adapted

Since I had most of the ingredients, I tried Jalna's sister, Dd's Ume Sesame Seed Dressing.

Dd's Ume Sesame Seed Dressing

1-2 Tablespoons umeboshi paste, 4 umeboshi seeds, removed** and chopped into a paste

1 Tablespoon water**

6 tablespoons white sesame seeds

6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon agave nectar

2 teaspoons sesame seed oil

2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

1.5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Remove umeboshi from seeds, chop into a paste. Set aside. 

Place umeboshi seeds in a small mixing bowl along with water. 

Rub seeds in water to remove any excess paste. Reserve.

In a small skillet over low heat toast sesame seeds. 

When seeds begin to pop, immediately remove from heat. 

Grind toasted sesame seeds with a mortar and pestle until a fine powder forms. 

Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Remove umeboshi seeds from water. 

Add that water and remaining ingredients into bowl and whisk vigorously to bring to desired consistency.

Optional to combine all ingredients into a food processor and puree to desired consistency

Makes approximately 1.5 cups

NOTES: been trying to use the ume that I have in my freezer from when I made umeshu

Since my ume isn't salty and probably not as sour as umeboshi, I added a pinch of salt and also used ume vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar

Instead of agave, I used honey

We enjoyed this on poached chicken salad...it was more sesame than ume but there is a little tangy-ness every so often...it might be because I didn't use umeboshi...

I'll try the other ume dressing recipe Jalna posted and re-try this one using umeboshi after we finish this batch.

Thanks for sharing Jalna!

tsukemono jiru dressing

I'm late to the game when it comes to not wasting the pickling juice and have often felt bad throwing the juice out after we finished eating the pickles.

I recently saw something online where the person uses the pickling juice from their tsukemono (pickles) in dressing.

Since I have some rakkyo pickle juice stashed in the fridge for the times I make potato salad, which these days is not too often, I decided to try making a dressing from it instead.

I based my dressing recipe on the leek sauce recipe from Suzunari Farms.

Makes about 1/4 cup

3 tablespoons rakkyo pickle juice

3 tablespoons shoyu

1 tablespoon sesame oil

I used it on soba salad and it was delicious.

I hope to try using more pickling juice from other types of pickles in dressings.

inspired

Inspired by Reader Barbara H's comment, "We are lucky to have a blood orange tree here in California. We enjoy blood orange slices with roasted beets, pecans, blue cheese & a citrus vinaigrette."

I adlibbed and made a blood orange vinaigrette.

juice of one blood orange
1 teaspoon grainy mustard
drizzle of olive oil
several grinds of black pepper

And put a tablespoon of the dressing onto some wilted swiss chard...topped it with some pieces of Italian gorgonzola and Trader Joe's sweet & spicy pecans that V gave us.

After re-reading the comment, I realized that I still have one roasted beet in the freezer, so I will definitely try this combo again.

Thanks again for the inspiration Barbara H!

copy cat fig salad

I love RF1 salads. You can buy them from the food halls in most department stores.

They are sold by weight, so sometimes we buy several different salads for dinner.

They also sell fried items as well as bentos too.

When I was passing by their counter the other day, I noticed they had a fig salad.

I was interested in trying it but it was a bit on the pricey side, so instead I copied it.

Prosciutto, fresh figs, greens, red onion and a raspberry vinaigrette.

I think their version also had a sprinkling of cheese but I left that out.

I don't know what their salad actually tastes like, but I enjoyed my version and will make this again.

For the raspberry vinaigrette (serves 2), put 1 tablespoon of raspberry vinegar and mix in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Also grind in some fresh black pepper...drizzle 1 tablespoon of dressing for 1 serving.

What are you enjoying this Autumn?

yogurt dressing

The weather has been pretty nasty. Humidity paired with drizzles.

I guess we should be thankful that we haven't had massive downpours like Kyushu, but still, I hope rainy season will end soon.

Since it's been dreary, and grossly humid, all mojo to "cook" has almost been depleted, so I've been making salads for our dinners. We also usually have edamame and another dish like hiyayakko (cold tofu) usually topped with okra.

I'm gonna side track a bit and tell you about the other day at the market.

There was a gyoza marketer, so of course Satoshi was there tasting...

