Green tea & Red Bean Mochi Cake

Ah! I've been so busy lately I haven't posted as regularly as I do. Definitely trying to juggle too many things and I need at least three clones of me. Boo. So I'll keep this one short with an interesting body fact.

FACT: A person can live without eating for weeks, but will only survive eleven days without sleep.

Well, I guess I should just go hungry and sleep. I'm so sleep deprived. I'm usually a morning person but seriously waking up every morning at the crack of dawn is driving me insane. Thankfully no cranky behavior (guess I can't be my own judge). But imagine people around those who haven't slept crazy moodswings...they'll probably only survive a day or two.

I made this super simple and tasty mochi cake. It isn't very sweet, which is perfect for me and a lot of my aunts and relatives who were eating them. They make lovely gifts when you wrap them up nicely. Koreans love this stuff. I mean, it's mocha and it's got red bean. What's not to love?

Matcha Green Tea & Red Bean Mochi Cake
Makes 2 loaves or 9x13" pan

Ingredients
3 cups glutinous rice flour (I used a mix of 1 cup brown and 1 cup white)
2 tbsp Matcha green tea powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 tbsp oil
2 eggs
Filling
1/2 cup red bean boiled (or measure from a can of prepared sweetened red bean and cut sugar to taste)
1/4 cup dried dates chopped (or use diced kabocha squash)
1/4 cup walnuts quartered

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Grease pan or 2 loaf tins with oil or butter
3. Whisk all your dry ingredients in one bowl (rice flour, matcha powder, sugar, baking powder, salt)
4. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk and oil. Combine dry mix with the wet mix.
5. Gently fold in the filling ingredients. Feel free to use all red bean, or add raisins. Seriously, whatever you like.
6. Bake for 40-50 mins or until the sides pull away from the pan.

Glossy with honey and walnuts!

Seasoned Shishito Peppers - Ggwarigochu muchim

I always love those mini banchans (반찬) that they give in Korean restaurants. Most of the time you get free re-fills so don't be too shy to ask. I fill myself up on those ah ha ha. I've been learning so many recipes from my mother so here's a simple side dish to complement a steaming hot bowl of rice.

A little science for the day and a little justification of why I'm so short haha :)
Why Height Matters
Interestingly, in modern western society, studies have found that shorter women tend to bear more children. On the flip side, average-height men do best, better than short or tall men, in the number of children they father. Researcher Gert Stulp and co. of the University of Groningen in Netherlands pulled data that followed more than 10,000 Wisconsin high-school graduates for around 50 years.

Results show in shorter families, the sisters had more children than their brothers. In average-height families, however, brothers had more children than their sisters. The published article in the journal Biology letters says that sexes are locked in a push-and-pull battle over height. That means: shorter than average woman are more likely to have children and pass on her short genes. Good for her daughter who will bear more children than average, but bad for her son. Can you imagine this pattern continuing over the entire population???

As a whole, the population gets shorter because shorter women are producing more. Too bad for men, this increases the evolutionary pressure but still taller guys reproduce more and push the heigh of the next generation back to average.

They say that height is also correlated with income, attractiveness, education, health and longevity. An apology to short guys who think they'd like to find a short girl... :( I'm sure personality counts!

Seasoned Shishito Peppers - 꽈리고추 무침
phonetics: ggwarigochu muchim

Delicious ban-chan (side dish)

A Japanese variety of the bell pepper - small, finger-sized and thin-walled. Not spicy unless your seasoning is!

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Woohoo! How long has it been since my last post...? eek. I've been on a vacation, going around Hong Kong and Korea and now I'm back. I've been eating like I'm about to hibernate, bought all kind of Asian goodies and weird phone accessories and finally tried out wakeboarding (whether you believe me or not, I am a total pro). I thought I would gain 10 pounds but looks like all the water activities I did made me lose weight instead. Bring on the bikini weather! Although, it's more like just laying still nakkedd...it's a desert in LA.

You should see my phone accessories. They're super popular in Korea and so funny! You can stick like an object into the earphone plughole. I can't really explain, but now my iphone looks like an apple. If you find me on Facebook you can see it! I've got all kinds of other attachments too. Heehee. Although, I don't know if I want to keep using my phone so much because of this article.

