Aaaaaand we’re back.

I thought we’d get things swinging with one of my favorite weeknight dinners: lettuce wraps!  This is a hugely versatile recipe which offers you a ton of options with varying proteins, marinades and toppings while remaining low carb and healthy.  Tonight’s version features a korean-inspired marinade and our favorite hot sauce, sriracha!  So let’s get to it already.

Sriracha Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Serves 2 hungry, weary workers

For the Marinade:

3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp agave nectar (or sugar)
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp sriracha (adjust to taste)
1 big spoonful of gochujang (fermented sweet korean pepper paste. I’d sub with tomato paste)
1 big spoonful of white miso
1 tsp korean red pepper flakes (or any ol red pepper flakes, again to your heat level of choice)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

For the Lettuce Wraps:

1.25 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 head butter lettuce (we love the hydroponically grown live lettuces on the top shelf of the produce case)
1 small handful whole cilantro
1 package of scallions, root ends trimmed
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
More and more sriracha

For the marinade, combine all ingredients except for the oils and cilantro and whisk together (or blend with your immersion blender to speed things up).  Slowly drizzle in the oils and blend until nicely emulsified.  Toss in the cilantro (whole if you’re using the blender) and give it one more go to evenly combine.  Pour over the chicken thighs in a large ziplock bag and stow it in your fridge until nicely marinated, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

Crank that grill up super hot.  Oil down your grill grates using your method of choice.  When the grill is ready, throw those chicken thighs on there, keeping an even layer of marinade if possible which will give you lots of caramelization.  Grill about 2 minutes, then turn 45 degrees to get those sexy grill marks.  Give that another 2 min before flipping, then repeat on the other side.  Should take about 8 minutes total to be nicely charred and perfectly cooked through on the inside.  Oh yeah and throw those scallions on there as well (tossed with a little oil and some salt and pepper for good measure of course).  Those should only take 3 minutes.

As soon as they’re off the grill, top with sesame seeds, then stand back and admire those beautiful chicken thighs.  This serves the added bonus of allowing the chicken to rest as long as you can stand it (up to 10 min) before slicing across the grain and serving.

To build a wrap, grab a lettuce leaf.  Toss in a bit of chicken, some fresh cilantro, grilled scallions and top it off with a generous amount of srirachaaaa!

TASTY FIRESTORM!

Okay, so I know this marinade contains a lot of ingredients that probably aren’t hanging around your pantry.  But remember when I talked about the versatility of this dish?  You can marinate this chicken with ANYTHING.  Grab a pre-made marinade in a bottle, or if you’re in a super hurry, buy some nice teriyaki marinated chicken from the butcher counter at your super market.  We also love our lettuce wraps with marinated korean beef (bulgogi style).  Or to really mix it up, throw some taco spices on that chicken or a lime cilantro marinade on a firm white fish.  Grill it along with sweet onions and peppers for a low carb fajita!  The flavor options are truly endless!

Ok, ok, so this recipe is almost straight out of this month’s bon appetit.  Like, cover image, straight out.  And the only reason it’s “almost” rather than “exactly”, is that I lacked some of the ingredients in my pantry and there were no sugar snap peas at the farmer’s market on saturday  (maybe next week, i was told).  The big difference is that bon appetit’s version is made with snap peas and pea tendrils.  I swapped in pea sprouts since I had some in my fridge, along with some nice bloomsdale spinach from this week’s CSA veggie box.  The salmon is marinated and then broiled on the same pan, which makes prep and cleanup a snap, and I’m pleased to say the finished dish truly looks glamorous enough to be on a newsstand.

Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon
Adapted from Bon Appetit’s much longer titled recipe, which you can find here.
Serves 2

1/4 cup Asian Sweet Chili Sauce, such as mae ploy
2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, divided
1 tablespoon mirin
2  8-oz center cut salmon filets with skin
1 tsp grapeseed oil, or any plain vegetable oil
1 tsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4  bunches bloomsdale spinach leaves, substitute with 2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 cup pea sprouts

Line a baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil, or lightly oiled regular foil.  Place salmon fillets skin side down on the prepared sheet pan and season with salt and pepper.  In a small bowl, stir together the sweet chili sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar and the mirin.  Spoon marinade over the salmon and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Preheat broiler.  Spoon any marinade remaining on the baking sheet over the salmon fillets.  Broil salmon without turning until browned at corners and the fish is almost opaque in the center, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the grapeseed and sesame oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Toss in the garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds until aromatic.  Add spinach leaves and cook, stirring regularly for 2 minutes.  Add the pea sprouts and stir til just wilted, about 1 minute.  Add the remaining soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and fresh black pepper, then turn off heat and set aside.

Voila!

