salad roll in my big bowl

I have been craving salad rolls recently, so much so that I have made them twice in the past week. I think it may be because I saw them being made on a cooking show on television. I have also been remembering some particularly delicious ones that my sister Barb made for us when we visited her in June. It's funny how a particular taste can haunt and beckon you. Salad rolls are like that for me, right now.

Salad Roll

1 bundle of thin rice vermicelli (I found some brown rice vermicelli, but any kind will do)
4 rice paper noodle rounds
lettuce - choose a kind with soft, medium-sized, curly leaves
pea shoots or bean sprouts (I like pea shoots for more flavor)
protein (I used some crab meat, but you could use shrimp, chicken, tofu - it should be cooked, and cut into small pieces)

Inside Sauce
1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
pinch of sugar to taste

Dipping Sauce
1 Tbs. hoisin sauce
1 Tbs. natural peanut butter
2 tsp. hot water

Put the kettle on to boil with a few cups of water. Put the dry vermicelli noodles in a big bowl.

While the water heats in the kettle, prepare the fillings for the rolls. Make sure everything is clean and cut up, ready to go. I used lettuce, vermicelli, pea shoots and crab. You could add in or substitute some other good vegetables like carrots, cucumber, bell pepper. Thin julienned strips work best. If you have a mandolin cutter it's a breeze, but you could also chop them by hand.

Then prepare the 2 sauces. The one that goes inside the salad roll is made of fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and bit of sugar to balance the saltiness and sourness. You won't need much of it. Mix it together in a small cup. Set it aside and mix the hoisin, peanut butter and hot water in another cup. That's your dipping sauce.

By now the water in the kettle should be hot. It doesn't need to be boiling. Pour it over the vermicelli noodles in the big bowl, and push the vermicelli under the water. Let it sit for a minute or two. Test a noodle to make sure it's firm but biteable, then drain off the water.

Now it's time to build the salad rolls. Put one rice paper noodle round on a cutting board. Dip your fingers in a bowl of warm water and wet the noodle round all over. Flip the round and wet the other side. Wait for about 30 seconds, and the noodle round will be soft. Put  lettuce leaf (or part of a leaf) over the middle of the noodle round. Arrange the vermicelli, veggies, and protein on top of the lettuce leaf in a horizontal sausage shape, leaving a margin of about and inch on either side of you pile of fillings, and lots of space for rolling above and below it. Sprinkle a few drops of the "inside sauce" (the one with fish sauce and soy) onto the noodles/veg/protein pile. Flip the sides of the noodle round over the fillings then roll up the round from the bottom to the top, catching all of the fillings inside. Play around with it. You will start out making messy rolls, but they will get tighter. If you make a mess or poke a hole in your rice paper noodle, don't despair. You can wet another noodle round, and wrap the messy one inside another layer of rice paper noodle. It will look much better and still be yummy.

Once you make your rolls, let them sit for a few minutes before serving them. They will firm up a bit.

Serve the salad rolls with the hoisin/peanut butter sauce for dipping.

I also made a little Asian-style slaw. I used bagged slaw mix from the veggie store, and whipped up a little dressing with vegetable oil, a dash of sesame oil, a bit of soy sauce and some fresh lime juice. It was a nice accompaniment.

These rolls can be stored tightly wrapped in the fridge for later, but they really are best freshly made and gobbled up right away.

I hope that you have the opportunity to cook and eat something you crave this week!

tuna for breakfast

Some people think that there are rules about which foods are suitable for breakfast. I disagree. I have eaten everything for breakfast: pizza, birthday cake, spaghetti with meat sauce and a glass of red wine (that only once, well - maybe twice). My point is, if you are a breakfast-eater, anything is okay for breakfast. If you are not a breakfast-eater, I understand that any food first thing in the morning is noxious, and that lunch and supper foods first thing in the morning are unthinkable. For everyone except the non-breakfast-eaters, please consider the delights of something non-traditional.

I give you the breakfast tuna melt, surely one of the most lovely breakfast concoctions around:

On Wednesday, I made tuna salad to take to work for my lunch break. I made a medium-sized batch, so that I could leave some in the fridge for Andy and Alex. They had some, but not all. On Thursday morning I decided to make the leftover tuna salad into my breakfast.

Here's the recipe:

Tuna Salad
1 or 2 cans of tuna, drained - One can makes 1.5 to 2 sandwiches, depending on how big. Two cans makes 3 or 4 sandwiches - or 5 if they are small sandwiches, but who wants a small sandwich?
chopped onion - You can use red onion or green onion or sweet onion.
chopped celery
mayonnaise - Use the real thing, not low-fat or "salad type dressing" if you want me to eat any of that tuna salad.
chopped pickles - Use sweet or dill pickles, or some green relish if you are in a hurry.
salt and pepper to taste

You can decide the proportions of the vegetables and mayonnaise depending on your preference. If you like, you may add other veggies, for a fresher, crunchier tuna mixture.

