Teczcape-An Escape to Food

Our family enjoy duck dishes but we do not have it often since duck is almost like a "luxury" menu item on the dinner table as it is not easily available in the regular grocery stores or supermarkets. Thankfully, there is ready-cooked vacuum-packed roast duck and we will stash a few packs in the freezer whenever it is on sale; then prepare them as special menu item during festive occasions such as Christmas, New Year or Lunar New Year.


Not only they are better quality than those Cantonese-style roast found in most of the Chinese deli here, these ready-cooked vacuum-packed roast duck also makes meal prep a breeze when it comes to preparing duck dishes such as this Lunar New Year special menu item Roast Duck with Kumquat, Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower.

Kumquat 金吉 literally meaning "golden luck" symbolizes prosperity and good fortune, aligning with auspiciousness for Lunar New Year.

Shrimp bowl is one of my favorite bowls to make because it's quick, easy and delicious. Quick because it takes much shorter time to cook shrimps than chicken or fish. Easy because it just needs basics like salt and pepper to bring out its flavors. Delicious because IT JUST IS.


If you also enjoy shrimp bowls (be it shrimp grain bowls, shrimp veggie bowls), I hope you can find some quick inspiration.

Do you currently own an air-fryer? I do not and still using conventional oven or sometimes toaster oven to do all the baking, roasting and grilling.

While cooking the shrimps in the oven, make sheet-pan eggs or ramekin eggs at the same time in the same oven.

It's back to grain bowls, veggie bowls, protein bowls whatever you call it, once again

Almost like this Broccoli, Green Beans Noodle Salad without gluten-free high-protein noodles, this Broccoli, Green Beans Chicken Breast Protein Bowl is made from leftover rotisserie chicken which to-date is still my family's best wallet-friendly time-saving meal-prep that I am going to repeat for as long as my website is kept alive. Besides, rotisserie chicken is very versatile Broccoli Cauliflower Chicken Quinoa Bowl, 20-minute Chicken Salad, Chicken Salad Sandwich/Wrap, Chicken Collard Wraps.

Do you currently own an electric food steamer? Food steamers is one of my most-often utilized small kitchen appliance in the kitchen.

It is oven-baked shrimps veggie bowl day because shrimps veggie bowl is one of the easiest, fuss-free delicious bowl-meal to prepare - zero to hero, in less than 30 minutes.

Oven-baked shrimps and zucchini with steamed broccoli, carrot, cabbage, greens

There are also other less than 30-minute meals such as Broccoli, Sweet Potato Chicken Salad and Salmon Veggie Bowl.

Wontons/ dumplings, dough-based skin wrapper (carbs) filled with meat-veggies (protein and fiber) is a combination of meal components all in one morsel. In fact, a plate of 12-20 wonton dumplings (depending on dumpling size) can be stand-alone meal for some of us. Homemade or store-bought, freezer-friendly wontons also make great versatile recipes in soups, salads or side-dishes.

Personally, I prefer to enjoy wontons/dumplings with veggies - wonton salad or call it wonton dumplings veggie-bowl e.g. Broccoli Cabbage with Wontons or Asparagus, Cauliflower with Wontons or this Oven-Roast Zucchini and Steamed Broccoli with Wonton Dumplings.

Steaming broccoli is unbelievably fast, no over-cooking, five minutes to perfect tenderness, minimal nutrition loss. That is my go-to when it comes to preparing broccoli. Steamed or blanched broccoli are great with dips (try Broccoli with Sardine-Cheese Dip).

Oven-roasting usually goes longer, about 15mins or more, depending on a few variables e.g. how thick/thin/size of broccoli florets, oven temperature; hence the reluctance and seldom done. What's going to break the rule ?

Say "cheese", smile, go nuts and all will be justified in the oven.


This Oven-Roast Broccoli Steaks with Cheese and Pistachios is a savory cheesy and nutty delicious recipe. Not as easy and quick as steaming of course, but honestly, simple enough for a fancy side-dish. The most "difficult" part might be just to slice the broccoli as thin as possible, just so the cooking time in the oven can be reduced, that's about it. Melty cheese, crunchy nuts atop tender-roasted broccoli, what's not to love.

Store-bought rotisserie chicken is our saviour when it comes to meal prepping for weekdays lunch and dinner (that's 10 meals!)

Make healthy protein bowls in a jiffy such as Chicken Broccoli Sweet Potato Bowl, Chicken Cauliflower Quinoa Bowl; also save and shred chicken breast the next day for Chicken Cabbage Salad, Chicken Broccoli with High-Protein-Noodle Salad, Chicken Salad Sandwich.