After listening to her pitch, we got a package of their original gyoza, 20 for 1000 yen (plus tax).

When we got home, I repacked them into 5 pieces each and froze them.

Then last night, I cooked some of the gyoza.

I had seen on a tv show that instead of cooking the gyoza in oil first to brown the bottoms, you put a little water in the frying pan and "boil" and "steam" them for a bit then when the water evaporates, you add a little oil to brown the bottoms.

The result is the "skins" of the gyoza become chewy and the bottoms, very crisp. I'm gonna cook gyoza this way from now on.

Back to the dressing...super easy to put together and I like that this doesn't use mayo.

Yogurt Dressing from "Everyday Salads" by Masaki Higuchi

50 grams greek yogurt (or yogurt that has been strained of most of the water on a paper towel or cheesecloth)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons condensed milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt (to taste)

Whisk everything together

NOTES: this dressing isn't overly sweet. I used the dressing with some thinly sliced purple cabbage, purple onion and purple carrot. The author also notes that this dressing could be used for a fruit salad. I'm making this again.

How's your summer going?

sesame dressing

Recently tried a new recipe for sesame dressing. This one was easy to put together and doesn't make a lot, so it was also easy to use up.

I first used it on steamed broccoli.

The second time I used it, I wilted some cabbage and then used some of the dressing.

Sesame Dressing from "Everyday Salads" by Masaki Higuchi
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon kurozu (black vinegar)
1 tablespoon sesame paste (tahini)
1/2 tablespoon shoyu
1/2 tablespoon kuromitsu (black honey similar to molasses)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Place everything in a bowl and whisk.

NOTES: I didn't have black vinegar so I just used rice vinegar. Also, if you don't have kuromitsu, I think you could probably use honey. I added a little ground black pepper and threw everything into a jar and shook it up.

The author notes that you could also add cilantro, ginger, garlic and/or chives.

I like that this dressing isn't too sweet.

I'll be making this dressing again.

It's Friday! hope you have a nice weekend.

won bok salad

In Hawaii, we call napa cabbage (chinese cabbage), "won bok". In Japan, we call it "hakusai".

In the markets here, you can buy the napa cabbage whole, or for smaller families, in fourths, I've even seen them in eighths!

Since I had some hakusai leftover, I used it in a salad that my mom used to make.

Wash your hakusai well and then slice thin.

Then pour this dressing over it....

Won Bok Salad Dressing adapted from "Wisteria Delights"
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 clove garlic, grated
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons salt (omitted)
1/2 teaspoon pepper, ground
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon grainy mustard

Combine everything in a blender and pour over sliced won bok.

NOTES: I made 1/4 of this recipe and put everything into a jar and shook everything (instead of blending in a blender) before pouring it over the salad.

The original recipe calls for Coleman mustard which I believe is a dry mustard. I didn't have this and substituted with some grainy mustard.

The flavors were a little different from what I remembered which could be due to the mustard, but this salad stays quite crisp.

Make this ahead so that everything can meld.

It still isn't salad weather here, but I'm glad I re-connected with this salad.

p.s. if you are celebrating Chinese New Year, Kung Hee Fat Choy!

zippy's fresh strawberry summer salad

I know, I know by looking at the title you're shivering if you are reading this in wintry climates, but strawberries are kinda in season over here (for Christmas), so it was the perfect chance for me to try this.

While in Hawaii this past summer, I scribbled down this recipe by Zippy's, a popular local family style restaurant.

I adapted the dressing because I didn't have dry mustard, I also added more "stuff" to the salad...here is what I did...

Adapted Zippy's Fresh Strawberry Summer Salad (MIDWEEK 9/11/2013): serves 2

Salad
2 generous handfuls of baby leaf mix (washed and shaken dry)
10 strawberries, tops taken off and sliced in half
1/2 a package of maitake
10 shrimp, deveined, rinsed and butterflied
some yellow bell pepper, cleaned and sliced thin
some glazed pecans*
some bleu cheese

Dressing
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
some grated onion
grinds of pepper

Glazed pecans
handful of pecans
1 teaspoon maple syrup
Tossed and baked in 325F (165C) oven for 10 minutes

Sautee the shrimp and maitake in some olive oil on medium heat until shrimp and maitake are cooked, set aside
Toss the baby leaf, shrimp, maitake, yellow bell, strawberries in 2 tablespoons of dressing
Top with cheese and nuts

NOTES: This was delicious! I think the bleu cheese I used needed to be a little stronger, but all the other flavors went nicely. The dressing is a bit puckery, sweet-sour. I think the next time I make this dressing, I'll add a little dijon or whole grain mustard.