I rounded out our meal with a sort of deconstructed salad.  The greens are a beautiful head of red-tipped romaine, tossed with a light asian-flavored dressing and sesame seeds along with some avocado slices and some simple sunomono cucumbers.  It was the perfect crisp and bright companion to the buttery-textured, sweet and salty salmon.  Enjoy!

I’m a big summer roll fan.  No lie, I’ll take it over a deep fried spring or egg roll any day of the week.  They’re light and super refreshing, and I enjoyed how, once you get over the intimidation factor, how incredibly simple they are to make and customize to your liking.

This is a recipe I was addicted to the summer after graduation, but I hadn’t really made since.  That’s probably because I, along with my team of parental sous chefs, prepped over 100 of these alone for mine and V’s college grad party, and there definitely can be too much of a good thing.  It’s based off of Tyler Florence’s recipe, but I’ve changed it up over the years.  What I like most about Tyler’s spin on the summer roll is that it’s got the classic Thai elements, like cilantro and cellophane noodles and peanuts, and then some fresh Vietnamese ingredients, such as mint and mung bean sprouts, and also few delicious surprises, like the beets.  So anywho, Jared and Robin’s oscar party seemed like the perfect opportunity to dust off that old recipe and give it an update.  It’s a bit time consuming, prepping the veggies and rolling each individual roll, but man, it’s so worth the effort.

Thai Summer Rolls with Sweet Chili Peanut Dipping Sauce
Makes about a dozen rolls

2 carrots, julienned
1 large beet, julienned
2 handfuls fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 bunch mint leaves, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups pea sprouts, cut in half (or bean sprouts if you can’t find the pea ones)
1 cup shredded napa cabbage
1 package baked tofu, cut into 24 long, skinny portions
1 package enoki mushrooms, roots trimmed and  mushrooms seperated
3 oz Vietnamese cellophane noodles, cooked according to package instructions
4 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
1/2 cup roasted and unsalted peanuts, chopped
The juice of 2 limes
2 tsp sesame oil
1- 12oz package 8-inch round rice paper wrappers

Start by prepping your veggies and noodles and putting a kettle of water on to boil for the rice paper wrappers.  Here’s some glamour shots of the chopped veggies:  (ps arn’t these lightbox pictures pretty rad?)

Combine the carrots, beets, cilantro, mint, sprouts, enoki, cabbage, scallions and peanuts in a large bowl.  Add the sesame oil, lime juice, salt and pepper and toss to coat.  Keep the tofu and noodles to the side, so they keep their bright white color.

Pour 3 cups of hot water into a wide, shallow bowl (keep extra hot water around because this will inevitably cool off as you’re working).  Immerse the wrappers one at a time for about 15 seconds to soften.  To form the rolls, lay the rice paper on a flat surface.  Put a small amount of the filling (about 1/4 cup) on the top 1/3 of the wrapper.  Top with 2 sticks of tofu and a small portion of the noodles.  Be careful not to overstuff the wrapper or it will tear.  Fold down the top of the wrapper to cover the filling.  Fold in the right and left sides, then roll from the top down, being careful to keep the sides tucked in.  Cover the finished rolls with a damp towel to keep from drying out while you finish the other rolls.  Serve as soon as possible with the dipping sauce.

For a speedier alternative, serve the filling as a salad along with butter lettuce leaves and allow people to build their own lettuce wraps.

For the Dipping Sauce:

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup hot water
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp white sugar
The juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup thai sweet chili sauce, such as Mae Ploy
2 tsp red chili paste, such as sambal

Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, and lime juice into a bowl.  Slowly whisk in the hot water until the sauce reaches a smooth consistency.  You may not need all of it.  Add in the sweet chili sauce and sambal and whisk to combine.  Serve with Thai Summer Rolls.

One of the best looking pieces of produce in our first CSA box was a gorgeous head of bok choy. Usually bok choy ends up playing second fiddle in my cooking, but I knew I really wanted to showcase this great ingredient. I came up with an easy stir fry using items I had on hand, including frozen shrimp and some tasty mushrooms. I was really impressed with the simplicity of the dish. In fact, I would barely change a thing next time around, and I can’t wait to make it again.

Shrimp and Bok Choy Stir Fry
Makes 2-3 entree portions

3/4 lb shrimp (25 count), deveined and shells removed
2 tbsp dry sherry or sake
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp plus 1 tbsp soy sauce
1 large head of bok choy
6 oz sliced white or shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp mirin
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sherry, 1 tbsp cornstarch and 1 tsp soy sauce. Add the shrimp and toss to coat evenly. Set aside. In another small bowl, combine the chicken broth, mirin, sugar, the additional 1 tbsp of soy sauce and 2 tsp cornstarch and set aside.

