Salade de crudités updated : veggie nori-maki

Once upon a time, we’d serve the crudités on a large plate, even with the sauce mixed in with each type of vegetable. For guests, Granny would display them on huge (imitation) silver trays.

That looked like that.
Grated carrot, sliced Japanese turnip, sliced new onion, greens, edamame (they have to be boiled).

Then this became popular to make sushi… So why not rolling in the veggies ?

(Do you notice something weird on the photo ? You should… I had a problem after the shooting session. LOL)

And serving the dressing (soy sauce, black rice vinegar and chili pepper) as a dip.

Black vinegar bell peppers on polenta, and garlic tofu dices

The sourness and crispiness of the veggies contrasts with the soft heaviness and sweetness of the polenta…

Yellow and red paprika peppers, and green sweet long chili. With a young onion, I made a stir-fry, flavored with garlic and olive oil.

Soft polenta (microwaved).

I cooked the tofu with the veggies before making the sauce, it’s nicely flavored with garlic. Added dry chili pepper (fried together with the tofu), black pepper, paprika powder and salt on top.

The sauce is soy sauce, black rice vinegar, a pinch of sugar and a little potato starch. Sweet and sour.

Polenta + veggies.

+ tofu.
= a happy stomach.

Twilight roasted fish jaw

A simple early dinner.
ぶりかま焼き (buri-kama yaki).
I baked the jaw of a buri (yellow tail). I’ve simply drizzled oil + mirin + soy sauce on it and passed under the grill. Then, mmm….
That looks like nothing. The jaw of fish is often discarded and that’s great for me, because I can get it for a song. But if you roast it, you have a dish for a king. That’s the case for most big fatty fish, so try it with tuna and salmon too.

I had crispy radicchio (trévise)
that I ate with just a little salt and olive oil.

My usual veggie stir-fry.

Add rice, you have a yummy menu.

Leaves and buds, plant powered early Spring meal

The big lunch. A veggie orgy.
You have seen already 3 dishes, here is the final installment.

I cooked this with all the veggies leftovers I had. Spring cabbage and maitake mushrooms that you see here. Also onion, kintoki red carrot and I’ve added potatoes. At the end, more greens of shungiku.

The veggies are cooked without oil, steamed in the pan. Just salt. They bring enough complementary flavors.

The dish : jardinière de légumes (vegetable garden lady). That looks dry, but it’s very mushy, soft and juicy.

Garlic and yuzu sautéed tsubomina. That you are detailed here.

The main dish maybe is the tofu on wasabi leaves, from this post.

The last slice of this delicious black sesame azuki bean terrine that I had frozen, a while ago (here). I had 2 huge bean terrines that fed me for a while. Now I need to bake the next ones.

Tofu on wasabi leaves

Green, fresh… and something that makes little sparkles on the tongue.

These are regular wasabi leaves (wasabi no ha).They are like the smaller version than those used to to make wasabi tsukemono (see here).
They are different from wasabi greens (wasabina), not that I could explain the botanical nuances.
wasabina

They don’t have much taste actually and it’s disappointing. Well, that doesn’t matter as I find them pretty and you never have too much salad. And I boosted up the taste with wasabi root.

I’ve stir-fried onion, then the minced stalks, then flavored with shoyu soy sauce and a little yuzu juice. I’ve added the cut leaves and let cool.

Served with good fresh silky tofu, and a little grated wasabi root.