Menu of the Week #6

The menu of the week turned out to be delicious. This week we had Salmon with a Salad of Green Beans and Bok Choy, Chicken Tacos with Refried Beans and a Garden Salad, Pork Chops with Roasted Beets and Oranges, Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken Sausage, and Sheet Pan Pasta Bake with Chicken and Kale.

Menu of the Week

Our menu of the week focused on fairly healthy dinners from Cooking Light. I tried a few new recipes and had to improvise on Wednesday when dinner took a nose dive. Keep reading to find out what dinners we enjoyed.

Vietnamese-Style Shaking Beef with Basmati Rice

Basmati rice is a variety of long grain rice traditionally cultivated in South East Asia. Although it is comparable to other white rice, Basmati has a special aroma caused by a chemical called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. In this recipe, I would say that any rice substitution (white long grain, brown rice, etc) would be completely acceptable.

The star of this dinner is definitely the flavorful beef, accented by the bright and spicy herb salad atop the plate. I would not recommend making this dish without the greens. So here is how I did it.

My Plated dinner for two came with the following:

Beef and Pepper Stir Fry

This was the last meal that I made Jim before he left for his California business trip. It was quick to pull together, giving me more time to snuggle with him on the couch. Even though it's Beef with PEPPERS, it was not at all spicy. Besides it being easy and quick to make, the second best part was that the leftovers tasted even better than it did fresh out of the wok.

Not pictured are the peppers, onion, flank steak and rice noodles. This photo are the ingredients I used in the marinade:
Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Corn Starch
Ginger
Fish Sauce
Dry Sherry
Garlic
Chili Garlic Sauce
Brown Sugar

I'm not saying you have to have ALL these ingredients, but this is what I used on this particular day...and it was so so so yummy! Here is how it all went down:

In a large mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Be sure to pack the brown sugar into your measuring spoon.

Next, add 2 tablespoons of corn starch - this will help to thicken the sauce and cling to the meat.

Using a whisk, blend that together until the cornstarch is dissolved.

Now for mucho flavor! Chop 2 cloves of garlic, mince 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger and add that in the marinade along with 3 tablespoons of dry sherry and as much chili garlic sauce as you can handle. I used a teaspoon of the chili garlic sauce but wish I had used more. We like things spicy down here in Austin and this turned out pretty mild.

Fish sauce. I wouldn't recommend smelling this...or tasting it for that matter. Trust me! When just a splash of fish sauce is added to savory cooking, it creates that mysterious fifth taste that makes people say, "Mmm, this is good, and I can't quiet put my finger on what it is." At that point you just grin and keep quiet about the secret ingredient. Believe it or not, you can find fish sauce in most grocery stores now. I had to go to the Asian market for this bottle - and it will last forever, you only need a squirt. I added about a teaspoon to the marinade.

Now that the marinade is made, lets chop all the meat and veggies. Once you start the stir fry, it goes quickly. I've mentioned that we love the heat in this house so I left the seeds in this jalapeno and sliced it up.

Slice an onion.

Flank Steak is perfect for a stir fry and my secret for slicing it paper thin is to stick it in the freezer for 15-30 minutes.

When it is partially frozen you can take your very sharp chef knife and slice against the grain into thin strips. Once the flank steak is sliced, add it to the bowl of marinade.

Slice two bell peppers - whatever color you have is fine! Lop the tops off and throw away the seeds, then slice into strips or rings.

It's time to Wok and Roll! I know I'm cheesy. I like to use a combination of oil in my stir frys. You need an oil that has a high smoking point like Canola. I like to also add peanut oil for the flavor. Add 1 tablespoon of each or two tablespoons of canola oil in your wok.

When the wok is very hot, toss in your onions and sliced jalapeno. Spread these out and let them char quickly and then toss and let them char a little bit more. We want to give them quick color without them wilting too terribly much.

Remove the onions to a plate and then do the same thing with the peppers and remove those to a plate.

If you need more oil in the wok, add a splash and let it heat up again. Add about a third of the meat slices to the wok and spread them out in one layer. After about 30 seconds, flip the meat. This goes fast because the very thinly sliced meat will cook fast. Remove each batch of the cooked meat to the plate with the onions and peppers.

When all the meat has been seared, add all the ingredients back into the wok and pour the remainder of the marinade over everything.

Toss this around and let it cook for a few minutes.