Frequent Cell Phone Users Slobber More
How funny and gross is that? The investigation found out that heavy users of mobile phones had increased salivary flow rate, blood flow rate and volume of parotid glands. Those are our salivary glands. You know how your ears get hot after being on the phone too long? Well, that heat and radio frequency radiation emitting from your phone is absorbed by the tissues where you use your phone (hopefully that's your ear). All that heat can cause the adjacent tissue to expand and increase in volume and the radiation absorbed by the water in the tissues can further raise skin temperature and modify blood flow too.

Hopefully, we'll be talking less on our phones and more face-to-face time. Or we'll find ourselves slobbering and spitting all over each other. EW.

I made these cookies before I left DC, so I could use everything up in the fridge! Super fast and easy to make. You can always freeze the ones you don't eat and then toast them up or microwave them for a healthy snack. I always have a few of these in the mornings. If you're not a fan of chocolate, add in nuts, shaved coconut blabla etc... you get the idea :)

Banana Choc Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 2 dozen

Guilt-free goodies

Ingredients
1 cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup Flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 Ripe banana
1/4 cup honey and 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp butter (room temp)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup Dark or semisweet Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.
First, cream the butter and sugar until nice and fluffy. Whisk in the egg, honey, mashed banana and vanilla extract.

In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together (oatmeal, flour, cinnamon, powder, baking soda, salt)

Add the wet mix to the dry (or vice versa) and mix until incorporated.

Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips (or/ and nuts) and then pop it into the oven for 10-12 mins.

Straight out of the oven!

Rustic Tomato Mozzarella Tart

I tried to finish this post while I was stuck in Shanghai but then blogger seems to be a censored site. It's typhoon season in Hong Kong, so my flight was delayed. Ungh. We were put in some awful hotel and fed terrible food. Also, there was a sign in there that apologized for all the mosquitoes that were infesting the place! Ahh. Luckily, I'm not so prone to mosquito bites and I just figured out why...

Do Mosquitoes Love You or Hate You?
One in 10 people are highly attractive to mosquitoes so says a professor at the University of Florida. It's actually not dinner they want, but female mosquitoes (the ones that do all the work) need blood to develop fertile eggs and apparently, you've got to have some good blood for them to want  eggs to hatch in them. EW.. Now let's take a look at this list...

1. How much carbon dioxide do you emit?      

• I guess you wouldn't really know, but people who are heavier, preggers or have faster metabolisms tend to exhale more carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes are attracted to the gas apparently.

2. How sweet do you taste?         

• If you exercise quite a bit or sweat profusely, your perspiration contains lactic acid, octenol and other chemicals that mosquitoes love. Motion also gets their attention and you're emitting more carbon dioxide.

3. Are you goth? Or do you just like wearing black? 

• These buggers are highly visual and their first mode of search for humans is for dark colors.

4. How hot are you?          

• Your body temperature or warmth can make a difference. It's why they flock to pregnant women because of their extra body heat.

But then again, the American Mosquito Control Association said it could be that people who don't get bitten produce chemicals on their skin that make them more repellant and cover up smells that mosquitoes find attractive. So remember to cover up yourself with some DEET this summer! Luckily, I have my little brother who acts as my repellant. I guess I'm just not so tasty and he is (yay for me)!

Rustic Tomato Mozzarella Tart 

Makes one 9" tart

Roasted Beets Feta Salad

Oops...I've been a little lazy and haven't updated in a while. My good friend/roommate/labmate came down from LA and we went kayaking. It has been almost 100 degrees!! (I can't believe I just used Fahrenheit) And now I have awful shorts tan, farmer's tan and my shoulders are aching. Whine whine whine.

Here's a recipe for a healthy salad for the start of summer!

Why Aren't Bald Men Extinct?
I guess some women find it attractive? But, I sure as hell don't (haha kidding not really). We all have hair because it is useful - it protects us from the sun, gives us a little bit of warmth and most importantly hair is sexy. So why is it that male pattern baldness is successfully passed on?

