Plated Salad Course -- Asiatisch Nusslisalat

I really liked how my asian-themed salad course came out for this dinner :)
(fyi picture is pre-dressing so that it wouldn't get soggy from the leaves sitting in vinegar)

Components:

(1) boiled soybeans, then marinated for the day in soy sayce, vinegar, some salt and pepper and a dash of sugar

(2) Springrolls (see a previous posting), except I also made 3 flavors out of these-- in addition to the regular filling, also put in one giant thai basil leaf into one type, and the others, put in some soy-sauce-garlic-marinated woodsear mushroom strips, and in the third did a combo of a rice filling with some basil and the mushroom strips. All types I thought tasted quite nice! then lightly sauteed on both sides till golden brown

(3)Used a combo of what here is called "Nusslisalat" which I don't know a direct translatin for to English..but can describe as young but thicker/juicier spinach bunches, and also some Rucola (Arugula)

(4) Marinated some firm tofu in some soysauce, then seared it in the skillet with some olive oil, and after crisp on two sides, then sliced as a topping.

(5) Dressing: first a white wine reduction (I don't have sake ;) ), then added about equal volume soysauce, and only barely reduced that in addition, a tablespoon or so of sesame oil, also a tablespoon of olive oil, then added some white wine vinegar and sugar, and emulsify.

Potato Skins, my style!

Also get cravings for those cheesy, flavor-loaded potato skins appetizers at "TGIF's"? mmmm....

BUT in efforts to satisfy that craving, ended up with a much healtier version that I think is fantastic!

Here are two versions I've made so far: ( haha also with a load of carmelized onion-garlic & chive mashed potatos--cause gotta do something with the innards):
My *lieblings* toppings:
* some sort of turkey, sliced or slightly dehydrated or something, then I sear it in a pan and it does nearly develop the flavor and texutre of bacon... hah! I just remembered teh product "Turkey bacon" in the US! I love that stuff!!! I guess that's essentially what I'm trying to re-create with other sliced turkey products...
* carmelized onions
*sauteed bell pepper
* green onions
* diced tomato
* one time I had some leftover sour cream from having made a creamy sauce for fish tacos the night before, so I made this herb sour cream mix to drizzle on and it was delicious, to
* And some cheese-- honestly just using a small amount of somehting sharp and flavorful to me ahs teh same effect, minus the greasiness-- for me using a small amount of a flavorful cheese then gives me the sensation of it being cheesy without the masses of it present, ie..mounding on heaps of mozzarella or mild cheddar or something. So I've used things here like Sbrinz, Parm, Gruyere even... all sharp versions..

drool...

Pile me up!

nothin like a nice homey stack of pancakes.... yet, darn tasty using a mixture of soy-flower with regular wheat, as well as protein powder... hence some very high-protein pancakes! Delicious!
Overall essentially I make them like so:
2 beaten eggs, about 1 cup of milk, a spoon of sugar, a few Tbsp of oil, (2 scoops of protein powder), and about 1-1.5 cups of flours (I used a mix of whole wheat and soy flour, sifted with about 1-2 tsp baking powder and 1/4tsp salt), beaten all together (add more flour or milk if too thin or thick, respectively)

Doppelt-Schoggi Mandeln Gebäck!

haha that's a title in Schweizer Deutsch (swiss german) = double-chocolate almond cookies

Made these cookies the other day, just based on what ingredients I hadn't run out of, and ended up being very pleased with how they turned out :)

*my midnight-halloween cookie pic! looks spookie eh?*

Directions:
1) Beat together 2 tablespoons butter, 6 tablespoons light olive oil, 1/2-3/4 c almond butter (I grind my own from plain unroasted almonds--just needs a good food processor), 3/4 tsp salt, and 1 cup brown sugar-- beat well, then add and beat in 3 tablespoons pure cocoa powder, then beat in 2 eggs, and 5-6 Tablespoons Amaretto.
2) Sift together 1.25 cups flour with 1 tsp baking powder into another bowl, then add to mixer, and briefly stir in.
3) Lastly stir in ~100-125g dark or bitter-sweet chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate bar ( they don't really sell chocolate chips like well known in the US! amazing..)

Spoon out dollops of the whole mix to something non-stick, bake for ~12-15 min at 180 C, just until puffs up fully, but it's nice to leave them so the outside is dried out and crispy but the inside still soft!