Bibimbap

Traditionally (I think), Bibimbap was a great way to use up leftovers. Everything was already cooked or prepared and it was all placed neatly over rice and an egg was cracked on top. Add some sesame oil and a hot pepper paste called Gochujang, then everything was mixed up like mad by the happy and hungry diner, and the egg would get cooked that way.

Oh, the egg! That's really what separates this puppy from other leftover dishes around the world. Well that and the red pepper paste. If you're like many, you probably can't easily locate Gochujang, so try sriracha as the next best thing.

This can be a lot of work to make from scratch, but it's a lot of fun. Basically, just use whatever Asian-flavored foods you want, and you'll be golden. If you're weary about the egg, try poaching it. Still yums. Enjoy!

Bibimbap

Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients

• Cooked rice
• 1 bunch spinach or greens
• 2 small zucchinis
• 5 shiitake mushrooms
• 1 block tofu, cut and pressed
• 1 small carrot
• 4 eggs
• soy sauce
• hot pepper paste (Gochujang) or sriracha
• garlic
• sesame seeds
• sesame oil
• canola oil

Cooking Directions

1. Prepare a large platter to put all your ingredients on. Rinse your bean sprouts 3 times and put them in a pot with a cup of water. Add 1 tsp of salt and cook for 20 minutes. Drain water and mix it with 1 clove of minced garlic, sesame oil, and a pinch of salt. Put it on the platter.
2. Put your spinach or greens in a pot of boiling water and stir it for a minute. Then rinse it in cold water a few times and squeeze it lightly. Mix it with a pinch of salt, 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1 clove of minced garlic and sesame oil. Put it on the platter.
3. Cut 2 small size zucchinis into thin strips, sprinkle them with a pinch of salt, and then mix them together. A few minutes later, saute them in a pan over high heat. When it's cooked, it will look a little translucent. Put it on the platter.
4. Slice shiitake mushrooms thinly and saute with 1 tsp of canola oil. Add 2 tsp of soy sauce and 1 or 2 tsp of sugar and stir it for 2 minutes. Add some sesame oil, and put it on the platter.
5. On a heated pan, put some oil and the pressed tofu and stir it. Add 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tbs of soy sauce and sesame oil. Put it on the platter.
6. Cut a carrot into strips, saute it for 30 seconds and put it on the platter.
7. Prepare eggs sunny side up.
8. Put your rice in a big bowl, and attractively display all your vegetables and tofu over rice. Place the sunny side up egg on the center.
9. Serve it with sesame oil and hot pepper paste or sriracha.
10. Lastly, mix it up and eat!

Ribollita

I learned this from an excellent cooking class on gourmet soups taught by Chef Bernard Kinsella. Ribollita is Italian for awesome. OK, really, it's Italian for reboil, I believe. Anywho, it's essentially just boiling up a simple stew or soup of whatever vegetable you happen to have on hand. Something about the preparation method though really has a huge impact on the flavor. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 stalks of celery
2 carrots, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (fresh is fine too)
3/4 lb of Swiss chard (or 1/2 head cabbage), chopped
1/2 pound cooked lentils or beans
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped (1/8 cup dried will work too)
4 cups vegetable stock (or water)
optional: 4 slices of stale bread, torn into bite-size pieces

Directions

1. Heat a large pot over medium low heat and add olive oil, onion, garlic, celery, salt, carrots, and zucchini. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes so that the veggies sweat out their flavors and do not brown.

2. Stir in the diced tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes.

3. Add the Swiss chard (or cabbage), lentils or beans, basil, and parsley. Stir and mash a few of the lentils/beans to thicken the soup. Cook for 10 minutes.

4. Add the vegetable stock (or water) and bring to a boil before lowering to a simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

5. If using bread, add and cook until it has broken down, about 10 minutes.

Free-Form Vegan Lasanga

Lasagna can be a huge pain in the butt sometimes, right? Not when you do it this way!

Take all the wonderful tastes you love from lasagna and have them in no time by creating a free-form lasagna. And our version is even vegan. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 zucchini, sliced
1 squash, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 red pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups pasta sauce
6 sheets of lasagna, broken in half

Directions

1. Cook lasagna in boiling water for 6-8 minutes

2. While lasagna is cooking, heat oil in pan and add garlic for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the rest of the veggies (except tomato) and cook for 3-5 minutes.

