Beet-Dyed Egg

 

This jewel-toned egg.

The garnet hue.

But the color goes all the way through the white, and into the yolk too!

This is what happens when you let the egg hang out in the beet juice for a few days. If only overnight, you get a nice red rim around the inside edge when you slice it open.

What should I make with this beauty? ❤

Fried Egg Open Face Sandwich

 

Today TinySprite's snack is on the plate because we have a little time before we have to take off for activities. This sandwich might seem unusual to some people. Is it? But maybe not. I'm trying to load as much nutrition on the toast (her favorite means of caloric intake) as possible.

I already mentioned the dill pickle hummus; it has an extra tang. The split pea and quinoa I cooked on the stovetop and kept it on the spreadable consistency side. I added curry to it for flavor. The egg is sprinkled with turmeric and paprika, and the Sichuan pickles condiment I found at the Asian market. Hope she likes it!

The Chopped Salad

 Nothing like a fresh cold salad on a hot summery fall day, right? This is my take on the Nancy's Chopped Salad, of Pizzeria Mozza fame. I've eaten it many times and it's so satisfying I think because it doesn't feel like you're eating a salad so much as having an italian sub sandwich minus the bread, a thought smitten kitchen put into my head.

I didn't add the radicchio but otherwise it's pretty much on the money. Just add what you see here, plus whatever else you want, in the proportions you like. Add your favorite red wine vinaigrette and it's ready to eat.

This salad will be a hit with the whole fam, even the ones that hate salad. Plus, it's so quick and easy to put together. Yum!

Beet Tofu Avocado Pickle Onigirazu

 

This one may be vegetarian but it's substantial and flavorful. I wanted to make a snack for TinySprite using some random ingredients I had from salads this week. So here's what I did:

First I put the rice (this one is a mix of black, brown, and white), then I placed some baby kale leaves to keep the sliced beets from making the rice soggy. Then I layered sliced tofu, avocado, pickled red cabbage and red onion, then topped with baby spinach leaves to protect the rice again. To the bento I added sliced pluots, raspberries and yellow pear tomatoes. 

All packed up for TinySprite when she gets home from school. Happy Friday friends!

 

Garlic Chili Oil Noodles

Had a craving for some spicy noods so did a quick search for a garlicky chili oil sauce to go with my new batch of knife-cut noodles.

Have you tried these before? I bought mine dried, and after you boil them you can see they have a frilly edge which is thinner than the center. They are cut using a special tool to create this unique shape. I admit I bought them because of their delicate beauty. But also I heard that they hold onto the sauce well. Big plus.

I sort of followed a general recipe but took a few liberties. The basic gist is shoyu, dark shoyu, black vinegar, chili oil (I used Lao Gan Ma chili crisp), extra chili powder, minced garlic, chopped scallions, sesame oil, and roasted peanuts (I pan toasted these in oil separately to get them crunchy before I added them). After the sauce is done, toss the drained noodles into the pan, coat thoroughly and enjoy!

Everyone else here seemed to like it but I'm looking for something a tad bit more spicy (and oily) with less soy. I should have known just by looking at it. Why didn't I just go with my gut and dump some chili oil on my bowl? Sometimes I just want chili and oil. But probably the garlic is crucial here too. I'm just going to have to tweak the proportions to suit my particular taste. This version is worth keeping for the fam though👍🏼

Sardine Melt Sandwich Bento

Throughout the pandemic while the kids were distance learning at home, they handled their own lunches and snacks. Since they were on completely different schedules and the kitchen is steps away from their workstations it was easy for them. One of TinySprite's favorites was toast. Toast with all kinds of various toppings. So today I will copy one of her standards... 

Sardines on toast! Now before you make a face, did you know that sardines are high in omega-3 fatty acids, calcium and selenium, and much lower in mercury than your usual tuna? They are high in protein and very good for you. Here's how I made mine.

Toast bread til crunchy. Smear on some dill pickle hummus, then zhoug sauce (or your preferred tangy sauce; maybe even pesto, salsa or hot sauce). Drain the sardines and add them in chunks to cover the whole toast. Add cheese on top, put the sandwich back in the oven, and broil to melt.

