Zucchini Hakka Noodles by Anjana Devasahayam ; Guest Post Series

I hope you all enjoyed Ansu's Irish Soda Bread last week.

My guest this week is an accomplished blogger, Anjana Devasahayam who has done me the honor of writing a guest post. Her blog is both a visual and gastronomical treat with a myriad of recipes and the picture perfect photography. Anjana started her blog, At The Corner Of Happy & Harried in  2013 as a sort of keepsake where she would record her recipes, some crafts and DIY projects. Over time, it has evolved into a food-only blog, where she shares her  family's favorite recipes. Some are heirloom recipes, some are her take on world classics and some are her very own creations. She lives in the US with her family. 

She loves cooking and eating delicious and wholesome food made with fresh ingredients. Today, she has brought us a quick and easy, healthy version of our favorite greasy Chinese Hakka Noodles. She has transformed it by the addition of fresh, summer vegetables! 

Hope you guys like her recipe today. 

Please visit her blog for more temptingly delicious recipes and follow her on Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter | Google+ 

Our family loves variety in food. We also love eating out, which is not always a good thing. So I try to cook healthy alternatives that will satisfy our craving, that is easy to make and delicious. This recipe is my take on the favorite Hakka Noodles made by adding our favorite summer vegetable, zucchini and some green peas. You too can enjoy takeout-style stir-fried Chinese Hakka noodles made healthier by adding your favorite vegetables.

Prep time: 10 min, Cook time: 10 min, Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• Noodles – 200 gm (wheat, rice or egg noodles)
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Dried red chilies – 3
• Scallions – 3 stalks, trimmed and chopped
• Garlic – 2 tbsp, minced
• Zucchini – 1 medium-sized, thinly sliced
• Salt – a pinch
• Fresh green peas – 1/2 cup
• Low-sodium soy sauce – 4 tbsp
• Rice vinegar – 1tbsp
• Chili sauce – 2 tbsp
• Sugar – a pinch
• Black pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
• White sesame seeds – 2 tsp, to garnish

Method:

1. Prepare noodles as per package instructions. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add dried red chilies, garlic and white parts of scallions. Saute till garlic is soft and fragrant.
3. Add zucchini slices, sprinkle a pinch of salt over them and saute till lightly browned on both sides. Add fresh green peas and saute for a few seconds.
4. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili sauce, sugar and black pepper powder. Stir for a few seconds on high heat to coat the vegetables with the sauce.
5. Tip in the cooked noodles and toss to combine.
6. Garnish with the reserved green parts of scallions and white sesame seeds. Serve hot.

I am bringing Anjana's delicious Chinese fare to all our friends at Throwback Thursday#42, Fiesta Friday#123  and Saucy Saturdays#49! Angie's co-hosts this week are Margy @ La Petite Casserole and Linda @ La Petite Paniere  

If you are interested in writing a guest post for my blog, please email me at Sushealthyliving@gmail.com for more details.

Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!

Mushroom Chilli

It is Friday! Friday means party.. time to party at Angie's Fiesta Friday. Today, I bring something spicy and yummy to the party...Mushroom Chilli. I hope everyone likes it.If you have not been to Angie's Fiesta Friday, I strongly suggest that you come once. You will be hooked!

I love mushrooms.Apart from several important nutrients like niacin, riboflavin, potassium and vitamin D, mushrooms are also rich in selenium which is an antioxidant . I like Chinese food but since I rarely eat out, I make most of them at home and in a much more healthier manner.Mushroom chilli is a favorite in my household. It is simple, quick and easy to make and absolutely delicious!

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Mushrooms : One 8 oz package of Cremini or Baby bella,sliced 0.5 cms thick.
Onions: 1 medium,  diced medium
Garlic: 4 cloves,cut julienne
Ginger: 1 inch, cut julienne
Green chilli: 3,chopped fine
Bell pepper:1 large,diced medium( can use any color)
Soy sauce:2-3 tbsp
Vinegar: 1 tbsp
Corn flour/ corn starch:1 tbsp
Spring onions: 3,chopped fine
Olive Oil:2 tbsp
Sugar: pinch
Salt: to taste

Method:

Mix corn starch and soy sauce and keep aside.

Heat a wok on high heat,add oil. When oil  is hot, add garlic , then ginger. Sauté for 30 secs, then add chopped onions, sauté for 1-2 mins. 