I'm making this again, but during Spring...

It's Friday here, I hope you enjoy the weekend!

"creamy" herbed tofu dressing

I tried a new recipe yesterday for "creamy" herbed tofu dressing. The thing that makes this dressing "creamy" is the tofu.

The original recipe uses the word "fresh" in its title, but I didn't have the fresh herbs listed, so I used dried.

Here is the original recipe: from "Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special" makes 3/4 cup-1 cup

"Creamy" Fresh Herbed Tofu Dressing
6 to 7 ounces firm tofu (1/2 cake)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons unsweetened apple juice or orange juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
5 spinach leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Whizz all ingredients in food processor, keeps for 5 days.

NOTES: The tofu I used wasn't firm, it was soft.

I didn't have basil, so I used mint, if I am not mistaken, it is in the same plant family?! I also didn't have the fresh dill nor tarragon, so I used dried and half the suggested amount.

I also didn't have the unsweetened juice and just used 2 tablespoons of water. And I also didn't add the garlic because Satoshi's job requires him to talk with clients and I didn't want him offending anyone...

This was delicious and it reminded me of green goddess dressing. This is a great dressing without the fat and is packed with lots of flavor.

I drizzled a tablespoon of the dressing over steamed broccoli, steamed asparagus & raw carrots.

For dinner, I also served sawara saikyo-yaki (spanish mackerel grilled with sweet miso) and rice "sprinkled" with cooked fava beans.

This dressing would be great for veggie sticks, in potato salad or maybe even on cooked fish.

I'm making this again.

carrot ginger dressing

Remember the Hijiki Rice salad?

Well, I forgot to mention that the recipe also said the dressing is good on salad greens and/or steamed veggies.

We had steamed asparagus last night, so I topped it with a spoonful of dressing. As you can see, my dressing wasn't smooth, but it was still tasty.

What have you been eating?

new recipes

There is a dish that Satoshi and I like at Capricciosa, their tuna and ika (squid) salad.

The ika (squid) is boiled and the tuna straight from the can, placed on top of some purple cabbage and lettuce.

I found the recipe for their dressing online at Cookpad.com, it's really close to the real deal.

Capricciosa-style dressing from Cookpad.com
250 cc red wine vinegar
10 grams garlic
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
250 cc olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

NOTES: I cut this recipe to 1/4 because the weather is getting colder and we'll probably be having less cold salads.

I threw everything into the food processor and whizzed it.

For the salad, I was too lazy to go out and buy some ika (squid), so I just divided a can of tuna and topped the salad with some red bell pepper.

Our tuna is only 80 grams, maybe half a can (or less) in the States?!

I used the type that is packed in water. For the dressing I spooned a tablespoon over each salad...it was delicious!

I'll probably use the rest in pasta salad or something...

For our main dish, I tried another new recipe from "Orange Page's Yasai ga ippai toreru mainichi no okazu".

You know I've had this mook (book/magazine) from 1996 and have slowly been working my way through the recipes.

This recipe was so easy, my kind of cooking.

For 2 people
1 carrot, cut to 3-inch in size then julienned
10 slices thinly sliced pork round
1/2 tablespoon oil
juice of 1/2 lemon

Wrap the julienned carrots with a slice of pork
Repeat until all slices and carrot are used up
Heat a pan with oil and cook pork
Finish the dish with the juice of lemon

NOTES: cooking doesn't get easier than this. The original recipe says to nuke the carrots, but since I try not to use the microwave as much as possible, I just cooked the carrots when I cooked the pork. There was still a little crunch to them, which was nice.

We got these yuzu from one of Satoshi's German language classmates, these were smaller than the ones I bought earlier, maybe half the size, but you can't beat homegrown! (Danke!)

I used 1 yuzu for this recipe.

Well, it is Friday, boy, did the week fly by. Hope you have a great weekend!

inspired

Recently we had dinner at Pietro, it had been some time since we had been there.