Take out of oven and add baby spinach and pickled red onions on top. That's it! I used a slightly larger bento box today so I could add a cup of sliced dinosaur pluots. These are my favorite stone fruit and I'm surprised they're stil in season right now. Still so sweet and juicy too. Hope she likes it!

Chicken Salad Onigirazu Bento

TinySprite is in high school now, can you believe it? Time flies; seems like only yesterday she was in preschool and enjoying her little snack bento at home.

After school these days she has only a short break before extracurricular activities so I decided to make her a little snack bento to tide her over. This one is onigirazu, which is a handheld rice ball filled with various proteins and veggies. Today I made a filling with the ingredients of our chicken salad from yesterday. First thing I did is lay out all tools and foods I'll be using.

I scoop the rice into a small ramekin for two reasons: it helps measure the portion size and it makes a nice compact round flattened rice ball in the center of the nori, placed shiny side down. My rice is a mixture of red, white and brown.

Next, pile on the ingredients you've chosen. Try to stay neatly on the rice patty. I used shredded romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, sliced purple radish, shredded chicken, some dressing, then more lettuce. Be creative and use whatever you like!

Sorry I didn't take process photos of the folding but I folded the bottom right corner in first, then the top left over that, then the two other sides. I used parchment paper but you can also use plastic wrap.

You're left with a nice neat package that you can then slice in half for visual appeal. Or you could keep it a surprise! 

I sliced mine because I'm excited to see how it looks. Try to remember which way the lengths of lettuce and chicken go so you can make a crosswise cut.

Pick a box that's small enough to keep the onigirazu from moving around. A clear lid lets her see what she's getting, and it looks so pretty and colorful. Snap the lid closed and you're ready to go. Hope she likes it!

Update: I think she liked it👍🏼

Healthy Mac and Cheese

I've made a lot of mac and cheese throughout my bentomaking years (I just went back and did a search through the website via the search box on the top right -->). But today I had to find a way to make it without milk. As usual, I also added veggies. This time I used minced broccoli, chopped zucchini, and chopped kuri squash.

You're probably saying, but you need milk! It has to be creamy! Well, I happened to not have milk in the house so I had to find a way to make do. I previously always made a roux with milk and flour but this time I just added shredded cheddar and parmesan to the cooked pasta and sauteed veggies. Guess what? It's still good! You can keep it vegetarian, or add protein if you like; I used soyrizo (so still vegetarian). Use your favorite spices; I used paprika, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, and pepper. Toss together and it's done. So good!

Mac and Cheese No Milk Method

1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked al dente

1 cup broccoli, chopped small

1 cup zucchini, chopped small

1 cup kuri (or other squash), chopped small

1 cup onion, chopped small

3 cloves garlic, minced

soyrizo (or sausage or other protein), to taste

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese (or other cheese of choice)

Saute the veggies in olive oil until soft. Add your favorite spices (I used paprika, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper). Add soyrizo. Add pasta, toss together. Add the cheese, mix together. 

Morning Meal

This morning I felt like making a comfort meal: 

pan-fried teriyaki wild Coho salmon onigiri with furikake, tamagoyaki, fresh tomatoes from the garden, and green tea with goji berries. The only thing missing was miso soup. And maybe something pickled. I'll work on that for next time.

Hope you are holding up during the new school year, which for us means Zoom and Google Meet classes at home. The kids have been preparing their own snacks and lunches themselves, according to how their screen breaks work out. I'm thinking about sharing some of their creations here. Stay tuned!

Toast Of The Day: Colorful Tomatoes!

Nice to be able to look at my colorful toast and feel cheerful!

These are some of my favorite flavors, tossed together like a salad on a piece of crispy bread. Can you get rainbow-hued tomatoes where you are? It may be nearly fall, but just looking at this pretty snack makes me think of summer.

Happy toasting, friends! 😊❤🍱🍞

Baking Adventures: Sourdough Purple Sweet Potato Yogurt Beet Juice Bread

Okinawan sweet potato sourdough bread.

This is my 3rd sourdough loaf using my own homegrown starter (which is 2 weeks old). I'm hoping to strengthen the sourness over time, but so far I'm quite happy with the results.