Now add green chillies, bell pepper and then mushrooms. Saute for 2 minutes.

Now add salt, sugar and the cornstarch-soy sauce mixture and mix well. Let it cook for another 3-4 mins. 

Add vinegar and mix well.

Garnish with chopped spring onions.

Serve hot with jasmine rice!

Cooking made easy:

Avoid using wooden cutting boards to chop onion or garlic. The smell of the onion/ garlic never goes away from the cutting board.

Always wash the knife immediately after chopping onions or garlic. Not doing so will dull the blade of the knife.

Tip for healthy living:

One of the best ways to exfoliate your skin regularly is dry scrubbing.
Use a dry brush and thoroughly brush your skin before bathing. This not only gets rid of the dead skin, it apparently also increases the blood flow to the skin and also is purported to get rid of impurities from the body.
The end result is apparently radiant looking skin. Of course avoid dry brushing the delicate skin of the face.

Food for thought:

FEAR has two meanings: ' Forget Everything And Run' or Face Everything And Rise'. The choice is yours. Zig Ziglar

Veggie Fried Rice

It is Friday & it is 4th of July! Today is doubly special! It is  the  American Independence day and Fiesta Friday!  I am going to celebrate by taking a colorful healthy vegetarian fried rice to Fiesta Friday# 23!  I hope Angie @ the Novice Gardner who hosts Fiesta Friday,  Co-hosts  Margie @ La Petite Casserole and Sylvia @ Superfoodista and all the fellow bloggers like it.

I have always enjoyed Chinese cuisine. Who doesn't like Chilli Chicken, Chicken Manchurian, Hot and Sour Chicken and the ubiquitous Chinese fried rice ?Who doesn't wish that they could re-create the restaurant style dishes at home with the same taste?? I have tried and succeeded too! For this I have to thank Ashita didi who introduced me to the basics of authentic Chinese cooking. The trick is to cook in an authentic iron wok on high flame.Not the wok that you get in Ikea.

Also the vegetables should be crisp and not overcooked. If you have all the ingredients ready and in front of you, cooking Chinese style is pretty quick & easy. Now I can have restaurant style fried rice and noodles at home any time of the day or night. For us,my fried rice is filled with crisp colorful vegetables and is a one-pot dish that can be eaten by itself. This is how I make my fried rice:

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Leftover cooked rice: 4 cups
Onion: 1 medium, sliced lengthwise
Garlic: 4-6cloves, chopped fine( I like extra garlic)
Ginger: 1 inch, chopped fine.
Green chillies: 2-3( depending on the spice level), chopped fine.
Carrot: 1 medium, peeled and cut julienne.
Green beans: 10, cut diagonally into 1 inch length.
Cabbage: 1/2 cup, sliced lengthwise.
Green bell pepper: 1/4,chopped julienne
Red bell pepper: 1/4, chopped julienne
Spring onion: 2, chopped fine.
Soy sauce: 4 tbsp
Vinegar: 1 tbsp
Cooking oil: 2-3 tbsp( I use olive oil)
Black pepper powder: 1/4 tsp
Sugar:1/2 tsp
Salt: to taste

Method:

Mix soy sauce  and a little salt with the cold rice and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok on high flame. Now add the garlic,sauté for few seconds, add the chopped ginger, sauté for few seconds, add the green chillies and the onions in and sauté until the onion starts to turn transparent. Add the vegetables one after the other, sautéing for a minute in between, depending on the time it requires to cook, beginning with the one that takes the most time.  In my case, I threw in the green beans first, then the carrots , cabbage, and lastly the peppers. Add in the sugar and black pepper and mix well. 

Add the rice in and toss until it is nicely mixed and warm. Add the vinegar and toss again. Garnish with finely chopped spring onions.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

Fried rice is a perfect way to get rid of  leftover rice. In fact, if made with freshly made rice it turns mushy.:)

Any combination of vegetables listed above can be used depending on what you have available in your fridge and pantry. You could skip bell peppers if you don't like them. You could add as much or as little as you wish and the fried rice will come out good.

You could turn it into egg fried rice by frying an egg at the beginning, scrambling it and then adding the other ingredients.

If you wish to add chicken and make it chicken fried rice, add bite size chicken pieces after the onions and sauté until the chicken is cooked. You can then add the other vegetables ( lesser quantities) or skip it all together.

