Obsessed! In the best possible way!

I had a pin on Pinterest for a link to something called "quick ramen bowl."  It looked good, greens, mushrooms, scallions, sriracha, an egg, ramen.  All the stuff I love.  I never really looked at it, which I am kind of famous for when it comes to Pinterest.  I tend to go, "Ooh!" and forget to look at it again, unless it's one of my cake boards which I refer to almost daily when I'm at work.  I was thinning out a board that got bogged down with too many subjects and I came across the link.  I went to the blog and... it sounds crazy, but... my life is changed!

I have been trying to save money and cut down on my grocery bill in particular.  I burn a lot of calories at work.  Like in the "just ran a marathon" category.  I'm hungry All. The. Time.  Figuring this out has helped me realize what I need to do to lose weight (hello, starvation mode! eat more!) so lately, my grocery bill has become astronomical.  What to do?  What to do?  I've found some good resources for budgeting at meal time, but a lot of those folks don't eat like I do.  No offense, really!  It's just that the bulk of my groceries are from the produce department.  And I eat a lot of Asian food.  A lot.  I also don't have kids, and many of those blogs are geared towards family-friendly meal time.  Soooo, enter Budget Bytes.  What's the first thing I make?  The Dragon Noodles, of course!  I made a couple changes, but I don't think it got me too far off the $1.02 cost per serving!  (Whattt?)  I added a bag of frozen stir fry veggies that were $1 at Kroger and an extra egg.  I needed a bit more sauce, so when I made it the second time, I used a little fish sauce and and a little garlic chile sauce.  It gave it a little more of a Vietnamese flavor than just straight up "burn down the house."  I also used angel hair pasta because I had a half of a box which was perfect for this.  Dudes, this was easily one of the best things I've made recently.  And it took 10 minutes.  It had the perfect amount of heat for me and was filling!


Do yourself (and your wallet!) a favor and hit up Budget Bytes for a recipe or 15.

I was half way through the bowl of noodles before I realized I needed to document the deliciousness.

Chicken with Spicy Black Bean Sauce and Stir-fried Vegetables

I'm definitely feeling much better. Whatever bug I caught turned into bronchitis (free gift with purchase?) which is why I was so sick. Thankfully I'm feeling better since I'm getting on a plane at 6AM tomorrow to head to Detroit Rock City to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday! Ninety! Amazing! Can you imagine all of the changes she's seen in her life? It's mind-boggling, really.

As promised, here are the recipes from my class. This was SO good. I can't wait to make it again. Now, the recipe calls for chicken, but I believe this would be equally tasty with beef, pork, or shrimp. I added the sambal oelek because I was in the mood for spicy. I recommend adding sambal rather than the garlic chili version because the sambal is just chiles and nothing else. It's available in Asian markets everywhere. It'll keep forever in the fridge. Do let me know if you make this. I'd love to hear what you think.

Chicken and Snowpeas in Black Bean Sauce, 4 servings

2# (about 8 ounces each) Chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1 Egg white
6 fl oz Chinese rice wine
2 TBSP Cornstarch
2 fl oz Soy sauce
2 tsp Granulate sugar
2 Onions, small
4 fl oz Peanut oil (or any flavorless oil)
1 TBSP Garlic, minced
2 tsp Fresh ginger, minced
3 TBSP Fermented black beans, mashed
4 oz Snow peas, fresh
To Taste (TT) Sambal Oelek

1. Slice chicken into thin strips, about 1" x 1/4".
2. Combine the egg white, one third of the wine, and 1 TBSP of cornstarch. Add chicken, refrigerate for 2 hours.
3. For the sauce, mix the soy sauce, sugar, remaining wine, and cornstarch.
4. Quarter the onions, separate the layers.
5. Stir-fry the chicken in 3 fl oz of oil. Remove and set aside.
6. If necessary, add the remaining oil and stir-fry the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add the onions and mashed beans and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the snow peas and cook for one minute.
7. Return the chicken to the pan, add the sauce mixture and stir-fry until hot and the sauce has thickened.
8. Serve immediately with rice.

Notes:

-In the steps that ask you to add cornstarch to liquid, MIX WELL! Cornstarch gets lumpy when introduced to liquid. It may be helpful to use very clean fingers to break up the lumps.

-On the day we made this, we were out of Chinese rice wine in the kitchens. We used rice wine vinegar instead. I think I'd do it again. It gave this dish a nice tanginess that helped to round out the flavor. The choice is yours.

-When you remove your chicken from the marinade, pat it dry.

-I also added baby corn, which was good as well.

Stir-fried Asparagus with Shiitake Mushrooms, 4 servings

1# Asparagus
6 oz. Shiitake mushrooms
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 TBSP sesame oil
2 tsp garlic, chopped
4 fl. oz. oyster sauce
TT crushed red chiles, optional

1. Wash the asparagus, trim the ends, and slice on the bias into 1-2" pieces.
2. Wash the mushrooms, trim off the stems, slice the caps into 1/2" slices.
3. Heat the oils in a wok or saute pan.
4. Add the garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds.
5. Add the asparagus and mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute.
6. Add the oyster sauce (and crushed red chiles if used) and continue to stir-fry until the asparagus is nearly tender, approximately 3 minutes.

Notes:

-If you are unfamiliar with oyster sauce, it's wicked salty. I found that in step 6, it was helpful to add some chicken stock. It toned down the saltiness and the stickiness of the cooked oyster sauce. I definitely recommend it.

-Feel free to add other veggies here. I added eggplant too. Tasty!