When we lived in Hawaii, we'd always go to Pietro. I asked Satoshi if he'd ever been to Pietro when it was located next to McKinley Car Wash or the one on Kapahulu, guess it was before he lived in Hawaii for him to remember.

Among some other dishes, we ordered the seasonal salad (pictured above). This came with warm veggies and cool lettuce and a very delicious ginger dressing.

I thought the dressing tasted like the sauce I use for pork ginger, so I tried it on some veggies for our dinner the other night.

It came out pretty good, though I think the Pietro version was a little sweeter.

If you'd like to try it for yourself please do...

nub of ginger (about an inch or so), grated
1.5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sake (rice wine)
2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)

Put some oil into a heated frying pan and make sure to coat your veggies well with the oil, giving the veggies a nice sear.

After the veggies have a nice sear and are nearly cooked, add a couple of tablespoons of the sauce, let caramelize.

For the two of us, I used 1 eggplant, 1 eringi, 1/2 a carrot & 1/2 a red bell pepper.

We liked this and I'll definitely be making this again for our veggies during the cold months. The ginger in the dressing will also help us warm up.

p.s. the next night when I made this again, I sprinkled some green onions on top of the veggies, delicious!

trying new recipes

This past weekend, I tried a few more recipes from "The Food You Crave" by Ellie Krieger.

Saturday's dinner was the "Cowboy Steak with Coffee and Ancho Rub". Wow...that was easy and good! (Word of caution for those who cannot sleep after having caffeine late in the day, don't make this dish for dinner....I ended up having a hard time sleeping.)

I served it on some chopped lettuce with the recipe for "Cucumber-Avocado Salsa". I forgot to buy a lime for the salsa so I subbed raspberry vinegar. It tasted okay, but I think the flavor would have been brighter/cleaner with the lime. Gotta try this again.

The next day for breakfast, we had the leftover steak stir-fried with onions and rice.

In Hawaii, whenever we have steaks for dinner, my mom always makes this dish for us, either for lunch or dinner, the day after. Just add the onions to the pan and let them brown then add the steak to warm.

Sunday's dinner, I tried the "Caesar Salad with Lemon Pepper Shrimp". Another easy and delicious recipe. I didn't have egg substitute so I just left it out. The recipe calls for garlic-scented croutons, but I just toasted some cubed breads and added the garlic (minced) to the lemon pepper shrimp. Also since I couldn't find romaine, I used green leaf.

So far, every recipe I've tried from this book has been easy , delicious and never left me feeling hungry!

pre-tailgating

Man talk about feeling out of it, I didn't realize it but the Super Bowl is like tomorrow. And I didn't even know who was playing in it...okay, before you get upset...I googled and now I know.

Anyway, when I do watch the game, it is usually only for the commercials.

This year, the game will be shown here, probably without the commercials and early in the morning of the 2nd at 8:00 am (which is the 1st with the time difference).

Anyway, one thing you should know is when I was younger, I didn't eat celery, something about it was blah...but can proudly say that I can now eat it raw and cooked.

So, as I was flipping through Ellie Krieger's book, "The Food You Crave", I came upon the recipe for her Buffalo Chicken Salad. While I wanted to make this, I debated about the recipe because it is too cold to be having a salad for dinner at this time of year, but then decided that since the chicken would be warm on top of the salad, it would be okay.

I had to adapt the recipe as I couldn't find some ingredients, but here is the original recipe.

Buffalo Chicken Salad by Ellie Krieger : Serves 4
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper hot sauce (or other hot sauce) plus more to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 heart of romaine, cut across into 1-inch wide strips (about 8 cups)
4 stalks celery, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated (about 1 cup)
2 scallions (green part only), thinly sliced
1/2 cup Blue Cheese dressing (recipe follows)

Preheat the broiler.
Put the chicken between two sheets of waxed paper and pound with a mallet or hammer to an even thickness of about 3/4 inch, then cut the chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch thick strips.
In a large bowl, combine the hot sauce and oil, add the chicken, and toss until it is well coated.
Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet and broil until it is cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes total, turning once.
In a large bowl, combine the romaine, celery, carrots and scallions and toss with the dressing.
Divide the greens between 4 plates and top with the warm chicken.
Serve with extra hot sauce on the side.