4. Add the pasta sauce and stir until warm.

5. Using 2 half sheets, layer the pasta on a plate with veggies in between, making 3 layers of pasta total.

Disneyland's Blue Bayou Jambalaya

Jambalaya

Blue Bayou, French Market Restaurant

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

1 lb boneless fresh pork, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
3 T. vegetable oil
1/4 t. black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 t. thyme, dried
1/4 t. garlic powder
1 16-oz. can tomatoes, crushed
4 c. water
1 1/4 c. rice, uncooked
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 1/2 c. onion, diced
1 c. celery, diced
1 c. green bell pepper, diced
3/4 c. zucchini, diced
1 t. yellow chili pepper
1/4 c. scallions, chopped
1 T. parsley, chopped
1 c. ham, diced
1 c. Polish sausage, cooked & diced
1 c. Italian sausage, cooked & diced
1 c. okra, frozen, cut
1 1/2 c. small shrimp, cooked

Directions

In a large saucepan, sauté pork in oil over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add pepper, thyme, garlic powder, and tomatoes. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Add water, rice, bouillon cubes, onions, celery, green pepper, zucchini, chili peppers, scallions, and parsley. Bring to a boil.

Stir to blend ingredients, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir once or twice and add remaining meat ingredients.

Cook for another 10 minutes and add okra and shrimp.

Heat well and serve hot.

Roasted Plethora of Vegetables

Veggies! Roasted, lightly salted, and delicious. A true plethora of veggies! YUM.

This will work with any kind of vegetables really. Just be sure to cook them at different times depending on their original firmness.

There are so many. I'm not sure how they all fit in the pan and what it took to roast them all so wonderfully, but damn, they're good! Addictingly good. Maybe there was some crack in the olive oil...hmmm. Enjoy!

Easy Spinach and Egg Pizza

I really like making pizzas. I can be as creative as I want to be, and that's kind of liberating in a way. I mean you can dream up so many different types of pizzas, healthy pizzas at that, which you'd never find in any restaurant. It's fantastic.

This one here is a completely sauceless pizza. Take some dough, lay on the spinach, add some zucchini and squash, roasted garlic and green onion, sauteed onion, a crumble of ricotta, some scrambled egg, and presto! Divine. Enjoy!

Fast Pickled Zucchini and Peppers

My first pickling! I was so excited to try this out because it's fast. I always imagined pickling would take forever and a day (and I know sometimes it does), but not this time!

(the one on the right has zucchini and bell peppers, and the one on the left has just zucchini)

The turmeric really gives this a nice color. So much more fun than a clear brine. The jars sealed perfectly too. I was almost flabbergasted at how easy this was.

I didn't have any cucumber to try this on, but there were some bell peppers and zucchini that needed to get used, so voila. The day after it was sealed, the zucchini tasted great, though the peppers weren't as flavored. On the third and fourth day, the zucchini starts to take in more of the vinegar I think, so maybe eat that first. The bell peppers, on the other hand, just keep getting better.

Enjoy!

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Fast Pickled Zucchini and Peppers

Yield: 3 1/2 cups
Ingredients

• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1/2-1 bell pepper, cut into small strips
• 3 cups white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon celery flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried onion
• optional: 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon turmeric

Cooking Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except the prepared veggies.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
3. Arrange prepared vegetables in one or more jars.
4. Pour hot brine into jar to completely cover vegetables and seal jar.
5. Refrigerate until cool.

Herb and Garlic Crusted Haddock with Oven Baked Ratatouille

Today we have a very special treat for you. Special guest chef J fancied up a beautiful Valentine's Day dinner for moi the other night. Though my horrible pictures do NOT do justice to the beauty and elegance that greeted my eyes that night, rest assured it was one meal I won't soon forget. I believe I'll have her make it as her specialty from now on.

So what ungodly bit of grub did she prepare? Herb and Garlic Crusted Haddock with Oven Baked Ratatouille. Simply amazing. For one there's this plump, juicy piece of white fish, lightly covered with just the right seasoning, texture, and mmm-ness. Then there's this behemoth of a dish - layers upon layers of vegetables (which I love) flavored like there's no tomorrow.

I cannot stress how tempting it was to consume the two other fillets and the rest of the rest of the ratatouille, but I had to save room for the dessert she also made. More on that another day.

Thank you for such an outstanding day. It was definitely worth all the trudging I did in the afternoon.

Simply put: try it. You'll love it. Enjoy!