Usually by age 30, a quarter of men start to lose their hair starting around the temples (Wolverine look), then on top of the head (Santa Claus look) and finally to total retreat (Dick Cheney look). Research suggest that baldness might have some survival advantage because it signals dominance and status. When bald men are angry, they could appear to have red domes (think alarm bells), which could signify dominance (what?!). Other studies say women see bald men as more mature and less aggressive. But then they also see them as older and less attractive :(

Anyhoo, whether you fancy a man with hair or no hair is really up to you. But if you prefer hairy burly men look for the pattern baldness trait on their mother's side.

Roasted Beets and Feta Salad

Ingredients
1 bunch beets and beet greens
1 medium onion (red or white)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup crumbled Feta
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 425F
Roast beets in a baking dish and cover with foil. Takes about 1 hour until it is soft. Cut off the ends and the skins should peel right off.

Slice onions across the grains so you get rings. Chop up the beet greens into 2 inch pieces.







In a frying pan, heat up some olive oil and place your onions on top. Let it brown in either side (about 3 mins). Set that aside.


Fry up the beet greens also for about 3-4 mins until soft. Add salt and pepper

Slice the beets and arrange on a platter. Arrange the onions and beet greens a over the beets. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Whisk together 2 tbsp of good extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Drizzle over the onions and beets. Crumble feta over and serve.

Potato-Beet Gnocchi

Yay! I'm off to NYC for the annual Big Apple barbecue Block Party. Well, I'm also going to see my high school buddies but ribs and pulled pork are definitely on the agenda. If not, I will have a hissy fit. Haha just kidding. But, not getting bbq can make me go cray cray. Just saying...

With that kind of crazy talk, I bet you would never in a million years thought I had ever been a vegetarian. In fact I have! Well for about a year. I don't really know why. It was probably a college phase thing. You know...because people experiment in college right...? So here's a little something something about veggies and a recipe to match!

Factoid: Beet Juice for Healthier Brains
I figured some people really don't like the taste of beets. I'm a veggie lover and I thought it tasted like dirt when I first ate it. Actually, I still think it tastes like dirt...but I've grown accustom to it. I'll eat it now, especially knowing how good it is for me! A research group at Wake Forest University, has shown that drinking beet juice increases blood flow to the brain. That's super important as you age because some areas of you noggin just don't get enough blood, leading to dementia and forgetting where you last saw your keys...or grandchildren :/

The reason is that beets contain lots of nitrates, which is also found in celery, cabbage and other leafy greens. Good bacteria in your mouth will convert it nitrate to nitrite. Nitrite is a super important blood vessel dilator that will increase blood flow everywhere and especially to places lacking oxygen. Read more about increased MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) brain activity recorded in old old people after drinking beet juice here.

Also, don't freak out when you get red doo doo okay? That's just the beets. :D

Potato-Beet Gnocchi
Adapted from F&W

Ingredients
1 (8 oz) medium red beet with greens (SAVE the greens!)
1lb medium baking potatoes
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (divided)
1 onion vertically sliced
1/4 cup fresh parmesan
Garlic salt + Pepper




Preheat oven to 400F
Remove greens and stems from beet. Save the greens! We're going to use the whole plant.
Pierce beets and potatoes with a fork. Bake potatoes for 1-1.5 hours and the beets for 1.5 - 2 hr or until soft.

While you're waiting, chop the green parts to measure 2 cups. Slice the onion too.

Once they're extremely soft peel and mash them both pretty well in a bowl. You can use a paper towel to rub the skin off. It should come off pretty easily. A trick I learned from bubs is to mash using the end of a wine bottle! Very convenient if you don't have a potato masher.

To the mashed beets and potato, add in 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp salt to form the dough. The dough should be a brilliant red. Knead on a floured surface until smooth.

Divide the dough into 4 and make long ropes out of them. Dust them if the remaining 1/4 cup flour to prevent from sticking.  Cut each Gnocchi out (~3/4 inch) and roll each piece down with a slightly floured fork.

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a pot. Add half of the gnocchi, cook for 2 minutes or until done. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place in a colander to drain. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, saute 4 minutes. Add gnocchi, greens, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp salt. Cook for another 2 minutes.

