Spaghetti Squash Korean Kimchi Bowl

I wasn't originally planning on posting this, but after snapping this dinner on snapchat (annietucker93 <-- if you don't follow me) I got enough responses asking for the recipe. So, here we go. 

While Claire was in town we made homemade kimchi and also had dinner at our favorite new Korean spot. With Korean food on the brain and two big containers of kimchi, we did a little research on ways we could use it up. Claire is easily the most experienced eater in the family having been to Japan, Morocco, Australia and more. I always love to hear what she has been eating and cooking!

I came up with the recipe for this kimchi bowl inspired by different rice and noodle bowls I saw. Having just bought a spaghetti squash and being borderline obsessed with spaghetti squash, it seemed like the perfect base. It all kind of came together by throwing the contents of my fridge into a bowl, but it worked. 
**Read the directions all the way through first, so you can get the flow of when things should be made. 

Spaghetti Squash Korean Kimchi Bowl
yields 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1/2 cup edamame, thawed
1/2 cup shredded carrots (about 6 baby carrots)
1/2 cup kimchi
2-3 cups spinach
2 eggs
1 garlic clove, minced
olive oil
salt & pepper
seasme seeds

Sauce:
2 Tbsp. tamari
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. chili paste
1 garlic clove

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400. Cut the spaghetti squash in half, and scrape out the seeds. Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place face down in a baking dish and bake for 35-45 minutes. Here is a step by step tutorial. Or (I cheat) you can just pop it in the microwave for 5-10 minutes like I do.

2. When your squash has about 15 minutes to go, start to prepare your add-ins.

3. Thaw your edamame if frozen and grate your carrots on a box grater, set aside.

4. Heat a tiny bit of olive oil in a small pan over medium. Add in your minced garlic clove then the spinach and sautée until wilted. I splash in a little bit of water at the end to flash fry it a bit. 

5. Once your squash is done cooking it is time to prepare your soft boiled egg. You want this to be the last thing you do. To make the perfect soft boiled egg, place a small sauce pan filled with water over high heat. Once it comes to a boil, carefully drop in the eggs. Keep the water boiling and set your timer for 6 minutes, no minutes more. Let cook while you prepare your bowl.

6. Use a fork to create strands of spaghetti squash and get out of the skin. In a small bowl whisk tamari, sesame oil, chili paste and 2 Tbsp. water. In the same pan you cooked your spinach in, toss the spaghetti squash with the sauce until it is all covered and heated through. Place the squash in a bowl and then layer in the spinach, edamame, carrots, and kimchi.

7. At this point your timer should be going off. Take the egg out of the hot water with a slotted spoon and run under cold water. Peel your egg, carefully. Slice in half and add the runny egg to your bowl. Sprinkle it all with sesame seeds and serve!

Annie

Quinoa Fried Rice

I really have no idea why it has taken me so long to post this recipe. In school I made quinoa fried rice almost every Sunday night. It's the ultimate healthy comfort food! I always have frozen veggies in the freezer and quinoa stocked in the pantry, so it's a staple meal in my repertoire! 

This weekend while in Dallas, we had a sushi dinner at Shinsei. They told us they were known for their fried rice which they could make with white rice, brown rice or quinoa. Quinoa I hear?? They just spoke my love language. The dish came out with a fried egg on top instead of scrambled into the rice. Okay ya, so into that. I instantly knew I would be coming home to make it. I've now been eating it every night this week!

Cheat trick. I'm obsessed with this stuff. It's so easy to throw in while cooking and easier than trying to keep fresh garlic on hand. Second trick to my fried rice is using tamari instead of soy sauce. It's basically a gluten free less sodium version of soy sauce. It's still made from soy beans but leaves out the wheat and crazy saltiness you get from soy sauce.

