this), to taste
- ground pepper (to taste)

Steps
1. Roughly cut cucumbers, tomatoes, and radishes to your liking (cubed or thick slice, as long as it is bite-size)

2. Toss cucumbers, tomatoes, and radishes in a bowl with Japanese sesame dressing, mayo, and ground pepper.  Serve cold.

Serves 6-8.

Chicken From A Crock Pot

Have you ever been intimidated with cooking a whole chicken?  Well, with a crock pot, you don't have to be.  The only messy part you have to deal with is cleaning out the chicken, because the pot will take care of it all and put your headache to rest!  The chicken comes out full of flavor and falls of the bone so quickly that you don't even have time to catch it.  Yes, let's all drool a little...

Slow-Cooked Whole Chicken

Ingredients
- 1 ~3 lbs whole chicken
- 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 4 stalks of green onions, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper

Tools
- crock pot

Steps
1. Place chicken in a large contain and add chopped onions and green onions.  Combine liquid ingredients, salt, and pepper and rub all over chicken.  Marinate chicken for about 12 hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator.

2. Place chicken, vegetables, and liquid goods in the crock pot and turn on High.  Cook for about 3 hours.  Use thermometer to check if chicken is done. (Wow, two steps?  That's it??)

Serves 6-8.

Just one tip...
...because the chicken is slow-cooked, it is very tender and very delicate.  I had some issues taking the chicken out of the crock pot without breaking up the entire chicken.  In the end, I used a straight meat fork and the outside part of the tongs to carefully (and I mean really carefully) take it out.  Just use a little patience and steady hands.

Blanched green beans and chicken... a great combo.

Sweet Almond Cookies

I found another recipe from the archives.  These delicious and buttery cookies were made about 3 years ago for our housewarming party (wow, it will be 4 years this November since we've moved in to our house!).  I need some type of ocassion to make them again.

Almond Cookies
from Simply Recipes

I made a few changes to the recipe:
- used ground almonds (thanks to food processor)
- used 2 tsp of vanilla extract because didn't have any almond extract
- rolled into balls instead of molding into crescents. 

Mix mix mix...











All ingredients added and mixed, ready to be placed on baking sheet.










Hand-rolled cookie balls ready for the oven.













Serves many happy people! :)

Just Pictures: A little bit of Basil in my life

My husband randomly started singing "Mambo Number 5" by Lou Bega a few days ago and now it's stuck in my head...

Once upon a time, there were two pretty and fragrant basil plants... the end.

Happy Friday!!

Fishy Noodles

I feel adventurous lately, and it's paying off!  Fish roe has become a new favorite item for me, and I really enjoy eating Japanese-style pasta every now and then.  I usually only get Japanese pasta at the restaurants, but when I saw easy sauce packs at the local Japanese supermarket, I had to give it a try.  Adding a couple of little twists, I use udon noodles instead and added some green peas.  The end result?  The hubby approves.

Spicy Mentaiko Udon

Ingredients
- 1 pack S&B Spicy Cod Roe Spaghetti Sauce and 1 pack of seaweed strips (package contains 2 packs of sauce and seaweed strips)

- 2 packs of udon noodles, frozen
- 1/4 cup frozen green peas
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp olive oil (per egg)

Steps
1. Bring a pot of water to boil and drop in frozen udon noodles and frozen peas for 2 minutes (and no longer! Don't worry if the water doesn't boil again).  Drain water and place udon and peas in a big bowl.

2. Add the pack of spicy cod roe sauce to the noodles and toss.  Separate noodles into 2 bowls or plates.

3. Heat a pan with 2 tsp olive oil and fry the egg, about 1-2 minutes on each side (you want a runny yolk for this dish).  Repeat for the second egg.

4. Place fried egg on top of noodles and add seaweed strips.

Serves 2.

I paired the noodles with homegrown cherry tomatoes salad.  So sweet. 

