Recipes

Mornings are a busy time for families. Making sure that everyone gets a perfectly balanced meal can be tricky. Cereals are quick and easy, but they are also jampacked with sugars, and their “nutrients” are synthetic and hard to digest. Making your own muesli is a great alternative. Just sit everyone down around the kitchen table, let them try each of the ingredients, and add what they like to their batch. Everyone gets a custom treat and it’s also a great opportunity to talk to your kids about nutrition. It’s important to choose dried fruits free of sulfides and keep fruit additions to a minimum, as they can be high in sugar. The muesli can also be made into granola. Pair this with a few slices of homemade banana bread and you’ve got one healthy breakfast.

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The chickpea is a staple in much of the Middle East, but this humble (not to mention adorable) little legume gets little attention in western fare outside of hummus. This is a real shame, as chickpeas are little nutritional powerhouses, high in fiber, protein, folate (great for moms-in-the-making), and minerals. Not only that, but they love to take on flavors, and this recipe can be seasoned in a number of ways. If you love it as much as I do, you can also try seasoning it with Chinese five-spice or your own personal spice blend.

Another way to flavor up this recipe is by adding some extra veggies to it. Dark, leafy greens are a wonderful way to add some extra iron to your diet if you’re expecting, or if you’re a vegetarian. Feel free to experiment and have fun, and be sure to set aside some of the chickpeas for some hummus.

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Thanksgiving is a time when Americans gather with family and friends, giving thanks for the many blessings received throughout the year. Yet wherever you hail from, the holiday is also a great excuse to serve up a fantastic feast.

Of course, living in Beijing can present a challenge when it comes to finding the right ingredients for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, and the main course – a.k.a. the turkey – is often the trickiest part of all. But rest assured that where there’s a will, there’s a way. Consider the example of my mother. When I was growing up in Germany, Mom once talked to all the local farmers until she found one that could sell us a bountiful bird. When the turkey arrived on the day before Thanksgiving, it was far too big to fit in the oven. Nevertheless, my parents were committed to providing their kids with an authentic Thanksgiving experience, so they stayed up all night building an addition to the oven that would allow them to cook the entire bird. It was an ungainly contraption, but it got the job done, and the end result was a sight to behold!

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As the temperature slowly drops and cool winds whip through Beijing, there is nothing more satisfying than coming home to a warm, nourishing soup. Growing up, soups were a frequent appearance at the dinner table, as my grandmother cooked up a weekly batch with vegetables from her garden.

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My culinary world exploded when my family moved to Arizona back in 1994. I still remember the first time I ate chips and salsa as my parents sipped a well deserved margarita with fajitas and chile relleno. To this day, whenever I crave a little color and freshness in my life, I’ll whip up some salsa or add a dash of lime, chilli and cilantro to a dish.

Few people have spent enough time with Mexican food to realize that it goes far beyond cheese-filled quesadillas and meaty tacos. In fact, its dishes range from culinary masterpieces like mole sauce (which is made up of more than 40 different spices and tastes like chocolate!) to simple, healthy, every day dishes like calabacitas.

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Most people will say the best thing about living in Beijing is the food. Although to be honest, with the traffic jams and the pollution, there’s hardly competition. But
when most people talk about the food, they mean restaurant food, which no one can argue with. From chewy Shanxi noodles to the kick and tingles of Sichuan spice, the excellent selection of regional Chinese food in Beijing is unparalleled.

Choices in fresh and dried produce Beijing are undervalued and deserve reimagining by a discerning and innovative eye – at least that’s what I’ve always thought and aspired to highlight in these monthly columns. I can’t say that I’ve always been successful, but I certainly hope it’s been entertaining to read my recipes and try them out.

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Butter
Makes 1 tub (the amount of cream you use will result in an equal amount of butter)

Difficulty level: Easy

Ingredients
1 tub double cream, room temperature
全脂忌廉奶油，室温
½ tsp sea salt (optional)
半茶匙海盐（可选）
Iced water 冰水

Materials
Blender 搅拌机
Large wooden spoon 大木勺
Bowl 碗
Cling wrap 保鲜膜

Directions

1. Pour the whipping cream into the blender.

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Tomato season never comes early enough or stays long enough. And for those who are still in the dark about the seasonal variations in a tomato, really, I weep for you. But hark! Finally it arrives. So here we have red, engorged fruits that really earn their label as fruits. When the tomato is really juicy and sweet, all you need is a bit of salt and a slice of thick, buttered bread for mind-blowing tomato sandwiches. Or try out my favorite childhood dish: ripe tomatoes sprinkled with sugar. The more sugar you sprinkle on there, the more likely a child is to slurp it up.

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Soy Milk
makes 1lt

Difficulty level: Easy

Ingredients
150g whole soy beans, 150克黄豆
2lt water, 2升水
Salt or sugar (optional) 盐或糖（可选）

Materials
Mixing bowl 搅拌碗
Blender 搅拌机
Cheese cloth or mesh bag 白纱布或者网纱袋
Large pot 大锅

DIY Tips:
• Don't take your eyes off the pot as it will bubble and overflow very quickly if you're not careful.
• Instead of using salt or sugar to flavor your soy milk, try vanilla extract or high quality maple syrup.

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Hola Hola Pizza
Recipe courtesy of chef de cuisine Erik Ye at Fuel
Serves 6-8
 
Pizza sauce
Makes 2½ cups 
 
5 tsp olive oil
½ onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
350g tomato, chopped 
95g tomato paste
A few sprigs of fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

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