Easiest way to eat a rainbow- master the basic stir fry

April 27, 2016 Mary Chan

My default meal is stir fries. Not only can I finish all the wilting leftover veggies in the fridge, it is also the easiest way to eat the biggest variety of veggies in one sitting, what elementary school children are taught to do - eat a rainbow a day!

Because almost everything goes when it comes to stir fries, I will not give you an exact recipe, but a formula of success:

Protein (meat or plant-based) + crunchy veggies + mushrooms + greens + basic seasonings

In this stir fry, tofu is my protein of choice. When you empty a tofu cube from the box, make sure you dry it off. I like to brown my tofu in a non-stick or cast iron pan on all sides for a few minutes.

Then I throw in a few drops of tamari, toss to coat the tofu cubes and set them aside.

My crunchy veggies are red bell peppers, sugar snap peas and carrots. The mushrooms I am using are shitake and buna-shimeji, which is also called the beech mushroom and the brown clam shell mushroom.

The greens I am using are a few leftover broccoli rabe stems and baby spinach straight out of the bag.

My go to seasonings are tamari, garlic, ginger, salt, garlic flakes, mushroom powder. Sometimes I use all of them, sometimes just a few.

To make the stir fry, warm olive oil in a pan, add ginger and garlic mix.

Toss in crunchy veggies mix.

Add mushroom mix. Add salt, mushroom powder.

Throw in greens. Sprinkle a little more garlic flakes or seasoning of choice.

Toss in browned tofu.

Season with tamari to taste. Sometimes I drizzle a few drops of maple syrup to give it a touch of sweetness.

All ready to go! The simplest dish you can throw together with any random ingredients on a whim!

What is your stir fry formula? What works for you?

Why I love Lemonade

August 25, 2014 Mary Chan

I was in Los Angeles when a close family friend suggested going to Lemonade for lunch. He said, "you would like this place!" I could see out of the corner of my eye, how my teenage nephew winced at the idea of going to a "healthy", "girly" restaurant to eat.

Lemonade is a healthy version of fast food deli with multiple locations in LA (even at the airport). It is a self-service cafeteria where you order food by the scoops - $2.75 per scoop on a sliding scale, the more scoops you order, the less per scoop costs. When we arrived at the Lemonade Cafeteria in Pasedena, the line of customers was already all the way to the exit.

I started scooping around. Ummmm, interesting.....there were at least a dozen vegetable items in the first food station, from kale salad to curried cauliflower to roasted beets and sugar snap peas, not meat. Then there were other items like seared tuna summer rolls, halved avocados with tuna and grilled salmon. Then there was a whole range of meat and chicken stews, sandwiches and soups. Finally, desserts and lemonades! Surprisingly (because it's a chain), everything looked exceptionally fresh and well presented! After I greedily ordered my 4 scoops of veggies, I bought the cookbook at checkout without even tasting the food!

Stepping into Lemonade was love at first sight, like connecting to a culinary soulmate. The core of the Lemonade philosophy is making vegetables fun, yummy and accessible to the general public, that eating vegetables should not be a "punishment". They call their veggies "market place vegetables", not salads, because they want to showcase each vegetable as more than a few lettuce or a side dish - a dish complete in itself with flavors, colors, textures and style.

In fact, they don't even label their food healthy, or organic or sustainable, it is simply "Southern Californian comfort food". They call their cuisine "vegetable-centric", not vegetarian.

This is exactly the diet I am propagating to my clients : Meat is not necessarily bad, but veggies and more veggies please! At least 1/2 a plate of veggies for every meal with a little meat accent if you care for it. A combination of raw veggies, steamed veggies, baked veggies, sautéed veggies, veggies in soups, in stews, a happy medley all in one meal, so veggies take the lead and not play the supporting role.

Lemonade is making a bold statement to support this claim!

This is how I'd like my plate to look on any given day.....

Small bowl of dal and purple rice, steamed broccoli with sesame oil, curried cauliflower and quinoa, salad with baby kale, carrots and boiled egg, avocado and heirloom tomatoes drizzled with lime-infused olive oil and lavender balsamic vinegar.

What does yours look like?

Salad Jars

March 26, 2014 Mary Chan

If you want to move away from processed food and gain control over what you put in your mouth, packing lunch to work is the way to go. But who wants to wash and chop veggies in the morning when you are half awake and barely have time to even eat breakfast?

Here is the solution - PLANNING, if you want to win in the kitchen. Make 3 or 5 of these on Sunday night and you'll have lunch the rest of the week. How about too tired to make dinner at night when you come back from work? Pop open one of these and you get something way better than a mediocre take-out.

