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**Rainbow Dragon** · January 28, 2020, 09:19 PM

Shrimp & Mushroom Egg Foo Young

(pictured on the right-hand side of the plate below)

olive oil for frying
mushrooms
peeled, deveined, shrimp
mung bean sprouts
eggs
freshly ground peppercorns
scallions

1. slice mushrooms and stir fry in oil
2. add shrimp to pan; continue to stir fry until shrimp are cooked through
3. add the bean sprouts; continue stir frying until the sprouts have softened
4. beat eggs together with ground peppercorns
5. pour eggs over the shrimp and vegetables; cook, stirring occasionally to keep the eggs from sticking to the pan, until the eggs have set
6. serve garnished with chopped scallions

**Rainbow Dragon** · January 29, 2020, 04:23 AM

Turnip Cakes

Colin inspired me to try my hand at making these. They take a bit of time--especially since I only have a very small steamer and could therefore only steam one small cake at a time (1/5 of the total recipe described below)--but I was pleased with the result. Traditionally, these savoury "cakes" would be made with daikon radish, but daikon is not available in the Booming Metropolis, so I used white turnips instead.

Here is a photograph of one of my little "cakes" after steaming, but before frying:

My mould was a mini pie plate with a top diameter of 11 cm, bottom diameter of 7.5 cm and a depth of 3 cm. After steaming and chilling, I sliced each cake in half vertically and then horizontally to get slices ~ 1.5 cm thick for frying. The finished cakes are pictured on the left-hand side of the photo below:

olive oil for frying
3 shallots
170 g uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined
14 g dried mushrooms (porcini, chanterelle, shiitake, portabella, oyster)
1.5 cups water
1.5 lbs. white turnips
1 cup rice flour
4 tsp tapioca flour
scallions to garnish

** TO BE CONTINUED **

**Colin** · January 30, 2020, 03:27 PM

I'm glad to have found this thread, RD! I did a recipe or two from your blog back in the day!

I'm glad you were able to work around and enjoy the mooli/turnip cakes! The lady whose recipe I used has just launched a vegan dim sum recipe book with a load more similar delicacies - though I guess you would face some similar struggles with ingredients. I believe they're a Lunar New Year tradition, so your timing was perfect too.

**Rainbow Dragon** · January 30, 2020, 06:41 PM

Originally posted by Colin View Post

I believe they're a Lunar New Year tradition, so your timing was perfect too.

Yes, that's why I chose the 25th to make them. (The alternative was cooking a haggis for Robbie Burns' Day--which I have done in the past. But I enjoyed the turnip cakes much more. And my mother even ate them and said she liked them--which is a rare occurrence.)

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 1, 2020, 02:37 PM

Garlic Anchovy Pasta Salad

2 cups (dry) whole grain rotini
water for boiling pasta
50 g can anchovies in olive oil
1 garlic
1 head radicchio
2 heads Belgian endive
1/2 bunch basil leaves
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
freshly ground mixed peppercorns for garnish
freshly grated Parmesan for garnish

1. cook the pasta until al dente, then drain the water
2. slice radicchio and Belgian endive
3. tear basil strips into small pieces
4. peel and mince the garlic
5. stir fry anchovies and minced garlic in the oil from the tin of anchovies until the anchovies crumble
6. transfer anchovies, garlic, and oil to a small, non-reactive bowl; stir in the lemon juice
7. toss radicchio, Belgian endive, basil, pasta, and dressing together in a large bowl
8. serve garnished with freshly ground pepper and Parmesan cheese

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 8, 2020, 04:18 PM

Tahini

hulled sesame seeds
sesame oil

1. toast the seeds in a large, flat bottomed frying pan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until seeds are nice and fragrant
2. using a food processor, purée the seeds into a crumbly paste
3. add oil, one tablespoon at a time, processing after each addition until your desired consistency of smooth paste is achieved
4. use immediately in hummus, baba ganough, etc. or store in a glass jar (room temperature will be fine for a couple of days, refrigeration may be desirable for longer periods)

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 8, 2020, 04:30 PM

Baba Ganoush

2 eggplants
1 lemon
1 garlic
tahini
fresh parsley leaves

1. poke the eggplants with a fork a few times each and place under the grill to broil for a few minutes each side, until the skin blisters
2. bake the eggplant until very soft (I did 25 minutes at 425°F because that was the temperature I needed next for my bread. There is ample leeway to adjust time and temperature for this step to suite whatever other baking you may have going on at the time)
3. allow the baked eggplant to cool while you prepare the other ingredients
4. peel and mince the garlic
5. juice the lemon
6. chop the parsley leaves
7. combine garlic, lemon juice, and tahini in a large bowl
8. slice the eggplants open and drain out any excess liquid
9. scrape the eggplant flesh out of the skins and add flesh to the other ingredients
10. mix ingredients together well, breaking up any overly large clumps of eggplant
11. stir in the parsley
12. enjoy immediately or refrigerate for later enjoyment

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 8, 2020, 05:25 PM

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

2 red bell peppers
1 can (540 mL) no-salt-added chickpeas
1 lemon
1 garlic
tahini
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. remove cores from peppers, slice into quarters, and remove the seeds
2. arrange pepper quarters skin side up on a baking sheet
3. place peppers under the grill and broil until the skins blister and char
4. remove peppers from the oven and place immediately into a sealed container to steam in their own heat & moisture
5. juice the lemon
6. peel the garlic
7. drain and rinse the chickpeas
8. once peppers have cooled enough to handle, remove them from the sealed container and peel off the charred skins, discard the skins
9. place red pepper flesh, chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, and cayenne in a food processor; process until desired consistency of hummus is reached

*NOTE*: Normally I would add some olive oil to hummus, but with so much red pepper in this recipe, the hummus processed easily without any added oil. I liked the flavour without the additional oil, so I left it out.

