Thai Salmon Curry

 My son-in-law made this for me first

from a Christian Science Monitor recipe.

Simply pretty amazing

In a deep skillet, heat

• 2 tsp peanut oil

Add

• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips

and cook one minute.

Stir in

• 1 (14 fl.oz.) can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 Tbs freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbs brown sugar (or palm sugar or turbinado)
• 2 Tbs fish sauce
• 2 Tbs red curry paste
• 2 Tbs lime juice

Place skin down in pan and bring to a boil

• 1 lb fresh salmon fillets

then reduce heat and cover. Simmer 5 minutes.

Add to pan

• 3 scallions, sliced into 3-inch pieces

and cook 2 -5 minutes more.

Stir in, just before serving

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• 2 Tbs chopped cilantro
• 1 -2 minced Thai bird chiles

Serve with

• Steamed jasmine rice
• Steamed green beans
• 3 - 4 lime wedges

Kung-pao Stir-fry

Just yum.  
Also very veggie.

                     

chicken marinade

1 Tablespoon pineapple juice

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

½ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon pepper

2 chicken breasts, diced (alternatively, tofu chunks, marinate overnight)

1 Tablespoon peanut oil

1.       Combine juice, starch, salt, and pepper. 

2.       Add chicken and oil, stirring to coat.

3.       Let stand 15 minutes.

cooking sauce:

2 Tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce)

1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar

2-3 teaspoons cornstarch

(optional coconut milk)

¼ cup liquid: pineapple juice, mandarin juice, a touch of honey; or broth or water with 2 tsp sugar

1.       Mix and put aside.

stir fry:

3-4 cups vegetables, chunked: broccoli, carrots, bok choy, onions, celery, cauliflower, green beans, etc.

4-6 small dried hot chili peppers

½ cup peanuts or cashews

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

2 green onions

(optional: pineapple chunks, mandarin oranges, bean sprouts, water chestnuts)

3 Tablespoons peanut oil

1.     Heat wok over medium heat.  Add 1T oil. 

2.     Add hot peppers and nuts, stirring until peppers just barely char.  Remove and set aside.

3.     Add 2T oil, heat to high.

4.     Add ginger and chicken, stir fry until chicken is opaque (3 min).

5.     Add raw vegetables and stir fry.

6.     Add peppers, nuts, green onions and optional fruit, etc. 

7.     Stir cooking sauce and add to pan until sauce bubbles and thickens.

8.     Serve with rice.  (Brown basmati is best.)

Makes 4-6 servings

Mujdara / Brown Rice and Lentils

When I stir in buttermilk I call this Syrian Mujdara, 

when I use milk I call it Lentils and Rice.

Both ways my family calls it YUM.

adapted from Andrea Chesman's

365 Delicious Ways to Cook Rice, Beans, and Grains

which is the one recipe book I would want if I could have only one.

1 cup dried green or brown lentils, rinsed

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cup uncooked brown basmati rice

2 ¾ to 3 ¼ cups water

1 Tablespoon olive oil

3 onions, thinly sliced in rings

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 ¼ cups buttermilk, kefir, yogurt or whole milk

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In medium saucepan, cover lentils with water by about 3 inches and add ½ teaspoon salt.  Bring to boil, then reduce to gentle boil and cook until lentils tender but still hold their shape, about 25 minutes.  Drain lentils a little if too much water remains.
2. While lentils cook, combine rice, the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and the water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered, until rice is tender and the water has been absorbed, 15 to 30 minutes.
3. While rice and lentils cook, heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a large saucepan.  Add the onions and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions are golden, about 7 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
4. Add the cooked lentils and rice to the onions.  Add buttermilk or other milk to moisten and bind mixture.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

  

Delicious served over spears of romaine lettuce with a blue cheese vinaigrette to the side.

