Cumin Fatty Beef

Tis the season for hotpot...and sometimes we forget we can't eat as much as we used to in our youth. In this case, we had an extra pound of fatty sliced beef leftover. It can't be refrozen...so what to do? This:

Fatty sliced beef
Onion
Cumin
Caraway seeds
Chili pepper 

Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Salt
Green onion garnish

Sauté the onions with the spices, add the beef. Continue sautéing with the rest of the seasoning until all the liquid is evaporated. Then garnish with green onions for color. Goes great with rice! (What's even better is to do this with sliced lamb.) Enjoy!

Cold Noodle Salad

This is perfect for a summer meal. And it can cover nearly all the food groups at once.

Zucchini cut into thin strands
Boiled eggs
Tomatoes
Cooked, cooled Asian noodles
Turkey bacon
Chopped green onion
Dash of chili flakes
Goddess Dressing (from Trader Joes)

Sautéed Mushrooms

I love mushrooms. I think my two favorite ways to eat mushrooms is in a chunky creamy soup or sautéed...which is what this post covers.

This one is sautéed in butter, seasoned with:
Chopped garlic
Cumin
Paprika
Salt
Chili flakes

Once everything is nicely coated with butter and spices, I cover the pan for a few minutes so that the moisture from the mushrooms come out. Then I uncover and let the water evaporate. I'll leave a minute or two between each time I stir so that the mushrooms almost char. Super yummy.

Pot roast

I've never made pot roast....so thought I'd give it a try. Bought a sirloin tip roast, put a delicious smelling rub on it. Seared all sides (and set off the smoke detector multiple times). Then into the oven it went. The color looked perfect when it came out...nice range of medium to medium rare for the various preferences in my family. BUT, as a sirloin tip, there's very little marbling of fat in it, so you guessed it, the poor roast was SUPER chewy. Tasted great, but hard to chew. It was a fail.

My uncle suggested next time I bake it at 250F for six to eight hours. I could try that. Or I could just buy prime rib roast next time. Maybe sirloin tip roasts are meant for braising only....anyone know?? Ah well.

My tasty rub:
Chili flakes
Paprika
Cumin
Rosemary
Garlic
Lime juice
Olive Oil


Sorry about the picture....I loaded it vertical from my phone onto the blogpost app, but then it comes out like this when I use my desktop.

Zucchini Tomato Soup

It was Meatless Monday...and it was cold. I had a flat of tomatoes where some were starting to show spots, as well as two green zucchini's at the bottom of the veggie drawer that needed eating. So I decided to do a zucchini tomato soup.

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Onion

Garlic

Couscous

Tomato paste

Cumin

Basil flakes

Chili flakes

Oregano flakes

Carrot juice

Sugar

Water

Dash of white wine

While grating the zucchinis, I found I had way too much, so as a last minute idea, I made some zucchini patties to eat with the soup:

Zucchini

Spelt flour

Frulani cheese

Egg

S&P

It was perfect for a cold day. The chili flakes added extra heat and kick to the soup. The zucchini patties were flavorful with the cheese and absorbed some of the heat from the soup when eaten together. The couscous in the soup added heartiness without it getting too heavy. Will be made again I'm sure.

Soy Lime Mackerel

Part of trying to eat healthier is also trying to eat more organic and sustainable products. Wild mackerel is one of those products. These smaller fishes grow fast and reach sexual maturity quickly, making them sustainable compared to, say, tuna....which also stores high levels of mercury in its flesh. Another bonus is how the mackerel is scale-less. I hate de-scaling fishes...but I love eating the skin! The darker layer of flesh right under the skin is supposed to be rich in omega oils too.
I trimmed off the head and tail, and filleted it so that it can be opened flat. I left the backbone in so that it wouldn't curl when I panfried it. Then I marinated the fish, skin-side up.

Marinade:
Soy Sauce
Sugar
Vinegar
(can also add chili flakes)

The mackerel was served over a bed of spinach and arugula leaves and the dressing for both the fish and salad was drizzled on top. I had leftover corn so the niblets were tossed into the salad as well.

Dressing:
Lime juice
Olive Oil
Sugar
Ginger root (finely chopped)
Soy Sauce

And it was good! Not fishy in taste at all. =)
Again, sorry no picture...ate it before I remembered.