Carrot soup with miso and sesame

 

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 pounds carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 4 regular or 6 small garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger, or more to taste (it could easily be doubled)
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup white miso paste, or more to taste
Directions
 
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion and garlic sauté until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add broth and ginger. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender when pierced, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
 
Puree soup in batches in blender, or all at once with an immersion blender. In a small bowl, whisk together the miso an a half-cup of the soup. Stir the mixture back into the pot of soup. Taste the soup and season with salt, pepper or additional miso to taste.
 
Ladle into bowls and garnish each with a drizzle of sesame oil.
 

Asian spinach salad with honey ginger vinaigrette

This is one of my favourite salads! It’s loaded with bursts of Asian flavour that give it a ton of fusion character. It tastes exotic but its flavours are still very comfortable.

1 x 6 oz bag of baby spinach leaves

A handful of mint leaves

A few sheets of thinly sliced nori seaweed

For the Vinaigrette

1/2 cup of rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

1 cup olive oil

A few heaping spoonfuls of honey (2 tbsp)

A small knob of grated ginger

A few dashes of toasted sesame oil (1tsp)

Directions

Toss the spinach, mint, nori seaweed and ginger with a generous splash of the dressing. It’s as simple as that.

For the Vinaigrette:

Mix everything together until smooth vinaigrette forms. A blender, food processor or an old-fashioned whisk and bowl all work well but I prefer my immersion blender. It’s easier to clean up!

Thai green curry with tofu and vegetables

Ingredients

Sesame oil

1 tsp Green curry paste (1.5-2tsp for more heat)

4 Cloves of garlic (minced)

1 tbls ground ginger

1 green onion

4oz tofu (cut into bite sized cubes)

2 large carrots (chopped)

Green beens (cleaned and halved)

1 small zucchini (sliced)

Broccoli

1 can coconut milk

Half can of water (use coconut milk can)

Preparation

Stir fry the curry paste, green onions, garlic and ginger in the sesame oil.

Add the tofu after a few minutes and continue to stir fry for another 10 min.

Add the vegetables, coconut milk and water, cover and let simmer for 10-15 min.

Serve in a bowl over rice.