Simply Healthy Korean Recipes
I’m a glass half empty kind of a girl. I don’t know why. By and large, I’ve led a charmed life in relative comfort and am now married to a man who loves me to pieces. And yet, I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. This amuses and bemuses my husband, because he is quite the opposite, my eternal optimist. It’s a good thing I suppose. It would probably be a real bummer being married to a fellow buzzkill.
In many of my recipes, I call for baked chicken. Throw some in, I say, as if most people have baked chicken waiting for them in their fridge. Well, this is because I DO have baked chicken in my fridge at least a couple of days out of the week. Still, it’s wrong of me to assume that you do too. So here is a very easy baked chicken recipe. Now you too can have baked chicken lying around in your fridge. 😉
I made some Spicy Tomato Sauce with Poached eggs last week. Twice, actually. That’s not unusual for me. When the weather outside is cold and I barely have enough time to eat, this is one of my go-to dishes. It’s one of those dishes that is so comforting, yet simple and quick. We either have it over brown rice or pasta. It’s delicious either way.
Of course, I had to add a little bit of Korean love to this dish. I absolutely love gochujang (Korean chili pepper paste) in tomato sauce. It tempers the acidity of the tomato sauce just perfectly, while imparting some sweetness and spiciness to the sauce. If you don’t have access to gochujang, of course, you can add tomato paste. I add both if I have both in my fridge. Just make sure they add up to about 2-3 teaspoons. The resulting sauce is SO GOOD. You have to give it a try.
cHow Divine is now on Facebook. I know. I know. I’ve been living in the dark ages. I swore I wouldn’t sign up for it. I remember uttering something about the value of privacy, all the while shaking my virtual cane at the kids these days. But resistance is futile with certain things in life. I’m learning that Facebook just might be one of them. Since cHow Divine is a small extension of who I am, I guess I am also on Facebook. So stay connected with us on Facebook. 🙂
I decided to celebrate this occasion with some Bulgogi Japchae (Stir-Fried Sweet Potato Noodles with Bulgogi). Japchae is usually served at birthday celebrations. It’s a birthday of sorts. So it was perfect for the occasion. This version of japchae is incredibly easy and quick compared to the traditional version. And it’s adaptable depending on the veggies you have in the fridge. I know how much I hate wasting food. It’s nice to have a dish you can cook, while cleaning out your fridge at the same time.
I try to make a lot of banchan (Korean side dishes) on the weekends. During the week, I can just eat them cold right out the fridge with some steamed rice that’s always waiting for me in my trusty rice cooker. If I’m feeling a little more ambitious, I would fry up an egg and make bibimbap. And if I’m feeling even more ambitious, I would make gimbap. It doesn’t happen too often, but often enough for me to sate my occasional gimbap cravings. On a side note, you may also know gimbap as Korean “sushi” because of its similarities with the Japanese Futomaki.
This week, I had plenty of vegetable banchan in the fridge that I needed to finish. And I also had some top sirloin in the fridge that I didn’t want to freeze. So I decided to make some bulgogi gimbap. I guess I was feeling ambitious this week…