I tend to fry egg/ chicken separately and keep it separately and use it as a topping at the table as per individual personal preference.

You can also add less soy sauce, green chillies( if there are little kids eating)if need be as these condiments can be added later at the table again as per individual preference.

Tip for healthy living:

Use vegetables to bulk up your meals. Veggies when chopped fine or cut small and mixed in one-pot dishes like fried rice hold more appeal and flavor for both children and adults than when served separately. Even when you make chicken or egg fried rice, try to ensure that you throw in at least 2-3 kinds of vegetables as well in there. This not only makes it look pretty and adds volume to your dish; it makes it balanced, nutritious, giving you at least 2-3 servings of your daily vegetable requirement.

Food for thought:

I am always more interested in what I am about to do than in what I have already done. Rachel Carson

Chilli Chicken

My foray into cooking Chinese cuisine is thanks to my cousin Ashita Didi. Everything I did before that is insignificant, irrelevant ! It all began with our get-together at my other cousin Geetanjali's place in Michigan. My aunt and uncle were visiting so we all decided to come together and spend some quality family time over a long weekend. That weekend changed my way of cooking Chinese food forever! Thank you for that Ashita didi!

Servings: 4

Ingredients :

Boneless chicken breast: 1 lb cleaned and cut into bite size pieces ( my pieces in the picture are a little bigger than what I would have wanted as I had made them with another dish in mind but ended up using them for this!).

For marination of chicken:
Soy sauce : 1 tbsp
Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
Corn flour: 1 tbsp
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp

For the sauce:
Onion: 2 medium, diced, big
Garlic: 6-8 small cloves,chopped julienne
Ginger:2 inch piece,chopped julienne
Green chillies: 4-6 ( depending on your spice level and the spice level if the chilli ), chopped fine
Capsicum/Green Bell pepper: 1 large , diced big.
Soy sauce : 1 tbsp +4tbsp
Vinegar: 1 tbsp
Corn flour: 1 tbsp+ 1 tsp
Spring onions : 1 bunch, chopped fine
Cooking Oil : 3 tbsp+ 2 tbsp
Water : 1 cup( optional)
Salt to taste
Sugar: pinch

Method:

Marinate chicken with 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp soya sauce,  1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp black pepper powder, 1 tbsp corn flour. Mix well and keep aside for atleast 20 mins in the fridge.

Mix  1 tsp corn starch and  4 tbsp soy sauce and keep aside.

Heat a wok on high heat 3 tbsp oil. Fry  the marinated chicken in a single layer and keep aside in a plate/ dish. You might need to fry it in batches depending on the size of your wok. Chicken breast cooks pretty quickly when done on high heat. Make sure that you don't overcook or undercook your chicken. If overlooked, the chicken will be dry. If undercooked most likely you will get a tummy upset!:(. How do you know the chicken is done? It generally turns white and when you cut it in the middle it should not be pink!

Heat the same wok on high heat,add the remaining oil. When the oil  is hot, add garlic , then ginger. Sauté for 30 secs, then add chopped onions, sauté for 2 minutes.Now add green chillies, then bell pepper and sauté for another minute.Now add the cooked chicken,cornstarch-soy sauce mixture and mix well. Add salt as needed, pinch of sugar and vinegar. Add 1/2- 1 cup water and mix well if you don't want it dry.Let it cook for 3-4 mins.

Garnish with finely chopped spring onions/ scallions.

Serve with hot jasmine rice!

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

I have said this before, when you bring home chicken from the store, before dumping it into the freezer, try cleaning it and applying a basic marinade of lemon juice, salt and pepper and then freeze it in batches in small plastic containers or freezer bags.This way you can pull out a bag, thaw it and cook chicken anytime you want without having to spend additional time cleaning, marinating etc. Dinner is ready!

Tip for Healthy Living:

Today, lets discuss organic vs regular chicken. So, how is organic chicken different? Organic means that the chicken has been fed organic feed, given outdoor access and has not the use of antibiotics has been avoided. Organic feed means grains that are not genetically modified and grains whose crop has not been treated with synthetic pesticides.This means that these chicken have less chemical residues in their bodies and therefore are more healthy. Whenever possible it is best to use organic chicken. 

Food for thought

Tomorrow is not guaranteed for anyone! ( unknown).