Beijing Hot Noodles

I saw this recipe while looking through a cookbook on Food Trucks. It is a new e-cookbook offered through epicurious. I found it online at serious eats.

• 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 green onions, minced (more if they are small)
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/4 cup ground bean sauce (you can find this at Talin Market)
• 1 (12-ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cubed
• 1 tablespoon chile oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white or black pepper
• 1/2 pound or less rice vermicelli noodles, soaked
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced

 Heat the oil in a wok or heavy, deep sauté pan over high heat for 1 minute. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the green onions and ground pork and cook until the pork is browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the ground bean sauce, tofu, chile oil, salt, and sugar and toss to coat, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the sesame oil and pepper, stir, and turn off the heat.

Divide the lo mein noodles among individual plates, place the cucumber alongside, and top the noodles with the pork and tofu mixture. Serve immediately.

** We all thought this needed to be much spicier. It was nice. I look forward to making Vietnamese rolls with the leftovers. It was a super quick dish to make. 

Green Salad with tuna and poached egg

Seems silly to post about a salad, but there you go. It is a meal! The Black Russian tomato came from my garden.

Lettuce
Cucumbers
Carrots
Avocado
Tomato
Tuna
Poached egg

For the dressing, I did a 2 to 1 ratio of balsamic vinegar to olive oil, threw in some italian herbs, salt, and pepper.

**Wonderful!

Poached Salmon Salad with Lemon Dill Dressing

Got inspired by a greek salad on the Martha Stewart website.

Lettuce
Tomatoes
Avocado
Cucumber
Poached Salmon

Dressing:
2 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
1/2 t dill (used dried)
1/4 t coarse sea salt

Quinoa Tabouli Salad with Chickpeas

One of my favorite summer salads. I used to use bulgher until wheat became an allergy issue in this house. Now I use quinoa and love it. This recipe comes from The New Moosewood Cookbook. I found the recipe on-line on the food.com website . However, what you see below is how I've adapted it over the years. Depending on what is in season, I'll add the tomatoes or if I have kalamati olives, I'll add them. I usually add chickpeas for the protein.

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• pepper
• 3 scallions, finely minced
• 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley, packed
• 8- 10 mint leaves, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced or 4 roma tomatoes,diced
• 1/2 cucumber,  minced

1. Cook the quinoa in the water for about 15 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed.Fluff up the quinoa.
2. Emulsify the lemon juice and oil. Then mix in the salt, garlic, pepper, and scallions.
3. Chill for 30 minutes.
4. Before serving, add the rest of the ingredients.

 

 **Delicious, as always.

**Made a different time, with black olives, tomatoes, and carrots.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

I love these rolls wrapped in rice paper. They are perfect for a warm day. You can find a multitude of recipes on-line for the fillings and for the sauces. Here is what we did:

For the spring roll
Cucumber, cut into long slices
Carrot, long peels
Tot Soi, washed and left whole
Basil, cut into strips
Mint, cut into strips
Parsley
Tempeh, cut into strips
Rice vermicelli

For the Sauce
1/4 C hoisin sauce
2 T almond butter
1 t rice venegar
1 garlic, crushed
1 squirt Thai hot sauce

In bowl of warm water, dip each rice paper wrapper for about 3-5 seconds (depending on rice paper thickness). Do not over soak your rice paper wrapper! Place on work service and allow rice paper to soak up water and become gelatinous and pliable (about 30 seconds to 1 minute, again, depending on the thickness rice paper).
On top 1/3 side closest to you, lay noddles and greens on the bottom for added strength to the wrapper. Then place herbs and other vegetables. Roll up spring roll about 1/3 way through, then fold in the sides.
Serve with hoisin almond dip (or any other sauce).

**Delicious. Keeper.

Persian Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Recipe can be found here: http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Persian_Tomato_and_Cucumber_Salad

1 cucumber
1 tomato*
1 onion
mint
salt
1/4 C lemon juice
2 T olive oil

*used the little sugar plum tomatoes- cut in half


Chop all the vegetables finely. Mix them with the mint, lemon juice and olive oil.

*I whipped the olive oil and lemon juice together and then added it to the vegetables. As you can see, I chopped in chunks- not finely.

 

** Delicious salad! Just a hint of mint, nice crunch. Great compliment to the kebabs.