5 minute healthy rice

one of my resolutions this year is to eat healthier. 

although i vow to be more stern about my diet choices, i sometimes find it challenging to come up with an absolutely healthy dish. 

i accidentally stumbled upon this quick and healthy recipe from a complimentary lunch at work. after trying the bento, i couldn't resist replicating this fresh and easy recipe! The best thing about this entrée is that the ingredients are easy to find, plus it only takes around 5 minutes to make!

ingredients for 1 serving:

- a handful of your choice of sprouts

- half of one avocado, diced

- halved 5 mini tomatoes

- salmon flakes ( you can leave this in case you are a vegetarian )

- 3/4 cup of cooked brown rice

- 3 tbs boiled beans and peas

- sliced green onions to garnish

sauce ingredients:

- 2 tbs soy sauce

- 1 tbs mirin

- 1 ts sesame oil

- a couple of pinches of black and white roasted sesame seeds

directions:

- mix the sauce together and set aside

- add the beans and peas to the rice. add a couple of table spoons of the sauce and mix well.

- simply decorate the dish however you want. I like to layer them and top with salmon flakes and green onions.

- add in the rest of the sauce on top of the rice and voila! your healthy rice is ready!

Japanese charming tea review

There are new trends in Japan on health and wellness these days and this "charming tea" is my recent discovery! I'm not sure what charming tea is, but I guess it's similar to a healthy tea (based on the ingredients).

I received this tea from an acquaintance as a new year gift. It comes in 30 tea sachets. They are mixtures of tea leaves such as corn tea, rooibos tea, rose hip tea, gobo root and candle bush.

I like that the tea is very mild and it doesn't taste bitter at all even if I leave the bag in too long.

I'm not sure if I will buy this tea myself. I find it a little too pricey for a drugstore tea ($20).

the roastery by nozy coffee

first cafe hop of 2014!

I've always wanted to try Nozy Coffee but it's a little outside my usual route. I was ecstatic to find out that the roastery, an affiliate cafe of nozy has opened up nearby Meiji-jingumae.

the verdict? awesome. I would say that they kept their coffee menu pretty minimal with only espresso, americano and caffe latte. The Roastery offer single origin coffee plus they roast on site, which basically made the whole place aromatic. I had my 12 oz latte with a side of banana muffin that reminded me of my time in toronto.

great coffee with lots of seating in a cool and suave atmosphere. definitely worth a visit, only minutes away from meiji-jingumae station.

all photographs by me.