Lightly caramelized carrots with bright green asparagus deliver the quintessential Asian dark brown flavor of sesame and soy.

This simple (you might even say basic) dish is not only deliciously traditional in flavor, it is ready to serve in under 30 minutes, and its healthy as well. Thats three out of three in my book.

Ingredients:
24 fresh asparagus stalks (firm, no wilting allowed)
5 carrots (hard, no bending)
¹/₄ cup of water
1 tablespoon of finely grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon of reduced sodium soy sauce
1¹/₂ teaspoons of sesame oil (the dark kind, if you have it)
1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds

Serves: 3
Total Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Tip: Once you get this recipe under way, with you know - the cooking bits, there is not a lot of time to sit around and contemplate why we’re all here, or where ear wax comes from, much less chopping things up, and scurrying around in the pantry looking for that bottle of soy you are sure you bought the other day. Have things prepared and ready to dump into the wok when needed. Trust me, its a lot less stressful, and a happy chef makes happy food.

The Eight Step Program:
1. Slice the carrots ¹/₄ inch thick on a horizontal angle, exposing a large area of interior of the carrot on both sides of the slice. This will allow the heat, sauce, and oils to work on them which provides us with a light caramelization of their natural sugars.

Carrots are a source of vitamins A, K, C, dietary fiber, potassium, B6, manganese, molybdenum, B1, B3, phosphorus, magnesium and folate.

2. Trim any gigantic trunks off the asparagus stalks. You ultimately want them to be relatively uniform in size at the base with the bulk of the upper stalk. Slice the asparagus as you did the carrots but to a thickness of half an inch. This will allow the heat to penetrate the thick outer layer and provide us with nice even cooking in the short amount of time that the asparagus will be exposed to the heat.

Asparagus is a source of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, C, K, copper, iron, manganese, phosphorus, zinc and folate.

3. Place a large nonstick wok (if you must, a large frying pan will do in a pinch) over scorchingly high heat and give it a brief go around with non-stick cooking spray (or a drop or two of canola oil).

4. When the pan is hot (test with a single drop of water, not any part of your body), bring the temperature down to just barely high, and add the carrots immediately.

5. Stir-fry the carrots for 4 minutes. Keep the carrots on the move and don’t be afraid to lift the wok off the heat and shake the carrots around for a little while to give them a breather if the heat is being a little aggressive (Bonus: anyone watching you will think you’ve got some real wok flare if you do this occasionally anyway).

6. Add the asparagus and water (without looking like a sissy (again in case anyone is watching), keep your tender parts away from the wok when you do this). Toss the carrots and asparagus until they are combined. Cover the wok and let them cook for 2 minutes.

7. Uncover the wok and add the ginger. Make sure you continue stir-frying to ensure that the delicate ginger doesn’t immediately sear to the pan. Continue this for another 2 minutes.

8. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Stir-fry all of the ingredients so that the carrots and asparagus as well coated, then serve.

My wife took her team to the Texas State Fair today.

I knew that meant she would be tired when she got home. So last night I concocted a plan to make dinner this evening.

I picked a dish at random from a list of recipes that I had been saving up to try. The result: Kale and Onion Stir-Fry.

I looked in more detail at the recipe: it seemed fairly bland… yet I went ahead with it and this is what happened…

Kale and Onion Stir-Fry
1 lb fresh kale
1 onion, sliced
3 T white wine vinegar
3 T light soy sauce
1/2 t sugar

Separate the kale leaves from their ribs by loosely gripping the base of the stem and moving your hand up toward the end of the leaf. You should get most of the leaves coming off easily. You may have the end break off in one big leaf. You can leave it as it is (it will reduce later in the cooking process), or just tear it apart into bit size pieces.

Wash the kale off well and dry it.

Heat a HUGE wok if you have one on Medium-High. I say HUGE, because this is a lot of kale to begin with, although when the heat gets to it, it will become much more manageable.

Add the onion to the bottom of the wok and then the kale on top. Stir it for two or three minutes.

Add the rice vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. Reduce heat to medium and stir until kale becomes a deeper darker green and floppy, and the onions are tender.

Serve in bowls.

The flavor of the Kale and Onion Stir-Fry is actually quite surprising, and wonderfully good (and very easy to prepare). The ingredients added to the kale and onion really work double time to give it a delicious flavor. This turned out to be one of our favorite uses for kale to date. You should give it a try.

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Working as an account manager for large corporate and government clients at a telco in Brisbane Australia, my favourite escape/lunch jaunt was to a bar and restaurant five minutes walk away. The name I now forget. It had something to do with a Goose, I think. Crazy Goose?

