Tag Archives: Ginger

Golden Sesame Ginger Tofu

Entrees, Gluten Free, Recipes, Tofu, Vegan September 26, 2016 Comments: 4

Golden Sesame Ginger Tofu, yum

Whenever I find myself at Whole Foods I can’t leave without picking up a container or two of their golden sesame tofu.  I love this stuff.  The tofu has a perfectly dense and chewy texture and the saucy coating is just sweet enough with a little bit of spice. The whole thing is finished with fresh scallions for the right amount of crunchy freshness, yum!  

Golden Sesame Ginger Tofu

Golden Sesame Ginger Tofu

For years, I’ve been buying Whole Food’s Golden Sesame Tofu and trying to recreate it myself at home.  I’ve looked for recipes online and have tried just going off the ingredients list on the package, but I’ve never been quite happy enough with my results, that is to say, until now….  

I’ll admit, and if you’ve had the Whole Foods version before, you’ll know this recipe is not exactly the same, but for me I think it’s even better and the family agrees, even my meat eating husband loves my Golden Sesame Ginger Tofu!   Whether, it’s the golden sesame tofu you’ve had from Whole Foods or not, my Golden Sesame Ginger Tofu is delicious, give it a try and see for yourself.  yummy golden sesame ginger tofu

I start by pan frying the tofu with a light cornstarch coating, dotted with toasted sesame seeds, just until the tofu is golden and crisp but still tender and a little chewy on the inside.  

Tofu cubes with a light and crispy toasted sesame seed coating

Tofu cubes with a light and crispy toasted sesame seed coating

My sauce is a little sweet, a little tangy, a little spicy.  Golden Sesame Ginger Sauce

sweet and spicy sesame ginger sauce

sweet and spicy sesame ginger sauce

The recipe comes together fairly quickly and makes a perfect meal topping Forbidden Rice, soba noodles, crispy and fresh cabbage slaw, or anything else you can imagine.  

Sweet & Spicy Sesame & Ginger Tofu

Sweet & Spicy Sesame & Ginger Tofu

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Roasted Gingered Sweet Potatoes with Super Simple Cabbage Slaw

Gluten Free, Main Dish, Salads, Side dishes, Tofu, Vegan, Veggies December 18, 2015 Comments: 3
Ginger Spiced Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cabbage and Pomegranate Slaw

Ginger Spiced Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cabbage and Pomegranate Slaw

Diced sweet potatoes with ginger

Diced sweet potatoes with ginger

Cabbage and Carrot Slaw with Pomegranate Arils

Cabbage and Carrot Slaw with Pomegranate Arils with Lime Vinaigrette 

Roasted Gingered Sweet Potatoes

with Super Simple Cabbage Slaw

Author: Sweet Green Kitchen’s Jen Jones

Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes:

2 sweet potatoes – I use Japanese sweet potatoes

Coconut oil – about 1 Tablespoon

Freshly grated Ginger – about 1-2 Tablespoons

1 clove garlic – grated

Salt & Pepper

Cabbage Slaw:

½ head green cabbage – shredded

About 1 cup shredded carrots

About ¼ cup chopped fresh herbs – basil, cilantro or parsley

Some chopped chives if you like

A sprinkling of Pomegranate arils/seeds – about ¼ of a pomegranate

Dressing:

Squeeze of lime – about ¼ of a lime

Rice vinegar

Olive oil

Pinch of sea salt – I like pink Himalayan salt

Optional: top with protein of choice; examples

Tofu with Tahini, Peanut, Lime Sauce

Roasted Chick Peas – add to the sweet potatoes about half way through roasting

Grilled or Roasted Salmon

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Tofu Beets and Greens Summer Rolls with Peanut Miso Lime Dipping Sauce

Entrees, Main Dish, Recipes, Side dishes, Tofu, Vegan, Veggies November 3, 2014 1 Comment

Tofu Summer Rolls with Beets and Greens

Even though summer is becoming a distant memory I love making (and eating!) summer rolls any time of year and this is just another delicious variation.  Really, you could fill them with just about any veggies and even your choice of proteins, so be creative and use what you like. 
Summer Rolls with Peanut Miso Lime Dipping Sauce

