What's on your plate?

[lylysa]

Hello there, ladies and gents!

Keeping in line with all the fun and interactive threads asking about your most recent halls, items you have your eyes on, what you're currently wearing, what's your hair routine, and more, I've decide to branch out and ask:

"What's on your plate?"

The beauty world doesn't just stop at skin care and cosmetics, it also goes hand in hand with your overall health and well-being, so with that, I'm curious to see what we're all chowing down and snacking on be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or inbetween!

For those with apps that help count calories or to those who just want to keep a log, here's a place to share, possibly find and share some recipes, and even tips on maintaining a balanced diet.

Don't just share food items, but even drinks! I'm a huge fan of tea and at least have a cup of green tea a day (anti-oxidants) and drink plenty of water.

For lunch today, I had:

-Brown rice

-Steamed egg

-Steamed red snapper with green onion, sesame oil, and black pepper

-Gai lan (it's a type of Chinese vegetable/greens)

Now, tell me, Beauty Talk world, what do you have? 😄

[Ispend2much6]

@JoSometimes  Yes that’s how I made it.

This recipe was cooked on the stovetop but others say oven.

I used a medium cabbage head, 2lbs ground beef, one onion, 2 carrots, 26 oz can tomatoes, 3 cups beef broth, 1 can sauerkraut and cooked in a 5 at Dutch oven. It made a lot of food!

[JoSometimes]

Thanks for the recipe @Ispend2much6! 

[Mellmars1185]

@Ispend2much6 Yummy! This looks delicious 😋

[WinglessOne]

Last night’s dinner was mala xiang guo, aka Sichuan dry pot. 

You might say I’m a big fan of lotus root. 😄

Beef, chicken, celery, mushrooms*, lotus root, choy sum, dried chili peppers, premade sauce (as a shortcut), and a generous amount of Sichuan peppercorns for tongue-numbingly tasty goodness. Normally I’d eat this with noodles but I’m surprisingly out of all types of noodle (yeah, I know what I’m restocking this weekend 😂 )—so I added a bit of rice instead. 

I was just thinking “ugh, I’m too tired to cook tonight, guess I’ll have to order out.” Then I remembered I’ve got enough of this dish to repeat as dinner tonight, hooray! 

*Ha, now I can’t remember if the name of this mushroom has always been on BIC’s bad words list. 🤣 Can’t imagine I’ve never tried to post it before. EDIT: to be fair, this happens because I always forget “shiitake” contains two i’s and autocorrect never fixes the misspelling. 😄 

[itsfi]

Yuuuum!!! 😋 I love lotus root! Look at all those dried chili peppers. 😍 Making me hungry @WinglessOne! 

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @itsfi ! 

[JoSometimes]

@WinglessOne I looove those flavours. Sichuan anything is so delicious!

I’ve never heard of dry pot before. It seems like a nice happy medium between getting all the delicious flavours without going all out with the prep that comes with hot pot. 

[WinglessOne]

@JoSometimes  Oh there’s still some prep with dry pot, but you don’t need to make a broth. You don’t even need to make the dry pot sauce from scratch. But you do still have to prep all the veggies and protein(s), and pre-cook rice or noodles. Dry pot saves some time because you cook everything at the stove instead of at the table. But cooking at the table is part of what makes hot pot such a social event. Both dishes are delicious though. 🙂 

[Mellmars1185]

@WinglessOne This looks absolutely delicious. Now I am curioue about this mushroom. I have never tried lotus root before. I will have to check it out.

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @Mellmars1185 ! Heh, I should edit my post with another note about the mushroom whose name I always misspell (shiitake). 😄 

Lotus root is one of those mild ingredients that takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it in. It’s crunchy, though not quite as much as, say, jicama… eh, it’s firm and crunchy enough to hold up well to boiling and braising. You can also eat it raw. And unless you have a fear of holes (I always forget the name of that phobia), it always looks good in dishes. It’s a great stand-in for french fries. I mean, I love fries that are crunchy outside and soft inside. But boil me some lotus root, salt it, and deep-fry it, and I’ll be a very happy camper. Some grocery chains carry fresh lotus root nowadays, so it’s gotten a bit easier to find locally. You can also buy it peeled, sliced, and frozen. It’s a good ingredient to try. 🙂

[blackkitty2014]

Oh wow @WinglessOne @this dish is sooo me 🌹👍👌sooooooo good

[WinglessOne]

Thank you @blackkitty2014 ! 😊 

[Ispend2much6]

@WinglessOne  That’s amazing! I love Sichuan dishes.  I have a lot of different noodles I should try something similar.

