Japanese Pan-Fried Salmon, Steamed Flavored Rice, Bok Choi and Miso Soup

Salmon is definitely my favorite fish.  It contains so much flavor and can be prepared in so many ways, my favorite of which being fried.  This meal does take a while to prepare and uses many ingredients so plan before you make it.  

http://www.zojirushi.com/recipes/-i-takikomi-gohan-i-mixed-rice-

http://www.food.com/recipe/miso-shiru-soup-12744

http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/how-make-salted-salmon-shiozake

For the Bok Choi, I just fried some bacon in a wok, put in the bok choi, stirred it around with some garlic and served it.

Ukranian Borscht Soup

        This recipe is great for a cold winter night.  You can add pretty much any leftovers you want with the main ingredients and it'll still taste amazing.  I had a lot of kale and pork left from a previous recipe and just dumped them into the pot and it ended up great.  It takes about an hour to prepare every ingredient but if you have some extra time on your hands, this is definitely worth your effort.

Japanese- Yakisoba/Stir-fried Noodles

This recipe is my comfort food.  My mom is Japanese and makes it all the time because it is extremely easy to make and it's delicious.  You can use pretty much any leftovers to make it and it only takes three steps:

1. Heat some oil in a frying pan and sautee whatever vegetables you want.  I used spring onions, shiitake mushrooms and grated carrots.  Set aside your veggies once they're done cooking

2.  In the same pan, heat a tablespoon of oil and a quarter cup of water.  Add the Yaki-soba noodles and loosen them over 2-3 minutes

3. Add your sauteed vegetables and sprinkle a sauce base packet over the noodles.

 I added some tofu and pork to add more texture and flavor to the mix.

 Put some pickled ginger and sprinkle some seaweed to add to the variety of flavors.

Italian- Spaghetti and Fried Lamb Shank

12/2/13

This recipe came straight out of the New York Times magazine entitled "Remembering Marcella."  If you're strapped for time, this recipe is for you, because it only takes about an hour to prepare.  I know it's another Italian dish but c'mon, who doesn't like Italian?  You can see the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/remembering-marcella.html 

 You might want to add some garlic for more flavor.  Make sure to taste test it every few minutes.

 You're going to need a lot of salt and pepper.  Be careful of oil splashes

 I scrambled the leftover eggs as to not waste them.

Italian-Chicken Parmesan and Roasted Romaine

11/19/13      
       
          Ever since my grandmother heard that I liked cooking, she got me a subscription to the bon appetit magazine for Christmas.  I didn't really want it because I knew I would have no time to read it.  One day, after picking up the mail, I saw the little magazine poking out beneath the letters.  I immediately gave it to my mom who, upon further inspection, showed me a recipe that looked like something I could do.  Here's the recipe: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/parmesan-chicken-with-caesar-roasted-romaine.

I added some potatoes to counteract the saltiness of the chicken and lettuce.  Here's a good recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/rosemary-roasted-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Indian-Tandoori Chicken and Naan

11/13/13
     
         So I decided to start with Indian food because I found a box of Tandoori chicken sauce mix in my pantry.  I also had a recipe of Naan that I wanted to try out.

Here are the recipes:

 I decided to halve the recipes since I was only cooking for my mom and I.

Adding cumin to the naan really added more flavor.  

Serve it with some salad and yogurt if you don't like spiciness

Fortunately for me, I love spicy food even if I can't handle it that well.  When I was making the sauce that was put on the chicken, I ended up putting the whole spice packet instead of half of it because I forgot that I halved the recipe.  This turned out delicious despite the mistake.