Blue Cheese Dressing : 6 servings (2 tablespoons for 1 serving)
1/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
salt and ground pepper to taste

Fold a full sheet of paper towel into quarters and put it into a small strainer.
Spoon the yogurt onto the paper towel and place over a bowl in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to drain and thicken.
In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk and thickened yogurt into the mayonnaise until smooth.
Add the vinegar, and sugar and continue to whisk until well combined.
Stir in the blue cheese and season with salt and pepper.

NOTES: First off, I cut the recipe for the salad and dressing in half since there is only the two of us. I didn't pound out the chicken because the chicken breast that I bought was thinly sliced. I guess the broiler in my oven wasn't too hot so I ended up cooking it a total of 14 minutes turning it several times to check for doneness. The market didn't have romaine so I used green leaf. I also had to make buttermilk from scratch since I've never seen it at the market.

(For those interested in making buttermilk from scratch, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk. I'll leave you to calculate it to fit this recipe.) I also used green onion instead of scallions and added 5 crushed, toasted pecans per salad and a slice of toasted campagne bread.

I also didn't toss the salad with the dressing since Satoshi eats later than me. It was delicious, spicy and the pecans added even more crunch. The dressing was tangy and tasted like the "real deal"--creamy and didn't seem like a healthy version. I would definitely make this again.

This is something nice to eat while watching the game without all the calories.

Enjoy!

li hing vinaigrette

I've written about li hing in the past. It is a local favorite in Hawaii.

When my Aunty was getting things together for her trip to Japan, she asked me what I wanted. I asked her to buy me some li hing powder.

She was nice to bring the powder and also some dried mango and dried cranberries with the li hing powder on it. (Thanks Aunty!)

I recently saw a recipe for li hing vinaigrette which is apparently being served in Alan Wong's restaurants and in the first class on Aloha Airlines.

The recipe is quite easy. I was leery of putting a raw egg into this, so I subbed the raw egg, lemon juice and salt with mayo.

Anyway, this is a very tangy dressing and great on a salad.

Li Hing Vinaigrette adapted from Alan Wong's
1 tablespoon li hing powder
1 tablespoon ume paste (pickled plum paste)
1/8 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons evoo
1 dollop of mayo
several grinds of pepper

Combine everything well. Use on salad.

NOTES: Although I subbed the egg with mayo, I think I may try it with the egg just to see if there is a difference. This dressing was quite salty, so use sparingly.

odds & ends

A new blog friend, Nate, of HwnPakeOkinawa, is a newcomer to blogging. He emailed me to give him advice on starting a blog. Living in Okinawa, he often craves foods from home (Hawaii) and found that the only way to get them, would be to make them. If you are from Hawaii or interested in Hawaii, you gotta check out his blog, "ono" (delicious) stuff on it. UPDATE: the author passed away and this blog is no longer public.

Last year, I wrote about this Japanese sweets shop that is in our neighborhood, Korakudo, which I posted about here. Well, it is nama-choco daifuku season and also kuri daifuku (chestnut with a soft rice cake around it and sweet bean paste). Today, I wanted to get some kuri daifuku, but they were out, so I got their inaka manju with kuri inside (steamed bean cake with chestnut inside) instead. This was really good, hardly any outer rice cake, lots of sweet bean paste and a huge chestnut in the middle.

Since finding my precious bottle of hoisin sauce, which I posted about here, I decided to make another favorite of mine, the dressing for Chinese chicken salad. I often make another version which doesn't call for hoisin sauce and usually use it for green salads without the chicken topping.

Tonight's dinner was gyoza (pot stickers), nira (chive) gyoza and ebi (shrimp) gyoza (which I bought), with a spicy dipping sauce made from shoyu (soy sauce), vinegar and rai-yu (chinese chili oil), a salad with the chinese salad dressing, a mixture of genmai (brown rice) and haigamai (partially polished brown rice) and rakkyo (pickled shallots).

Chinese Salad Sauce: from "Recipes Please..."
4 tablespoons catsup
2 tablespoons vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Ajinomoto
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
Dash of pepper

1. Boil all ingredients together.
2. Cool and refrigerate

Serving suggestion: use any type of veggies: lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, watercress. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seed. Garnish with meats such as char siu(Chinese roast pork), shredded chicken or even crushed won ton chips. Can be served as a main dish.

