Chinese Tea Eggs

The first step is to make perfect boiled eggs:

1. Put 6 eggs from the fridge into a pot of cold water (water must be cold and eggs must be cold for best results) and eggs should not be all smashed together in the pot
2. Fill pot with enough water to cover the eggs with 2 inches of water on top
3. Add about 1 tablespoon of salt
4. Bring water to a rolling boil and then shut off heat completely
5. Let the eggs sit on the stovetop in the water for about 10 minutes
6. Pour out most of the water and dump a ton of water on top of the eggs, shocking them with cold
7. Let eggs sit in ice bath for about 1 minute
8. Using either the round edge of a spoon or a counter top, break the eggs in many places and then place back in ice bath for 1 minute
9. Pick up eggs and the shells should slide right off!

Now how to make the egg marinade:

• 4 tablespoons light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (or soy sauce)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 star anise
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 black tea bags (or 2 tablespoons black tea leaves)
• 2 1/2 cups water

1. Put all ingredients (not eggs) into a pot, and bring to a boil.
2. When water is boiling, simmer for about 30 min.
3. Remove from heat.

Now for the fun and easy part - put the egg marinade in a container, put the eggs in (if you want pretty eggs, you can boil the eggs, but instead of peeling the shells off, marinate the eggs with the shells on but with all the tiny cracks. It will look like the eggs are marbled), and put in the fridge over night or for about a day.

Delicious, quick breakfast that's also fun to make. :-)

Roasted Okra

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Arrange the okra slices in one layer on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Split the squashes in half and scrape out seeds.

Line an oven tray with aluminum foil.

Season the spaghetti squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Place flesh side down and roast for 30 to 40 minutes until fully cooked. Remove from the oven and let rest until cool enough to handle.

When squash is cool enough to handle, using a large kitchen spoon scrape the strands of squash from the inside of the skin.

Coat with whatever sauce/gravy you're going to use, and enjoy!

Oven Roasted Cabbage

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage
3 tablespoons (or more) of oil-coconut oil, tallow, etc
Salt and Pepper to taste (I used about a tablespoon of each)
Optional: 1 teaspoon of favorite herbs like basil, caraway seeds, dill, etc.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the cabbage starting at the top of the head so that the inner pieces for circles within the slices. Aim for ¼-1/2 inch slices.

Place aluminum foil on top of the baking sheet and place cabbage slices on top of foil.

Drizzle cabbage slices with oil and sprinkle with desired spices (it is even delicious with just Himalayan salt !) and place in the oven.

Roast for 35-40 minutes or until tender in the middle and sides are just starting to turn golden brown.

Remove and serve.

Garlicky Baked Butternut Squash

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4-1/3 cup vegan parmesan cheeze OR  grated Parmesan cheese*


Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the parsley, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add squash and toss to coat.

2. Transfer to an ungreased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until squash is just tender.

3. Stir in Parmesan cheese.

Beef and Okra Quick Stew

1 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 white onion thinly sliced
2 clove garlic minced
4-5 tomatoes roughly chopped
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 pound okra chopped


Brown ground beef with a little salt and pepper
Strain fat/juices off of ground beef
Add onions to frying pan
Sauté until translucent.
Add garlic and continue sautéing until garlic is fragrant.
Add beef and stir in tomatoes and thyme.
Stir until heated through.
Bring to simmer.
Simmer covered 10-15 minutes.
Add okra and simmer another 20-30 minutes.
Serve over rice.

Watermelon Mint Limeaid

Ingredients
8 cups watermelon, seeded and cubed (about 6 pounds)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 4 limes)
2-8 tablespoons super-fine sugar (adjust if too sweet when using a naturally sweeter watermelon)
1/2 cup vodka
24 mint leaves (muddled)
very thin lime slices, halved into half moons


Directions
Add the watermelon, lime juice, vodka, and sugar and puree until smooth. Muddle mint leaves and add to puree. Stir and serve.

I like to freeze the watermelon the day before to keep the drinks more chilled when serving. I put the frozen watermelon into the blender when I blend and also slice some limes and freeze the lime slices the night before to dump them in the serving container to keep the drink cold and for decoration.