Hiyashi Chuka or Cold Ramen Salad

Now that we are in to August, I feel like I need a cool, refreshing main dish that's not too difficult to make.  I first had Hiyashi Chuka in Japan over 20 years ago.  I've made it many times and my sister requests I make it whenever I visit her in the summer.
I usually use ramen noodles but you can use Chinese egg noodles if you wish.  Once you have the noodles, you can pretty much put whatever vegetables that you like or have around, into the mix.  Here's what I made last week.

Ingredients:

2 packages of ramen noodles
1/2 pound roast beef   (You could use ham, chicken, turkey, etc.) Cut into strips.
1/2 English cucumber, cut into match sticks
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup grated carrots
sliced green onion (I like lots, adjust to taste.)

For dressing:
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon roasted sesame oil
My original recipe calls for 1/3 cup water in this dressing, but I like the strong taste of it without the water.

You may want hot yellow mustard (karashi) and or beni shoga (pickled red ginger) but I did not have it on hand this time.


First, you want to make the egg.  Beat eggs in a bowl and add sugar, then mix well.  Heat some oil in a small frying pan and pour 1/4 to 1/2 the egg mixture over the pan.  Spread the egg thinly, like a crepe, and fry for one minute. Turn and cook for about 30 seconds more.  Take out of the pan and place on cutting board to cool.  Repeat with the rest of the egg mixture. Slice the crepe into thin strips.

Make the dressing by mixing all the dressing ingredients together.  Usually I put it in a container with a lid and just shake it.

Put your noodle water on to boil.  For two people's amount of ramen, you will need a medium large pot, around 3 quarts.

As the water is heating, cut up your meat and vegetables into strips, slices or grated, as above in the ingredient list.  You can arrange it all nicely on a platter if you want those you are cooking for to place their own ingredients on the noodles.

Once the water is boiling, cook your noodles according to package directions and drain.  Pour cold water over them quickly to cool them and let them drain again. 

Put the cold noodles on a plate, arrange toppings on top and pour dressing over the noodles just before serving.

This recipe feeds two very hungry people or four not so hungry people.

What a Naturopathic Physician Eats

With the onset of summer, I have been feeling almost too lazy to cook these days.  Thankfully a patient came by with some fresh vegetables today and the veggies inspired me.

For breakfast I had some strawberry kefir, a fiber bar, mixed summer melon and my big mug of double bergamot Earl Grey tea.

For lunch I was going to have a leftover broasted chicken thigh and some jojos, but then my patient came by with fresh picked lettuce, radishes and chives.  I added some green onion, sunflower seeds and ranch dressing.  Delicious and much more colorful than the brown-yellow food!

It was spelt rotini pasta with a tomato, garlic, basil and ground beef sauce for dinner.  Along with that were steamed squash, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower.  I sprinkled some good Parmesan cheese over all of it.  Some garlic bread completed the meal.

I haven't had dessert yet, but I'm leaning toward that Little Debbie Nutty Bar I have stashed away in the cupboard, with a cup of some sort of relaxing, non caffeine tea.

For not really feeling like cooking today, I think I did a pretty good job.  I probably needed more protein in my meals and will wake up hungry in the morning.

What did you eat today?

How I make Swiss Steak

I went to a Obesity and Menopause conference two weeks ago.  I want to write something about that, but I'm mulling it over.  There were many things I learned but there were many things presented that I thought was just plain wrong.  It was like these people had not done their research or understood where their statistics came from.

So instead, I give you .... how I make Swiss steak.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Here are the ingredients I used:

2 pounds beef cube steak
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon each salt and garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large onions (I love onions, you could get by with one.)
1 pound baby carrots (You could use green, yellow or red peppers.)
1 cup chopped celery (Or not.  I don't always use celery in this.)
2 28 ounce cans of chopped tomatoes

Cut the cube steak into bite size pieces.  Mix the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a bag or bowl. Dredge the steak in the seasoned flour and place on a greased pan.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in oven. Alternately you could fry in a skillet. I don't fry because I always burn myself and also my gallbladder doesn't like fried foods so much.

The steak looks like this when it comes out of the oven:

While the steak is cooking, cut up your veggies and put them in your crock pot or baking pan.  First I cut up my onions:

Then I chop up my celery and add my carrots:

Then open up the tomatoes and put them in.  When the steak is ready stir that in as well and you end up with this:

If you use a crock pot, I suggest 8 to 10 hours on low.  If you bake in the oven it will probably take 1.5 to 2 hours on 350.

It looks like this once it has simmered for 10 hours in the crock pot:

I usually serve this with mashed potatoes but I didn't have any potatoes so we just ate this like a stew with some slices of sharp cheddar.  It's so delicious and now I have plenty of leftovers to freeze for future meals!  This recipe feeds 8 very hungry people or 12 moderately hungry people.

