I had all the ingredients to make a dinner: broccoli, penne, grape tomatoes, cured salted pork I used to experiment with seasoning a new cast iron wok! Lime to give broccoli some zest & Yuzu Pao chili sauce to spice it all up.

I fried these slices of pork till slightly crispy and all the fat was rendered. This pork is so similar to bacon except it's meatier which I prefer (definitely use this again.) Then used fat to fry the broccoli with garlic & ginger.

Fried grape tomatoes with scallions using Tea Seed Oil.

Combined the broccoli, chopped pork, grape tomatoes, scallions and penne, added Yuzu Pao chili sauce.

Dinner ready with side of my Easy Kimchi!

Sent from my iPhone
www.wokstar.us

Sent from my iPhone
www.wokstar.us

This is my version of Kung Pao with shrimp instead of chicken and cashews instead of peanuts! Yeah, just put my own spin on a traditional dish.

My newest thrill are these chili threads! When they touch your tongue, they fizzle and the flavor explodes slowly! Very interesting way to deliver spice.

I stir fried a pile of Shanghai baby bok Choy with red bell peppers. Added stir fried Jumbo shrimp and at the last, threw in cashews and those chili threads! Winner!!! A very simple, quick one-dish dinner.

Sent from my iPhone
www.wokstar.us

My hubby & brother-in-law claim you can't have French toast without syrup! Blis bourbon barrel maple syrup from earthy.com is delish, not so icky sweet. It's my hubby's all time fav breakfast. Uh, and he's in charge of frying in our wok! I always serve with lots of fresh fruit. Yum start to a beautiful Sunday!

Sent from my iPhone
www.wokstar.us

Finishing off Rainbow Lettuce Wrap left from class. You can download the free recipe here. To change it up, instead of hoisin sauce, I topped with Yuzupao chili sauce, delish! It's so easy to assemble this dish last minute, the ground turkey is already pre-cooked and the cubed veggies fry up in a nanosecond! Bursting with flavor, texture and color! Perfect party dish to serve as an appetizer or snack.

Sent from my iPhone
www.wokstar.us

Lots of great ingredients leftover from prepping for my cooking class: red bell, scallions, straw mushrooms, YUM! Cooked in my cast iron wok, the best material for omelets and most anything! Oh, spiked with a little Yuzupao chili sauce.

Sent from my iPhone
www.wokstar.us

It's like anything in life, the more you do it, the better and easier it gets! Folks are always asking me how I come up with a dish?

Well, I started a series on my main blog: Be a Wok Star, on my 'thought process' and how I come up with a dish. Yesterday's post, Buy What's Seasonal & Fresh really says it all. I don't know till I'm shopping and prepping & then even change mid stream.

There are may factors: what am I craving? Balancing textures, flavors, spiciness, saltiness. Can my leftovers be eaten hot or cold? How do I want to present my dishes? The last and most important is listen to what your body wants!  And I'm not talking about chocolate bons bons, ha.  Talk about your body is your temple and mindful eating, it's what I try to practice daily. I've recently lost 6 pounds and can fit into clothes I've not worn in years and I feel GREAT! 

I know you're saying, "how does that help me?" Well, with baby steps and just trial and error and doing it daily or often!!!  Another way? I'm not saying don't use recipes, I'm saying recipes don't make you an intuitive cook, you're just following a set of someone else's directions. Use recipes as a guide for quantities, technique and inspiration. It's so much more FUN to add ingredients on a whim and be surprised with your results, voila! 

I've always said, once I understand the Why of something, it all falls into place. We've all watched Top Chef and how experienced chefs get voted off cause their dish failed the taste test! We don't need to be professional chefs, we just want to make a nice dinner for busy weeknights! My recent Asian Moussaka couldn't be eaten! I had to make it into a curry, no biggie.

So, today's lunch was leftover chicken wing, some pork stew and quinoa. Bit brown looking and one taste level, so I added pineapple cubes to give color & sweetness. Still needed something, so I added Yuzupao, a citrusy chili sauce to spice it up, what a difference!

Salad - I wanted crunch and got iceberg instead of usual field greens just to change it up. My friend Michele gave me fresh basil from her garden, that made it pop. I always add some sort of nuts for texture & extra health benefits. Dr. Oz got me into walnuts.

So, that's how I come up with a dish! Hope this helped. Leave me a comment if you have questions or want to share how you come up with a dish?!

More tips here Cook Like a Wok Star 1.0!

and here Curry Yoki Salmon with Salad (Wok Series 2.0)

Sent from my iPhone
www.wokstar.us

Chili threads from earthy.com to sprinkle over anything! Adds color, texture & spice!

Sent from my iPhone
www.wokstar.us

Cooked omelet in my wok! I didn't have any red colored fruits, so added tomato and topped with chili threads from earthy.com

Sent from my iPhone
www.wokstar.us

Lucky Wok Stars get a surprise selection in their Kits. Includes gourmet dried mushrooms like Shitake, porcini, hen of woods, Szechuan peppercorns, organic tea seed oil(tolerates high heat w/ no overpowering flavor)

New to try: glacé de poulet gold (good for stir fry, gives intense flavor w/out msg or liquid to make it soupy) from earthy.com

I got all excited cause the poulet looked like a duck on the cover but it's chicken, boo, still good. Hey, they have duck fat, maybe too rich for me.

Sent from my iPhone