M & J’s Fresh Stir-Fry with a Thai Twist

To continue our ‘eat as many fresh veggies as we possibly can in each meal cleanse’ (if you really want to call it that) after our NYC vacation, we made a really tasty stir fry. No recipe, no cookbooks, just any and everything we had that would work in a stir fry. Ok, to be fair, we usually make a stir fry of sorts at least once a week, so we do consciously buy particular veggies for that when we make our grocery trips. But most of those veggies are quite versatile and can be used in a number of different dishes throughout the week. For this I sautéed some carrots and onion in a little olive oil with cracked black pepper and white pepper for a few minutes, then added the celery, green and red bell pepper, snap peas, mushrooms, green onion, Thai chili peppers, sliced ginger root and garlic. I stirred them all together constantly for only a couple more minutes (I like it when they’re still crunchy and barely cooked in a stir fry), added a few shakes of fish sauce and this great hot Thai vinegar my mom gave us, and then they were done!

At the same time, James diced the chicken and sautéed it in 2 separate batches in some oil on high heat. He picked this tip up from recipes he’s made from our Pok Pok thai cookbook and it seemed to work great – the chicken was tender, juicy, yet cooked thoroughly. We threw the chicken in with the veggies, stirred it all together, then served it with some Thai egg noodles topped with peanuts, Thai basil leaves and a little lime. It was delicious…. light, hot, flavorful and healthy. Just what we needed.

Since dark chocolate is also quite healthy in many ways, we happily finished our meal off with a couple breaks off of a Mast Brother’s Vanilla & Smoke chocolate bars. We picked it up while walking around Brooklyn last week as that’s one of our must-pop-in-to places each time we go. Their hand crafted chocolates are delicious, each one containing a unique blend of flavors. I highly recommend grabbing a bar if you’re ever in their area… and if not, they thankfully also now carry a few varieties of them in Harvest Grocery right here in RVA!

Post-Vacation Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Pear, & Blue Cheese

We took a little hiatus from our everyday working (and cooking) routines/lives last week and made a nice Springtime trip up to the Big Apple. It was a great trip visiting with good friends, walking a LOT, and of course checking out new streets, shops, restaurants, and bars around Brooklyn & Manhattan. It was quite refreshing to get away for a few days and left us coming home reminded of how important it is to take the time to travel, visit with good friends you don’t see often, and experience other places and lifestyles. Other than cooking, traveling is probably our most favorite thing to do together.

Naturally one of our favorite things to do while traveling is try the food of the land we’re in. During this trip to NYC we ate some amazing hot buns (little yeast rolls filled with things like roasted tomatoes & fontina cheese or mushrooms & parmesan) – side note: we will DEFINITELY be attempting to make those at some point in the future!, fried chicken that rivaled much that I’ve had in the South, an extremely savory grilled cheese made with raisin walnut bread for brunch, authentic tacos prepared by guys who stand in an old VW bus and pass them through the window, and of course an amazing dinner at the NYC Pok Pok (the 2nd to open after the success of their Portland location which we visited last year and loved… hence all of our Thai cooking from the Pok Pok cookbook we had to purchase).

After this trip, like most vacays, we were a little excited to get back to the kitchen for some home cooking with lots of fresh, natural, de-toxing ingredients (not to discount our eating choices in the city because we loved every bit of it). Our first meal – pictured here – was a salad. This may seem like quite an obvious choice, but we actually don’t eat many salads for dinner so it was a branch-out choice for us. (We prefer stir-frys, soups, pasta salads, or just straight sautéing veggies and eating them by themselves when we are wanting a veggie-ful meal). One of our good friends makes this salad every time we get together and we both love it. I was actually craving it for about a week after the last time we got together!

So alas, here is our first blog post on a salad, made with local hydroponic bib lettuce,  blue cheese, sliced pear, toasted walnuts (in a pan on low on the stove top for a few minutes with a little olive oil), and dried cranberries. It’s all the right flavors paired together in a wonderful healthy way. We had a couple slices of bread on the side because the loaf just looked too good to pass up – and neither of us are too against a little bread in our life (see previous posts “Hearth Bread” and “Bagels” if you need further proof). It was delicious. We felt like we had done our bodies a favor after all of the wonderful food splurging of the prior week. Cheers!

Sauteed Veggies with Orecchietti

I feel like all of my recent posts have been quick/easy/go-to meals, but that’s because we’ve been such busy bees lately now that Spring has finally arrived and we can emerge from our winter hibernation! Pasta salad of any sort is definitely a go-to for us, and even better when we can throw a bunch of yummy seasonal veggies in. While it’s still a little early for most of the good stuff, we still picked up a few assorted vegs on our most recent grocery trip that will have to hold us over until all the summertime faves are out. For this easy dish I sautéed some chopped yellow squash, zucchini, red and green bell pepper with garlic, olive oil, cracked black pepper, white pepper, crushed red pepper and a little lemon pepper seasoning. I know, lots of pepper. Maybe that’s why we both thought it tasted spicier than it looked? I only cooked these for a couple of minutes so they would maintain some of their fresh crispness, then mixed with some cooked orecchietti pasta, parmesan and feta cheese, and a ton of fresh basil.