Have a pot of water already boiling on the back burner. I like these vermicelli rice sticks because they are so thin and seem to absorb flavors really well.

I only cooked about 1/3 of the package and used my sharp kitchen shears to cut just what I needed off this large nest of hard noodles.

When the pot of water is boiling, add the rice noodles and they will cook in less than 3 minutes. I lifted them right out of the pot and transferred them over to my wok.

Stir this all together and watch the flavorful sauce coat the noodles. It's ready!

If you have chopsticks, use em!

These bowls? Why they are two of my favorite noodle bowls EVER and we received them as wedding gifts from thoughtful friends. The holes on each side are perfect for threading your chopsticks through when you are not using them. They are from Crate & Barrel. Love.

Every bite is incredibly flavorful, the meat practically melts in your mouth. You could throw literally ANY vegetable into your wok and make this stir fry your own. My version was loosly based on a PW recipe which I of course changed as I went. Try carrots, broccoli, snap peas, mini corn, mushrooms (if you like that sort of thing). Instead of noodles, try serving the meat and veggies over brown or white rice. However you make yours, be sure to save some for the next day - I swear this gets better overnight in the fridge.

How to Make Spring Rolls

We have been experiencing 85 to 95 degree weather in Austin, TX and are just thrilled to welcome Spring! I want to soak up every lovely afternoon that we have in the 80's because soon and very soon it will be in the triple digits. Right now is the perfect time to put together a batch of these cool and crunchy Spring Rolls that are surprisingly easy to assemble and highly customizable.

Have you seen or cooked with these vermicelli rice noodles? They are quick cooking, thin noodles that are great as the base of stir-fry or added to soup. I boiled a medium pot of salted water, added a handful of rice sticks and let them boil for just a few minutes. As soon as they were cooked through (about 3 minutes) I strained and set asside to cool as I prepped the remaining ingredients.

For a nice spicy bite, I rinsed a handful of cilantro.

I like the crunch of cool Spring Rolls, so I thinly sliced a red bell pepper. Again, use what you have on hand!

Spicy Asian Meatball Appetizer

I made two types of appetizer meatballs for our 2010 Christmas Party. The first, Cranberry Cabernet Meatballs, were a huge hit and 2 lbs completely disappeared quick. The second meatball appetizer I made were Spicy Asian Meatballs based on a sub recipe I found online.

The sauce I used for my appetizer was inspired by a recipe on Food Network for Asian Meatball Subs With Hoisin Mayonnaise. Picture above from FN.com. The ingredient list was lengthy but the bones of the recipe sounded just divine!

HWM Spicy Asian Meatball Appetizer
2 pounds fully cooked frozen meatballs

1 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice (there is no harm in using the bottled stuff if that is what you have on hand)
4-8 teaspoons Asian chili-garlic sauce (you control the level of spice with this ingredient)
½ cup chopped scallions to garnish (optional)

In a medium-size saucepan over medium heat, add all the ingredients except meatballs; stir to combine. Let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.
 
I found a whisk to work best in incorporating all the ingredients. The sauce thickened up nicely and the flavors were bold and spot on!

Remove from heat and either add cooked meatballs and serve... or you could let it cool and place in the fridge overnight. I made the sauce the night before the party and refrigerated overnight.

The night of our Christmas party I baked the meatballs in the oven and warmed the sauce on the stove top. Then serve the cooked meatballs with the sauce and garnish with scallions. It's a beautiful presentation (sorry I didn't get any pictures.)

For the meatballs, you can either heat them in the microwave or oven and then stir into the sauce and serve. Likewise, if you are putting this into a crockpot, you could add the cooked and frozen meatballs into the sauce and turn the crockpot on high for an hour or so until the meatballs are thawed and hot.

These meatball appetizers were my favorite for flavor and ease of preparation! Be bold in the kitchen my friends!

More HWM posts on meatballs:

Cranberry Cabernet Meatballs

Ultimate Party Meatballs

Chipotle Meatballs

Homemade Spicy Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

Easy Chicken Stir Fry

A stir fry meal is one of the most versatile dishes ever. This is definitely one meal you want to have in your back pocket. You can customize it on the fly depending on your personal taste or based on what you have available in the fridge and pantry. This is usually what I cook when it's about time to grocery shop again and I have a lonely onion and a few asparagus or almost dead bell pepper hanging out. This post will show you how simple it is to whip up a very filling and healthy dinner fast.



