Salad Week: Asian Salad

Here's another simple tossed salad, with some Asian-inspired flavors.



I marinated chicken breasts (pounded flat or purchased thin) in peanut oil and teriyaki sauce for about an hour. I grilled that, sliced it, and topped some mixed greens with it. I also added feta cheese, scallions, walnuts, and green apple chunks. For the dressing, I mixed a little sesame seed oil, olive oil (because the sesame seed is expensive, and you can taste it while not adding much), about two tablespoons soy sauce, and a chunky tablespoon of peanut butter. Whisk it all together, pour it on, and enjoy!

Coconut Chili and Bean Medley

Here's something I experimented with the other night that came out quite good. It has a sweet and spicy, vaguely eastern flavor due to the light coconut milk and seasonings. I've been playing with coconut milk a lot since tasting Thai curry a few years ago, and this is another of my variations.

• Sauté half of a yellow onion (diced) and four minced cloves of garlic with a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a deep pan.


• Add 1/2 bag golden raisins, and four cooked and diced Yukon gold potatoes.


• Add 1 can rinsed and drained kidney beans, one can rinsed and drained chick peas, and 1/2 bag steamed or prepared lentils (about one cup).


• Add 1 can light coconut milk, three-quarters of a jar of Trader Joe's roasted red pepper and eggplant dip***, 1/3 bag of cashews, and 1/3 bag frozen peas.


• Season with salt, pepper, a little cumin and coriander, and a more generous amount of chili powder to taste. Heat through and combine until peas are thawed, and the dish is warm.


• Serve over brown rice, and garnish with red bell pepper or scallions.

I think this dish is easy to prepare, even if you don't really cook. It looks like a lot, but it is all "pantry" ingredients, and it is my favorite style of cooking (just combining things in a pan.) Don't be scared if it looks a little strange... The raisins give it a burst of sweetness, and the nuts give it a nice crunch. The leftovers (and there will be a lot), reheated very well, and it may have even tasted better after a couple of days in the fridge.

*** You could make your own by processing oil-packed red peppers (with the oil), garlic, and grilled eggplant until smooth.

Bobazzi Curry

I'm baaaack! Sorry I've been away so long... The good news is, it seems like more people than ever are reading the blog, and having nice things to say about it. The bad news is, I've taken this particular opportunity to post not so often. Nice, right? Well, I graduate in two months, and I think I'll get my life back somewhat after that. It will be on to part-time work for me (as dad used to say, "Lord willing and the waters don't rise.")

I'm stealing my brother's descriptor again to title this chicken curry. My parents used to make chicken curry pretty often when I was a kid, and serve it over rice. They made it with a milk-and-flour-base, yellow curry powder, onion, apples, peas and chicken. I have tried it a few times, and I varied it a little for this recipe... I've patterned it more after the creamy coconut milk curry you get in Thai restaurants. The curry really became a whole "nother thing," and it's just as easy, or easier to make than the other type.



I started by pan-searing chicken breasts with Thai curry powder (plenty of it), and salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I cooked them just about through, but I don't worry about it too much. They'll be going into the curry sauce, and will finish cooking pretty quickly. So you just remove it from the pan, let is sit a bit, and then chop the breasts into chunks.



Back in the pan, I added a little oil more oil than usual, (about a quarter cup or less), garlic, chopped onion, and several tablespoons of Trader Joe's macadamia nut and cashew butter. I wanted to use this as a thickener, in place of the flour. If that isn't available to you, I think peanut butter would work just as well -- though you'd probably have a more distinctive peanut flavor.

When that was stirred in together and nicely melty, I added the chicken, and two cans of light coconut milk. I brought the heat up through everything, and let it all thicken.

Taking a little more help from Trader Joe's, I chopped the microwavable fingerling potatoes and added those in (I've since made this with Yukon potatoes I cooked first). I added salt and more curry powder, coriander and a little cayenne to taste. I dropped some green peas in at the last moment (frozen, Market Day, natch) and served it over brown rice.



I have since garnished the curry with diced red bell pepper and scallions, and some toasted slivered almonds. Next time, I think I will try adding some green apples to the sautee (something that will hold up to the heat) as my folks used to do. Doesn't match the Thai "pattern" so much, but for me, it'd be nostalgic. Probably would be good with some golden raisins, too!

Thai Chili Garlic Paste

Nearly a year ago, I purchased a lot of new ingredients that were called for in a cookbook I got called "30-Minute Thai." I have only followed the recipes once or twice, but I've monkeyed with the ingredients quite a bit. I like to mix them with other asian ingredients, like soba noodles. I call this "Asian Fusion." Nah, you know me better than that. I call it, "My Cookbook is Too High Up and Requires a Stepladder."

You'd be hard-pressed to abuse soba noodles (which are yummy in plain broth or anything else), or fish sauce (milder than soy), but one ingredient I've had to learn to treat with respect is the thai chili garlic paste. Here's what you don't do:



Don't assume that two puny tablespoons and some olive oil for an entire bag of sliced pork tenderloin won't kill your entire family if you use it as a marinade. Because it will. As my friend J. Moy stated, "Oh hell no. That shit will blow your head off." Sure, on the jar it says, "condiment." But I can't imagine an amount of this stuff small enough for me to actually be able to use it as a topping. I dunno if we're way too caucasian, but my husband and I cried, sweated, and blew our noses through half of a pork chop each before conceding total inedibility. I was able to salvage the rest of the chops only by slicing up the leftovers and putting them into wonton soup. Whew. Which is a relief, because for a couple of days, looking at the leftovers in the fridge actually made me afraid.

Don't run from your leftovers. Here's what you can do:



Despite thai chili paste being the bad-boy in my fridge, my peanut butter has fallen deeply in love with him. And they are great together. You can mix a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter with about 1/4 teaspoon and enough olive oil and fish (or soy) sauce to thin it out, and it makes a great brush-on for chicken (with a little salt and pepper).



I now really love the chili sauce for the authentic, layered flavor it gives to the sauces you mix it with. (And let's face it, the stuff sure is economical at this concentration.) You can use it as a great toss with soba or rice noodles, too. I start with a little garlic and oil, add the merest quarter teaspoon of chili sauce, the same two tablespoons of peanut butter, and thin it with chicken stock. Add some scallions, veggies, fish sauce, and toss in the cooked noodles. I top it with crushed peanuts. I like the noodles with chicken, or fried tofu triangles.



Cut the firm tofu into the triangle shape, and roll them in corn starch. Fry them for a couple of minutes in shallow oil on each side until golden. Drain, and salt and pepper them with a little regular ol' chili and garlic powder. Crispy and savory, without the sensation that a thousand screaming-hot white dwarf suns are dying on the surface of your tongue. Which no one wants.

I am Siam

A place Chris and I like to go for some quick Thai takeout is "I am Siam" on Dundee road in Wheeling. Here's a link to the Citysearch listing, under which I believe I am the sole reviewer...) The dining room isn't very tidy, but the food is very consistent. We love the way that they package the takeout so carefully to keep the texture of everything just right by the time you get it home. They separate the breaded shrimp, the egg, the cucumber salad (which I could eat a pound of, then drink up all the dressing with a straw), etc. Good stuff, Maynard.