The Crazy Goose introduced me to real Caesar Salads. Complete with anchovies and a runny egg as the crown on a head of lettuce. Despite being completely un-fond of runny eggs, I adored it.

Over a decade later, suddenly, out of the ether, sprung the idea to create a salad that I feel was a tribute to those wonderful lunches from my youth.

Scott’s Bacon and Egg Salad Recipe
Serves: 1, Preparation Time: 10 miutes

Ingredients

• Dash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Couple of handfuls of your favourite salad greens (I recommend Fresh Express Field Greens)
• 2-3 slices of bacon
• Drizzle of light salad dressing (I recommend Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil from The Stinking Rose - thanks to Crickie for turning me onto this)
• Handful of sunflower seeds
• 1 Egg
• Shredded or grated cheese

Preparation

• Place salad greens in a serving bowl and sprinkle half of the sunflower seeds over it.
• Heat a non-stick skillet on medium high and add a dash of extra virgin olive oil (to get the bacon started)
• Cut bacon into 1/2 inch strips and add to skillet. Fry bacon until you are happy with it. Sprinkle bacon over salad. Add your light salad dressing and toss.
• Crack egg and add to skillet (don’t drain the bacon grease first). Immediately sprinkle remainder sunflower seeds on top of egg. Fry egg briefly until just firm on bottom. Flip egg and fry for just a few seconds then turn back over.
• Immediately place fried egg on top of salad and add shredded or grated cheese on top of egg. Top with pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

While this is certainly no classic or traditional caesar salad, but it is my tip of the hat to the wonderful goosey salads that I once enjoyed. I hope that you enjoy it too.

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Here are two delicious and rewardingly tasty dishes for those that have little time from their busy daily lives to spend in the kitchen: simple ingredients, simple preparation, simple cooking, and speedy.

And you’ll love their taste.

Not only that, the Cheesy Baked Chicken freezes and reheats exceptionally well.

Originally I cooked both of these recipes individually at completely different times. Each one earned, according to my wife, favourite and second favourite dish ever. I even prepared the Cheesy Baked Chicken when spending an evening with my wife’s Grandmother, whom loved it and cleaned her plate. That’s a good recommendation in my book. I shared the recipe with Crickie, and she too loved it when she gave the recipe a whirl.

Since that evening with our Grandmother, my wife has been demanding that I not only make Cheesy Baked Chicken but also my Spicy Mushrooms, a recent recipe that I tried. And not only that, she wanted a whole buttload of chicken that we could freeze and reheat as our hearts desired. So I set to making both dishes and decided to share this recipe that has earned both the raves of my wife, my grandmother and my best friend.

Prepare the Cheesy Baked Chicken first, then the Spicy Mushrooms while the chicken is baking.

Cheesy Baked Chicken

Serves: 4

2 tablespoon milk
4 tablespoons of your favourite mustard
2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1. Pre-heat oven to 400^oF.
2. Mix milk and mustard in a large bowl. Mix cheese, flour and chives on a plate.
3. Dip each of the chicken breasts into the milk and mustard mix and then press into the cheese mix, coating them all over.
4. Place chicken breasts onto a cookie sheet and spoon any spare cheese over the top.
5. Bake for 35-40 min (or until golden brown).

While the chicken is in the oven backing you will want to begin working on your:

Spicy Mushrooms

Serves: 4

2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 scallions (green onions/spring onions), chopped
15 ounces of your favourite small mushrooms, sliced
2 large open-cap mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon chili sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
^1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil

1. Heat your wok or large skillet and add your oil, spread it around the wok and let it heat until just starts to smoke.
2. Reduce heat slightly, add garlic and scallions. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.
3. Add all mushrooms, chili sauce, soy sauce, wine vinegar, pepper, and brown sugar. Stir-fry for 4-5 minutes. Increase heat slightly and stir-fry until most of moisture from sauces and mushrooms has reduced.
4. Sprinkle sesame oil on top on mixture in wok, and then transfer to the serving dish.

Combine both the dishes onto a plate, serve with a garnish of your choice and enjoy:

Teppanyaki is a very simple dish of Japanese origin that is typically grilled on an iron plate and the preparation is often surrounded by a lot of fuss and showmanship. There are many Teppanyaki techniques, but for my first attempt at making teppanyaki I dispensed with a lot of the formality and developed a teppanyaki technique of my own that is easily duplicated in almost any home.

I adapted this teppanyaki recipe from 1000 Classic Recipes for Every Cook. It relies on ingredients that are commonly available from most grocery stores, and is simple to prepare. Give this recipe a try and then experiment with your own ingredients, or if you are fairly familiar with this style of cooking, feel free to substitute ingredients straight away.