Serve with some shaved cheese!
Serves 4

and some fresh parmesan~

Daifuku - Red Bean Mochi

Woo! Done with exams! Now I can take a really long nap. Maybe one that will go until I wake up the next day haha. Those are soo good. You wake up and you still want to go back to sleep. My neighbor is the king of naps. His body is just scheduled to take a quick nap at 2pm every single day- without fail. I can't seem to take short naps. My naps turn into 3 hours and then I wake up and it's dark outside. Fail.

Cognitive Impairment due to Long Naps are worse than that due to Sleep Deprivation
So why am I ranting so much about sleeping? Well, I was reading this paper about the benefits of naps. Not just sleeping. Napping. We could really benefit from a afternoon snooze because it improves logical reasoning, reaction time in tests and increased vigor (duh). Research has really got down into trying to make our naps better, by looking at the duration, age, and the time of day. Essentially, taking longer naps (30mins plus) can produce sleep inertia. That's the groggy, confused feeling that's supposedly worse than the feeling from sleep deprivation. Sleep inertia is deadly. It impairs sensory motor and cognitive tasks, impairs accuracy and puts you in a stinky mood. It's worse when you're also sleep deprived.

You should aim for 10 to 20mins, and you'll feel super invigorated immediately after waking up. It improves with practice. For reals. Habitual nappers maintain a tonic level of alertness throughout the nap and can disperse sleep inertia more quickly. Postnap performance improvement right after waking up was true for seasoned nappers.

Holy. I need to jump on this napping band wagon and practice napping...like now! zzZZZZ

Red Bean Mochi
Adapted from veganyumyum
Makes 10-12

Ingredients
1 cup Glutinous Rice Flour (I used the Mochiko brand, see pic below)
3 tbsp sugar
2/3 cup water
Cornstarch, potato starch or tapioca starch for dusting
1 tsp matcha green tea powder (to make the green ones)

Filling
Red bean paste (I made some way back but you can buy them premade)
Strawberries if you like!

Home made recipe for red bean paste
1.5 cups adzuki beans
4 cups water
1 cup sugar (depends on how sweet/ or not sweet - I use a mix of brown and white)
1 tbs vegetable oil
1-2 pinches salt


Place beans and water in a pot, cover, bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 1.5 hours or until the beans are very soft.

Strain water from the beans, put back into the pot and on the fire at low heat. Add sugar and oil. Use a masher (I just used a fork) to smash all the beans. Of course you can use a blender and save you some elbow grease. This should turn into a nice thick paste. I like my paste chunky so I leave some whole ones in there.

Take off the heat and let it cool. You can adjust how sweet you want it too. This is a lot of red bean, enough for 3 batches of mochi. I save mine in the freezer and use it for later.



Making the Mochi

Add together the flour, sugar, water, matcha powder (if using) to a microwave safe bowl. Stir well until no lumps. Scrape down the side of the bowl so doesn't get all sticky on the sides too.


Cover lightly with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 mins on high. Remove and stir quickly. Put it back in the microwave for another 1 min. If you see the dough sinking as you open the door, it should be done! Don't overcook it or it'll be rock hard.


Have a dusted plate or countertop with cornstarch. Scoop up a little more than 1 tbsp of dough, dust your fingers and palm with starch too and flatten the dough while it's hot (you can use a rolling pin if you like). Put about 1-2 tsp of red bean paste and seal the opening with a pinch. I like a lot of filling and less mochi so adjust as you like!








To keep them fresh over the next few days, individually wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate. If you leave it out, they'll get dry and tough.

Make sesame seed covered ones by wetting the outside a little and rolling it on sesame seeds. Nom nom nom.

Some tips: You really want to dust your fingers thoroughly!