So that's the tuna for your sandwich or for on top of a green salad. You can put it in a wrap if you like, with some lettuce and cucumbers. I like to take it to work in a small container. When it's lunchtime I spread it on Ryvita crackers. It's crispy and creamy and good.

If you want to make a tuna melt, here's how:

Tuna Melt
1 slice of bread, or half a bun or bagel, or half of an English muffin
enough tuna salad to cover the bread all the way to the edges and heap up about 1/4 inch high (at least!)
grated cheese - Cheddar is classic, but mozzarella will work, or you could get creative with parmesan or goat cheese or whatever you like best.

Spread the tuna on the bread. Top it with the grated cheese. Put it into a 375 degree oven until the tuna is warm, the bread starts to crisp on the bottom and the cheese melts. Eat it carefully. It has an even higher mouth-burn potential than pizza because of the warm, creamy tuna mixture.

When I ran a home daycare, I served tuna melts every Thursday. That was the day I took all of the kids to music lessons in the morning. I would prepare all of the tuna melts and put them on a cookie sheet, ready to pop into the oven as soon as we got home. I remember the kids would ask me, "Is it tuna today?" as soon as their lessons were finished. I would always answer, "Of course." Then, they would ask if I had made sure to prepare each of their tuna melts according to their preferences. One child wanted no onions, no pickles, no celery, just tuna and mayo and bread and cheese. Another wanted no cheese. Another wanted no tuna! Yikes! That was a tuna-free tuna melt, with just melted cheese on a bun. Of course I always remembered what they wanted! They were my little fishies, and if I fed them well after they finished singing, they would have happy tummies and enjoy a restful afternoon.

I hope that you will try tuna for breakfast soon. If you like it, let me know, and tell me what kind of cheese you put on your tuna melt! Enjoy something out-of-the-ordinary, even if it's a familiar food, at an unfamiliar time of day. Everything is an adventure in the big bowl!

the big bowl is thinking about sunshine

Yesterday I was at the grocery buying ingredients for salad rolls (which I forgot to photograph in the bowl - du-oh!). I saw pretty primulas outside the entry door the the store. I couldn't resist.

I love to have flowers in the kitchen anytime. These primulas make me think of springtime just around the corner. The bowl is smiling beside them. Can you see it?

I think that deliciousness is as much a visual thing as it is about flavour and aroma. Real flowers, a nice placemat or cloth napkin, or a beautiful big bowl... all of these things make anything that you cook more appealing.

Take time this week to find something beautiful to grace your your kitchen, then cook something delicious to enjoy beside it!

two remarkable women painting bowls

Here is where the big bowl was created. That's Fiona painting it for me, while I am painting the smaller porridge bowl for her.

I think food tastes really good when somebody special makes a special bowl for you.

big bowl supports home made workday lunches

After a week's vacation at home, I headed back to work. The big bowl sat on the counter, and encouraged me to pack a bowl-worthy lunch. I told the bowl it would not be coming to work with me, but I thanked it for the inspiration.

Here's the recipe for a yummy lunch salad that helped me feel like going back to work was A-OK! The big bowl is giving the plastic container a hug before it gets its lid on. The lunch bag is a Christmas present from my friend Linda. Isn't it beautiful?

Greens and Nuts and Cheese Salad with Vinaigrette

spring mix - or your favourite greens of any kind
sliced cucumber
snap peas, halved
pomegranate bits (what do you call those bits?)
red grapes, halved
goat cheese
chopped toasted almonds
3 parts olive oil
1 part balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Put all of the veggies and fruits into a bowl. Put the oil, vinegar and seasonings into a small container with a tight lid. Pack them up and take them to work. When you are ready to eat, shake the dressing up to mix it, then pour it on and toss the salad. You can vary the amount of your ingredients to make a meal-size salad like mine, or a side salad to go along with another dish.

YUH-UM!

May you start the New Year with a spring (mix) in your step and a nourishing and delicious home-make lunch for break time at your work. You will save money, eat healthy food, and make the big bowl in your life so proud.

the glory/glorious bowl

The first time I tasted "Glorious Bowl" was at the Pedal and Tap Restaurant in Kimberley, BC. We were in Kimberley to visit Fiona while she worked for the summer at Kimberley Summer Theatre. We sat outside on the patio, overlooking the Platzl. (I love to say Platzl.) Fiona and I shared this delicious bowl, and loved it. The waiter told us that the recipe was from the Whitewater Cookbook. So of course I bought myself a copy of the Whitewater Cookbook at the Lotus Bookstore in Cranbrook. If I loved the Glorious Bowl at Pedal and Tap, I adore the Whitewater Cookbook.

In the cookbook, it's call "Glory Bowl." The Restaurant has made a few changes from the original recipe, but this is the kind of recipe you like to tinker with: It starts out lovely and simply delicious, and invites you to find what other veggies or nuts/seeds or base grain/legume might be good. In the picture, I have made it pretty much exactly as the cookbook specifies.