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 8, 2020, 05:44 PM

Shrimp Mango Salad

peeled, deveined shrimp
mango
carrots
scallions
fresh mint leaves
Thai style sweet chili sauce*
lime juice

*I am trying to eat less of this, because it's got so much sugar in it, it is basically chili-flavoured candy. But cut with a little lime juice, it makes the perfect dressing for this salad.

1. cook the shrimp (I sautéed them in a bit of water, uncovered, stirring frequently--they turned out great!--much tastier than buying pre-cooked shrimp!)
2. wash and julienne the carrots (reality check: I usually buy them already prepped this way)
3. peel, pit, and julienne the mango
4. thinly slice the scallions
5. tear the mint leaves into small pieces
6. mix together equal quantities of lime juice and chili sauce
7. toss all ingredients together, and enjoy

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 8, 2020, 07:45 PM

Artichoke Spinach Dip

1 package (250 grams) cream cheese
500 grams frozen chopped spinach
1 can (400 mL) artichoke hearts
1 garlic
1 cup sour cream
320 grams (~ 3.5 cups) shredded cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella, asiago, provolone, and parmesan)

1. let the cream cheese warm to room temperature to soften
2. thaw the spinach, place in a sieve, and press out most of the moisture
3. drain the artichoke hearts and dice
4. peel and mince the garlic
5. beat together the cream cheese and sour cream
6. add the remaining ingredients and mix everything together well
7. transfer the mixture to a casserole dish or deep dish pie plate
7. bake at 375°F until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown at the edges (~30 minutes)
8. serve warm with slices of Whole Wheat Baguette

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 8, 2020, 08:35 PM

Waldorf Salad - Dragon Style

Waldorf Salad is traditionally made with raw celery and a mayonnaise dressing. I prefer my celery cooked. So I tried making a version of this classic salad with some leftover Celery Cheese Bake, using the cheese sauce from the celery dish as the dressing. The result was delish!

Celery Cheese Bake
apple
walnuts

1. shell the walnuts
2. core and dice the apple
3. if the celery bake has been chilled, warm it up a bit to get the cheese gooey enough to coat the new ingredients
4. toss everything together
5. enjoy

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 10, 2020, 07:44 PM

Bean Salad

This recipe is based on my Budget Bean Salad but makes a much smaller quantity of food. Normally I cook for only 2 people, but my original recipe for bean salad produced enough to feed a small army. Leftovers are a good thing--I could not survive on only homemade food without them--but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. So I had not made bean salad in years. Recently, however, I discovered that my local grocery store sells a can of no-salt-added mixed beans: chick peas, red kidney beans, white kidney beans, black-eyed peas, romano beans, and lima beans, all in one convenient 540 mL can. Delicious and nutritious bean salad is back on the menu!

1 can (540 mL) mixed beans
1 yellow pepper
1/4 red onion
cherry tomatoes
sun-dried tomatoes
fresh cilantro leaves
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
mixed salad greens

1. drain the beans
2. thinly slice onion and pepper
3. slice cherry tomatoes in half
4. mince sun-dried tomatoes
5. mix together equal quantities of oil and vinegar
6. line plates or salad bowls with a generous layer of salad greens
7. mix together beans, bell pepper, onion, fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, cilantro, and dressing
8. serve bean salad on top of the salad greens

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 11, 2020, 07:52 PM

Sorrel, Blue Cheese, & Blueberry Salad

In my hunt for new salad recipes to try, I asked my fellow Bees for suggestions. This one came from TopNotch and is delicious.

sorrel
Stilton
blueberries
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar

1. tear sorrel leaves into bite-sized pieces
2. crumble cheese
3. mix together equal parts oil and vinegar
4. line plates or salad bowls with sorrel
5. sprinkle blueberries and cheese on top
6. drizzle vinaigrette over the salad
7. I allowed my salad to sit for 15-20 minutes before digging in, which may be a good idea to allow the vinaigrette to mellow the punch of the greens a bit (depending on the age of the sorrel)

**Rainbow Dragon** · February 11, 2020, 08:13 PM

Green Bean Tuna Salad

This recipe was inspired by sleep_twitch . Her suggestion for a combination of salad ingredients sounded the strangest to me--so of course I had to try it! The result was excellent and definitely my new favourite way to eat green beans.

green beans
wax beans
canned flaked light tuna
Spicy Peanut Dressing

1. trim the ends off the beans and chop into bite-sized pieces
2. water sauté the beans for a few minutes in a large frying pan, stirring frequently, until they soften
3. strain off any excess sauté water that doesn't get absorbed by the beans or boiled off (I didn't have any water left at the end of the sauté process, but this step would be important if there was still liquid in the pan) and allow the beans to cool
4. drain the tuna
5. toss cooked beans, tuna, and dressing together

**sleep_twitch** · February 11, 2020, 09:39 PM

How cool is that - I'm glad you enjoyed my strange combination

For me, it's the only way I like green beans - my grandmother made terrible green beans with lots of bacon and a strange greasy sauce, so I was kind of traumatized

I will try your spicy peanut dressing for sure! I just found my favorite peanut butter at the store again today, it was sold out everywhere for a while thanks to US taxes.

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