Spaghetti Squash Bake

We are pretty big couch potatoes. Thank goodness we don't own a TV, or our brains would turn into mush from watching the tube 24/7. Because of studying, we've limited our TV time to only when we eat our meals. Yeah, I know... but meal time conversations are over-rated. Our favorite food network show is Diners Drive In and Dives with Guy Fieri. He has literally the best job in the world! Although, it also probably includes heart attacks, myocardial infarctions and hypertension over time :\

Anyway, in the episode he went to this restaurant called The Pitstop and introduced a new recipe for my blog. I couldn't wait to try it. Spaghetti squash is a great alternative to carb-y pasta and this dish can be made vegan (using nutritional yeast) or vegetarian. It's quick if you use bottled pasta sauce or you just have some lying around. And 1/2 a serving will make you extremely stuffed. So remember you're cooking for 2 :) You seriously won't miss the carbs in this dish. Even bubs liked it and he's a steak and potatoes kind of guy.

I have a pseudo scientific tip for the ladies this time! Enjoy.
Interesting Tip: Marry a Man with a LONG Ring Finger
A man with a longer ring finger has apparently been exposed to more testosterone in the womb. Dr. John Manning of Rutgers University. A person with high testosterone levels have been associated with being more logical, decisive and ambitious. But then too much testosterone means highly competitive and aggressive people douchebags. That's why women are such a good balance :D

So ladies, it's great if you meet someone at a bar and his muscles are rippling and he looks like a cross between Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt. But remember to look if he's got those "man" qualities with a long ring finger. If it's short and stubby... watch out. He could be a huge sissy.

Spaghetti Squash Bake
Adapted from the Food Network

Ingredients
1 Spaghetti Squash cut lengthwise
4 oz Mozzarella + Parmesan shredded (I also used 2% sharp cheddar)
1 tsp Rosemary or basil

Sauce
1/2 lb ground turkey (optional for vegetarians)
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 zucchini small
1 cup mushrooms sliced
1/2-1 can diced tomatoes (fire roasted)
4 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp Rosemary or basil
1 tsp Oregano (or italian seasoning)
pepper + salt

Preheat oven 350F.
Slice squash in half, scrape out the seeds and place fleshside down in a baking dish

Add 1/4 inch water. Bake for 40-50 mins or until tender.
While that's baking, let's make the marinara sauce!

If you already have left over pasta sauce or if you're going to use ready made pasta sauce, then you can skip this step! Or jazz up bottled sauce with vegetables and meat if you like. I actually doubled the recipe here to make leftover sauce for future meals.

Dice your onions, mince the garlic, slice zucchini into half moons, slice mushrooms.

In a large skillet, saute garlic and onion in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the turkey if you're a meat eater and cook until just brown. Add zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes and cook for another 5 mins. Add your seasoning herbs, pepper and salt to your liking.

I added tomato paste and let it simmer for about 8-10mins to make it more saucy.

Your spaghetti squash should be nice and soft. Careful because it is hot! You can scrape the strands inside and then transfer it to a bowl.

Using a fork, rake the flesh to create the "spaghetti" strands.

Mix in about 3/4 cup of the sauce, 1/2 of the cheese and remaining fresh rosemary.

Put it back into the squash shells, top it off with some extra sauce and remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Crack some fresh black pepper on top. Bake until the cheese begins to melt and bubble and create that lovely crust. About 10-11 mins.

HMM!

I added some sharp cheddar cheese under the mozzarella

Baked Jalapeño Cheese Poppers

Are you gearing up your liver for Cinco de Mayo?!  Más cerveza por favor! We're making some spicy Mex inspired party finger food. I don't have a potluck to bring it to, but maybe you do. Did you also know that Cinco de Mayo isn't a celebration of Independence in Mexico. I used to date a Mexican so I've been told 235398 times. Terrible. Here, it's a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. But also to commemorate the Mexican army's victory over ze French in the Battle of Puebla. It didn't really gain popularity until the 1980s when beer (think corona) capitalized and promoted the holiday.

Myth Buster: Our tongues are mapped into 4 areas: salty, bitter, sweet and sour
Busted! The entire tongue can taste these senses almost equally. We have taste receptors or taste buds concentrated on the surface of our tongues that can differentiate between different tastes based on different molecules or ions that binds to those buds. If we get to the deeper biology of things, sweet and bitter taste is triggered by activated G protein-coupled receptors; while salty from Na+/ sodium ions and sourness from H+ protons/ acid entering the cell. Don't ever believe those wine snobs who think you should direct wine to a certain area of your tongue to taste the different tones. Bogus.

