Avocado Bubble "Tea"

Bubble tea is a catch-all term for any drink that contains "bubbles", which are actually large, dark colored tapioca pearls. The Taiwanese word for these is Boba, and our use of Bubble is probably a corruption of this word. A shop selling bubble tea usually offers actual tea with bobas, but also usually offers smoothies with bobas, milk tea with bobas, and juice with bobas. The dark pearls are colored in a variety of ways, but the best ones are colored with purple potato and have a slightly sweet, molasses-y taste.

Making bubble tea at home has been a dream for a long time, since Ariel and I found a fantastic bubble tea shop in Seattle that uses real fruits for the smoothies instead of the more common flavored powders. It's called WOW, which stands for Wonder Of Worship, and is an Asian Christian hangout and board game den in addition to its bubble tea vending.

There's nothing like that within comfortable driving distance of us here in Stoneham. So, in case you're in the same boat, here's a bubble tea recipe. You can also just leave the bubbles out and have a smoothie.

Ingredients (per smoothie):
1 small ripe avocado
Milk, or milk alternative if dairy intolerant - I suggest coconut-almond milk
Sweetener to taste
3 drops vanilla extract, or more to taste
Ice cubes (optional)

Slice the avocado in half down to the pit. Twist the two halves apart and pop the pit out with a spoon; discard the pit. Hold each half in your hand and, using a blunt knife, slice the inner meat vertically and horizontally. Then scoop the meat out with a spoon. It will come out already nicely chopped.

Put the avocado meat into a small mixing bowl if you have an immersion blender, also known as a stick blender. If you don't have one, put it into the regular blender, and afterwards, go get an immersion blender ;) Add enough milk to just cover the avocado. You may need to add more later. Avocados are remarkably powerful thickeners.

Add a little sweetener. You can use any kind of sweetener, either natural or artificial. If you want to use natural, then I suggest half honey and half organic sugar. About a teaspoon of each to start with, you can always add more. Also add the vanilla.

Puree the mixture until smooth. You will be amazed at how velvety smooth the avocado makes it. Taste and add more sweetener if needed.

Next, either put in the fridge to chill, or add a few ice cubes and stir until it's at your desired temperature.

To make the bobas:
You will need to buy the right ones. Go online to Amazon and order the kind specially made for bubble tea. If you try to use regular tapioca, you will be disappointed! (Obviously, you will need to do this well in advance of making the smoothie!) Then, follow the directions to cook them. When they're done cooking, drain in a strainer, and put into a bowl of ice water to chill before adding them to your smoothie.

To drink a bubble tea, you will either need a jumbo bubble tea straw that is big enough to suck up the bobas, or you will need to use a spoon. Enjoy!

Bibimbap (Korean One-Bowl Meal)

This iconic Korean dish has many incarnations and is excellent for using up extra bits of vegetables, though I usually go out to shop especially for it since I have favorites and want to be sure I have the stuff I like. This is healthy by almost anyone's standards, except for the sugar which can be left out if necessary (but is delicious).

Ingredients:
Seasoned spinach

• 1 frozen block of chopped spinach
• 1 tsp dark sesame oil
• 1 tsp reduced sodium tamari / soy sauce

Seasoned cucumber

• 1 english cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp rice or cider vinegar

1 cup matchstick-cut carrots, about 5
1 box fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1/2 tbsp dark sesame oil
t tbsp garlic powder or 8 cloves minced garlic
Cooked brown rice
Eggs

You'll notice I didn't specify a number of eggs or an amount of rice. This is because there's one egg per serving, and the number of servings depends on how much each person will eat. Also, the amount of rice depends on how much rice you like. I only eat about 1/2 cup of cooked rice but Koreans eat way more.

To prepare the spinach, thaw it and then gently saute over medium heat in its own liquid until tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in the seasonings and set aside.

To prepare the cucumber, just mix it together and set it aside, separately. Incidentally, to make matchsticks, you will first cut the cucumber in half to make two shorter pieces. Then cut the pieces lengthwise into planks, then stack the planks two or three high and slice them into thin strips. Then shorten them by cutting crosswise once or twice.

Prepare the carrots by cutting them the same way, then steaming in a small amount of water for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Set aside.

Prepare the beef by sauteing over high heat until it's well browned. Then add the sugar, garlic, and soy sauce or tamari. Simmer until the liquid is thick enough to coat the meat in a nice sauce. Set aside.

In the same pan, lower the heat to medium and crack eggs over it. Fry them sunny-side-up to your desired degree of doneness. I like to break the yolks and spread them out so they are totally opaque and cooked, because I think liquid yolks are gross, but it is more authentic for them to be liquid, so if you like your eggs that way then by all means, go for it.

Serve the meal by placing some rice in the bottom of the bowl. Then spoon some of each thing over the rice in little piles around the bowl: spinach, cucumber, carrot, mushrooms, and beef like a tasty rainbow. Place a fried egg over the top of each bowl and serve.

You're supposed to break up the egg and stir it together when you're ready to eat it. If you have a liquid egg yolk, the yolk forms a sauce that would be tasty if you like that sort of thing. This is also supposed to be served with sriracha or korean hot sauce. If you like it, then go for it; otherwise, it's also good without the heat.

The leftovers are even better. It's delicious as lunch the next day, even cold.

Edible Edemame

I'm always looking for ways to make edimame, which is the technical term for fresh soybeans, into something worth eating. They are super good for you, after all. Here's a simple side dish with Asian flair. Took 7 minutes to make!

Ingredients:
2 shallots, minced
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
2 cups frozen shelled edemame
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Saute the shallots in the oil for 1 minute at medium heat, then add the edamame and turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the tamari. Cook and stir for 4 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook and stir for 30 seconds more. Then serve. Yay!