No time to shred the chicken breast? Simply enjoy chunky breast meat like an entree, with freshly steamed/roasted vegetables.

This meal today takes no more than 10 minutes cook time, with another 10 minutes preparation time to slice/prep the veggies. If you already have the veggies sliced/cut in advance: Congratulations! Because dinner will be ready in no more than 20 minutes, just like this 20-minute Sous Vide Beef Salad Bowl.

In our family, recipes are typically for referencing, seldom followed to a T.  For example, when cooking a small portion of fried rice (serving 2), vs a batch of fried rice (serving 4 or more), the how-to can be tweaked. The reason to adapt, sometimes just because we are limited by size/ type of pan, wok, or pot. You will understand what this means if you cook regularly.


For example, there are several ways how egg can be incorporated into the fried rice when cooking egg fried rice.  Sometimes, raw egg is mixed with cold rice (leftover rice that has been chilled in fridge or stored in freezer) to coat the rice grain prior to frying; or other times, eggs can be cooked (scrambled) first, removed and set aside, rice added to same pan and fried, then scrambled eggs added back to the pan, fried with rice. Occasionally, especially when cooking a small portion of fried rice, the egg is added directly to the rice in the pan - create an "empty" center in the rice so the egg hits the surface of the pan/pot to be cooked partially, then mixed/fried together with rice. Ahhhh, so many ways.

The fried rice outcome may be different taste-wise but still delicious in its own way.

Pillars of the dry pantry, beans is a great source of plant-protein, fiber, essential vitamins and minerals. Raw and bought in bulk, they are super budget-friendly. Canned and cooked, they can be used straight out of the can, particularly time-saving when building healthy and nutritious vegetarian veggie bowls.

Pinto Beans Veggie (Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot) Bowl

My pantry stocks a variety of canned beans or lentils including chickpea/garbanzo beans, black beans, navy beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, even black soybeans.

Mango means summer, summer means mango.

Mango puts up a summer theme today and brings in sweetness to complement this savory veggie chicken salad bowl made from broccoli, green beans and chicken. Try any of these veggie chicken combinations e.g. Broccoli Cabbage Chicken Salad or Broccoli Chicken with Corn and Sweet Potatoes , add juicy sweet mangoes to it and you got a fresh summery salad.

This assorted vegetables pasta/noodle salad bowl is a great summer option when you want something light yet able to fill in protein, the meatless way. When I use protein-based pasta/noodles (e.g. Explore Cuisine Bean Pasta), I prefer to make the entire dish vegetarian - allowing the plant-based protein to take center-stage.

Today, this Greens and Bean-Pasta Noodle Salad Bowl, is made with greens variety- broccoli, green beans and leafy kale. The vegetables are totally interchangeable, depending on what you have, so feel free to get creative.

Vegetarian option

Other vegetarian meatless recipes made with Explore Cuisine Bean Pasta:
Edamame and Mung Bean Fettuccine Veggie Salad Bowl
Gluten-Free Bean Pasta with (more) Beans and Veggies
Bean Pasta with Vegetarian Tofu Curry

Eating well does not have to be complicated. Such Veggies and Chicken Main-Dish Salad Bowls do not need further introduction - making regular appearances at our meal table and our fuss-free way to eating well. I've prepared this many times yet not bored of it; on the contrary, I'm kept excited every time, looking forward to the variety of vegetables that can be put together each time.


Using everyday budget-friendly ingredients e.g. broccoli and cabbage that are available all-year-round, this Broccoli, Cabbage and Chicken Bowl is easy to prepare, healthy and delicious - just like many other veggies and chicken main-dish salad bowl variations.

Saratoga Farmers Market right by West Valley College has one of the freshest variety of produce including seafood. Ever since I chanced upon this seafood stall in the market, bought (and tried) the Alaskan wild salmon, I never want to buy salmon belly or salmon collar from the Japanese supermarkets anymore. Usually I go for the belly and collar because these cuts of the salmon are hard to find in the regular stores such as Whole Foods Market, or Sprouts Farmers Market.

This healthy bowl-meal is nutritious and well-balanced with steamed veggies - mix of broccoli, zucchini, yellow and green beans, roasted purple potatoes and roasted (farmer's market!) salmon.

Veggie Bowl with Roasted Purple Potatoes and Roasted Salmon Collar

All else remains the same in building veggie and grain bowl-meals - start with a base of veggies (keep it plenty. use a variety), switch around the protein options (meat or meatless), and opt for whole grains or complex carbs.

Today, the protein feature is Roasted/Grilled Salmon Collar which is great source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids and collagen. Personally, the collar is my favorite cut of fresh wild salmon, just the right amount of flesh and fats ratio. It is not as "meaty"as the fillet, and so rich in flavor (when there's fat and bones, there is flavor!). It's not easy to fail in roasting salmon collars (the fat protects it!) and be guaranteed with delicate, moist tender flesh every time.