Quinoa Fried Rice
serves 1

Ingredients:
3/4 cup cooked quinoa
2 tsp. coconut oil or olive oil, plus extra or frying your egg
combo of frozen or fresh corn, peas, edamame, carrots, broccoli etc.
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. tamari
1 egg
2 green onions, chopped
3 basil leaves, chiffonade (optional)
pepper
paprika

Directions:
Cook quinoa according to package directions. Quinoa is a 2:1 ratio. For example 2 cups water for 1 cup quinoa, or 1 cup water for 1/2 cup quinoa. I like to cook up a big batch and just keep it in the fridge to turn into fried rice or throw in salads. 

To make the fried rice, add 2 tsp. of your choice of cooking oil to a pan over medium heat. Cook frozen veggies until tender then add in garlic. Add quinoa to pan and mix everything together. Drizzle over tamari or soy sauce. Cook everything together until heated and combined. Transfer to a serving dish and wipe out your pan. Add a little more oil to the hot pan then crack your egg in slowly. Cover with a lid and let it fry, don't flip it! This will keep the yolk pretty!

Once your egg is fried slide it over the quinoa and top with chopped green onion and basil! I like to add some pepper and paprika for presentation! Eat with chopsticks and you now have healthy asian food at home!

My ultimate single girl meal. Dinner for one, check!

Annie

When You and Your Sister Get Each Other the Same Thing for Christmas...

Okay so funny story. My oldest sis Claire and her boyfriend are asian food connoisseurs like myself. They recently took a two week trip to Japan where they had some of the most amazing authentic asian cuisine (jealous). I wanted to get them something unique and different for Christmas this year. I decided on getting some big ramen bowls and spoons, as well as little soy sauce bowls etc. I wanted to get them the works to recreate amazing asian food at home. So here's the funny part, without mentioning anything about my gift idea, Claire got me the EXACT same thing. I'm not kidding. And this isn't just some present you find on display at a department store, we both ventured into random asian markets to scour for this authentic gift. Pretty hilarious, but I guess great minds think alike. 

My big Chinese dragon bowls have been sitting around since Christmas waiting to be filled with a brothy asian noodle soup. Would it be miso ramen or seafood pho? Soba noodles or curry? I had been researching all different recipes, but ended up combining about five. This dish is sort of like ramen and pho had a baby. I call it phamen.

Asian Rice Noodles Ramen Pho Soup
yields one large bowl of soup, recipe mostly adapted from Love and Lemons

Ingredients: 
1 egg
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
5 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, white and green thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. peeled and minced fresh ginger*
16 oz. (half a box) vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 (2.2 oz) package rice noodles
1 big handful of spinach or kale
drizzle of sesame oil (optional)

Garnishes:
red pepper flakes
sriracha
sliced green onions
sprouts
bean sprouts
chopped cilantro

Directions:
Fill a small sauce pan about halfway up with water, enough to cover your egg. Over high heat, boil just your water. Once boiling add your egg and reduce heat to low. Simmer your egg for 8 minutes to create the perfect runny ramen egg. 

While your egg is cooking, heat your vegetable oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Sauté mushrooms, green onions, garlic, and ginger. Season with salt and cook until mushrooms are tender, about 6-7 minutes.

Your egg should be finishing up by now. Take out of the hot water and run under cool water. Peel your egg and set aside. Place in a deep bowl or cup. Pour the soy sauce over your egg to let it marinate a little. Flip your egg every once in a while give it an even light brown color.

Add vegetable broth and water to the mushrooms and bring to a boil. Add noodles and reduce to a simmer. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Once your soup has come together pour into a fairly large serving bowl. Flavor with soy sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil. Take your egg out of the soy sauce and cut in half. Garnish the phamen with your runny egg, chopped cilantro, red pepper flakes, sprouts, green onions, sriracha etc! Now you have a beautiful bowl of phamen!

*The easiest way I've found to peel and mince ginger is by cutting off the skin with a knife then using a microplane to mince it. This is also a great way to mince garlic!

I highly recommend the addition of a runny ramen egg. Here you can see mine marinating in it's soy bath. 

I have to give myself a pat on the back for this recipe because it was pretty outstanding. It makes a huge bowl, but I wouldn't share. I had leftovers, but I still kept it all for myself. If you want to be nice, the recipe easily doubles for sharing purposes.

Annie