Roasted Brussel Sprout Salad with Maple Vinagrette

After eating lots of things that were terrible for my body this week I just craved something a bit healthier for my body. Salad is good. Roasted veggies is good. Cue tangy/sweet dressing and Im there for sure. I saw these 2 recipes off of Big Girls Small Kitchen for Roasted Brussel Sprout Salad and this other salad of Alta Brussel Sprout Salad. I combined the 2 throwing in a shallot, Israeli couscous, and apple and using the Maple Vinagrette. It was awesome and totally hit the spot. This combo of salads is definitely one Id do again.

Cool Rice Vermicelli with Grilled Vegetables

This was the last dish I cooked with MM on our cooking day feast. This feast happened because we both love Thai food and we both had this awesome cookbook called The Elements of Life.  We mixed up the veggies used, and since she didn’t have a grill we just “stir-fried” it. Also just cook the noodles according to the package because apparently dependent on what kind you get the cooking times etc can be vastly different. The more complex part of the dish was definitely the sauce. Neither one of us has used fresh lemongrass before, but basically we just peeled away layers until the very inner part that looked like a tube. Be sure to chop it up really fine because it isn’t pleasant to chew. MM saved the outer stalks/leaves for when she makes some soup. It is a great flavor addition! Also lemongrass lasts seemingly forever in the fridge, and definitely in the freezer. I hear when planted this stuff is really hearty. I tried growing some that I got from the store, but alas that was a fail. So I will have to go get seeds somewhere. I also read it is a great mosquito repellent! Perfect for what is needed right now here.

Next time, I have to proportion out this dish better. It made HUGE servings. So much that I had to freeze some because there was no way I was going to eat this for 2+ weeks in a row. However, it is REALLY tasty with quite a bit of kick in the sauce. Definitely something to make again and a great potluck dish too!

Crispy Shrimp with Sweet and Sour Sauce

My friend MM and I have the same cookbook and we decided to try some recipes from it. This crispy shrimp dish was one of them. The most convoluted part was probably the sauce. Not having kumquat preserve on hand, or plum, I suggested we just use some dollops of orange marmalade. It was perfect. We didn’t need to add the sugar to the recipe either. The vinegar part was strong but completely mellowed out when we added the raspberries and it melted in. We weren’t sure why to only use egg white in the coating part, but either way it was a fantastic dish. The shrimp coating was super tasty and the sauce was amazing on it. Too bad I can’t handle too much fried stuff, but between the 2 of us we ate quite a lot of shrimp!! Definitely a great party dish too I’ll bet!

Chicken Chili Con Queso

Another Robin Miller recipe from her cookbook. I hesitate to say it is anything like something you get at any Tex-Mex place. In fact it is better to just say it is a cheesy chicken recipe with spinach and it is tasty and good. I’m not sure yet how it will “freeze” but it did taste good when I first made it! She said you could also use this as a dip with chips and I can see it would be really tasty that way too. I think personally I’d like it a little spicier or somehow with sharper cheese, but overall it is a nice easy standby for a meal. I’m not sure I’d do this again, but I’m glad I gave it a try.

Thai Chicken and Noodle

This dish is not really Thai in style. In fact the only “Thai” thing about it is the noodles that are used in the dish. I used the leftover rice noodles that I had from making the homemade version of Pad Thai. I got the idea from Robin Miller whose show I used to watch a lot when it was on tv. I liked how simple it is and how she really takes care about nutrition as well. I changed it up in a sense I have a ton of condiments I need to use in my fridge. I used some leftover Szechuan sauce, and added some more soy sauce and sesame oil. It was a little salty so I used up a tiny bit of agave. I used frozen stir-fry vegetables to add more to the dish and I didn’t have enough chicken thawed out. The end result? Something yummy to eat, but definitely not really Thai. Lime juice really adds a nice tang so remember to not leave this part out. I guess the story goes if you have the right ingredients then the sauce is really going to make or break the dish.