Summer Rolls with Peanut Miso Lime Dipping Sauce

This time around I couldn’t decide between using cabbage or arugula, so I just made a few with each and was quite happy with both tasty results.  The cabbage adds a nice little crunch and arugula adds a little bit of a peppery bite.  I love the way the cilantro adds another layer of flavor, but if it’s not to your liking you could happily sub in basil or mint with delicious results.  The beets add a very subtle sweetness and a beautiful contrast of color.  But again, if you’re not a fan of beets you could use carrot slices or mango as I do in this version.
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Slow Roasted Salmon with Soy Ginger Marinade

Entrees, Main Dish, Recipes March 20, 2014 Comments: 2

IMG_3768 Slow Roasted Salmon with Soy Ginger Marinade plate

Slow Roasted Salmon with Soy Ginger Marinade

Author: Sweet Green Kitchen’s Jen Jones

I rarely cook fish at home, for a lot of reasons which I won’t bore you with, but there are a few I’ll mention here now.  One is Colin.  He doesn’t like it. Give him a plate of sushi or a platter of pickled or smoked fish and he’s a very happy man (he’s not even Jewish!).  But once cooked, he won’t go near it with a ten foot pole.  Also and probably in part because of the fact that I don’t cook it often, I’m afraid to.  Fish is so easy to overcook and dry out, who wants to spend the money, time and effort to just end up ruining it? Not me.  And lastly, it almost goes without saying, it tends to stink up the place and the aforementioned Colin, hater of all cooked fish, really detests the smell of it.  BUT, Skyler LOVES cooked Salmon and begs me regularly to make it.  I’ve been able to get away without for some time, since thankfully my dad prepares it often for us, but not often enough for Skyler.  Now, finally I have discovered a perfectly easy way to cook salmon in my house without the smell, really it’s true.  Slow roasting in the oven at a low temperature, bathed in marinade, Salmon cooks up moist and delicious with absolutely no fishy odor, absolutely none.

I came up with this super simple marinade years ago and it has been a family favorite ever since.  With just a few ingredients this marinade is so flavorful and is not only perfect for salmon, but chicken too which makes it great for dinner parties and extended family gatherings, where so many different people need to be pleased! When the weather’s warm we forgo the oven and make this on the grill, which is actually how it all began years ago. 

2 Servings, but the recipe easily multiplies to feed more

Ingredients:

About ¾ pound Salmon fillet (preferably wild caught or Organic)

 

Marinade:IMG_3758 Scallions with Soy Ginger Marinade ingredients

3 Tablespoons low sodium Soy Sauce

1 ½ Tablespoons Water

½ Tablespoon Toasted Sesame Oil

Just under 1 Tablespoon peeled & grated fresh Ginger

Generous sprinkle of Sesame Seeds

2 Scallions – sliced

IMG_3759

 

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 300 degrees F. 

I like to remove the skin from my salmon fillet (but only if roasting in the oven, when grilling outside I leave the skin on), but this is purely a personal choice, if you like the skin by all means leave it on. 

To remove the skin, place the fillet on a cutting board skin side down (I usually leave it resting on the paper it was wrapped in to keep my board clean) and run a very sharp knife between the skin and flesh, this may take a little bit of effort.  If you’re not a “professional fish skinner”, I find that it makes it easier to cut a large fillet into portions before trying to remove the skin. 

Prepare the marinade by mixing the Soy Sauce, Water, Sesame Oil and grated Ginger in a small bowl or directly in the dish you plan to roast in (I use an 8 inch square Pyrex dish).  Place the salmon and marinade in your baking dish.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and the white and light green pieces of scallion (reserving the dark green pieces for a garnish). 

At this point, you can either leave the Salmon to marinade for a little while or longer if you wish to prepare it ahead of time (in which case don’t preheat your oven).  If you’re not going to cook the Salmon fairly soon, cover and place in the refrigerator. 

When the oven is ready, put the Salmon bathed in all the marinade in the oven and slow roast for 25-35 minutes, depending upon how large or thick your fillets are and how you like it cooked.  After 20-25 minutes, I check for doneness by cutting a large piece halfway through with a butter knife.  With the marinade and low temperature, unlike a lot of other fish preparations, this is really difficult to overcook.  The marinade also cooks down to create a nice sauce. IMG_3763 Slow Roasted Salmon with Soy Ginger Marinade

Once cooked to your liking, remove the salmon from the oven and sprinkle the remaining dark green slices of scallion on top and serve.  This is actually quite tasty straight out of the oven or at room temperature.  Enjoy!