 Here is the method I used for this loaf:

360g all purpose flour
40g whole wheat flour
300g spring water
8g sea salt
130g (~½ cup) mashed steamed Okinawan sweet potatoes
130g (~½ cup) Greek yogurt
2T beet juice, stirred into the yogurt
⅓ cup walnuts
80g sourdough starter, at peak, 100% hydration
79% hydration
Autolyse 1 hour
6 hours bulk fermentation at room temp
Stretch and fold at 30 minute intervals for 1st 2 hours
Preshape, bench rest 30 minutes
Envelope fold, shape, place seam side up in linen-lined, floured bowl
Rest at room temp 1.5 hours
Proof in refrigerator 16 hours
Bake 400°F 40 minutes
Lid off, 20 more minutes

Baking Adventures: Ube Country Loaf

Here we all are in the midst of a Coronavirus pandemic, under lockdown and staying home, and it turns out to be a perfect time to hunker down and go back to the basic life skills we always wanted to hone. Like baking bread.

I started a couple weeks ago with Jim Lahey's famous No-Knead Bread recipe. So simple and so good. I tried adding a sour component with buttermilk, Greek yogurt, or apple cider vinegar. They turned out okay, but then I saw this recipe for Ube Country Loaf.

And I had just steamed some Okinawan sweet potatoes yesterday. It was fate. I started at 6pm, which meant I had to stay up til midnight to get this baby in the fridge for a 12 hour cold proof. I popped it into the oven today and got this big beautiful purple loaf. I mean, it's gorgeous!

I show you the process photos because I love looking at them to measure my own progress and compare. 

1: Flour and water autolyse

2: Dump steamed mashed ube, salt, and yeast

3: Mix in using pinch and fold method

4: Repeat every 15 minutes for an hour

5: Let rise for 4 hours at 72 °F
6: Shape into ball and proof in fridge 12 hours
7: Ball has expanded, ready to bake
8: Finished loaf!

If you want to try this loaf, I recommend you check out this blog: Lady and Pups. She explains the whole process pretty well, so that even a newbie like me could follow along. I would make this again, using more sweet potato for more vibrant color and more moistness. I don't really get how the addition of the mash doesn't affect the recipe so that you don't have to change anything whether or not you add any mash. Maybe it's magic. I'm a believer😊❤🍞🥖

Here's the method straight from Lady and Pups:

THE BLUSHING BOULE (PURPLE YAM COUNTRY BREAD)

The overnight bread recipe/techniques are based on the book: Flour, water, Salt Yeast. This bread can be made with exactly the same instructions and ingredients, minus the purple yam, if you want to make a white country loaf.

Ingredients

• 400 grams (3 cups) bread flour, or all-purpose flour
• 312 grams (78% hydration)(312 ml) water, at 86F ~ 95F/30C~ 35C
• 150 grams (37%)(roughly 3/4 cup packed) baked and peeled purple yam
• 9 grams (2.2%)(1 1/2 tsp) fine sea salt
• 1 gram (0.3%)(1/4 tsp) instant dry yeast
• 
  
