Cauliflower Rice with Balsamic Roasted Veggies

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cauliflower riceI fell in love with raw cauliflower rice since I made tabbouleh last time. It looks like rice but tastes quite different – crunchy, nutty and delicious. You cannot substitute for rice in every recipe, but it is a perfect base for the main meal such as curry, stir-fry, stew, roasted vegetables on cauliflower rice. Enjoy either raw or cooked depending on your preference. For your sweet tooth, you can add almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and some roasted stone fruit on top. Yum!

Ingredients

2 cauliflower florets
1 cup of diced pumpkin
1/3 zucchini, diced
1/2 spring onion
1 cup of diced parsnip
1 stalk of celery
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
a handful of dried cranberries and almonds

Wash and dice all the vegetables. Toss with balsamic vinegar, coconut oil, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Place them in a baking dish and put in the preheated oven (200) for 20-30 minutes until cooked. Make cauliflower rice using a box grater and season. You can also use a food processor. Roughly chop the cauliflower and pulse into little pieces until it looks like rice. When veggies are all cooked, take it out of the oven and let it cool slightly. Then combine with cauliflower rice in a large bowl. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with dried cranberries and almonds.

 

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian

Sprouted Mung Bean, Roasted Cauliflower and Pumpkin Salad

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Sprouted mungbean1 Mung beans are highly nutritious, easy on digestion, low in calories, high in fiber and B vitamins. Sprouting process is a fantastic way of boosting enzymes, vitamins C and K and minerals, particularly zinc and iron. So try to include more sprouts in your diet. All you have to do is to soak them in water for 1-2 days and let it germinate to sprouts. After grains are soaked in water then strained and left at room temperature in the dark, their reproductive system kicks in, and they begin to sprout and ferment. Once you have a desired “tails”, you can keep them in the air-tight glass container in the fridge or freezer, which keeps it fresh for weeks. Same principles apply to other beans, grains and seeds like chick peas, rye, buckwheat, quinoa and red beans. You can add them into your smoothies, salads, bread, stir-fries and soup or eat it raw as a healthy snack. Tasty, crunchy and healthy! If you want to read more about sprouting, read my previous post about sprouting quinoa here.

Ingredients

3 cauliflower florets
2 cups of pumpkin
1 cup of sprouted mung beans1 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tsp of Himalayan salt
1 tsp of fennel seeds
1 tbsp of coconut oil
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Mix all dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Add chopped cauliflower and pumpkin into a bowl and gently toss. Bake in the preheated oven (180) for 20-30 minutes until golden. Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle sprouted mung beans over the veggies and drizzle more balsamic vinegar before serve.
Sprouted mungbean

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian

Korean Vegetarian Dishes (Bibimbap and Japchae)

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While being raised in South Korea, I don’t think I appreciated enough what I had – culture, family, friends, food. Well..I guess a part of it was because I was younger and not as mature. This blog has been the outlet and given me a great opportunity that I can think about my past, present and future..who I am.. I can sit in my own zone in silence, read, learn and write. This journey has transported me to a happier time in my life back home, and I connected food with those memories. Don’t you all have that? When you think about those foods from your cherished memory, it brings you a big smile. You feel like you are just there, you can even smell the aroma and feel the warmth on the tip of your nose. Feeling of love:) Yes, food is so powerful. It can impact us on a deeper emotional level than just physical health. These two Korean dishes. I totally adore them. They are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, healthy and, of course, delicious! I’m glad I can show you some Korean dishes on my blog. Thank you for visiting my site and sharing my journey x

bibimbapBibimbap is lightly cooked vegetables on rice commonly served in the hot stone bowl, which keeps it warm and also makes the crispy rice at the bottom. The way you eat is add Gochujang, Korean spicy sauce, mix all up and eat. You can put any kinds of veggies but normally bean sprouts, spinach, carrots, mushrooms, cucumber, daikon, tofu, zucchini and kimchi. It can be as simple or as complicated as it can be. I add my healthy spin on it – using raw veggies for good enzymes, tempeh for protein, and cauliflower rice with a light Gochujang dressing.