Nerdy cooking tip: 
If you think you've over salted your food, just add some acidity like lemon juice. Since they both activate the same taste buds, the lemon juice will interfere with your salty taste receptors and fool your brain.
Thank you science.

Wow, that's 2 myth busters today... Also, don't forget to wear gloves or wash your hands after handling Jalapeño peppers. Or else fire in yo eye!

Baked Jalapeño Cheese Poppers
Prep time: 10mins          Cooking time: 20mins

Hot from the oven!

Ingredients

8-10 Jalapeño peppers - sliced in 1/2 (seeded if you hate spice in your life... haha kidding)

4 oz cream cheese (feel free to use fat free)

3 stalks scallions (chives, parsley, cilantro all work)

1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar

2 tsp Red Chili flakes (optional)
salt/pepper

1 egg

1/2 cup Panko crumbs

1/2 tbsp Chili powder

1/2 tbsp Cayenne

Salt/Pepper

Start washing your peppers and slice them in half lengthwise. Cut off the tops and deseed them.

Preheat the oven to 350F








In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, cheddar, chili flakes and a pinch of salt and lots of pepper.

Chop up your green onions finely and using mostly the green parts, mix it into your cream cheese mix. You can taste it and adjust it when you want it saltier or spicier







Stuff your deseeded peppers with the cream cheese mix.

In another small bowl, scramble an egg. This will be your binder for your breadcrumbs/ panko.








On a plate, lay out your panko crumb mix (with chili powder, cayenne). Adding paprika is nice too.

I used a seasoned breadcrumb mix of rosemary and lots of pepper. I think the panko would give it more crunch though.

Roll your stuffed pepper in the egg and then roll it around in the crumb mix. Coat it nicely.

Lay them out on a baking tray. You can sprinkle some olive oil over the poppers. But that can be skipped for lighter fare.

Let it bake for 25-30 mins or until you see that cheese oozing out!






Let it cool before you eat it. Or you'll burn the roof of your mouth like I did :(

Happy Early Cinco de Mayo!

Adapted from skinnytaste.com

Egg-in-a-Pepper

Oh so pretty outside today. We went to the French market along Wisconsin (a street right next to Georgetown). It feels so good to be done with exams and enjoy the outside like normal people! Nomm-ed on crepes, creole jambalaya, burgers, fries, macaroons and french bread :/ Yeah, that was too much food. Too weird of a mix. Upset stomach for the rest of the day. Ungh so much for being a glutton...

My interesting factoid of today is a little look into the future of food. Cloned animals with "leaner meat". First sheep ever cloned with "good fats" in China rather than "bad fats/ cholesterol". Apparently, the gene is straight from a ROUNDWORM that produces unsaturated fatty acids, which is better for you. I mean we have tomatoes with fish genes in them so we can freeze them... Are you ready to munch on some sheep-worm hybrid??

Last weekend, we decided to make something creative for brunch. We eat A LOT OF eggs. And we saw some great colorful peppers. But mostly I was browsing recipes and found egg bacon cups and avocado cups. And so why not pepper cups?? 

Beautiful, bright and derricious!

Egg-in-a-Pepper

Cooking level: Easy Peasy

Yellow, Orange, Green!

Ingredients

3 Bell peppers (or however many)

3 eggs

1/3 cup shredded cheese (sharp chedder or pepper jack)

1 tsp of any kind if herb

Salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. We only used the bottom of the bell peppers. But you can also use the top part if you like.


In your cups, split the cheese, herbs, salt and pepper. Dried parsley, chili flakes works great. I'm sure chives would be very delicious and refreshing too.

I separated the egg whites while bubs mixed the cheese and herbs around and then plopped the egg yolk on top. Although, the next time I do this I think I'll put some egg white over the yolk so it doesn't dry out too much in the oven.

Stick those in the oven (it fits in the toaster oven!) for about 25-30mins or however you like your eggs.

Super simple huh?