 

Recipe Notes:  If you’ve made enough for a crowd and end up with leftovers, you can keep them refrigerated for a day or two.  I prefer not to reheat any leftovers as I feel like it changes the taste and texture of the salmon a bit, plus reheating in the microwave will stink A LOT.  I just eat leftovers cold, they are delicious over a salad or in a wrap with some sliced avocado.

Unfortunately, I can’t give you cooking times or temps for chicken.

I’ll make your life easy, if cooking for a crowd, here’s the recipe quantities my parent’s use:  Good for about 4-6 pounds combined of Salmon and Chicken breast.  Extra marinade will keep well in the fridge for at least a week.

Soy Ginger Marinade for a Crowd:

1 cup low sodium Soy Sauce

½ cup water

Grated 2 inch piece of peeled ginger

1 Tablespoon Toasted Sesame Oil

2 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds

4-6 chopped Scallions

Raw Root Asian Style Slaw

Salads, Side dishes, Vegan December 14, 2013 1 Comment
IMG_2513_Raw Root Asian Style Slaw
 
Raw Root Asian Style Slaw
Author: Sweet Green Kitchen’s Jen Jones
 
Serves 4-6
 This salad is as delicious, cleansing and healthy as it is colorful.  Skeptics, do yourself a favor and give this a try.  The raw beets have a much milder, sweet flavor than their cooked counterparts.  I live with two beet haters, who both love this slaw.  The dressing is a lovely balance of slightly sweet and spicy from the ginger. 

 Dressing Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar (I prefer organic)

1 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce (I prefer organic or GMO free)

1 Tbsp Honey (I use raw unfiltered)

1 Tbsp fresh grated Ginger

1 small clove grated Garlic (I grate the garlic on the same microplane I use to grate my ginger)

1 Tbsp chopped Pickled Ginger

Ingredient Notes:  If you’ve never worked with fresh ginger before, give it a try.  It’s a knobby root, sold in many supermarkets and health food stores.  It’s okay to break off the amount you need from a larger piece and you can store it unwrapped in the refrigerator or for a longer time wrapped in the freezer (it’s actually even easier to grate when frozen, but it does make the hands cold!).  To use ginger, peel off the skin with a veg peeler or the back of a spoon and then grate on a micro plane.    

Pickled ginger on the other hand, is the type served with sushi, thinly sliced and pickled with a sweet and sharp flavor.  It is sold bottled in supermarkets in the Asian section. 

Slaw Ingredients:

Red Onion – either 1 small onion or 1/2 of a large onion

Kohlrabi – 1 large or 2 small

Beets – 1-2 large or 2-4 small

Carrots – about 4

Ingredient Notes:  I’ve recently discovered kohlrabi and I love it.  If you’ve never had it before, I liken it to a combination between green cabbage and jicama.  It has the mild sweet flavor of the cabbage and the watery crunch of jicama.  It is also delicious sliced in wedges and dipped in hummus.

To make the slaw:

First combine all of the dressing ingredients in a large bowl.  This is the same bowl you will use for the whole recipe (I hate extra bowls to wash).

Thinly slice the red onion and add it to the dressing.  Stir to cover all of the onion slices with the dressing, this will allow the onions to pickle a bit while you prepare the other ingredients.

Next, prepare the remaining roots, saving the beets to work with last as they will color your cutting board and knife.  Both the kohlrabi and beets need to be scrubbed and peeled.  I usually buy organic carrots and don’t feel the need to peel them, just scrub them well, but if your carrots are conventional it’s best to peel them.

Cut the kohlrabi, carrots and beets into thin matchstick/julienne slices.  I do this by hand with a sharp knife, not because I posses mad knife skills, but because I’ve never taken the time to investigate the grating blades on my food processor and because I’m afraid I’ll slice my finger off with a mandolin, but if you do not have either of these concerns and feel comfortable with your other gadgets, by all means use them as they will make quicker work of it.

Add each prepared ingredient to the bowl atop the onions, as you go, without mixing.  I start with the kohlrabi, then the carrots and lastly the beets.  After all roots have been added to the bowl stir to completely combine with the dressing and pickled onions.  Enjoy!