A salad fit and mighty as a main dish protein salad bowl featuring shredded chicken, quinoa, red cabbage, Brussel sprouts, snow peas.
Quinoa is nutritious whole grain that can be easily added to vegetable salads and make salads a meal. Make Smoked Salmon Turmeric Quinoa Bowl, Broccoli Cauliflower Celery Quinoa Bowl, Biryani-Inspired Quinoa Pilaf, Asparagus Quinoa Bowl.
A warm and comforting soupy grain bowl is one of those grain bowls or protein bowls sought after during cool weather season, which is right now.
If Leftover Chicken Breast Salad can be prepared in 20 minutes, why not this Chicken Veggies Rice Soup?
The major difference between this Cabbage, Woodear Mushrooms Salad and the regular raw veggie salad is: these finely julienned/thinly sliced vegetables (including the mushrooms) are blanched to cook - vegetables become warm, tender and infuses deeper with sesame oil-based dressing.
Wonton salad is a viable option if you are shunning /staying away from piping hot wonton soups especially in summer. It may sound strange to you but I am perfectly fine, enjoying cooked wontons with pea sprouts and snow peas. A meal with all components (carbs, protein, fiber) considered, isn't it?
If solely greens isn't your cup of tea, add some colors and enjoy this bowl of wontons with steamed beets, and cabbage.
During the cold winter months, we still have our vegetables but MAKE IT BETTER.
YESsss! Spice them up!
Vegetables curries like this Roasted Vegetables Spiced Curry or Sayur Lodeh-style Vegetable Curry are exceptionally satisfying during this time of the year as the spices warm us up from the inside (our belly!) to the outside.
This is an easy one-pot recipe for a comforting mildly-spiced vegetable curry.
Pillars of the dry pantry, beans is a great source of plant-protein, fiber, essential vitamins and minerals. Raw and bought in bulk, they are super budget-friendly. Canned and cooked, they can be used straight out of the can, particularly time-saving when building healthy and nutritious vegetarian veggie bowls.
Pinto Beans Veggie (Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot) Bowl
My pantry stocks a variety of canned beans or lentils including chickpea/garbanzo beans, black beans, navy beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, even black soybeans.
Eating well does not have to be complicated. Such Veggies and Chicken Main-Dish Salad Bowls do not need further introduction - making regular appearances at our meal table and our fuss-free way to eating well. I've prepared this many times yet not bored of it; on the contrary, I'm kept excited every time, looking forward to the variety of vegetables that can be put together each time.
Using everyday budget-friendly ingredients e.g. broccoli and cabbage that are available all-year-round, this Broccoli, Cabbage and Chicken Bowl is easy to prepare, healthy and delicious - just like many other veggies and chicken main-dish salad bowl variations.
Theme days or theme nights make meal planning so much easier. In our family, Wednesday and Friday means sandwiches/wraps lunches e.g. Chicken Salad Sandwich, Rainbow Veggies Wraps.
Do you have a theme day or theme night?
On sandwich Wednesdays and Fridays, the brain is switched to auto-mode for lunch preparations. There is no need to even think of what's for lunch and THAT, ITSELF is a real time-saver.
The "sandwiches" can come in different forms - sandwich pockets. wraps, burgers.
It's end of March but some days are still chilly and cold in the high 50s. Such weather calls for soups - not stew-like winter soup but something warm yet light and soothing like this spring weather Fish and Cabbage Egg-Drop Soup.
This Fish and Cabbage Egg-Drop Soup is loaded with carrots, Napa cabbage and fresh mushrooms then finished off with egg-drop/wash, lots of fresh cilantro and final touch of fragrant sesame oil - a all-in-one side-dish soup, perfect either on its own or paired with steamed rice.
Convenience absolutely makes a difference when putting together a meal on busy days. Store-bought wontons (Bibigo Fully Cooked Mini Wontons Chicken and Cilantro) that take 15 minutes to cook means a quick and easy meal on the table.
This Steamed Broccoli and Wontons Salad completes a meal from store-bought wontons and home-cooked vegetables.
Wontons served with steamed vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, red cabbage and kale
You can always make your own wontons at home (make a batch and freeze portions). If you have leftover boiled (or cooked) wontons, you can also pan-fry those cooked wontons (gyozas goodness!).
A variety of vegetables, raw and/or cooked, has become my blank canvas, and can easily build up to a healthy and delicious dish.
Today, it is a noodle salad made from assorted vegetables of lettuce and red cabbage, and soba noodles. This can jolly well be a meal when you are eating light.
Salmon or no salmon (for vegetarians), it is all up to you.
Atop the bed of gently steamed bean sprouts, broccoli and cabbage sits this healthily prepared steamed duck breast, topped with sweet mango, crisp cucumber and colorful bell peppers.
This warm Sliced Duck Breast Salad can be enjoyed as a side-dish; yet also satisfying as a one-dish salad entree.
It is personal preference to either cook the bean sprouts and Napa cabbage or keep them raw. Even when the bean sprouts and Napa cabbage are cooked, they are only gently steamed, so their inherent crisp and moist textures are not compromised. At the same time, the steamed vegetables bring a little warmth into the salad (that is how I prefer) when tossed with the sliced duck breast.
When I came across the term "Alimentary Yakisoba", I was puzzled for a while, not knowing what "Alimentary" meant until I tried to find out later that it meant "relating to nourishment or nutrition". But, is there a reason why "alimentary" is tagged with "yakisoba"? I wonder if there is a special connotation or meaning.