Except that I used quinoa instead of brown rice. This yummy bowl has quinoa and fresh greens, shredded beet and carrot, crispy sauteed tofu, chopped roasted almonds and a gorgeous salad dressing that is flavoured with nutritional yeast and tahini.

Whoa, I just read that description, and decided I could use it as a test to discern who is a fellow whole food enthusiast, and who thinks that I am a crazy person who eats twigs and leaves.

Doesn't it look great in my big bowl though? This was, I think, about the second-to-last time that I used my bowl to share a meal with Fiona before she returned to university after winter break. Keeping this blog up will help me to share my cooking with Fiona while she is at school. If she can't taste it, at least she can see it and enjoy it vicariously. I will think of her whenever I enjoy the beautiful handcrafted bowl that she made for me. There's also a secret message that she wrote for me, on the outside bottom of the bowl, so when I wash it after the meal, I will think of her some more.

Glory or glorious, I am certain that this bowl of twigs and sticks is one of my favourite meals ever. Enjoy something nourishing today, with someone who nourishes you, even if that person is not with you at the moment.

an amazing pumpkin muffin

I was poking through the sometimes surprising space that is our refrigerator, and remembered that we had leftover canned pumpkin from Christmas supper. Fiona made an absolutely delectable pumpkin pie for that meal. Every time I buy a can of pumpkin, I forget how little you need to produce one pie. That filling has a lot of egg, sugar and milk included with the pumpkin. The trick is to remember to use the leftover pumpkin!

The leftover pumpkin looked and smelled still good, so I used the Whitewater Cooks with Friends book to make a dozen super gorgeous muffins. They are called Gail's Pumpkin Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins, and they are very very good. I added some dried cranberries to make them even yummier. I was out of toasted pumpkin seeds, so I missed using these. Usually I press a handful into the top of each muffin before I bake them.

I won't copy published recipes into this blog. There are 3 Whitewater Cookbooks. All are very good, and easy to find.

The recipe is so easy and good that I have made it several times, so making it again was nothing new. I guess I could say that the new thing this time was incorporating the cranberries. That was a good choice. In fact, you might leave out the chocolate chips and use only cranberries, if you have someone at home who does not like chocolate.

I guess the only question is, "Who would eat a muffin out of a bowl?" But look at how the colour of the muffin coordinates with the colour of the polka-dots that Fiona painted. This is the perfect serving vessel for one very good muffin. These muffins are moist, and keep well. I just heated a day-old muffin for breakfast. It was good.

Have a happy, hearty, nutritious home-baked breakfast soon!

start at the very beginning

For my birthday, my daughter took me out for lunch and pottery painting. This happened about 3 weeks after my actual birthday, because she was away at university when my birthday took place. At the time, she sent me a handmade card with a promise of lunch. The pottery painting was a bonus.

We decided to paint bowls for one another, so that when she returned to university, we could eat from the special bowls, and feel close together, even when we were apart. I made her a small bowl for oatmeal, something that she enjoys most mornings in her residence room. She made me a big bowl for salads. We both love big salads. My daughter does not get to make these often in her res room, but we make them all the time at home.

I love my bowl. It's just the right size for large, main course salad. It's delightfully oversize for any other use. I am enjoying using it for lots of different foods.

I decided to start a new blog, based on the yummy foods that I put into my beautiful bowl. It's a way of sharing my enjoyment of cooking and eating, and a way to connect my daughter with our kitchen, even when she is far, far away.

So here is my first post, with a bowl full of goodness.

Ground Beef and Udon Noodle Stir Fry

I cooked this for my son last night. My husband was at work, and my daughter was out for supper with a friend. Alex and I just wanted to enjoy a quick, hearty supper and a beer while we watched The Big Bang Theory on TV. Here's how I made it:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion - chopped chunky
1 bunch broccoli - chopped
1 carrot - peeled and chopped
1 chayote squash - peeled and sliced
1 large clove garlic - sliced
2 packets fresh udon noodles
sesame oil
soy sauce
siracha

In a jumbo skillet, I sauteed the beef until it was starting to crisp a bit, then I set it aside, and sauteed the veggies. At the same time, I heated a big pot of water and cooked the noodles (they take about 5 minutes). When the veggies were nearly ready, I added the cooked meat, and seasoned with the 3 s-ingredients: soy sauce, sesame oil, siracha. I drained the steaming hot noodles and stirred them in. It was really good!

The new thing about this recipe was the chayote squash. I have never cooked with it before, but it looked so fresh and green at the produce store, and it has been featured on the TV show, Chopped a few times recently, so I wanted to try it. It was fresh and light and crispy - kind of like broccoli stems but a bit less dense.

It was so yummy I probably could have filled the bowl all the way up and eaten it all myself, but then what would Alex have eaten for supper?

Happy winter supper from the big bowl blog.