Green is the Theme

When my parents and sister came to visit me last week, they brought a bunch of fruits and vegetables from their garden. (buy a bunch, I mean about 30 peaches, 10 cucumbers, and lots of other yummys). Well, as of today, there is officially only 3 peaches left in the refrigerature, 2 cucumbers, and a bundle of long beans. (Quick calculation, what's 27 peaches divided over 6 days?....lots of peach consumption for this one female!) Anyway, I decided to use the rest of the cucumbers and long beans for dinner and turn it into a healthy, green theme. Didn't really follow any recipe, just threw together what I had, and came up with a beef and long bean stir fry, and a pork and crab meat stuffed cucumber dish.


For the stir fry, I first marinated the meat, then oil blanched it briefly before stir frying it with the long beans. I was debating whether or not to do this step, but I was in the mood for a slightly crisped texture of beef.


The filling is composed of ground pork, crab meat, and the usual spices and herbs like ginger, green onions, salt, pepper, wine, sugar, and sesame oil. After stuffing the cucumbers, I topped each one with shreds of sliced ham. Into the steamer it went for about 15 minutes. Afterwards, I poured off the juice that accumulated and thickened it in a pan with a little cornstarch/water solution.

So NOW, I am almost done with everything my parents brought up for me...except those 3 peaches, which are waiting for me tomorrow.