Will the salad get gross after a few days? Honestly.... I've tried up to 3 days, even the avocados stay fresh in these air-tight jars!

But there is a technique in layering. I am giving you more of a formula than a recipe. Be creative with your combinations!

Use a quart size mason jar, layer in this order from bottom to top - dressing, hard veggies, protein, grains, soft veggies or fruit, nuts, seeds and greens. When you are ready to eat the salad, shake and toss and empty content in a bowl.

Jar Recipe 1:

Creamy basil dressing*
Radish
Carrots
Celery
Red Bell peppers
Cucumbers
White beans / chickpeas
Avocado
Arugula mix / spinach mix
Pumpkin seeds / walnuts

*Blend 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup of tahini, 3 cups of fresh basil leaves, 2 tsp of ground ginger, 2 tsp of garlic powder, juice form 2-3 lemons, 1 1/2 tsp of salt.

Jar Recipe 2:

Thai peanut dressing*
Cucumbers
Radish
Carrots
Tomatoes
Cooked cabbage
Cooked quinoa
Tofu
Spinach leaves
Sesame seeds

*Combine 6 Tbsp of almond or peanut butter, juice of 1 lime, 2 Tbsp of tamari, 3 Tbsp of sesame oil, 3 Tbsp of water.

Jar Recipe 3:

Ranch dressing* (Dairy Free)
Beets
Carrots
Radish
Celery
Cucumbers
Steamed broccoli
Avocado
Cooked lentils
Baby kale leaves
Walnuts

*Blend 1 cup of raw cashews, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 Tbsp of dried parsley, 1 1/2 Tbsp of dried dill, 2 tsp of onion powder, 1 1/2 tsp of salt.

Noodle-less Pad Thai

March 18, 2014 Mary Chan

If you love noodles but fear carb , here is a perfectly satisfying "noodle-less" noodle-like dish for you.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork (or other ground meat) marinated with salt, tamari, white pepper and sesame oil.
1 small head of cabbage, sliced into flat noodle like thickness.

Cooking method:

In a large pan, add pork, break it up with a spatula and let it brown a little.
Add cabbage. Cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how "al dente" you like your cabbage to be. Add salt to taste. If there is excess water, cook uncovered for a few extra minutes.

Pad Thai sauce:

Combine 6 Tbsp of almond or peanut butter, juice of 1 lime, 2 Tbsp of tamari, 3 Tbsp of sesame oil, 3 Tbsp of water.
Pour sauce over cabbage mix, serve with sesame seeds, ground peanuts, scallions, cilantro, lime wedges and favorite hot sauce.

Simple quinoa tabouli

March 17, 2014 Mary Chan

This is so....simply delicious and light! Think lemon and parsley....

Ingredients:

cooked quinoa
tomatoes
red bell peppers
cucumbers ( which I ran out of that day, but it was still delicious)
parsley

Dressing:

olive oil
squeeze of lemon juice
salt to taste

Mix and serve. You can't go wrong with this recipe.

Quinoa fiesta with mango curry dressing

March 17, 2014 Mary Chan

This recipe reminds me of the "sweet curry" U.K. style I used to love when I was a university student in London. It is slightly fruity and not at all spicy. I had something like that at a Whole Foods salad bar and had been trying to replicate it ever since.

Ingredients:

cooked quinoa
quartered grapes
chopped mangoes
chopped red bell peppers
chopped cashews
cilantro
scallion (or coriander as they call it in the UK)

Dressing:

2 tsp of olive oil
1/3 inch cube of fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp of curry powder
pinch of cumin
pinch of paprika
juice from 1/2 a lemon
salt to taste

Mix everything together. Go easy with the dressing, you might not need all of it. If grapes and mangoes are not ripe or sweet enough, add dried cranberries for extra sweetness.

How to assemble a healthy lunch in 5 minutes

February 22, 2014 Mary Chan

Step 1: Pre-packaged greens - kale, spinach, arugula, spring mix.....

Step 2: Pre-cut veggies - carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes....

Step 3: Protein options - smoked fish, sardines, tofu, eggs, tempeh......

Step 4: Nuts and seeds - almonds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, pistachios....

Step 5: Olives, pickles, sauerkraut....

Step 6: Whole grains with a twist ( like quinoa and my favorite Za'atar and sumac oil)

Step 7: Upgrade your oils and dressings.

Massage your kale and it will love you back

February 16, 2014 Mary Chan

Step 1: Take the stems off the kale leaves. Wash and dry your kale really well. Add a pinch of salt, a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

Now roll up your sleeves and get ready for work. Massage the leaves like you are giving a back rub to someone you love. Secret ingredient here - LOVE!