A NEW VEGETABLE FOR ME....CHINESE BROCCOLI

Our neighbors gave us some plants this Spring and there were 4 Chinese Broccoli plants. She remarked she had no idea what it was and I was not sure. It is also known as gai lan.
 I have been researching it and last night was my first try at cooking with it. I decided to go with the blanching first. I read I needed to cut the stems on a diagonal after pulling the leaves off. I discarded the largest leaves. I had the water boiling and added about a teaspoon sea salt and tablespoon sugar. I added the stems and cooked them about 3 minutes and took them out with a slotted spoon and into ice water. Than I added the chopped leaves and boiled them for about 2 minutes and into the ice water.
 About an hour before I this I had sliced a round steak very thin and marinated it in the following:
  6 tablespoons light soy sauce
  6 tablespoons red wine
  1 tablespoon sugar
  2 tablespoon cornstarch
   few drops of sesame oil
  1Tablespoon olive oil
Now it was time to drain the meat.
Next I cooked a pack of Ramen Noodles and drained them and set them aside.
I sliced 4 garlic cloves
1 onion
1 sweet bell pepper
3 Tablespoons candied ginger
2 hot peppers
and fried them until the garlic was brown and than added the beef and cooked it for about 5-6 minutes or until it was tender. 
 I stirred into that about a cup of stir fry vegetables and cooked that until tender.
I pushed all that to one side and added 1 cup of beef stock and the 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 4 tablespoons wine and 2 tablespoon cornstarch I had blended together and brought it to a boil. I added the noodles and Chinese Broccoli and stirred until it was well coated with the sauce. I added about 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Generals sauce before serving it.
This may be as clear as mud.....I honestly read and combined many recipes to use what I had in my pantry. Going to the store is not an option right now. We loved the broccoli and marveled that it was still a bright jade green.
So many recipes mentioned it was bitter and I did not find it to be so. Next time I will cook just the broccoli.

FRESH FROM OUR GARDEN!

 I was so excited to make a fresh salad fresh from our garden.

 There are 2 kinds of lettuce and arugula. They are so crisp and tender! So the main part of our meal is salad.

 Mom wanted a salad but she is not dressing and therefore she wants all meals in her room so I made her a separate salad. John does not really care for tomatoes so I will add them to my salad. All I added was cukes, carrots, onion and red and green sweet peppers
 I had some beautiful tilapia thawed and decided to fry that in Panko crumbs.
Panko flakes (or crumbs) are Japanese breadcrumbs. When used for frying, they produce a
lighter, crunchier coating that´s more tender and delicate. They seem to absorb less oil and stay crisp longer
than regular crumbs.

 I season mine with Italian seasonings and Hot Hungarian Paprika.

On the other side of the plate is flour with freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper with garlic powder. I dip the fillets in the flour than in milk with 2 beaten eggs with a good dash of hot sauce. They go into the panko crumb mixture and this is what you get.

  I allow them to air dry on my rack for about 5 minutes and than fry them in a good oil. I added the brand of Panko Crumbs box that you can get in most grocery stores. My favorite panko crumbs come from Trader Joe's.

  My husband gave me a compliment that any cook wants to hear...."This fish is the best you ever made and sure is better than what you get when you eat out". The salad was the star of the meal to me.

I want to show you the raised bed John made for me. We have rabbits that eat greens they tell us so he re-purposed a above the ground swimming pool that was trashed. He is a genius when it comes to using  materials. Our neighbors brought us the plants we have in this one.

I have 4 of these. One has my garlic and a few onions and the other two are waiting for seeds to plant herbs. This week I hope to get them and get them started. The danger of frost is about over for this area.
 We cannot afford vegetables at the cost they are now and so I am praying this garden will give us a wonderful yield.