Summer Lunches

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Naoko

Kale Salad, Quinoa Salad, Squash in balsamic vinegar

My Vietnamese Pancake

Quinoa Salad, Pasta Salad, Cherry Tomatoes

We had a few cool beautiful summer days in NYC. Today is bit muggy. I’m still making salads lunches every day. I just make a big portion of 1 or 2 salads and eating them until they are gone. My trial of Vietnamese Pancake looks like a failure, but actually it tasted pretty good. Chop up scallions, mushrooms, a carrot, a green bell pepper, and sautée them in a vegetable oil. Add cleaned beans sprouts. Season with salt and pepper lightly. Make a crepe or not. Mix 1 tbs soy sauce, 1 tbs rice vinegar, 1 tbs water, 1 tsp sugar for dipping sauce. My mistake was that I actually tried to cook a thin gluten free pancake with vegetables in a pan together like Lan Cafe does. Forget about the pancake. Just enjoy the vegetables.

Recipe for Quinoa Salad, Pasta Salad, Kale Salad, Potato Salad are all on my blog. Type in the search section.

Potato Salad

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Naoko

Potato Salad

A friend of mine told me that I make a mean potato salad. Yup, it’s good. It is a taste of summer picnic. The secret ingredient? I don’t know…maybe soy sauce?

Ingredients: 4-5 potatoes (about 1.5 lbs), 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, 1 medium cucumber or 2-3 Japanese cucumbers, 1 medium carrot, 1/2 cup chopped italian parsley, 1 celery stalk, 2 tomatoes or 20 grape tomatoes, 5-6 Tbs vegan mayonnaise (Blend well: 1/4 cup raw cashew, 6 oz silken tofu, 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tsp dijion mustard, 1 tsp maple syrup, 1 tsp sea salt) , 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbs dijion mustard, 1 tsp soy sauce, salt and black pepper to taste

Halve the cucumber and slice as thinly as possible. If you are using Japanese cucumbers, no need to halve. Sprinkle 1 tsp salt. Let it sit.
Scrub potatoes and carrot. Cut potatoes in quarter. Heat water to boil in a medium sauce pan, add 1 tsp salt to the water. Add potatoes and carrot. Cook until done. Carrots are cooked faster than potatoes, so when carrots are done, pull them out and let them cool. When potatoes are soft, drain.
Chop celery stalk. Halve grape tomatoes or roughly chop tomatoes.
Roughly chop the carrot. Roughly smash potatoes with a folk.
Squeeze water out of cucumbers. Put all the ingredients except tomatoes in a big bowl. Add apple cider vinegar, soy mayonnaise, mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes at last.
Serve at room temperature or cold.

* I like to mold potato salad in a small bowl and flip it on a plate. It’s kind a kid’s meal.

Thursday’s Menu 10/25

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Naoko

Green Goddess

Breakfast: Coffee, Green Goddess Shake

Lunch: Beet Stew, Potato Salad Sandwich form Panya

Dinner: Eggplant in Marinara Sauce, Rice and Pickled Plum Ochazuke (Quick Risotto)

Beet Stew, Potato Salad Sandwich

Eggplant in Marinara Sauce, Plum Ochazuke

Tuesday’s Menu 10/2

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Naoko

Green Goddess

Breakfast: Coffee, Green Goddess Shake

Lunch: Pesto Spaghetti with Grape Tomatoes—I’m out of pine nuts. I used walnuts instead. It tasted different, but still good.

Dumpling Dinner: Mustard Leaf Dumplings, Sauteed Swiss Chards, Potato Salad, White Rice, Pickled Baby Carrots

Pesto Spaghetti

Dumpling Dinner

Sunday’s Menu 9/30

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Naoko

Green Goddess

Breakfast: Coffee, Green Goddess

Lunch with family at Main Street: Falafel Pita Sandwich with Bulgur Salad, Peach Cobbler—I believe falafel sandwich was vegan, but peach cobbler was totally not. We ordered Plum Pastry with Ice Cream for the table, too. This is one of the few times when I let it slide.

Dinner: Potato Salad, Spicy Tempeh and Kale, Sticky Brown Rice, Taro Pastry—after eating so much sugar, I felt I needed to put something green into my stomach.

Falafel Pita at Main Street Cafe

Peach Cobbler at Main Street Cafe

Green Dinner

Taro Pastry

Friday’s Menu 9/28

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Naoko

Green Goddess

Breakfast: Coffee, Green Goddess Shake

Lunch: Potato Salad, Sauteed Kale, Grape Tomatoes, Toasts, Apple Juice

Snack Dinner: Potato Salad, left-over Pitza, Brownie

Potato Salad Dinner

Snack Dinner

Brownie

Friday’s Menu 9/14

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Naoko

Green Goddess

Breakfast: Coffee, Green Goddess Shake

2 Salads Lunch: Potato Salad, Raw Kale Salad, Toasts

Dinner with a friend at John’s: Stuffed Mushrooms, Vegan Ravioli with Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce—freshly made porcini mushrooms and spinach stuffed in spinach ravioli—my friend saw the sign “VEGAN ITALIAN” and it allured us into this old fashioned Italian restaurant. The owner came out to greet every diner during the dinner and he was friendly. The stuffed mushrooms and vegan ravioli were both fine. The ravioli was really stuffed with porcini mushrooms, tofu, and spinach. The tomato sauce tasted fresh. But I liked my tomato sauce better. ???

Dessert at ChikaLicious: Green Tea Mille-Feuille with Yuzu Syrup—lovely dessert.