JapchaeJapchae is sweet potato noodles (springy glass noodles) stir-fried with vegetables. Mum used to make it for my birthday, school picnic day, Thanks giving day or just on the weekends. It is a kind of food you make a huge plate and share with everyone. To make it healthy, I normally steam the veggies al dente, boil the noodles and then mix with a soy dressing in a large bowl. Dressing consists of soy sauce, minced garlic, shallot, vinegar, honey, sesame seeds, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Simple combination, but delish!

 

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian

Raw Cauliflower Tabbouleh

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I hope I’m not too late to the party. Cauliflower “rice” seems like a big hit among healthy foodies on the internet at the moment. I’ve been meaning to try and finally I made a cauliflower tabbouleh today.

Tabbouleh is a Middle Eastern salad normally made of bulgur wheat. Replacing bulgur with cauliflower makes this salad raw, grain-free and also crunchy for days in the fridge. This fresh and light salad is a perfect complement to any kind of protein or with flat bread. Cauliflower is a perfect replacement for the white rice because it looks similar, but has more crunchy texture and better nutrition in it. Cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, watercress, and mustard greens) are said to be detoxifying because they provide support for the immune, inflammatory, hormonal, detoxification, and antioxidant systems in your body. They also contain powerful anti-cancer compounds unique to this class of vegetables.

It is a little messy to make “rice” using a box grater. If you grate too hard, cauliflower goes everywhere on the kitchen bench. So be gentle with that baby unless you want to do a massive cleanup afterwards. I think using a boxer grater is better although it is time consuming because a food processor seems to make “rice” too fine and wet. I will leave it up to you, either a boxer grater or food processor is fine.
Cauliflower TabbouleIngredients

1 head of cauliflower florets
1 cup of chopped cucumber
1 stalk of celery
1 cup of chopped kale leaves
1 bunch of coriander
1 cup of pomegranate

For dressing
1 tsp of za’atar
1 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of Himalayan salt
a squeeze of lemon
1 tbsp of e.v.o.o

Wash, cut the florests and grate the cauliflower into “rice”. Combine with cucumber, kale, coriander and pomegranate in a large mixing bowl. For dressing, mix all ingredients in a small bowl and stir well. Pour the dressing into the tabbouleh and gently toss. Transfer to a serving bowl.
Cauli Tabbouleh

Posted in: Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian

Tortilla Espanola

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Spanish Omelet1Eggs are a great source of protein (One egg contains 6 grams of high-quality protein and all 9 essential amino acids) and numerous vitamins, including vitamin A, potassium and many B vitamins like folic acid, choline and biotin. Eggs are one of the only foods that contain naturally occurring vitamin D. Amazing!

Many people believe that egg yolks contain high cholesterol, enemy for the risk of heart disease and so prefer having egg whites only for protein. However, many vitamins and minerals are actually in egg yolks, not whites. Your body needs a balance when it comes to cholesterol. Eggs are a beneficial source of healthy fat and research has documented that eggs do not appear to promote heart disease risk. It could also help to prevent breast cancer. So eat the whole eggs, not just egg white!

Tortilla Espanola, a fancy name for Spanish omelet, is a fantastic way of cooking your eggs. Simple ingredients, healthy, inexpensive and tasty! You can even have it next day, which I think is better in terms of flavour. You can serve like pizza as a main or cut into little squares to serve as entree for your dinner party. You can add other vegetables or cheese as well for variations. Whichever you choose to do, it is all delicious 🙂

Ingredients

6 eggs
1 onion
2 potatoes
1 tbsp of coconut oil
1 tsp of smoked paprika
Himalayan salt and ground black pepper

Heat coconut oil in a light, non-stick pan. Add chopped onion and potatoes and cook for 15 minutes or until soft (you don’t want too much colour). Season with a generous amount of salt and pepper. You should be able to mash the potatoes with the back of the spoon. Crack the eggs in a large bowl and whisk gently. Season the egg mixture and then pour into a pan making sure the potatoes are just submerged. Turn down the heat and cook on low heat until the edges start to firm and the centre is still wet. Time to flip! Fun part starts. Use a palette knife or spatula to loosen up the edges and shake the pan so that the omelet is not stuck to the pan. Put a large plate over the pan and flip over. Slide the omelet back on to the pan and cook for another couple of minutes. Take it off the heat and transfer to a serving plate. You can serve this hot, cold or at room temperature.Spanish Omelet

Posted in: Breakfast, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, Snack