• Instructions

1. This bread will need about 1 hour for mixing/folding, 4~5 hour to ferment at room-temperature, then 12 hours/overnight in the fridge to slow-proof, and another 2 hours to bake and cool down. So please start 19 ~ 20 hours before the time you want to serve the bread.
2. According to the book, the optimal temperature for any bread dough - after it is folded/kneaded, and just before it's left to ferment - should be at 78F/26C. So if your indoor temperature is quite cool, around 68F/20C, you should warm the water to about 95F/35C to achieve that. If your indoor temperature is warm, like mine, around 79F/26C, then the water should be about 86F/30C to achieve that. I have an instant thermometer and therefore, I can measure these things accurately. But if you don't, IT IS OK, just start with water that feels like your body temperature, meaning that when you insert you finger into the water, you can't quite make out whether it's on the "cool side" or "warm side". I like to prepare a large bottle of water at the right temperature (more than the recipe calls for), then pour the amount I need as I measure on a scale.
3. TO START: In a large bowl, mix flour and water (already warmed up to the optimal temperature) with a fork until just even. Cover with plastic-wrap and let rest for 20~30 min. (This process is called "autolyse", which allows the flour to hydrate, releases enzymes and increases its flexibility... blah blah. Wanna know more, you can Google it). After rested, add the baked and peeled purple yam, and sprinkle the fine sea salt and instant dry yeast evenly across the surface.
4. TO KNEAD WITH MACHINE: If you're using a stand-mixer or handheld-mixer with dough-hooks (like I did because we're lazy) knead the dough on medium-low speed for 20 min. The dough should still be very wet and sticky, but quite smooth and very elastic. It should be able to hold its shape for a short period of time, and appears to be stringy when it pulls away from the bowl. If you have an instant thermometer, the dough should be at 78F/26C now. Cover with plastic-wrap, and let ferment for 4~5 hour until almost TRIPLED (not doubled).
5. TO FOLD WITH HAND: If you were mixing with hands, finely mash the purple yam before adding to the bowl. Using the pincer method to evenly distribute the ingredients (this blog gives a good step by step photos on pincer method and folding). Then pull the dough up from one side until just before it tears, then fold it over itself towards the opposite side. Turn the bowl around by 45 degrees, and fold again. Do this for about 5 min until the dough starts to develop some elasticity. Let the dough rest for 10 min, then fold again for 30 seconds. If you have an instant thermometer, the dough should be at 78F/26C now. Cover with plastic-wrap and let ferment. In the first 1 hour, every 15 min, come back and fold the dough like you did for 30 seconds. Then leave it for about 3~ 4 hours until almost TRIPLED (not doubled).
6. TO SHAPE THE BREAD: Dusting with just enough flours onto the dough/ the counter/ and your hands to prevent sticking as you go, now gently ease the dough out of the bowl, onto the working surface, without flattening or tearing it. The dough should look kind of like a blob on the counter. Again, gently, pull 1 corner of the dough up and fold it over itself. Repeat for 3~4 times around the dough until it comes into a ball. Now flip the dough over so the "seam-side" now faces down, onto a less floured surface. Using the friction between the counter and the dough, cup your hands around the dough and pull it gently towards you. You should feel the dough tightening as you do this. Repeat for 3~4 times from all directions until the dough comes into a good, round shape.
7. TO PROOF THE DOUGH: If you have a proofing-basket, dust it with flour and gently transfer the dough, seam-side down, into the basket. If not, using the original bowl that the dough fermented in, and line it with 1 sheet of parchment paper. Press the parchment so it conforms to the shape of the bowl, then dust the dough all around with a little flour, and transfer into the bowl, seam-side down. Cover with plastic-wrap, then proof in the fridge for 12 hours/overnight.
8. TO BAKE THE BREAD: 45 min before baking, preheat the oven on 475F/245C, with a lidded Dutch oven on the rack. Once the oven's preheated, take the dough out of the fridge (no need for it to warm back to room-temperature). Lift the dough out of the bowl by lifting the parchment paper, then gently place on the counter. Put another piece of parchment paper on the side, then gently flip the dough onto the seconds parchment. Without flattening or tearing it, dust the edges with a little flour to gently release the dough from the first parchment. Now the seam-side should be facing up.
9. (NOTE: Why not just use the first parchment to transfer the dough, from the bowl, directly into the Dutch oven? I've done it both ways, and noticed that the dough which was inverted after proofing, had a much better rise in the oven. During proofing, most large air bubbles gathered at the upper-half of the dough, leaving the lower-half slightly denser. If not inverted, the baked dough inherently came out with a denser lower-half, and less tall. But by inverting, the low-half was now at the top, which allowed it to expand more during baking, and the larger air bubbles at the bottom, helped push the dough upward as well. And the seam-side also creates a beautiful cracking on the surface.)
10. Take the preheated Dutch oven out and remove the lid. Lift the parchment to transfer the dough into the Dutch oven (leave the parchment with it as well)(flatten the parchment's folds so it doesn't distort the shape of the bread). Close the lid and bake for 25 min. Then remove the lid and bake for another 13~15 min, until the surface is deeply browned. Remove the parchment and let the bread cool on a cooling-rack for 1 hour.

Notes

To cook the purple yam, bake in a preheated 400F/200C oven for 45 min ~1 hour until a knife can be easily inserted into the flesh. Cool completely before using.