homemade gyoza, rice, and miso soup.

As you know from my previous post, I bought lots of delicious Japanese ingredients at the local Chinese food store. One of those things was gyoza skins.

Originally I had planned to do a dinner party and make tons of gyoza...thank goodness I didn't because the pack mad much less than I thought!

I chopped up garlic, leeks, kikurage mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, edamame and sesame seeds and put them in a bowl. Add a little bit of sesame oil and mirin and tadaaa, you've got the mix for the inside of the gyoza! Ariel helped me make them; it was her first time! I ended up finishing them, but she did a pretty good job. I guess I'll have to thank my mom for turning gyoza-making into a family activity.

Then I fried them up and they were ready to eat! They were delicious, but definitely don't beat my mom's. I think next time I need to include some cabbage and tofu. AND SHRIMP.

tomato and leek spaghetti.

On the farm, I literally ate spaghetti every other day (pasta on the others...). You think I would've gotten sick of it, but I had some serious spaghetti-withdrawl when I got back. I bought myself a pack of wheat spaghetti (hence the color being a bit spaghetto)...and then realized that I don't eat tomato sauce enough to merit the purchase of a whole can of tomato pulp. So I chopped up some normal tomatoes (took out the seeds because it makes the sauce kind of bitter) and sautéed them in olive oil with garlic and leek. And then I added a squirt of ketchup, which helped the tomatoes turn into a saucy consistency. It tasted like a slightly sweet and leeky tomato sauce. Yum!




x

caramelized onion risotto.

I used to make risotto all the time when I lived in Italy - it's relatively easy and super filling. Today, I decided that caramelized onion would be fantastic in it.

I caramelized-ish the onion and then added the risotto, cooking it in my usual manner. In a separate pot I sauteed leeks, broccoli and mushrooms (I kind of like them now...). Once the risotto was done, I just put the veggies on top. It was really pretty simple to make, but it tasted pretty good. The risotto definitely tasted heartier. I wish I had caramelized the onions just a little more though, too add some more sweetness to the dish.



My friend Ariel totally appreciated the meal after her long day at the studio. x