#148 Flank steak with Bok choi

Bok choi (one of the vegetables pictured below) is a green leafy vegetable,  it has white succulent stalks and is highly nutritious. It is also called chinese cabbage, pak choi, or bokchoy. You can find plenty in Asian markets and in the leafy green section of your favorite grocery store. We grow it also in the Philippines and we call it Pechay, or Petsay. It is really easy to grow, my Mom has a garden full of it. Ever wonder what you can make with bok choi leaves?  There are many ways to enjoy it! We add it in clear soups and stir fries. This recipe by Lisa Bell that I found years ago in a Cooking Light magazine is just one of many dishes that you can make using bokchoy, she added shiitake mushrooms, but I omitted it. You can add about a cup of sliced shiitake, and cook it with the bell peppers and onions, it tastes great! I have tried making it with shiitake many times, I just did not have any on that day. What I love about this recipe? It's quick cooking and inexpensive, low in fat since very little oil is required, and the use of a leaner cut of beef: the flank steak. Bok choi contains just 13 calories per 100g. It's a delicious dish that will allow extra calories to consume for the day. :)

Yield: serves 4

 

FLANK STEAK with BOK CHOI

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
4 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 pound flank steak, trimmed and thinly sliced
Cooking spray
1 cup thinly vertically sliced onion
1 cup red bell pepper strips
4 cups sliced bok choy (about 1 medium head)
1 cup less-sodium beef broth

Directions:

1. Combine ginger, garlic, soy sauce, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, oil, and crushed red pepper in a large zip-top bag; add steak to bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 20 minutes.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray, and add onion, and bell pepper to pan. Cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender; transfer to a large bowl. Add bok choy to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until slightly wilted; add to bowl; keep warm.
3. Recoat pan with cooking spray. Add half of steak mixture to pan; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a large bowl; keep warm. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add remaining steak mixture to pan; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add to bowl; keep warm.
4. Combine broth and remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch, stirring with a whisk. Add to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Return steak and vegetables to pan; toss gently to coat.

Recipe adapted from: Lisa Bell, Cooking Light, 2005

 

Flank steak is a lean, flavorful, boneless cut favored in Asian cuisines. This thin, flat steak comes from a well-exercised part of the cow, as evidenced by its striated muscle fibers and connective tissue.

Eat up your bokchoy!  Here are the nutritional benefits of this low calorie vegetable:

• Bok choy is one of the popular leafy-vegetables very low in calories. Nonetheless, it is very rich source of many vital phyto-nutrients, vitamins, minerals and health-benefiting anti-oxidants.
  
• 100 g of bok choy contains just 13 calories. It is one of the recommended vegetables in the zero calorie or negative calorie category of foods which when eaten would add no extra weight to the body but in-turn facilitate calorie burns and reduction of weight.
  
• As in other Brassica family vegetables, bok choy too contains certain anti-oxidant plant chemicals like thiocyanates, indole-3-carbinol, lutein, zea-xanthin, sulforaphane and isothiocyanates. Along with dietary fiber, vitamins these compounds help to protect against breast, colon, and prostate cancers and help reduce LDL or "bad cholesterol" levels in the blood.
  
• Fresh pak choi is an excellent source of water-soluble antioxidant, vitamin-C (ascorbic acid). 100 g provides 45 mg or 75 % of daily requirements of vitamin C. Regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
  
• Bok-choy has more vitamin A, carotenes, and other flavonoid polyphenolic anti-oxidants than cabbage, cauliflower, etc. Just 100 g of fresh vegetable provides 4468 IU or 149% of daily-required levels vitamin A.
  
• Pak choi is a very good source of vitamin K, provides about 38% of RDA levels. Vitamin-K has a potential role in bone metabolism by promoting osteotrophic activity in bone cells. Therefore, enough vitamin K in the diet makes your bone stronger, healthier and delay osteoporosis. Further, vitamin-K also has established role in curing Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain.
  
•  Fresh bok choy has many vital B-complex vitamins such as pyridoxine (vitamin B6), riboflavin, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine, and thiamin (vitamin B-1). These vitamins are essential in the sense that our body requires them from external sources to replenish.
  
• Further, this leafy vegetable is a moderate source of minerals, particularly calcium, phosphorous, potassium, manganese, iron and magnesium. Potassium is an important electrolyte in the cell and body fluids that helps regulate heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron is required for the red blood cell formation.
  

   source: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/bok-choy.html

Good food that is really easy to make!