Fried tofu...how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I live in North Carolina. For those of you who don't know, it gets hot here. Really, really hot and humid. Just so you know I'm not being overly dramatic here, last August we didn't have a single day under 100 degrees. We've already had a couple 100 degree days. When it's that hot out I don't want to eat. Except maybe a tomato sandwich. A nice whole grain bread, mayo, salt and pepper and slices of tomatoes. Yum. It's officially tomato season here, you know. I never liked tomatoes until I moved to North Carolina. Now I can't get enough of them. On a summer day in tomato season you'll see tons of tomatoes at the Farmer's Market...Big Boys, German Johnsons, green tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, ugly tomatoes, tiny grape tomatoes, you name it they grow it. The best part is that they all come from a distance of less than 45 minutes away. If you're really lucky, you might get some picked that day that are still warm from the sun. But I digress. I did hit the ol' Farmer's Market the other day and have tons of fixins for salads. I'll be posting my recipes shortly.

This was dinner tonight. Dalat vermicelli with fried tofu. I may have spoken before how I love Asian food. Vietnamese is one of my favorites. I always feel really good after I eat Vietnamese food. What we have here is one of my favorite dishes.
Any good Vietnamese joint ought to have a cold vermicelli dish. It couldn't be more simple. You could totally make something like this at home. It's cooked then cooled rice vermicelli. Just like the vermicelli you get in the pasta aisle, it's a long skinny noodle but it's made with rice flour. It's either served beside or on top of a little salad of lettuce, carrot, cucumbers, sometimes daikon radish and green onions. The noodles are then topped with something. Most places have a list of things like grilled pork, shrimp, grilled chicken, tofu (fried or grilled), egg rolls (a Vietnamese version, much lighter than a Chinese egg roll), and you can usually choose a combination of these. It's usually garnished with crushed peanuts, sprigs of cilantro and maybe sauteed green onions if they're fancy. (Beware peanut-free people...steer clear of Vietnamese food. It's pretty peanutty.) It's served with a sauce too. I've almost always have a clear light yellow sauce, based on fish sauce and vinegar I think. It looks suspiciously like a urine sample when you get it to go. (What? I'm just sayin' is all.) Tonight I got the thick red peanutty sauce that I love more than life itself. It's heavy enough on the fish sauce that Elvis went nuts while I was trying to eat it. (PS. He likes rice noodles now.) (He's so international.) I opted for the fried tofu because I love the texture. It's really soft inside and crispy outside. The tofu was topped with a sweet and salty sauce that just about did me in. Seriously, it's good. I ordered a small for $8.50 and got so much food it was all I could do to hold it while I was eating it. If you're within driving distance of Raleigh, you need to hit Dalat, south of NCSU in the Mission Valley Shopping Center. It's upstairs next to Baja Burrito. Be sure to ask for a to go box too. You'll need it.

Orange Pepper Tofu

I have recently discovered the Kroger near me. On my last shopping trip, I found a brick of my favorite tofu brand (Nasoya Organic) for 88 cents because the expiration date was five days away. This is the tofu that's almost $4 at Whole Foods. Score!

1 brick extra firm tofu
1 red onion
1 each red, yellow, green bell pepper
1 Anaheim pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
------------------------
2 TBSP good horseradish mustard
juice of two oranges, with some pulp
1/4 soy sauce
1/4 seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin

Cut tofu into 1" blocks, coat in oil and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, depending on oven. Turn half way through.

Slice all veggies into 1/4" slices. Be sure to remove seeds and ribs from peppers.

Juice oranges, adding mustard, soy, vinegar, cinnamon, and cumin. Mix well with whisk.

Saute peppers and onion on high for five minutes. Add tofu and saute for another two minutes. Add sauce and toss well. Use 1 TBSP cornstarch mixed with 1 TBSP of water to thicken sauce.

Serve immediately over steamed rice.

Notes:

I have recently discovered that baking tofu gives a nicer texture and makes the tofu easier to saute. You may want to double the sauce and marinate the tofu overnight before baking. I've said before I have a wacky oven. The temperature is dead on, but for some reason stuff takes longer to cook. You're baking this until the tofu is golden brown and crispy on the top and bottom.

This came out spicer than I was expecting, but I like it. In Googling chile pepper varieties to jog my memory about the kind I used here, I found this database. Impressive!

I only had a grainy, deli mustard on hand. It has a nice horseradish quality to it. If you have a real Chinese yellow mustard, you may want to reduce the amount to 1 TBSP since they are usually more potent.

I am not a fan of five-spice powder. If you are, skip the cinnamon and cumin and use that instead.

The Chinese typically use peanut oil for stir-fry, since it has a much higher smoke point that other oils.

This is so good, I'm going back for seconds.

Barley Salad with Arugula

I made this dinner this evening. I've made it before, with inspiration from the Big Boss Beer Dinner at Zely+Ritz last month. This is great on it's own, or could be good with sliced grilled flank steak or even grilled shrimp if you're so inclined.

salad:
2 cups cooked pearl barley
4 cups fresh, washed baby arugula (or rocket, rocket lettuce)
1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms, raw
----
dressing:
1/2 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar (seasoned is better than non-seasoned)
1/2 cup mushroom flavored soy sauce (regular soy could work too)
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

Combine barley, mushrooms, and arugula in a large serving bowl.
Combine vinegar and soy in bowl, whisk in oil. Pour on salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

If you are going to make this ahead, reserve dressing on the side and combine before serving. To do so otherwise will wilt your arugula. :P Bleh.

Notes:
I like to cook the barley in a large pot with more water than necessary. I find it keeps the barley from becoming gluey.

If you use regular arugula, you may wish to tear in half to make it more manageable when served.

Shiitake mushrooms are best, but expensive. Cremini, or baby portobello, are good too.