Besides bitter melon and eggplant, okra is another vegetable that falls under the "Love-it-or-Leave-it" list. Quite different from bitter melon which some dislike due to its bitter taste, it is the texture of okra (likewise for eggplant) that puts some people off - mushy eggplant and slimy okra. If I have just one choice, I pick okra over eggplant.

Besides, it is okra season, is it not (and apples too!) ? Sometime in late August till October, farmer's markets are blessed with freshly harvested vibrant-green and tender-plump okra; unlike those sad brownish bruised-and-dull-looking okra usually found in the grocery stores other months of the year.

Steamed okra,  beets, kale, broccolini, red bell peppers, snap peas, topped with apple

While okra performs well in a stew- or braise-like dish e.g. Pumpkin, Green Bean, Okra Stew, I also enjoy 5-minute steamed okra in warm salad bowls.

Late summer is blessed with beautiful heirloom tomatoes, and such is a good time to make heirloom tomato salad and of course, "No-Need-To-Cook" Tomato Sauce.

If you happen to have a basket full of of fresh heirloom tomatoes, using these tomatoes as the ONLY salad ingredient in Heirloom Tomatoes Salad would be perfect.


With a limited quantity on hand, the next I could think of is bulk it up with other vegetables such as broccoli or artichoke hearts (try Parchment-Roasted Fish with Artichoke Hearts and Roasted Artichoke Hearts, Mushroom, Chickpea Salad) for the recipe today.

Convenience absolutely makes a difference when putting together a meal on busy days. Store-bought wontons (Bibigo Fully Cooked Mini Wontons Chicken and Cilantro) that take 15 minutes to cook means a quick and easy meal on the table.

This Steamed Broccoli and Wontons Salad completes a meal from store-bought wontons and home-cooked vegetables.

Wontons served with steamed vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, red cabbage and kale

You can always make your own wontons at home (make a batch and freeze portions). If you have leftover boiled (or cooked) wontons, you can also pan-fry those cooked wontons (gyozas goodness!).

When it's asparagus season, make asparagus veggie bowls (or grain bowls).

I'm doing without the grains today, keeping it to asparagus, broccoli, bell pepper and garlic roasted potatoes, topped with sliced avocado and hard-boiled eggs.


Meal planning and preparation during the weekend helps in setting a healthy and nutritious mode for the week. If you can't do full meal preparation during the weekend, a partial meal preparation such as cleaning/rinsing and slicing/chopping the vegetables, and batch-cooking the eggs goes a long way in saving you much time during the busy weekdays.

If you are looking for more veggie bowls and grain bowls ideas, they are labeled under Search Ingredients on the right column of the website. There are vegetarian/plant-based, poultry, seafood options of veggie and grain bowls available.

This Broccoli and Oyster Mushrooms Stir-Fry is a simple and delicious vegetarian dish - one of the many vegetables and mushrooms combination stir-fries (with shiitake mushrooms, maitake mushrooms or even pink oyster mushrooms) already featured in my website.

Without using meat, mushroom is an ingredient that adds earthy flavors and "meaty" texture to a vegetarian dish.


To complete the entire stir-fry with less oil, I have used the partial stir-fry-steam method, which is to cover the pan or pot and allow the steam to finish off cooking the vegetables in the process of stir-frying.

Ever thought of a soupy grain bowl?

This wacky idea came to me during winter - anything I could do for a bowl of piping hot food, I will; yet staying true to the routine (of salad grain bowls). I make warm salad grain bowls quite regularly but there are still times especially when the temperature hit the low 40Fs; when warm food does not suffice and hot food is desperately desired.

Under normal circumstances, the leftover rice and rotisserie chicken would be re-heated and served with steamed vegetables to prepare grain bowls such as Asparagus Chicken Quinoa Bowl or Broccoli, Cauliflower Chicken Quinoa Bowls.


But, what if Chicken Rice Soup can be prepared instantly, in less than 10 mins? What next?

The lunch bowl today is similar to this healthy and delicious Broccoli, Cauliflower, Chicken Quinoa Bowl. Routine might not be be a bad thing after all.

Batch-cooking quinoa and chicken breast leftovers are all part of meal preparation and that really got me into the groove of such a meal combination (or shall I say, post-workout worthy meals).

Come meal time, all we need is re-heat the leftovers, roast some sweet potatoes or potatoes and steam fresh vegetables (Note: Steaming vegetables is a gentle quick-cooking method that maintains vegetables' nutritional value and beautiful color).