#117 Baked Spinach Wonton Crisp

I had so much of spinach left in the fridge and I did not want to waste it nor freeze it  yet without using atleast half of it, so a quick search online led me to spinach wraps recipes. I found a great recipe but had one problem, I had no phyllo sheets and did not want to drive a total of 45 minutes just to get it from the store. However, I had a pack of  unopened wonton wrappers and found out that I can use it too, and then bake it. It came out really crisp and delicious. This will make a great appetizer dish, and the amounts in this recipe is great for entertaining.

Yield: Serves 10 or more

BAKED SPINACH WONTON CRISP

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, crushed
olive oil
2 bags baby spinach, cleaned
salt
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup neufchâtel cheese
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
½ tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
sundried tomatoes, chopped
pepper
1 package square or round Wonton wrappers
Olive oil spray


 Directions:

1. Sauté garlic in a small amount of olive oil. Add spinach and salt (to taste) and cook until spinach is wilted. Drain well, squeeze out water then let cool.
2. Add ricotta, basil, mint, sundried tomatoes and pepper to spinach mixture and mix well.
3. Lay out one wonton wrapper, keeping the rest covered with a damp cloth so they do not dry out. In the center of the wrapper, place  ½ tablespoon of spinach mixture. Spread water over the edges of the wrapper and fold into a triangle. Ensure that edges are tightly sealed by pressing down with a fork.
4. To bake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay out wontons on a baking tray, and coat with olive oil spray. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over and bake for another 10 minutes, until crisp. 

Recipe adapted from here

Fun dish, this is one of my new to go snack/appetizer, and a great way to use up spinach before they go bad.

#108 Mongolian Beef

I saw this in a recent Cooking Light's 300-calorie main dishes magazine, and had to cook it A.S.A.P. Just like everybody else, I love tasty meat dishes and  this is definitely a good recipe to use. I liked this dish because of the delicious mix of the strong flavors from the garlic, ginger and the sambal oelek. We omitted the peanut oil, and it still tasted amazing! It's a great mix of sauce, tender meat, scallions and seasonings. It cooks fast, has a flavorful exotic taste, has a little spicy kick to it, just the way I like it. I learned another great way to cook beef. Yum!

Contrary to popular belief, Mongolian Beef, is not drawn from  Mongolian Cuisine. Some say it originated in the US, where it is served in Chinese-American restaurants.

Yield: Serves 4

MONGOLIAN BEEF


Ingredients:

2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons peanut oil (we used vegetable oil)
1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced across the grain
16 medium green onions, cut into 2 inch pieces


Directions:

1. Combine first 8 ingredients; stir with a whisk until smooth.
2. Heat oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic, and beef; sauté for 2 minutes or until beef is browned. Add onions; sauté for 30 seconds. Add soysauce mixture; cook 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly.

Recipe adapted from 2013 Cooking Light Magazine 300 calorie main dishes

 

A great, easy, 300-calorie dinner!

#58 Fried Turkey Spring Rolls

Spring rolls are filled rolled appetizers, and has many variations. The name is a literal translation of the Chinese chūn juǎn (春卷 'spring roll') found in East Asian and Asian cuisine. In the Philippines, we call it "lumpia". This was my very first time to make spring rolls, although I am terrified of hot oil splatters, I was very excited to make it. After battling heavy traffic that evening just to get the egg roll wrappers, I was  happy to be home and ready to cook. My little helper was equally excited. I had ground turkey meat in the fridge so I decided to invent my own turkey fried spring roll recipe based on what ingredients I had available. So here it is.

Turkey Spring Rolls 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey meat

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus 2 cups for deep frying

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/2 head of cabbage, shredded

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup diced carrots

1 tablespoon chicken base

salt and pepper to taste

egg roll wrappers (you can find these at frozen sections of grocery stores)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/3 cup hot water

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, then add the garlic, onions, ground turkey meat and chicken base. Stir well.
2. Add the frozen peas and carrots and cook until the meat is done. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
3. Combine cornstarch and hot water, mix well to form a paste. Set aside.
4. Heat 2 cups of vegetable oil in a deep frying pan or skillet in medium high heat. You can add more oil if your pan needs more depth.
5. Combine cooked turkey meat filling and raw cabbage.
6. Lay an egg roll wrapper with a corner pointed towards you. Add 1/4 cup of filling. Fold the bottom corner first, then the left and right corners toward the center. Roll and seal with the cornstarch mixture.
7. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Remove from oil.
8. Drain on a rack or using paper towels.

