by : Reiko Potato/Squash, Vegan, Vegetarian

Sweet Mama Kabocha Salad
スイートママ南瓜サラダ

As I promised yesterday, in this post I’d like to show you how I used my homemade vegan mayo.

I think this Sweet Mama Kabocha Salad is a great way to showcase the mayo as well as this squash which has such a cool name!

This is Sweet Mama.

I found it at the local farmers market.

I love trying different kinds of squash, and farmers market is one of the best places to find interesting ones.

Last weekend when I was checking out one of the vendors squash selection, this caught my eye.

I initially thought it was a Kabocha, which is a very popular Japanese winter squash, because it had a similar look.

But the label said “Sweet Mama”.

I had never heard of it, but I came home with it.

When I did some research later, Sweet Mama is described as “hybrid squash”, but I couldn’t find out “a hybrid of what”.

According to this site, Sweet Mama is described as a “Kabocha-type” squash.

When I cut it in half and then later cut it into small pieces, I did notice that it is very similar to Kabocha in many ways, like colors of the skin, fresh, and their texture.

So I decided to make one of my favorite Kabocha dishes, Kabocha Salad.

When you cook it, you can definitely see even more similarity to Kabocha as the fresh becomes dry (like potatoes) when cooked, (which I like), and it has mild sweet flavor, similar to Kabocha.

I kept the skin on as I do with Kabocha.

Some parts of the skin can be harder than others, but I actually enjoy the two different textures: soft fresh and harder skin.

So this is where my vegan mayo comes in.

The cooked Sweet Mama was mixed with dried cranberries, coated with the homemade vegan mayo and a little maple syrup, and then served with freshly ground black pepper.

Absolutely delicious!!

I can eat a big bowl of this salad myself.

Sweet Mama Kabocha Salad

2 cups Sweet Mama Kabocha, cut into small pieces
salt and pepper
1/2 cup dried cranberries
homemade vegan mayo – add 1 tablespoon at a time until it achieves your preference
a drizzle of maple syrup
salt and pepper

1. Add Sweet Mama Kabocha in boiling water. Boil again and then turn heat down to medium-low heat. Continue to cook until cooked through but do not overcook; Kabocha will lose its shape when overcooked. Drain. Salt. Let it cool and dry.
2. Combine the Kabocha and dried cranberries.
3. Add homemade vegan mayo and maple syrup.
4. Salt and pepper. I like a lot of black pepper for this salad.

One more picture of me and Sweet Mama.

Yes, it was heavy, but when they have a set price for “each” and not “per pound”, I have to go for a big one, right (lol)?

by : Reiko Leaf Vegetabes, Nuts, Potato/Squash, Vegan, Vegetarian

Roasted Spiced Butternut Squash Dumpling Dinner
バターナッツスクオッシュダンプリング

Since I started seeing more and more squash (already!) in stores and at farmers market, I decided to pick up one of my favorite squash, butternut squash.

I love this picture, how it look with the sunset in the background.

The colors do show a fall afternoon…

I peeled it and then cut it into small pieces for roasting.

I roasted garlic along with the squash.

the picture is the empty shells after I removed the inside from them.

I was initially thinking about making homemade ravioli, but then I realized that would be a bit too much work for a weeknight dinner.

So I took a shortcut and used pot-sticker wrappers.

Super easy.

The texture is definitely different, but I do like these with the thinner wrappers, too.

Since the wrappers are so thin, I can see through the beautiful orange filling, which is pretty cool.

The filling was made with roasted butternut squash, roasted garlic, maple syrup, and spices.

I mash the squash but I didn’t make it completely creamy, as I like a little texture.

I served these dumplings with walnut gravy and they were delicious!

This was the first time I used walnuts for sauce, and I absolutely loved what they can do.

The walnut cream gives a flavor depth as well as a beautiful color; it had a lighter color when creamed but when it was added to the sauce, it turned the sauce into this beautiful dark brown color!

Placed with the dumplings on the plate were sauteed spinach.

I love these spinach that have stems, and whenever I see fresh ones, I grab them.

This spinach is from Fresh Thyme.