Summer Corn Salad

In the attempts to use up my cherry tomatoes before they went bad I tried out this recipe. It had all the ingredients that I love, so how could it not taste amazing? It tasted fantastic. I didn’t use corn on the cob, I just used frozen corn and lightly sauteed them in a pan until they started to turn a bit brown. It gives the corn amazing flavor and if you don’t have corn on the cob on hand is a great alternative. This is so easy and fast. It only takes as long as you can chop the other ingredients. It does keep for a few days in the fridge, but it went rather quickly into my stomach.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Mornings have been really busy these last few weeks. Some mornings Im just not in the mood for milk and cereal. After perusing (ok really wasting time) on pinterest I saw the link for pre-making breakfast sandwiches a la that fast-food-chain style. This girl put up how she made her sandwiches then froze them to eat in the mornings. It was so simple, and clever, that you wonder why people pay all that money to get these things. It was so easy that I kick myself for not doing this earlier back when I had super early morning classes. For the eggs I baked them in my muffin-top tin and it fit perfectly on the english muffin.  (Yes there is such a thing and it is amazing. Everybody wants just the muffin tops!). Try these for those on-the-go weekday mornings!

Soba Noodle Salad

The weather is scorching down here. Amazingly this is considered a “mild” summer here. My AC bill and sweat glands beg to differ. The hot weather has made my appetite rather low these days. It’s one of those feelings where you know you are craving something, but can’t quite put your finger on what it is. I came across this in Harumi’s Japanese Cooking and I figured I should give it a try since I had all the ingredients except a cucumber. I like her recipes because they are for the home cook and not necessarily the fancy Japanese food that costs an arm and a leg to make and eat. I know there are mayo haters out there, but I use the japanese mayo (Kewpie) which tastes so different from the basic mayo. Actually I bet it tastes even better if you made mayo from scratch, but I didn’t have the patience for that today. This “salad” is simple with some tuna, onion, cucumber, and soba noodles. Add mayo, pepper, soy sauce to taste and mix well. This was really pleasantly surprising. Yes the raw onion was a bit harsh even after soaking in water, but next time I should be a little more diligent in THINLY slicing the onion. My gut is telling me it’s going to taste even better tomorrow after being chilled in the fridge. Truth? I’m still on the hunt for whatever it is I am craving, but this hit the spot for tonight.

Wild Blueberry Lemon Cake

This recipe was awesome from the website The Kitchn. The cool ingredient was using Greek yogurt in the batter! I loved the mix of citrus with a sweet cake, so I didn’t make the lemon cream, but I’m sure that it would be amazing on top. I added some orange flakes I had and I also added 1/4 tsp vanilla, and used the other 1/4 tsp for orange extract. It went well because the only Greek yogurt I have in the fridge right now is orange flavored. The cake is so fluffy and so good. Not too heavy and not to tart or sweet. This is definitely a great dessert, but I think I may have a slice for breakfast too. I’ll have to restrain myself from inhaling the whole thing all at once. Definitely give this recipe a try!

Tom Ka: Coconut Cream Soup

It was a damp heavy humid day and really hot too. For some reason though I was craving some hot soup to counter the semi-chilled feeling of excessive AC. I have this fascinating cookbook called The Elements of Life which is Thai recipes but based on the elements: Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind. These are associated with you based on your birthday and then lists foods and ingredients that are good for your body. It is common to be more than one element, and there are recipes listed that are good for all.

This soup was listed to be great for Earth and Wind element people. (I am wind and water.) I am sure if I had done everything to the letter this soup would be even more amazing, but as it was it totally hit the spot tonight. I just used a can and a half of broth and whole can of coconut milk. I took out the big chunks of ginger, but I didn’t strain out any of the other ingredients. I also just simmered the broth for 15minutes rather than the listed half hour. Being a little far from the asian mart I didn’t have lemongrass, or kaffir lime leaves, but adding lime zest was great.  I used 3 serrano chiles (no Thai chilis handy) with seeds and that was plenty of spice for me!! (I hear growing lemongrass is easy so I want to get on that!) I used cod chopped up (so good), butternut squash (not good), and mushroom (awesome) as the main ingredients. It was a perfect mix of creamy, sour, sweet, salty, and spicy!! I only wish I had more rice on hand, but I am excited for the leftover soup!. Even if you don’t have all the asian ingredients easily accesible there are some substitutes listed.I thought this cookbook was fascinating to read through and this recipe is a DEFINITE must try!!