This dish uses "Yakisoba" noodles but you can replace with your favorite noodle variety e.g. Ramen or Udon. As the base-sauce for this noodle stir-fry is developed from simmering five-spice tofu (Hodo brand) and mushrooms, the noodles are infused with the five-spice flavors from the simmered tofu which makes it essentially Five-Spice Stir-Fry Noodles.
The lunch bowl today is similar to this healthy and delicious Broccoli, Cauliflower, Chicken Quinoa Bowl. Routine might not be be a bad thing after all.
Batch-cooking quinoa and chicken breast leftovers are all part of meal preparation and that really got me into the groove of such a meal combination (or shall I say, post-workout worthy meals).
Come meal time, all we need is re-heat the leftovers, roast some sweet potatoes or potatoes and steam fresh vegetables (Note: Steaming vegetables is a gentle quick-cooking method that maintains vegetables' nutritional value and beautiful color).
With its bright orange flesh, kabocha squash is an excellent source of beta-carotene that can be converted to vitamin A in the body.
Vitamin A is important for healthy white blood cells, good immunity and
for vibrant, healthy eyes, skin and hair. To boost fiber
content, you can cook them with their edible green skins. I bought a whole kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin) with a plan to cook Pumpkin Rice 南瓜饭.
This Pumpkin Rice a pumped-up version of this Garlic Pumpkin Rice and fits a one-pot one-dish meal perfectly.
Remember this Chickpea-Tuna Lettuce Endive Wrap ? Besides chicken, eggs, vegetarian tempeh and tofu, Chickpea-Tuna Mix has become one of the latest protein add-ons to my salad bowl meals (a.k.a grain bowls or workout meals). Certainly, this grain bowl can be made vegetarian by omitting the tuna - simply use chickpeas or other legumes as meatless protein mix-in.
This Chickpea-Tuna Mix is quick and easy to make - less than 30 minutes, no stove required; it is also a superb make-ahead dish that you can prepare on Sunday, and good for powering up healthy lunches for the week ahead.
To prepare a healthy wholesome grain bowl, always start with a base of colorful vegetables and greens, for example a spring mix of green and red leaf lettuces, radicchio and arugula.
To boost the nutrition and to have a forkful of textures and flavors, add more vegetables and fruits such as cucumbers, tomatoes, red cabbage, steamed asparagus, like this:
It was perhaps the sudden urge to make coleslaw at home when I saw this beautiful organic red cabbage at the farmer's market. Since it is coleslaw, I really wanted to replicate this refreshing and crisp cabbage-celery slaw salad (also check this delicious Celery, Dates and Cashew Salad) that I have recently enjoyed while dining out. That salad coleslaw, served with beer-batter fish bites, had the perfect crunch from the cabbage and celery, tastefully balanced by light creamy mayo dressing. Besides this slaw salad, the only coleslaw that I have had, and till today served as childhood memory, is the KFC coleslaw.
This homemade coleslaw is quick and easy to prepare - using cabbage, red cabbage, Greek yogurt, organic apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.
Enjoy as side-dish with chicken, fish or complement with sandwiches, hot dogs or wraps.
Protein and fiber packed, quinoa is a super versatile whole grain with endless possibilities - healthy fried "rice", exotic "rice" pilaf, creative sushi, comforting porridge/congee, savory snack-size patties, colorful salads, and wholesome plate meals or bowl meals.
With broccoli, zucchini, green beans and red cabbage, you can easily turn this light vegetarian salad to quick supper. Alternatively, if you are making a seafood entree like this Seafood in a Bag, this salad will be your perfect side-accompaniment.
This "golden" salad dressingis now the "liquid gold" in my kitchen, especially in my homemade salads and workout meals (e.g. Asparagus, Chicken and Potato Salad Meal, Mushrooms, Green Beans, Broccoli Salad Bowl) It is an easy and healthy upgrade from the basic extra-virgin olive oil-apple cider vinegar-garlic-salt-pepper vinaigrette-based dressing.
The gold? Turmeric.
Did you know that black pepper and turmeric is a perfect match which defies the good'ol equation of one plus one equals two? According to some research sources, piperine - the active compound in black pepper will increase and enhance the bio-availability of curcumin (active component in turmeric) hence boost curcumin absorption in the body.
Sometimes, I simply forget but whenever possible, I try to add turmeric in my cooking e.g. when cooking rice, and when preparing salad dressing.
If you enjoy these salad meals, or veggie grain bowls, do check them out here. Or if you prefer a shrimp-similar salad bowl, try this Mixed Veggies, Shrimps, Avocado and Radish Bowl.
Isn't that just meatballs? Why is it called Lion's Head Meatballs 红烧狮子头? This Shanghai casserole dish has such a name because the typically over-sized meatballs is like the "head of the lion" braised with surrounding Napa cabbage that resembles "the lion's mane".
For the recipe today, I have tried to simplify the preparation and cooking, hoping to achieve a healthier yet delicious dish.
First, for those who avoids deep-frying at home, this lion head meatball recipe shares a over-roasted meatball version that eases up stove-top deep-frying. Second, the meatballs are of standard meatball size (not over-sized) so that cooking or baking time can be easily managed. For example, if you deep-fry a gigantic meatball, it takes a much longer time to cook through the meat compared to smaller meatballs.
