Healthy Soybean Snack

My grandma used to make boiled soybeans as a snack.  They are slightly crunchy and similar in texture to crunchy boiled peanuts.  Soybeans are low in fat and a good source of protein.

Soak dry soybeans for a couple of hours. 

Boil the soaked soybeans for about 15-20 minutes until the beans taste cook and are only a slight bit crunchy.  Sprinkle a little salt on the top and enjoy.

Crab and Edamame Sushi Rice

Mike wanted to make a fancy sushi rice type of dish for a potluck at a friend's house.  We were on this Edamame Rice fix from the previous week, so he decided to combine it with a Crab and Shitake Rice recipe.

Mike made edamame rice. He did not follow a recipe, but this is my best guess at his recipe:
Edamame Rice
 4 cups uncooked medium grain rice
1 bag (1 lb bag) shelled, frozen edamame
1/2 bottle aji furikake.

Cook the rice in a rice cooker. Boil some water, throw the frozen edamame into the water and quickly drain the water (you want to do this quickly so you do not overcook the edamame-overcooking results in mushy edamame).  Add the edamame and furikake to the rice.  Transfer mixture to a 9x13" pan.

Mike placed his edamame rice in the fridge (you do not have to refrigerate the edamame rice prior to putting the crab topping on it. we just did this to save time the following day) and the next day I continued the rice-making process.  

I chopped up about 8 oz (1/2 lb) of imitation crab.  

Then added mayonnaise until the imitation crab looked coated (1/2-1cup mayonnaise). I did not have sour cream, so I decided not to add it to the mixture.  Then I spread it over the rice, popped it in the oven on broil for 15-20 minutes and took it out of the oven.  FYI-Not including sour cream is a BAD idea.  While Mike was watching the sushi broil in the oven he yelled, "Oh no, it looks like the mayonnaise is sinking to the bottom of the pan!" I don't think the mayonnaise was dripping to the bottom of the pan, but I do think that adding sour cream would help maintain the crab layer on top of the rice.  

This recipe needs a few more tweaks.  1) I think that the sour cream is necessary in the recipe.  2) The shitake mushrooms or nametake mushrooms should be added to the rice or the crab topping.
I feel that there was something missing in our Crab and Edamame rice. It was missing that extra pizazz to take it from "average" to "great."  It might have been missing an umami flavor that mushrooms could provide.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Crossiants

There used to be a Japanese bakery on Waialae Ave where SuperCuts is (near a Light Fixtures store) that I loved going to.  They used to sell a circular croissant filled with a blueberry cream cheese filling called, "sombrero."
My mom tried to replicate it years ago, and only until recently did I try to replicate it again.

I had a can of blueberry pie filling in my pantry and I was not sure what to do with it. The recipes that I found online were mainly blueberry pie recipes, so I decided to make a batch of these croissants for a dinner I was attending. 

I "cheated" and bought some mini croissants from Sam's Club.

The croissants looked a bit limp and lacked the flaky exterior, so I toasted them in the oven for about 15 minutes. 

I then mixed cream cheese, powdered sugar, and blueberry pie filling together. Since I did not have a recipe, I determined the proportions through trial and error.  I think I ended up using two blocks of cream cheese (16 oz total), half the can of blueberry filling (I tried to use more blueberry pieces than the goo), and then about 2 cups of powdered sugar. 

After the ingredients were blended, I chilled it in the fridge for a couple of hours (I did this because I had other things to do around the house), cut the croissants in half, placed a generous scoop of filling inside, and then dusted powdered sugar on the top. 

So there you go, a quick and easy dessert that's tasty too!

Simple Quick Dinner~Tofu Salad

Now with Mike and me working long hours every day, cooking is not as high a priority for us.  We end up eating quick meals a few times a week, frozen food once a week, and eating out once a week. I was fortunate to grow up in a home where my family ate home-cooked meals together at the dinner table with the TV turned off.  We always had a salad or some kind of fresh vegetable and for the most part ate healthy meals. That's why I crinkle my nose in disgust after I succumbed to the fact that the lack of time means that Mike sometimes eats lunchables and I eat lean cuisines or hot pockets for lunch. 
This is my attempt in making a healthy meal.

I put this together the other night and Mike was sweet and told me that this dish was pretty enough to serve at a party.  We ate this salad with the enoki mushroom and seaweed soup from the previous post. 

1 cucumber-thinly sliced
1 block soft tofu
1 can kogai-ajitsuke clams (in a sweet soy sauce)-do not drain
chopped green onion for garnish (optional)
soy sauce (optional for those who like more flavor)

Stack all the ingredients on top of each other and serve.