Farm to table

Picked up summer vegetables at a organic farm in NJ! Quinoa salad lettuce wrap. very summery, great yin dish for yang season : )

Summer lunch

brown rice balls coated with seaweeds farm fresh steamed kale with lemon somen noodle summer salad and vegetable miso soup. light, yet nourishing : )

Kabocha cucumber salad

steam kabocha squash until soft, with pinch of sea salt. slice cucumber and massage with sea salt, let it sit, and squeeze excess water. mush kabocha with cinnamon (and splash of oil if you like), and mix with cucumber, roasted pumpkin seed together. you can use ice cream scooper to make it a little pretty : )

Vegan pizza! but not using "fake cheese"

those "soy cheese" or "rice cheese" may be a good alternative for vegan people, but most of them use too much additives that I cannot even pronounce. so instead, I usually make cashew cream. and it does taste great on pizza! on whole wheat pizza crust (or just bread), spread this cashew cream and top with whatever veggies you like : ) even pizza lovers can be satisfied!

Ratatouille, macrobiotic touch

Ratatouille is a great dish to make with all the wonderful summer veggies. you can enjoy all in one pot! considered to be "too yin", some nightshades veggies can be "neutralized" by cooking with other "strong yang" seasoning, such as miso and soy sauce. so, that's what I did! I made this in my monthly cooking class at GMHC, and they all loved it : ) just cook all the veggies (good to include onions and carrot to make a little balance along with other summer produce), with good olive oil and garlic, season with miso makes it a "fusion" dish, "French meets Japanese macrobiotics".

Somen noodle soup

Summer in Japan, when the weather is unbearably hot and humid, people tend to lose appetite. That's where this thin, wheat noodle called somen comes in. easy to cook (only 2min in boiling water), and easy to digest. usually eat in cold dipping sauce with some garnish such as chopped scallions or grated ginger, you can also eat in soy broth. this is a summer comfort food : )

Summer tofu scramble

dice summer veggies such as zucchini, beans, peas parsley etc, and saute them quickly. crumble tofu, and add it to the veggies, continue to cook. add some water if necessary. then season with sea salt, soy sauce, ume vinegar etc. add some spices such as cumin or turmeric for flavor and coloring, if you wish. healthy alternative to scramble egg : )