The most important step of stir-frying is the prep work. Since the cooking happens so quickly, everything must be ready to hit the pan before you begin. Wash and prep your bok choy. I like to slice the thick white stems on the bias, and then roll up and do a large, rough chiffonade of the green leaves. Be sure to keep these separate, as they’ll hit the pan at a different time.

When everything is ready, heat your wok over the highest heat your stove top can get. When the pan is screaming hot, add 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Start by adding the aromatics, in this case the ginger and the garlic. Stir for only 15 seconds, as the garlic can burn quickly, then add the shrimp. Keep the shrimp moving around the pan, and when they’re still slightly translucent, about 1-2 minutes, pull them out of the pan and set aside. They’re not fully cooked through, but that’s what you’re looking for, just like in the pic below.

Allow your pan to come back to heat, then add the remaining tbsp of vegetable oil. Toss in the white bok choy stems and the mushrooms. Stir fry for about 3 minutes until the edges of the bok choy become translucent and the mushrooms soften, then add the green leaves of the bok choy and cook an additional 2 minutes.

When the greens have slightly wilted, return the shrimp to the pan. Add the broth mixture. Continue to move the ingredients around the pan until the shrimp is fully cooked and the sauce begins to thicken slightly, about 2 minutes.

Serve alongside steamed white rice and dig in!! Enjoy, my fellow foodies!

Beef stir fry is probably one of my favorite foods to make. It’s simple and has lots of good veggies and meats for all your nutritional needs!

Today’s was a simple one. Beef with broccoli and onions in a sweet soy garlic sauce.

Ingredients:
1.25 pounds of beef (anywhere between 1 to 1.5 pounds should be good)
2 crowns of broccoli cut up
1 large onion roughly choppeded
3 tablespoons of garlic
1/2 cup of soy sauce
3 tablespoons of mirin, cooking sake, or 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar/white vinegar
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
3-4 tablespoons of cornstarch
sesame seed oil

This will make about 3-4 adult servings. (:

Cut the beef thinly. You can tenderize if you like! I used two top sirloin steaks.

Add the sesame seed oil to the pan and throw in the garlic. When the garlic starts to brown…

HUZZAH! The meat magically teleports into the pan!

So while the meat cooks, I set up the sauce!
1/2 cup of soysauce
3 tablespoons of mirin
3 tablespoons of sugar
can also add a little honey to add a slightly different sweet flavor
MIX!

When most of the meat has cooked/browned, who do we call?

Gastronomical busters!…
Onions?

And also the broccoli!
Does anyone else say “brock-cole-eye”? I sure do!

Now put the lid over it and let the steam cook the veggies for around 5 minutes.
I like to leave the broccoli and the onions on top of the beef so that the beef can finish cooking and the steam will cook the veggies without burning them or over cooking them. I quite dislike limp over cooked broccoli. It has such a weird bitter aftertaste. Then again, I really enjoy raw veggies most of all.. but that’s another story!

So after 5 minutes or so, the broccoli should look much greener and meaner! The richer color is how I like it, and still crisp. (: If you like your broccoli more cooked, leave it for another 3 minutes or so to steam!

Now pour the soy sauce mixture into the pot!

Mixmixmix! Stir and let the pan fry!

Get 3 or 4 tablespoons of cornstarch and add a little water (didn’t measure, just enough to cover the cornstarch), and mix thoroughly! It should have a nice white milky sheen. Some recipes say to just throw the cornstarch into the pan, on top of what you already have in there. I don’t like this method cuz the cornstarch can lump up. And lumps are pretty gross. Especially lady lumps. and humps. my humps. -.-

If you want a super sticky sauce to stick to the meat and veggies, throw in another tablespoon.

Scoot some the stir fry aside so the sauce is exposed.
Pour the cornstarch in there.
Turn the heat to low.
Mixmixmix!

FINISHED!

eat eat eat

Currrrrry! I’ve been having a craving for curry lately. The weather has been a little cooler so I thought it would be the perfect time for the yummies.

Ingredients:
Boneless Port Cutlets (1 per person)
Eggs
Chicken Broth (or water)
Chopped Onions (or mushrooms! in melissa’s case)
Garlic Paste
Panko (or bread crumbs)
Golden Curry Bricks
Sesame Seed Oil
Veggie or Canola Oil

I chopped the onions before I found the camera. Basically it’s one large Sweet Mayan Onion . I like the sweet ones more than regular. They don’t taste so strong and are actually sweet! They also don’t break my heart and make me cry. Waaaah. hehe.

Here’s what I did!

Take the chopped onions, about two tablespoons of sesame seed oil, and a tablespoon or two of garlic paste.
Cook for 3-5 minutes on a medium heat until clear.

Add the chicken broth and/or water. Basically I add enough until the onions are covered.
I put the the whole box of chicken broth in there and a cup of water.
Cover and leave it at a medium heat.
Leave it until it starts boiling.

While the broth is going, work on the porks!

