Summer Salads and Gomashio Buns

I started the day by attempting to make baguettes, but I got lazy and opted for dinner rolls instead. I decided to dip them in salt and black sesame seeds. I was inspired by my love of gomashio furikake, a simple Japanese topping for rice. They turned out puffy and beautiful, which made my day. I tend to get very upset when my bread doesn't turn out.

I also made a salad of mung beans, cucumbers marinated in a dill dressing, avocado, tofu and pine nuts. My roommate, Debbie also made a salad with mixed spring greens, fennel, black olives, orange slices and a balsamic vinaigrette.

Sourdough Mini Pancakes

This is a great way to use up leftover starter from refreshing your sourdough starter. These are quite sour and have a very chewy texture. I just used what I had lying around to whip up a quick breakfast, which happened to be some extra flour, sugar, baking powder, vinegar, and soy milk. Feel free to experiment with whatever you have in your kitchen. I ate them with a squeeze of lemon and some turbinado sugar sprinkled on top for a nice sour, sweet crunch.

Last Minute Mini Sourdough Pancakes:

1/2 cup prepared sourdough starter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup all purpose or whole-wheat flour (or really any flour you feel like using)
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup soy milk, more or less depending on desired consistency of the batter

I just mixed everything together loosely, maintaining some lumps in the batter, then heated some oil in a cast-iron skillet. I dropped little spoonfuls of batter in the skillet and fried on both sides until golden brown. They are good with real maple syrup or topped with fresh lemon juice and crunchy raw sugar. I wish I had some plan yogurt and fresh blueberries to top this off.

Rainy Day Baking

Today is another dreary cold day in Minneapolis and rainy weather makes me feel lazy and tired. I couldn't manage to motivate myself to do anything productive today except make some scones. Since I love the combination of dark chocolate and ginger I decided to make chocolate ginger scones. These happen to be vegan, substituting oil for the butter typically found in scones and soy milk for the dairy. Surprisingly they turned out pretty well, my roommate and even my picky boyfriend liked them. I got the recipe from Bikram Baking: Ginger Chocolate Chunk Scones from the Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips for the chocolate chunks and added some crystalized ginger. They are a perfect accompaniment to tea or coffee.

Spinach Goma Ae

This is one of my favorite Japanese vegetable dishes. It is so simple to make (only 4 ingredients!) but has such a nice balance of flavors. I first learned how to spinach goma ae when I was in college, and my Japanese roommate, Misaki, and I would take sugar packets and soy sauce from the school cafeteria. I know, I was quite rebellious back then. Anyways, you can make this side dish with boiled spinach, soy sauce, sugar (raw, white, or I used agave nectar), and sesame seeds (usually made with white sesame seeds, but I only had black ones so I just used those). Spinach goma ae is on the menu at the Japanese restaurant that I work at, but I can't understand why anyone would pay $6.25 for something that is so easy to make.

Spinach goma ae Recipe:

1 lb washed spinach
4 Tablespoons roasted sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add washed spinach. Boil until just wilted, about 30 seconds or less, depending on how thick the spinach leaves are. Immediately remove from heat and drain hot water from pot and fill with cold water to stop cooking. Continue until spinach is no longer warm. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Cut spinach into 2 inch lengths and set aside.

Make the sauce: Add sesame seeds to mortar and pestle or food processor and roughly crush seeds. Then add sugar and soy sauce and continue to mix until well combined. Pour dressing over spinach and mix well so that all of spinach is dressed. Serve cold or room temperature with rice, miso soup or other Japanese dishes.

Pasta with Harissa

Whole-wheat Fettucinne, Moroccan chili paste (harissa), kale, olives, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and some lemon zest. I got the recipe for Harissa Spaghettini from 101 Cookbooks.