Do you make your Swiss steak differently from this recipe?

How to make Scotch Eggs

This recipe does not use any alcohol!
This recipe is NOT low fat.
But it sure is delicious.

A little over two years ago, my friend Laura was going to bring Scotch eggs to my best friend's 40th birthday party.  That was the first time I ever heard of them.  Unfortunately she didn't bring the eggs and I had to look up the recipe on the Internet, because I'm curious.
Every recipe I found used pork, which I rarely eat, and also deep fries the egg, which I don't do at home although I will eat onion rings from a burger place.  I made up my own recipe, which follows.  I'll also put the original recipe for all you deep fried pork lovers out there.
The first time I made these was around Easter and they were a big hit!  Now my step kids and  my friends want me to make them more often, but usually I just make them at Easter.

My Recipe:
4 hard boiled eggs-shelled
1 pound ground turkey (or better yet bulk turkey sausage)
seasonings to make turkey taste like sausage (if needed)
1 raw egg beaten
1/2 cup panko/dry breadcrumbs

These are all the ingredients I used.  I made a double batch, one with the turkey and one with sweet Italian pork sausage for Mr. Inappropriate.  Mr. Inappropriate would like to have pork at every meal.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Lightly grease a baking sheet. Combine the ground turkey and seasonings like garlic, fennel, Italian seasoning, rosemary, etc., to make the turkey taste like sausage.  Divide it into four portions and shape it into patties.
Place a hard boiled egg, without its shell, on top of the patty, shaping the patty around the egg until the egg is uniformly covered.  It should be about the size and shape of a baseball.

Dip the sausage covered egg in the beaten egg and then roll in the bread crumbs. Place the Scotch egg on your greased pan.  Repeat with the other 3 eggs.

Somehow I made one extra Scotch egg.  I think it was because my ground turkey came in a 1.25 pound package.

 Bake at 350 for 25 -30 minutes, until they are golden brown.  They can be eaten warm or cold.  They are the perfect picnic or on the go lunch food.  It's best to slice a Scotch egg in half before eating, as it's easier to handle it that way.

Don't these look soooooo delicious?  We'll have them tomorrow for Easter breakfast.

Original Scotch Egg Recipe:
from COOKS.COM

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Content Copyright © 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

4 hard boiled eggs
1 lb. sausage meat
1 egg
1 tbsp. seasoned flour
1/2 c. crisp bread crumbs
Oil or fat to fry

Shell the hard boiled eggs. Press the sausage meat into meat squares on a floured board. Wrap the eggs in the sausage meat, making sure this is completely sealed without any air space on cracks. Brush with the beaten egg. Roll in bread crumbs. Heat oil and test it by placing a piece of stale bread with oil for 1 minute and it turns golden brown; 1 1/2 minutes if using fat. Put in the scotch eggs. Fry steadily for approximately 5 to 8 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Lift out, drain on crumpled paper and serve hot or cold. It is possible to bake these in the oven. Allow approximately 20 to 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

What a Naturopathic Physician Eats

For breakfast I had double bergamot Earl Grey, fresh pineapple, fresh mango, Activia yogurt and a home made banana nut bread made from Pamela's gluten free baking mix.

For lunch I had an organic hamburger with swiss cheese, baby carrots, celery sticks and a lovely salad of butter leaf lettuce, green onion, baby cukes, avocado, cherry tomatoes and ranch dressing. 

For dinner we had New England clam chowder with corn and garlic bread.  I did not make the clam chowder, it came from a can.  (I know, you're shocked, right?)

I felt satisfied all day.  Mr. Inappropriate and I are trying hard to get more servings of fruits and veggies into our daily diet.  I can do the veggies well, but rarely eat fruit.  However, the fresh fruit for breakfast really works for me.

How have you been doing with your daily intake of fruits and vegetables?

What this naturopathic physician eats

I've been getting requests for information on what I eat.  My diet is similar to many people's diets that I know.

Tuesday morning breakfast: organic instant oatmeal with a handful of pecans, Activia vanilla yogurt

Tuesday lunch:  leftover pot roast with rutabaga, onion, turnip, carrot and parsnip.  A dash of horseradish sauce.

Tuesday dinner:  Corn tortillas, lettuce, organic ground beef with taco seasoning, salsa, cheese and sour cream

Tuesday dessert: Bite sized brownies with some real whipped cream, cup of mint tea

Supplement type food, not really a meal:   prune juice, lecithin and ground flax seeds, kefir

What do you think?  Do you eat similar things?  You will probably notice I did not have any fruit on Tuesday except for the prune juice and the strawberries in the kefir.  I don't eat much fruit, I'm more of a veggie person.