This dish was light, fresh, quick, simple, and super tasty… what more could we ask for?! Well, some fresh bread to go along with it of course.  Earlier in the day, we stopped by one of our local markets and picked up a loaf of fresh baked bread by Sub Rosa bakery – a local favorite which we hadn’t tried yet but had heard great things. Turns out the hear-say was on point – this loaf was delicious… crisp on the outside, soft on the inside (I mean just look at it.. that’s a beautiful loaf!). We dipped it in a little Organic Garlic olive oil (see previous post “Oils & Vinegars”) mixed with a touch of balsamic vinegar, cracked black pepper and salt. And just to add one more local fave to the list.. a pale ale from local brewery Center of the Universe. This meal just screamed ‘Helllooooo Spring’!

Red Beans & Rice with Andouille Sausage

Red beans and rice is a favorite of ours, and a really simple go-to weeknight meal that we therefore end up having at least once every couple weeks. It of course consists of rice – that we usually cook with a little cumin and coriander seed for extra flavor – and red kidney beans, but whatever else goes into it usually just depends on what we have on hand or are in the mood for (check out previous post “Red Beans and Rice with Shrimp” for another variation). This time we threw in a little green and red bell pepper, onion, garlic, and the real winner – Andouille sausage. SO good. Takes me straight to Cajun country. I just love it. So anyways, James cooked all these things up in a pan with a little olive oil, and by the time the rice was done so was the veggie/bean/sausage mixture. I topped it with a little cilantro and ended up not even needing the Tabasco thanks to an awesome blend of spices that J added to the mix. We both thought this was an extra tasty batch of RB&R… I could have eaten it for days. Don’t be surprised to see yet another red beans & rice post in the coming weeks!

Western Omelet

Some days I wake up and I know exactly what I want for breakfast (on the weekends of course, because during the week it’s just the quickest thing I can grab usually). This morning I woke up wanting an omelet – an omelet with a whole bunch of veggies in it. Since James is pretty much an omelet-making pro (and luckily was also in the mood for one!), he got to mixing the eggs while I started chopping the veggies… onion, green and red bell pepper, mushrooms, and a little ham which we had on hand and was a perfect addition. James threw some Feta and shredded cheddar cheese in there as well, then topped it with some fresh basil from our new basil plant. You can see the difference between a 2 and 3 egg omelet in the pic…. it’s a big one! This certainly satisfied my omelet craving…. for this weekend at least 🙂

Coconut Banana Smoothie

James and I were having a very busy productive Saturday and I needed something quick, easy, and satisfying to keep me fueled so I decided to make one of my favorite smoothies. Though this time I added a couple extra things just to see how it would turn out. Well, it turned out pretty good! I think the peanut butter-banana-oat will always be my stand-by (see previous post “Banana-PB-Oat Smoothie”), but this was a nice twist with the addition of coconut… and even a little cocoa powder!

London Broil with Kale and Corn Pudding

James and I both went to Virginia Tech. We didn’t know each other there but we swear we probably bumped into each other once or twice – especially since he worked for a little while at one of my favorite dining halls that I frequented. One of the best things you could get at that place was the London Broil… sliced into thin tender strips and served with some amazing homestyle sides like mashed potatoes and a broiled tomato with cheese. All Hokies know what I’m talking about.

So here we are now, two Hokies living and cooking together, sharing an affinity for that Blacksburg London Broil. So of course this is something we’ve talked about making for a while – and this weekend, we finally did. James found a recipe online for a marinade that sounded really tasty so he replicated that with Worcestershire, Dijon mustard, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, oilve oil, Blood Orange Olive Oil (see previous post “Oils & Vinegars” for more info on that) and a whole heap of various savory herbs. The slab of meat marinated in that all day. When we were ready to start cookin, James seared each side of the meat in a cast iron pan on the stove top for a few minutes, then placed the pan (oh the glory of cast iron pans) in the oven for about 15 minutes. This allowed the meat to cook just enough (to about a medium or medium rare doneness level) while trapping all the flavorful juices inside. It came out perfect; super juicy and tender, and really flavorful. James also made a gravy-like sauce out of the leftover marinade, a little flour and butter, and some sauteed mushrooms.

For the sides, we sauteed some kale that we had on hand with a sliced carrot, some fresh garlic, and a little olive oil. I had been craving my mom’s recipe for corn pudding for some time, and had the ingredients on hand, but we hadn’t made the right meal to make it with until now. It was a perfect sweet addition to the savory meat and kickin’ kale.

This meal was not only delicious but allowed us to relive our glorious college days for a little while in each bite.

