Dragon Noodle Salad

This is one of our summer favorites. It's derived from a recipe by Isa Moskowitz, I think from the book "Isa Does It." She's a vegan, and so we've made this carniverous, removed some hippy stuff (agave nectar, really?), changed some ingredients (originally calls for radishes, which I guess is a way to use radishes.) and doubled the amount of sauce

As long as you're grilling the chicken, I strongly recommend you also grill some baby bok choy because it is delicious and would go well on the side.

Ingredients

Salad

2 grilled chicken breasts (just keep this simple, the sauce is strong), chopped into small thin slices

1 14oz package of rice noodles, I prefer the ones that are one width up from the thinner pad thai noodles, cooked, clipped with scissors

2-3 carrots, sliced into thin carrot sticks

3 persian cucumbers, cut into thin sticks

1 bag/container of salad green mix

Dressing

1 c. smooth peanut butter

3 cloves garlic

2/3 c. water

1/3 c. soy sauce/tamari (or a little more)

1 tbsp white sugar

1 tbsp brown sugar

1-2 tbsp sriracha to taste (it gets less spicy over time too)

salt to taste (it actually needs it)

Garnishes (optional)

Sesame seeds

2 tbsp chopped cilantro (I think this adds a good dimension)

Preparation

Combine dressing ingredients in food processor, blast until smooth. Rinse the rice noodles in water immediately before mixing until they are no longer sticking together. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

Comments

Thick-cut Pork Chops

These intimidating chops were actually pretty easy to cook. They're called an "Iowa Chop", and they're just a thick-cut, bone-in, center-cut chop. I've discovered that the secret to juicy pork chops is to start with a cold pan and obsessively checking the temperature . I find they're best just under 160 degrees. Pork Chops 2 1-lb. Iowa Chops 2-3 Tbsp. salt 2 Tbsp. white pepper 2 Tbsp. dried sage 2 Tbsp. Smoked (or regular) paprika 3 Tbsp. oil Sauce (optional): 1/2 c. chicken broth 1/2 c. white wine (I used Pinot Grigio) 2 Tbsp. corn starch 1 tsp. white pepper 2 tsp. Dijon mustard 1/4 c. cold water Preheat the oven to 350. Pat the chops dry with some paper towel. Sprinkle them liberally with the salt and spices and allow them to warm up to room temperature while you start the quinoa and chop the cauliflower. Place the oil in your pan, but do not pre-heat the pan. Add the chops to the pan and place them on the stove. Heat the pan up to medium, turning the chop

Graphic pig pictures below! >>

Miele Steam Oven Pulled Pork

I've been debating whether I should post some of these more niche recipes--now that we have a steam oven and a high powered stove, I am making recipes that not everyone can reproduce with other equipment. I've decided to post some of them 1) for my own records, and 2) because there are very few recipes available online for these devices (especially the steam oven). Perhaps these recipes will be of use to others. I don't have a photo for this one because I decided to post the recipe after the fact. 3-5 lb pork shoulder roast (~3 lb without bone, ~5 lb with) 1 large white onion, 1/4" slices 1 Tbsp. butter 1 chicken boullion cube 1 c. water 2 tsp. dried thyme 1 tsp. dried sage 1 tsp. whole coriander 1 Tbsp. coarse ground salt 1 Tbsp. brown sugar 1 tsp. dry mustard 1 tsp. white pepper 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. cayenne 1/4 tsp. allspice 1/4 tsp. celery seed Saute the onions in the butter in a saute pan over medium for 10 min until the onions are somewha

Graphic pig pictures below! >>

Quick Turkey Meatballs

For various reasons, Melanie likes ground turkey more than ground beef, and so I've been making turkey meatballs a lot. Obviously the problem with turkey is that it can be really dry since it's so lean, but one day we made a random hippy turkey burger recipe and it taught us the he secret to making ground turkey not be gross: ground mushrooms! If you grind up the mushrooms and mix them in, they kind of cook away but keep whatever you're cooking moist and give that umami flavor that's also missing from turkey. People who don't like mushrooms won't notice their presence at all unless they're specifically looking for them. This recipe is also designed to cook up really really quickly - you can have these done in the time it takes you to boil the water for the noodles. The spices are loosely based on Lillian's meatball recipe but only use dry spices for convenience. They still come out a little dry, but especially with a wetter sauce (marinara, vodka, etc.

Graphic pig pictures below! >>

Extra Schmaltz!

Search This Blog