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @Ispend2much6 ! This dish is the dry version of Sichuan hot pot. Instead of keeping a pot of broth constantly hot enough on the dinner table to cook various ingredients at will throughout your meal, you briefly boil most of the dry pot ingredients in a pot of water on the stove, then get your peppers + peppercorns + sauce going in a wok (or whatever you’re cooking with), and then add your boiled ingredients to the wok and cook everything together. I usually use sweet potato starch noodles because I almost always (except this week, apparently 🤦‍♀️ ) have them on hand for japchae, but you could use other types of noodles… ideally one typically found in Chinese cuisine, if you’re aiming for a more authentic dish. 

There are many recipes online for mala xiang guo. You’ll notice some similarities: must have Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers (psh, you’re a fellow Sichuan food fan so I don’t really need to tell you that 😉 ); can make your sauce from scratch or just buy it premade; use any veggies and protein you want, though common options are fish balls, beef, lotus root, potatoes, choy sum (or if you prefer Chinese broccoli, gai lan, or just use American broccoli if you prefer), bok choy, mushrooms… like hot pot, dry pot’s a good dish for using up whatever bits of veggies you’ve got left in your fridge. It’s pretty easy and quick to make, even though you have to boil your veggies (and proteins, depending on their current state) first. 

Someday I’ll make hot pot at home—might even make my own broth base and freeze any unused portion—but first I need the necessary equipment to keep a pot of broth at cooking temperature on my table. Might finally be time to buy a hot plate. 😄 

[Ispend2much6]

@WinglessOne  Oh my!  Thank you!  I never did understand what hot pot was (always ordered one to go from our favorite restaurant.)

That is very intriguing, and less intimidating than stir-frying everything from start to finish.

This almost sounds like Sichuan fondue cooking (cooking each item individually at the table.)

So, right now I have showa udon noodle, Thai rice noodles, frozen fresh udon and ramen noodles, and Korean tteokbokki.

I used to have Sichuan peppercorns.  I've been meaning to replenish my ingredients so I can make our dishes easily.  I really like Stir Fry to the Sky's Edge cookbook. 

[WinglessOne]

@Ispend2much6  “Sichuan fondue” is fairly accurate. 😄 Hot pot is one of those dishes I can’t eat by myself; I have to be with at least one other person. To me, it’s too much of a social event to enjoy solo. Dry pot can also be social but, for me, it’s not as mandatory-social as hot pot. I dunno, I always associate hot pot with friendly gatherings and good conversations. I can see it (and dry pot) being a good at-home dish to share with family. 

About the noodles for hot pot: you can have the noodles pre-cooked on the side to be eaten with whatever you cook in the pot at the table. Or, you can have uncooked noodles alongside all the other ingredients and let folks cook their noodles in the pot themselves. If you go the latter route, fresh low-starch noodles are best: they’ll cook quickly and won’t cloud up the broth. Glass noodles can be a hassle if they stick to the bottom of the pot and burn down there. For dry pot, this isn’t a concern because you’re going to cook everything at the stove instead of in a boiling pot of broth at the table. 

I hope you restock your Sichuan peppercorns soon and have fun making either hot pot or dry pot at home! 

[Ispend2much6]

Thank you; I'll tag you when I cook this. @WinglessOne 

[CynthieLu]

I was trying to figure out mushroom in question but I finally landed on it 🍄 😂

That looks scrumptious @WinglessOne 

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @CynthieLu ! To be fair, if I could always remember “shiitake” contains two i’s and/or autocorrect would always catch the typo, I’d probably have no problem in the first place. 😅 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@WinglessOne looks delicious!

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @greeneyedgirl107 !