Asparagus Basil Risotto

Ah! This dish is pure spring to me. Elegant and refined and utterly delicious. We make it to celebrate Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, when Jesus entered Jerusalem and was hailed as King.  Asparagus Basil Risotto is the ideal choice, firstly because I love asparagus. It reminds me of my grandma who grew it out along the ditch bank. And secondly, because what says spring so well as this sweet green sprouting grass? And thirdly, asparagus looks so much like a king's scepter and in Greek basileus = king, so asparagus-basil anything seems almost divinely designed for our feast to welcome in Easter's King. 

 I love especially the responsiveness and delicacy of this recipe, the required admiring of its colors and scents,  not to mention the "Keep tasting" section. We began making this with a recipe from Healthy Mediterranean Cooking by Rena Salaman and have made a few adjustments to satisfy our own palates.

Cut the tips from

14 oz. asparagus, trimmed of hard stems

and set aside the tips.  Cut each stalk in two and cook in plenty of lightly salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. Drop asparagus tips in boiling water, 30 seconds only.  Remove with slotted spoon. Turn the boiling asparagus cooking water down to simmer. Place just over half of the asparagus stalk pieces in blender with

3 Tablespoons cream a few basil leaves with their stems

and 2-3 Tablespoons of asparagus cooking liquid.  Blend into a light green velvety sauce and set aside. Chop the remaining stalk pieces into thin rounds and set aside. Heat a heavy skillet and add

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Sauté

1 medium onion, finely chopped4-5 green onions, coarsely chopped

until just wilted. Add gradually

14 oz. risotto rice (a short-grained type like arborio)

stirring over a gentle heat until well coated in oil. Add

½ cup white cooking wine

once absorbed, start adding by ladleful

8 cups hot chicken stock

and ½ cup of the asparagus cooking liquid.  Keep stirring to prevent rice from sticking.

After about 25 minutes -- when rice has doubled in volume, is losing its chalky color and is becoming soft -- season to taste and add the blended asparagus sauce.  Stir the sauce gently into the risotto, which will turn a lovely pale green color.  Simmer for 10 minutes more.  Keep tasting the rice at this step in order to catch it at the desired moment.  It should be soft outside but firm in the middle, with a very creamy appearance.  Add more liquid if necessary. 

Once risotto is ready, add

salt and freshly ground pepper

to taste and gently stir in

a couple handsful of basil leaves, roughly torn - reserving a few pretty leaves for garnishand 2 oz. grated parmesan

plus the asparagus rounds and half the tips.  Mix gently, cover and remove from heat.  It can now wait for 5 minutes but no more. Empty onto a warm platter, scatter the remaining asparagus tips over the top, garnish with a few more basil leaves and serve with a bowl of

1 - 2 oz. of grated parmesan

And for dessert . . .

Lemon Cakes with Basil Lemon Syrup 

is simply divine and very Kingly.

Civil Rice for Human Beans : Black Beans & Brown Rice

Traditional at our house for Martin Luther King Day, 

this is a simple and simply delicious way to eat black beans and rice.

based on a recipe in Andrea Chesman's 

 365 Delicious Ways to Cook Rice, Beans, and Grains

BEANS
1 cup dried black beans, rinsed and soaked overnight in 4 cups water then drained

6 cups water

2 dried chipotle chiles

2 bay leaves 

RICE

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves

1 (15-oz) can diced tomatoes

 1 (3-oz) jar chopped pimientos, drained

½  cup long-grain white rice
½ cup long-grain brown rice -- jasmine (basmati) is best!

1 ¾ cups water

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1. Combine drained beans and 6 cups fresh water, chiles, and bay leaves in crockpot (or large saucepan) on HIGH for first hour, then reduce to LOW for 5 hours.  (Or bring to boil, partially covered, then reduce heat and boil gently until beans tender, not mushy, about 1 hour).  
2. Drain beans, discarding chiles and bay leaves
3. Heat olive oil.  Saute onion until limp, 3 minutes.
4. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
5. Add tomatoes and pimientos another 1 minute.
6. Stir in uncooked rice, cooked beans, water and salt.
7. Cover and bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until most of the water absorbed, about 15 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and stir with a fork.  Crumple a clean kitchen towel over the rice.  Replace cover and let sit for 5 minutes.