NOTES: I left out one ingredient from the recipe, Ajinomoto. Ajinomoto is MSG (monosodium glutamate).

Also, since I don't like to fry too much--makes the kitchen too messy and stinky, I found this chip that tastes really close to won ton chips called Kirazu Age or fried okara. Kirazu is another name for Okara and is also known as Unohana--this is the lees that form when making tofu (soy bean curd).

I smashed up the okara chips and sprinkled them onto my salad. You can also make your own won ton chips by frying up the won ton wrappers--Just slice the wrappers to the width of chip that you want, and deep fry until golden brown.

Enjoy the weekend!

trying to beat the heat

The weather has been hot and humid lately. I don't know about you, but I really dread Japan 's summers mainly because it is so humid! I know, I know, I'm from Hawaii--but until you have experienced a Japan summer (which I never wish on anyone!), you can't know how miserable a time it is here. During summer in Japan, I also dread standing anywhere near the stove to cook something--so, we end up eating a lot of things like salads, edamame (soy beans), tofu (soy bean curd)--stuff that are usually eaten cold.

Yesterday, I noticed that the lemon I had just bought was starting to turn a bit brown. I decided to zest the skin and use it to make Mildred's scones, which I posted before about (here). This scone recipe is really good and the scones come out really flaky! The lemon zest really matched with the blueberries that I used.

I also juiced the lemon to make a lemon-tarragon dressing. I didn't have a recipe to follow (plus I was too lazy to search for one), so I just eye-balled everything and it turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself!). It was really nice on a green salad.

Lemon-tarragon dressing
1 lemon, juiced
10 grinds of pepper
tarragon, amount to be measured by one cupped hand then crushed with both hands
while whisking, add olive oil to create dressing consistency
a little sugar

Notes: Remember, I eye-balled everything, so the measurements are not exact, I just went by taste and smell.

Today, as I was walking back from the grocery store, I wanted to make a dressing using raspberry vinegar, somehow raspberry vinegar has a nice refreshing imagery to it. Luckily, I found a recipe on the internet at About.com

Raspberry Vinaigrette
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
1 tablespoon dried herbs de Provence
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup safflower oil
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
12 raspberries, optional
PREPARATION:
In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, herbs, and pepper. Gradually whisk in the oils. Add raspberries to vinaigrette if desired. This salad dressing can be made a day in advance, but bring to room temperature before using.

Enjoy!

Notes: I cut this recipe in half, plus I only used the EVOO.

Satoshi is off on a business trip to Tokyo--he'll be back tomorrow night.

Hope you are keeping cool where you are!

seared ahi avocado salad

Tonight's dinner was seared ahi-avocado salad. "Ahi" is the Hawaiian word for yellow-fin tuna (the Japanese name for it is "maguro"). This salad is one of Satoshi's favorites. It is very quick and easy.

When we lived in Hawaii, a different version of this is dish is often served as an appetizer in many bars and restaurants--the ahi is usually tartare style and layered with chopped avocado and tomatoes, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mayonnaise and served with little baguette toasts. (I sometime make this version when entertaining his friends, or sometimes for dinner)

Before searing the ahi, I sprinkled some cajun blackening spices onto both sides of the fish. Then on a heated pan, I put a little olive oil and then put the fish on...(make sure you don't leave the fish on for more than 5 seconds on all sides.) Take it off the heat and slice. (sear the fish just before serving or else the fish may turn color with the air)

In my salad I put green leaf lettuce, sliced red onion, carrots, tomatoes and red bell pepper.

The dressing I made is similar to Sam Choy's creamy oriental dressing.
Here's Sam's recipe (from "Sam Choy's Sampler"):
Makes 4 cups
3 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1-1/2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Whisk everything together until well blended. If the consistency is too thick, whisk in a few drops of water at a time, until you get the consistency you desire.

Here's Kat's version:
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 Tablespoons vinegar
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
*put everything into a shaker and shake until well combined.

When I served the salad, I put a tablespoon of the dressing (for one serving), then drizzled a little mayonnaise on top and sprinkled some fresh ground pepper...I think my version of the dressing may be a little more low-cal.

p.s. another version: you can also mix some wasabi into some mayonnaise and drizzle...

Enjoy!!