Lemon Orzo Salad with Chickpeas & Dill

This pasta salad is light, super easy to make, and can be customized to include basically anything you want. The recipe came from my step mom who I think originally got it from Cooking Light. The main ingredient is the orzo which is a nice small pasta shape that doesn’t fill you up quite like other pastas do, making it perfect for summertime salads. After cooking the orzo and letting it cool for a few minutes, I added in some chopped green onion, crumbled Feta cheese, chickpeas, and fresh dill. I poured a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, cracked black pepper, and a little crushed red pepper over top then mixed it all together and it was ready.

This is also an easy recipe to make in advance… I made this batch for a bridal shower the evening before. The flavors were able to marry and it just needed a quick tossing before serving. I had some of the leftovers (FYI, using one whole box of orzo makes enough to feed a family for a week probably!) for dinner with some shrimp sautéed with garlic and Cayenne olive oil (see previous post “Oils and Vinegars for more info on that) and it was delicious!

Stir-Fried Chicken with Hot Basil over Sticky Rice, Thai Brussel Sprouts, & Papaya Salad

All of these dishes are some of our most favorites from the Pok Pok cookbook (see previous post “Stir Fried Thai Chicken & Brussel Sprouts”), so when we have all three in one meal it’s just like Thai heaven to us. The papaya salad has been mentioned a few times on the blog already (see previous post “Thai”), so I won’t go into too much detail on that except that it is definitely an easy, healthy, and super tasty (& hot!) dish to enjoy anytime. I’m sure it will be showing up even more now that the weather is getting warmer.

The Thai stir fried brussel sprouts are another blog regular…. they are so easy, and a nice twist on the typical steamed or sautéed brussel sprouts we have. Just chop, steam for a minute or two, then throw in a hot oiled pan and sauté for a few minutes with garlic, Thai chile peppers, and a mixture of soy sauce, fish sauce, and oyster sauce, and a little sugar (sounds weird, but is so good).  The chicken is cooked pretty much the same minus the steaming… sautéed for a few minutes with chopped green beans, Thai chile peppers, garlic, and a light sauce of fish sauce, soy sauce, and a little sugar. Once the chicken is cooked and cools for a minute or so, the Thai basil is added in. Sometimes I think I could eat straight leaves of Thai basil… I just love it’s flavorful heat! We’ve been cooking so much Thai lately that we bought our own Thai basil plant… now hopefully James doesn’t catch me eating the leaves off of it before using them for cooking!

We served the stir-fried chicken over sticky rice (it’s own variety of rice, eaten a lot with various Asian dishes), which for the first time I prepared (with James’ guidance of course). We let the rice soak in a bowl of water while we were at work all day, then rinsed it a few times in a colander, packed it nice and tight in a  piece of cheesecloth, then let it steam in a large rice steamer (a bamboo basket over a large pot of boiling water). After letting the wrapped rice patty steam for apx. 25 minutes and flipping it over half way through, it’s ready to eat. The sticky rice has a great consistency (sticky… imagine that) which makes it easy to eat with your hands. We have yet to try this, but will one day I’m sure. For dessert, we mixed the leftover sticky rice with a little coconut milk over low-medium heat on the stove, added half a Pandan leaf for flavor (found in Asian markets), then served with mango and sesame seeds. See previous post “Thai” for pics. This is also one of our faves and we’re pretty proud to say we’ve perfected the taste after making it a few times and adjusting the various ingredient amounts from what the recipe calls for.

Homemade Red Sauce over Orecchiette

There’s nothing better than smelling a pot of something homemade and delicious simmering on the stove all day and knowing you’re going to have a really awesome meal when it’s ready. That’s precisely what this day was like: a rainy Sunday that we spent doing Spring cleaning, moving furniture around the apartment and other household tasks. We knew we wanted to reward ourselves at the end of the day so we decided to make a homemade red pasta sauce – one of both of our most favorite things in life – and let it simmer while we worked. Simmer it did, make our apartment smell like a small kitchen in Italy it did, and satisfy our craving for a little taste of Italy in our freshly cleaned, newly arranged Richmond home it did.

James cooked the ground hot Italian sausage first and set it aside while I chopped all of the veggies shown above. He threw the veggies in a large pot with some olive oil and let them cook a minute or two, then added the sausage, a large can of crushed tomatoes and a little tomato paste. He stirred all of those together and sprinkled in your basic Italian herbs and spices… basil, oregano, black and white pepper, thyme, etc. The pot was left to simmer for a few hours and stirred every now and then.

After our hard work was complete, we sat down to a delicious, exquisitely homemade just-the-way-we-like-it sauce over some orecchiette pasta which is just such a fun shape and a nice variation from the typical spaghetti noodle, and also holds the sauce really well. The flavors were perfect and paired wonderfully with a bottle of Cabernet Franc that we had been waiting to enjoy with the right meal since picking it up at Barboursville Vineyard when we visited it last fall. All in all, a pretty perfect meal to finish off a productive rainy day indoors!