Roasted Spiced Butternut Squash Dumplings with Walnut Gravy

roasted spiced butternut squash dumplings – makes about 16~20
– 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into small cubes
– olive oil
– salt and pepper
– 1/2 garlic
– maple syrup
– sugar
– cinnamon
– ground dry ginger
– nutmeg
– salt and pepper
– about 16 to 20 pot-sticker wrappers
walnut gravy
– 1/3 cup walnut
– boiled water
– olive oil
– 2 garlic, chopped
– 1 small onion, chopped
– 1/2 can whole tomatoes (14oz), pureed
– cane sugar
– 1 bay leaf
– salt and pepper
– a pinch of baking soda
chopped parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Place butternut squash and garlic on a pan lined with foil. Sprinkle olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes or the squash and garlic are cooked through.
2. Combine the roasted squash, roasted garlic, maple syrup, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Roughly mash the squash and garlic.
3. Wrap the squash filling in wrappers.
4. Boil water in a pot. Place the dumplings in a small batch at a time. Cook for a few minutes; when the dumplings float up to the surface, they are done.
5. Make walnut gravy. Soak walnut in boiled water that barely covers the nuts for about a half hour.
6. Cook galic and onion in olive oil.
7. Add tomato puree, sugar, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and baking soda (a very tiny little bit at a time).
8. Puree the walnuts using a hand blender until creamy.
9. Add the walnut cream. Mix well. Salt and pepper, and maybe more sugar to achieve your preferred saltiness/sweetness.
10. Serve the dumplings with the gravy. Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley.

by : Reiko Potato/Squash, Vegan, Vegetarian

Charred Sweet Potato with Cumin Coconut Cream
焦がしスイートポテト、クミンココナッツクリームがけ

I get cooking inspiration from different places, but lately more from Instagram.

When I saw a picture of a charred sweet potato dish one of my Instagram friends had at a new and trendy cafe in Minneapolis, The Lynhall, I wanted to make something similar, but 100% plant-based.

Since the one picture and a quick description, charred sweet potato with cumin yogurt and toasted pepitas, were all I had, I cooked mine without a recipe.

I actually enjoy this kind of project!

I first roasted sweet potatoes.

They were then charred in a pan.

Here is the final result!

My charred sweet potato was served with cumin coconut cream, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dry cranberries, pickled rhubarb, cilantro, and mint.

The seeds and dried cranberries were from this bag, Salad Topper, by naturSource, that I found at Costco.

Terry is not a big fan of anything with coconut, so I hesitated to ask him to try it.

But it turned out that he finished the whole plate!

The combination of everything was pretty amazing, if I can say so myself.

Each little component is essential to be there in this dish, from the flavor from the charred potato, crunchy seeds, sweetness from the cranberries, spicy and tart pickles, and the wonderful cumin coconut cream, which I fell in love with.

Charred Sweet Potato with Cumin Coconut Cream

3 sweet potatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper
cumin coconut cream
– 1/2 5.4 oz can coconut cream (so 2.7oz)
– cumin
– sugar
– salt and pepper
1/2 cup mixture of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries
1 tablespoon chopped pickled rhubarb
chopped mint and cilantro

1.　Wash potatoes well with water. Remove all the water with paper towels. Coat with olive oil. Salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 400F for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. Cut in half. With the cut side down, cook over high heat in a pan with olive oil, until the edges get slightly charred. Salt and pepper if needed.
2. Make cumin coconut cream. Add cumin, sugar, salt, and pepper to coconut cream, a little by little, until it achieves the flavor you prefer.
3. Pour the cumin coconut cream over the potato. Sprinkle seeds, dried cranberries, and picked rhubarb. Sprinkle mint and cilantro.

by : Reiko Breakfast, Leaf Vegetabes, Potato/Squash, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Breakfast Wrap
朝食ラップ

It may be a bit hard to see the wrap, but it’s there.

I’ve been really enjoying wraps lately.

Especially these whole wheat wraps are so tasty.

It took me a while to get used to whole wheat food, but they have finally started growing on me.

Lately I’ve been choosing darker colors over lighter colors (e.g., whole wheat vs. regular flour) for food, so my choice was easy when I was out shopping for potatoes.

Yep, sweet potatoes.

The potatoes were coated with a mixture of olive oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, and paprika.

The potatoes were placed on a sheet pan and then salt and pepper were sprinkled before going into the oven.

I typically do not like a mushy texture of vegetables, so I roasted my potatoes at the temperature (425F), probably a bit higher than how people typically roast their potatoes.

They turned out just the way I wanted.

They got a nice slightly caramelized crust outside and the inside was tender but not mushy or too wet.

A breakfast wrap!

This is “before” being wrapped, apparently.

But this way you can see what was inside.

On the wrap are sauteed spinach and kale, roasted spiced sweet potatoes, and scrambled tofu.

It’s a little tight, but you can wrap it. No problem!

And this awesome home cold-brewed coffee makes the breakfast even better.

Tear a small piece, and make a tiny wrap for each bite.

It’s a fun way to eat a wrap.