I find packages like this in my grocery store and bought this one because it was on sale - deeply discounted.

I'm not saying these pre-packaged meals don't taste good, but I am really turned off by what I found inside. Just look at the ingredients! Noodles that are par cooked and packaged. The vegetables made me want to barf. It just isn't right that these vegetables can have a shelf life of a year. The sauce had SO many ingredients, most of which I didn't understand.

It is so simple to make your own stir fry. Here are the Basics of Stir Fry. I pulled out all the fresh veggies I had: onion, green bell pepper, carrots, asparagus and garlic. You can add WHATEVER veggies you like or have on hand. Broccoli would be great, scallions, cilantro, bean sprouts, zucchini or squash would be wonderful too.

Protein: We eat a lot of Chicken in our house, but your favorite protein would work here. Sliced beef and tofu are very popular stir fry meats. Be sure to buy the pressed firm tofu. Or you can opt for a fully vegetarian stir fry.

Seasonings: The basics consist of soy sauce and a chili garlic hot sauce if you like food spicy. Both are found on the asian food aisle of your grocery store. I got a little fancy and used both dark and light soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, peanut oil and sesame oil.

Toppings: I like to use peanuts and sesame seeds.

The filler: You can eat stir fry plain, or you can add "filler" which would be something like noodles or rice. I like it both ways, and usually let Jim decide which kind of starch he prefers that evening.

That's it. Simple. I started by adding 1 T peanut oil and 1 T sesame oil into a skillet. Olive oil or another oil would work here too. I like the flavors of both sesame and peanut oil. And guess what? You DON'T have to have a wok to make stir fry. Just before the oil began to smoke, I added two chicken breasts that I cut into one inch pieces. Let them brown on one side, then flip and brown on the other - about a minute and a half, 70%. These are added back to cook longer later in the process, so you don't need to worry about completely cooking the chicken through...just get a good color on them. Remove to a plate when done.

Veggies! If you have tough veggies that need to cook longer, then add those first and stir around to give them a head start. Then begin adding your veggies until you reach the really dainty stuff, like scallions. I had one onion, 2 cloves of garlic minced, 8 asparagus that I sliced on the diagonal in one inch pieces and 4 baby carrots which I julienned.

Now it's time to add the sauce. I added 2 T light soy sauce, 2 T dark soy sauce, 1 T rice wine vinegar, 1 T fish sauce, 1/4 t celery salt, 1/2 T chili garlic sauce.

Stir and saute until vegetables are about cooked the way you want them (2 minutes). I like the onion to still have some bite to it, and not be translucent.

I add the chicken back in and stir it around in the hot skillet together. The sauce doesn't coat the way I want it to, it's a little thin. So I take 1 T of hot water and dissolve 1 t of corn starch, then pour that into my pan. The cornstarch acts as a thickener and the sauce starts coating all the veggies and chicken like I wanted.

If you go the noodle route, then I like to boil the noodle until al dente, then throw it into my stir fry so the noodles get mixed in and coated with the sauce also.

I finish it off with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and peanuts for crunch. Fast, easy, yummy and healthy. It's the ideal weekday dinner.

Now here is the BEST tip ever! You can repurpose leftover stir fry by making soup! Toss your leftovers into a saucepan and add chicken broth, beef broth or vegetable broth. Heat through, and eat. It's the best ever. I almost prefer the leftover soup to the stir fry. It makes a great lunch the next day.

{Printable Recipe}

Asian Sesame Ginger Salad

No, I didn't make the dressing homemade - I used Marie's from the grocery store. But the reason I love this Asian Sesame Ginger Salad is because I fool myself and sneak in fruits, veggies and protein.

I seasoned two boneless and skinless chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then seared on the grill.

Next, I use my mandolin to slice and julienne some carrots.

Then thinly slice and dice a tart granny smith apple.

So here are our ingredients, a sliced granny smith apple, julienned carrots, the Marie's Sesame Ginger dressing and these fabulous almond accents that are butter toffee glazed.

I toss all the ingredients with the lettuce mix and then add a little bit of the dressing

Then toast some sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat. These go fast, don't walk away.

Voila, a very filling lunch with spicy and sweet Asian flavors. The carrots add crunch, the glazed almonds a little sweetness and the green apples a tartness. A lot of us are eating more salads these days, don't get stuck in a rut - be creative!