Simple Cucumber Salad

My sister made this the other night. I loved it.

I tried my hand at it the other night. A different other night. I loved it, again.

Here's the 'recipe' ...

cucumber

sesame seeds

rice wine vinegar

sesame oil

  

I peeled strips off the whole cucumber to get the striped effect you see in the photo.  You can do that or peel the whole thing or don't peel it at all.  Slice cucumber.  Sprinkle with rice wine vinegar and a few drops of sesame oil.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

That's it. 

Easy. 

Delicious.

Kale, Avo & Asparagus Salad

I have kale growing out my ears in our garden ! I've done the Roasted Kale a number of times and last night tried Khrista's Raw Kale and Avocado Salad for the first time. It is DELICIOUS ! I can't wait to make it again ! In fact, I might be making more for my lunch today ...

I changed it a bit though ... I made this to serve four.

A colander full of kale from my garden, stems removed & shredded
A punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, chopped
Asparagus, 2 bunches
Olive Oil
Juice from 1 small lemon
Sea salt, to taste
Sesame seeds

Put the kale in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and sprinkled with salt to taste. Now get your hands in there and massage it a bit. This softens the kale (and according to Khris, makes it tastier and easier to digest)

Saute asparagus in a bit of olive oil til cooked to desired tenderness.

While that is cooking, chop your tomatoes and avocado and mix into kale leaves.

Top with sauteed asparagus and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

YUM YUM YUM !

Honey Sesame Chicken

This recipe looked so yummy to me. I changed it just a little bit ... here's how I did mine :

3 chicken breasts - cut to bite size pieces
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of sherry
1/2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of sugar
2 tbsp flour & 1 tbsp cornstarch,mixed together
salt & pepper to taste

Marinate chicken with soy sauce, sherry, sugar, sesame oil, salt & pepper. Let marinate at least an hour. Just before frying mix the flours into the chicken.

Heat oil for frying. Fry chicken until golden brown, remove from pan to paper towel. Tip all the oil from the pan.

Mix the following ... and pour into the pan you cooked the chicken in.
3 tbsp of sweet chili sauce
2 tbsp of tomato ketchup
1- 2 tbsp of honey
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1/4 cup of water
some toasted sesame seed

Let the sauce thicken a bit. Add in the chicken & stir, making sure chicken is coated with the sauce. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on the chicken. Serve with warm rice.

Fun Buns

I love baking bread...but these rolls are a bit involved. But oh, so good with a nice bowl of stew. Worth the wait...if you have the time!

Ingredients.

2 1/2 t dry yeast

1 cup milk

4 T butter, melted.

2 T sugar

2 eggs, beaten.

4 cups flour

2 t salt

1 egg yolk and 1 T milk mixed for glaze

Handful of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sea salt, or spices for top of rolls



Directions.

Sprinkle yeast into 1 cup of the milk. Let set for 5 or so minutes.

Stir to dissolve.

Warm remaining milk in saucepan with butter and sugar.

Stir until the butter is completely melted.

Cool until lukewarm.

Beat in the eggs.

Mix flour and salt in large bowl.

Stir in dissolved yeast and butter mixture.

Mix until forms soft, sticky dough.

Knead until smooth and elastic. About 10 minutes.

Put dough in buttered bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in size (1 1/2 - 2 hrs)

Punch down. Let rest a few minutes while you butter rounded 9in cake pan.

Divide dough into 18 or so pieces. Place in buttered pan.

Cover and let double in size. Around 40 minutes.

Mix 1 egg yolk with 1 T milk to make glaze

Brush top of each roll with egg glaze. and sprinkle alternately with seeds and spices. I just used what I had which was sesame seeds, sea salt and rosemary.

Bake in preheated (400F) for 45 minutes. Golden.

Turn out onto wire rack to cool a bit.

Serve warm.