Breakfast Wrap　

2 whole wheat wraps
roasted spiced sweet potatoes
– 1/4 cup olive oil
– 1/4 cup maple syrup
– paprika
– cinnamon
– 4~5 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes
– salt and pepper
scrambled tofu
– 1 package extra firm tofu, microwaved for about one minute and remove excess water
– canola oil
– salt and pepper
– cumin
– turmeric
1~2 cups sauteed and salted/peppered kale and spinach1. Make roasted sweet potatoes. Preheat the oven to 425F. In a bowl mix olive oil, maple syrup, paprika, and cinnamon. Add sweet potatoes and coat the potatoes with the oil mixture. Place the potatoes on a sheet pan in a single layer. Salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 20~25 minutes, or until cooked through.
2. Make scrambled tofu. Roughly mash tofu with a wooden spoon. Sautee the tofu in oil. Salt and pepper. Add cumin and turmeric. Mix well and continue to sautee for another few more minutes.
3. Warm wraps on a pan over high heat for a minute or so each side.
4. Place sauteed kale and spinach, roasted sweet potatoes, and scrambled tofu over wraps.

2 Comments
by : Reiko Mushroom, Potato/Squash, Vegan, Vegetarian

Home Vegan Lunch Buffet
おうちで野菜ランチバイキング

I wasn’t planning to make any thing for lunch (so the plan was to eat out), but when I checked the fridge, all different ideas came to me.

So the plan was changed at the last minute.

One of the things I wanted to cook was these portobello mushrooms.

One tip for buying portobello mushrooms (or any type of mushrooms) is to buy them in bulk instead of the packaged one.

You can typically save some money (sometimes a lot, but do the math first), and also you can pick the freshest-looking ones yourself.

I had just bought beautiful mushrooms and I decided to roast them.

Just out of the oven and sliced.

I can just eat them like this.

So tasty.

Dressed up with grated radish, braised and chopped Renkon lotus root, and chives.

This was the main dish.

But then I was in a mood for a few more dishes to serve for our home buffet.

If I wanted to call it “buffet”, I thought I needed at least three or four dishes, right?

Mustard Dill Potato Salad.

Broccoli Sauteed with Garlic.

Tomato Salad with Sesame and Shiso Basil.

This was a casual lunch for two, but I wanted to use our nice set of silverware.

It took us a long time to find cutlery that we really wanted, but when we saw these Fortessa Bistro flatware, we fell in love with them.

Love the simple but elegant design, and their heavy weight.

So beautiful.

My plate looked like this.

I enjoyed it with a couple of slices of homemade crusty bread and a glass of home cold-brewed coffee.

The roasted portobello was served with homemade citrus soy sauce.

Very refreshing.

by : Reiko Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Potato/Squash, Root vegetable, Vegan, Vegetarian

Black Curry
黒カレー

Hi!

Sorry about the absence.

I just got back from my vacation in Japan.

It was great to see my family and friends, and there are a lot of things about this trip I would like to share with you, but I figure many of my blog readers are probably the most interested in food.

So I am hoping to make and post some dishes for that I got inspiration from my stay in Japan.

I made this black curry for dinner tonight.

I had never heard of black curry until this trip.

We had this wonderful black curry at a cafe in Nara, and I fell in love with it.

When I did some research, apparently black curry has been pretty popular in Japan lately, and many restaurants do offer their own version of black curry.

There appear to be many ways to make your curry black, but when I asked the server at the cafe she told me that it was “black sesame” that made their curry black.

So my black curry has a healthy amount of black sesame, but I also came up with some other secret weapons to add flavor depth and additional black color.

My black curry turned out DELICIOUS and very black!

My black curry was served with wild rice and roasted Kabocha, cauliflower, and carrots.

Black Curry

canola oil
2~3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
3 cups water
1/4 cup Shio Kombu (Japanese salted seaweed)
1 cup Hijiki (Japanese dried seaweed), soaked in water and dried
1/4~1/3 cup black sesame
1~2 tablespoons canola oil
1~2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2~3 teaspoons curry powder
cane sugar
salt and pepper

1. Sautee garlic and ginger with oil in a large pot. Cook over medium heat while constantly stirring until browned.
2. Add water and Shio Kombu. Boil and then turn down to low heat.
3. In a tall container combine Hijiki and black sesame. Add about a cup of the liquid from the pot. Puree everything using a hand blender until smooth and creamy. Add to the pot. Mix well with a whisk.
4. In a separate small pan combine oil and flour. Cook over medium heat while constantly stirring until turned dark brown. Scoop about 1/2 cup of liquid from the pot, add to the roux, and mix well. Pour the loosened roux to the pot. Mix well with a whisk.
5. Add curry powder, sugar, salt, and pepper.