Teppanyaki

Serves 2

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
4 scallions/green onions
8 baby corncobs
½ cup bean sprouts
Oil for cooking (olive, sesame or sunflower)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of ginger and garlic paste (ginger paste by itself is fine)

My Teppanyaki Technique

The most important thing to realize is that you probably won’t have access to the expanse of iron stovetop that typically is available to Japanese chefs. What does that mean to the average home cook attempting teppanyaki? It means doing servings in shifts, and not only that, likely it also means portions of each serving in shifts.

To accomplish this, you will need both your largest frying pan, which you will use for your cooking, and another (with a lid), with which you will keep your cooked ingredients warm while you cook the rest of the raw ingredients.

1. Slice the chicken and bell peppers into very thin slices.
2. Trim the scallions/green peppers and then separate each of the leaves and cut them down to approximately the same length of the chicken.
3. Slice the baby corncobs on an angle into three pieces.
4. Heat your main frying pan to the lower end of medium-high. Add a little oil. Put your warming pan on warm/low heat.
5. Combine your soy sauce, brown sugar, and ginger paste into a bowl and stir thoroughly.
6. Put ingredients into the main pan just until you have at least enough room to keep the ingredients separate and still be able to move them around.
7. Start with a serving of chicken, which will likely take up the entire pan. Cook until just starting to show some browning. Remove and place in your warming pan and cover.
8. Then grill the rest of your ingredients, the bell peppers, the scallions/green peppers, baby corncobs and sprouts as you have room until they just start to get a little brown. Add to your warming pan.
9. Once you have one serving complete, plate it and make sure all the ingredients are relatively separate so that your guest can pick and choose their ingredients as they choose.
10. Pour half the sauce into a small dipping bowl, stir once more, and serve with the teppanyaki and chopsticks.
11. Complete the second serving in the same manner.
This is a delicious dish and a lot of fun because you get to choose which food you are going to eat next and dip into sauce. I recommend it to serve at romantic dinners, as it is quite impressive, yet still very easy to prepare.

I am sure however that there are a lot of other teppanyaki techniques out there, and we would love to hear about yours in the comments!

Apparently a traditional Roman dish, this makes for a great and very simple snack. The meat on the artichoke leaves is delicious and the hearts are just divine. You can provide a dip with which you can eat your artichoke leaves or you can (as I prefer), eat them straight.

A word on eating the artichoke leaves:

• Pull off an artichoke leaf at the tip.
• Holding the tip, place it into your mouth root first.
• Close your teeth down on the leaf.
• Drag the leaf out between your teeth using them to scrape the meat off the leaves
• Discard the empty leaves.

When you get to the heart, enjoy the soft treasure yielded within.

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 small artichokes
olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
grated rind and juice from 1 lemon
1 T ground marjoram
salt
lemon wedges to serve

1. Trim the stems to about 1 inch and get rid of any really tough outer leaves.
2. Cut each artichoke in half and with a knife, carefully cut out the choke being sure to leave the heart intact.
3. Put the artichokes in a pan and add enough olive oil to half cover the artichokes.
4. Add the garlic cloves, bay leaf, a generous pinch of salt and half the lemon rind.
5. Heat the artichokes gently, raising the temp to Low. Cover the pan and cook for about 20 minutes. Turn the artichokes and cover again for another 20 minutes. Remember that you are not frying them, so if the oil starts looking too hot, lower the temperature.
6. Remove the artichokes and drain them thoroughly.
7. Plate the artichoke halves flat side down. Garnish with the remaining lemon rind, a sprinkling of marjoram, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve with the lemon wedges.

Adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking No. 30

This delicious spread is great for crackers or slices of hard breads, tossed with pasta, as a topping for pizza, tucked under the skin of chicken, as an extra topping on garlic bread or heck, you can snack on it with a spoon.

If you’re not a big fan of the taste of anchovies try it with only three fillets. The anchovy taste does give the tapenade a real depth of flavor, but you certainly don’ t want it to taste too fishy if you are not into that sort of thing (like me).

Ingredients (Makes about 1^1/2 cups).

• 2 cups of green olives
• 5 anchovy fillets in oil
• ^1/2 cup slivered almonds (lightly toasted)
• ^1/2 T minced garlic
• ^1/2 T drained capers
• ^1/2 t lemon juice
• ^1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Look for any large bones in the anchovy fillets and seperate them out. Put all of the ingredients into your food processor and process your ingredients until you have a course paste.