Saucy Dish - Japanese Hayashi Sauce

I took a risk one day at the Japanese supermarket and bought this brown-looking sauce that was on sale.  I actually never tried hayashi sauce until this year!  It's thick like curry but without the spices.  It's salty enough that you have to eat it with rice or noodles.  It's definintely something new that I've never tasted before.  I love the fact that it's really simple and quick to make (nothing beats cooking directions right off the box), and you can add any type of chopped meat (even ground!) and vegetables to the sauce.

Egg-Wrapped Rice and Hayashi Sauce

Ingredients
Hayashi Sauce:
- 1/2 lb shoulder pork, cut into cubes
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup mushroom, sliced
- 4 blocks of hayashi sauce (half of the box)

Eggs and rice:
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 stalk of green onion, finely diced
- dash of salt
- 2 tsp olive oil (per egg pancake)
- 2 cups of Japanese rice, cooked according to packaging label

Tools
- cast iron pot
- small frying pan
- football-shaped rice mold

Steps
Hayashi Sauce (directly from back of the box):
1. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and saute onions and celery until light brown.  Add in meat and cook until brown.

2. Add water, carrots, peas, and mushroom and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

3. Remove from heat. Break 4 blocks of hayashi sauce (half of the box contents) into the water mixture and stir until completely melted. Bring the pot back to the stove and let it simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve when ready.

Eggs and rice:
1. Once the rice is cooked, scoop rice into mold and carefully place onto a plate.

2. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a small frying pan.  Beat up eggs and add in green onions and dash of salt.  Add in a quarter of the egg liquids and spread the egg mix around until the pan is covered.  Carefully flip to the other side and cook for about 10 seconds.  Take egg pancake out of the pan and place egg over rice mold. Repeat for the 3 other egg pancakes.

5. Pour a big spoonful of hayashi sauce over egg and rice.

Serves 4.

Blueberries... and Cake and Cake!

Mini Blueberry Bundt Cakes
from Rasa Malaysia

These cakes were made following the exact recipe but I had changed a couple of steps due to the type of pan I was using.  The recipe called for a bundt pan (regular size) but I only had mini ones.  I searched online and learned to fill up the mini pans about half way, and only bake them for about 20-25 minutes in the oven.  Set at 20 minutes and use a toothpick to see if the middle is dry.  If not, set for 2-3 more minutes and check again, until toothpick is dry.

Makes 12 mini cakes.

I packed a few away for my mom and sisters.

Just Pictures: Los Angeles Adventure

The adventure...
- Five consecutive days with the entire family (pops, mom, older sister, brother-in-law, 4-year old nephew, younger sister, and husband)
- Two hotel rooms
- One large SUV (gotta love the Toyota Highlander hybrid!)
- Endless hours of "family time"... yay...

The reason?  A grand wedding located in Newport Beach.

The highlights: watching my cousin say "I do", a fun-filled day with an overexcited nephew at Disneyland and California Adventures, a rare occasion of shopping with the girls of the family, and of course, the food was glorious. 

85C Bakery & Cafe // Irvine, CA

Famous bakery from Taiwan.  Insanely fresh and fluffy breads and pastries (yes, beyond your imagination), with many innovative items such as garlic squid ink rolls and pudding bread, with old time favorites such as pork sung bun, honey cake, and brioche.  My all-time favorite is their blueberry bread, filled with a generous amount of blueberry cream cheese and wrapped in a light and soft bread shell.  
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Bruxie // Orange, CA

The best chicken and waffles EVER (and ever... and ever...)

Bacon, egg, and cheddar

Wild mushroom and arugula

Lemon cream and berries

Vanilla milkshake

Mint chocolate milkshake

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Din Tai Fung // Arcadia, CA

To die for steamed pork soup dumplings (xiao long bao).  Simply the best.

(From left to right, clockwise)
Steamed chicken soup

Chilled cucumber

Spicy shrimp and pork wontons
Shanghai rice cake
Sauteed garlic green beans

Most photos are courtesy of older sister L (thanks for letting me steal).