I took regular boneless cutlets and cut off the fat and butterflied the cutlets so that they’re thinner. If you buy the “wafer thin” ones, you won’t need to cut them in half.

Next, pound those guys down until they’re nice and flat and tender and thin and yum!

Put the Panko on a plate.
Mix up some eggs!

Dip the tenderized cutlet into the egg.
Make sure that it’s coated nicely on all sides.

Lay the pork onto the crumbs and get those covered all flakey!

I double dip it into the egg mixture again!

Then back to the Panko!
The double coating makes sure that the cutlet is nicely covered and also makes it crispier when cooked!

On a medium heat, let the pan heat up a bit.
Add enough Canola or Veggie Oil to nicely coat the bottom of the pan.

Place the cutlet into the firrreeee!

Press down on the cutlet gently to keep it nice and flat and yummy!
It takes a good while to brown on a medium heat, but it will keep it from burning! It takes about 5-10 minutes on each side.

While the cutlet is cooking, attend to the curry!

Add the Golden Curry bricks!
Make sure to stir frequently so that it dissolves nicely.
Cover with a lid and let it stay warm on a low heat.

Back to the cutlet!

When it’s brown, flip that shite!

When the cutlet is done, put it on a cooling rack (not your boobs), with a paper towel on top to collect some of the excess oil.
Let it cool for a few minutes until it’s warm to the touch but touchable and not burninating the countryside.


Slice that shit!

EATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

What’s for dinner?!

It’s always a question that plagues the soul, every night!
I’m a big stickler for having all your meats and veggies. Yum!
Menu: Broiled Flank Steak and Mixed Veggie Stirfry

Ingredients for the Flank Steak:

2.5 half pounds of Flank Steak
1/4th cup of Soy Sauce
3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 tablespoons of Chopped Garlic
1 tablespoon of Sriracha Sauce
2 sprigs of cut long Green Onion
Salt & Pepper to taste

Ingredients for Veggie Stirfry:

.5 large Sweet Onion
.5 Red Pepper
handful of Mushrooms
1 crisp Apple
1 Lime
2 tablespoons of Garlic
3 tablespoons of Sesame Seed Oil
1 tablespoons of Mirin
2 tablespoons of Soysauce
1 teaspoon of suger

Steak:

Mix 1/4th cup of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of Chopped Garlic, 1 tablespoon of Sriracha Sauce, and 2 sprigs of cut long Green Onion stir em together.

If you want your steak to be a little sweeter, add a tablespoon of sugar or honey. The sweetness mixes nicely with the Sriracha.

Grab that steak and lay it flat.
Cut off any excess fattage that my be on there.
Cover with clear plastic wrap.
Pound the crap out of the steak and tenderize that summovabitch.

Put the steak in the marinade and let it sit at room temperature for at least an hour.

If you want to let it sit over night (high recommended for tasty yumness), put into a plastic ziplog bag and let it sit in the fridge.

Preheat the oven and set it to BROIL! for at least 10 minutes.

Things to know about broiling… I didn’t know!
It cooks from one side, say, the top down. So it will cook half, at a very high temperature. The nice thing about it is that it will glaze/crisp the meat super nicely.
It’s good for thinner cuts of steak, like flank, rather than thick.
If your broiler is at the top of your oven, you’re going to want to move the grill so that it’s about 6 inches away from the top of the oven/heat.

Put the steak in an oven safe glass cooking thingie so it’s laid out flat.

Cook for 5 or 6 minutes on the first side OR until the thickest part of the steak is at 125 degrees F.

Once the time or the temperature has been reached, then flip it over and cook for about 4 or 5 minutes until the steak is nicely browned.

Take it out of the broiler!

Don’t leave it in the oven/broiler, or else it will become completely well done (like I did tonight). Taking it out of the oven/broiler will let it be a nice medium well with a little pink in there.

Set aside and let it sit for about 5 minutes so that the juices reset and don’t just pour out when you try to cut it.

Cut and eat!

Look at that soft subtle pink color… Mrrroowww.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to your yummilicous tastes!

So while the broiler is heating up, chop your veggies!

Chop mushrooms, onions, and the bell peppers and put into a big boil.
Add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil and pepper and mix around.

In another bowl, slice the apples, unskin, and squeeze the lime in there.
The lime will help keep the apple from oxidizing and turning brown.

Let the pan heat up for 2 minutes or so at a medium heat.
Put in another tablespoon of sesame seed oil and throw in the two tablespoons of chopped garlic.

Throw in the veggie mixture first and cook for 5 minutes.
(this is where you can flip your steak)
Throw in the apple and lime juice.
Add the soysauce, sugar, and mirin. Just poor that thing in there.
Cook for another 4 minutes.
Turn off the heat.
(now your steak should be ready to pull out of the oven!)