This was one crunchy spring roll! We dipped it in sweet chili sauce. I was proud of myself. A friend who was an avid Panda Express' egg roll fan was over for dinner and told me that this was way better than his favorite. He is a very honest person and he tells me truth. Haha. (I hope). Why of course! It's from my global kitchen. ;) It took some time to finish the rolling part, but it was well worth the effort! The turkey meat, was just perfect. I had to stop myself from eating more than enough! We learned many variations, and will definitely make them soon. We had a very good conversation  over dinner about China being the place of origin of this satisfying dish. Good times. I hope for many more.

#48 Chocolate Covered Kiwifruit

I learned that kiwifruit is native to China and that Italy is the largest global producer.

Did you know, that you can bite right in on its fuzzy skin? YES, the skin is edible!

This highly nutritious fruit can also be used as a meat tenderizer- nice to know!

CHOCOLATE COVERED KIWIFRUIT


Ingredients:

Ripe kiwifruit, peeled and sliced
Chocolate


Directions:

1. Melt chocolate, then coat the sliced kiwifruit.
2. Let it stand for a few minutes, allowing the chocolate to harden.
3. Or just eat go ahead and eat it!

 

 Irresistible. I surrender.

#3 Chowmein (炒麵, "fried noodles") from China

So this was an easy choice last night. We always like our noodles. Chow mein which has many variations is, in my opinion, best when cooked with crisp vegetables, not soggy and not too salty.

Here's my recipe for our own version of chāu-mèing

garlic

green onions

celery

red bell pepper

bean sprouts

toasted sesame seed oil

olive oil ( you can use peanut oil, we're allergic)

dark soy sauce

chicken base

skinless chicken breast

cornstarch

chow mein noodles

chili sauce (optional)

1. In a ziploc, put a spoonful of cornstarch. Add the slices of skinless chicken breast. Shake to mix and coat the chicken.
2. Saute´ garlic in olive oil in medium high heat. Add chicken.  Then add the  dark soysauce. Let it cook. Set aside without removing from the pan.
3. Add the chow mein noodles in a large pot of boiling water and let it cook for 3 minutes. Careful not to over cook it. Remove the noodles from the water once cooked and then quickly drain it.
4. Microwave half a cup of water  in high for 1 1/2 minutes, then add the chicken base. Stir well.
5. Put the chicken back to medium heat. Add the noodles to your garlic & chicken.
6. Add the chicken base liquid to your chicken and noodles.
7. Mix well but gently.
8. Turn off heat.
9. Add your vegetables, mix well and then cover. If you are using an electric stove, take the pan off the stovetop after 1-2 minutes if you want your vegetables to be crisp.

I like eating vegetables raw, crisp and crunchy. Over cooking kills the natural flavors for me. This dish is very similar to the Philippines' Pancit Canton. I like this one, especially because it's very simple, light and every one finished a plate full :)

Chow Mein noodles

We like using organic chicken 

Green Onions

Celery & Bell Pepper

I love celery.

I like buying my oils & spices from Trader Joe's

I love the store. It's inexpensive & very easy to eat healthy

Crisp veggies lay on top

Somebody was busy drawing again :)

"Ni- hao", she writes.

She asked me to find Chinese writings, we read about 10 short sentences and it's translation.

We learned where The Peoples' Republic of China is.

It's population, it's languages and dialects. 

They have a great history that we will learn in the near future.

We saw pictures of it's amazing cities and of the Great Wall.

We also thought the Giant Panda Bears are too cute.

And that chow mein is actually an English Speaker's pronunciation of  'chāu-mèing' ,

as pronounced by the Taishanese immigrants from China to America.

We also learned that on the East Coast, the term "Chow Mein" refers to crispy noodles or "Hong Kong Style". The steamed style noodles is called "Lo Mein".

On the West Coast, the term "Chow Mein" is always the steamed style, while the crispy style is called  "Hong Kong style". I would love to get a feedback on this :)

Here's our Chinese dinner.

And here is a picture of us dining outdoors somewhere in Beijing. And we both wore purple. (^.^)