Thai-Style Quinoa Salad

This is a nicely versatile quinoa salad--throw it together quickly and easily at dinner time and eat it warm, or put it together earlier in the day and serve it cold.  It makes a great main dish, but you could also serve it as a side.  The happy colors in the salad are a great way to brighten up a cold, winter day but would also look lovely for a summer picnic.  However you choose to enjoy this salad, just give it a try!

Thai-Style Quinoa Salad

Number of Servings: 6
Time to Prepare: 20 minutes

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 3 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
• 4 tsp rice vinegar
• 4 tsp canned coconut milk
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp peanut butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tsp lime juice
• pinch of ground ginger
• 1 cup cooked, cubed chicken
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup shelled edamame
• 1/3 cup chopped red pepper
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro

Rinse quinoa and drain well.  Put in small pan with chicken broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the liquid has all been absorbed (about 15-20 minutes).

While the quinoa cooks, whisk together the sweet chili sauce, rice vinegar, coconut milk, brown sugar, peanut butter, garlic, lime juice, and ground ginger.

When the quinoa is done, scoop it into a large bowl.  Pour the sauce over it and mix well.  Add in the chicken, carrots, edamame, red pepper, green onion, peanuts, and cilantro, stirring to combine.  Serve warm or chilled.

Source: adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Produce Used: Garlic, lime, carrots, edamame, red pepper, green onion, cilantro

Sweet Chili Edamame

I know some people are hating on soy lately, but man do I love edamame.  The bright, happy green always livens up my plate.  And getting a little dirty eating it with my hands kind of makes me feel like a kid again.  Plus, when you get the little microwavable bags from Costco, it is SO easy to prepare.  I've been trying to experiment with different ways to serve it so I randomly threw this one together the other day and we absolutely loved it.  So much so that I made it again just a few days later (repeating a recipe that soon after making it once almost never happens around here).  The sweet chili sauce pairs so nicely with the garlic and you get this great sweet and tangy flavor going on.  Just try it, you'll see what I mean.

Sweet Chili Edamame

Number of Servings: 4
Time to Prepare: 15 minutes

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 9 oz frozen (in shell) edamame
• 1 Tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce
• kosher salt

Melt butter in a small saute pan over medium-low heat.  Stir in garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 8 minutes.

While the garlic browns, cook the edamame according to the package instructions.

Place cooked edamame in a small serving bowl.  Scrape butter and garlic into the bowl.  Add Thai sweet chili sauce and stir to combine.  Season with kosher salt to taste.

Source: Myself
Produce Used: Garlic, edamame

Brown Sugar Bacon Edamame

Ok, guys, I'm seriously drooling just thinking about these.  I have some leftovers in the fridge (I can't even tell you the amount of restraint it took to actually have any left over) and I may just have to bust those out as soon as I'm done writing this up.  The brown sugar bacon in this recipe is to die for.  SERIOUSLY.  I know I just used all caps, like I'm yelling at you or something.  That's how good this is.  Finger-licking, stealing bacon crumbles off the four-year-old's plate, don't share with anybody good.  Just try it.  You'll understand.

Brown Sugar Bacon Edamame

Number of Servings: 3-4
Time to Prepare: 35 minutes

• 1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp honey mustard
• 6 slices bacon
• 9 oz frozen edamame
• 2 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, chili powder, and honey mustard in a large Ziploc bag.  Add bacon and rub brown sugar mixture into the bacon slices.  Lay bacon slices on a cooling rack placed in a baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Let cool slightly, then remove from cooling rack and chop.

While bacon cooks, cook edamame according to package directions (I buy the ones at Costco that you can just microwave straight in the bag).

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and stir to combine.  Cook, stirring constantly, until brown sugar is mostly dissolved, then stir in edamame.  Continue cooking, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until edamame is glazed with brown sugar sauce.  Stir in bacon and cook for 5 more minutes, continuing to stir, then serve.

Source: inspired by Food Network
Produce Used: Edamame

Asian Slaw with Ginger Peanut Dressing

Is it just me or is the freezer never big enough to fit everything you want to put in it?  I feel like there are tons of things out there that people always recommend freezing (homemade chicken/vegetable broth, herb cubes, pesto, homemade burritos or taquitos, etc.) but it seems like my freezer is always jam packed full of food.  And I don't even have any ice cream in there right now!  The point of all this being that I have a handful of recipes requiring edamame that I've been wanting to try, but the edamame we usually buy comes in a giant freezer bag at Costco.  So I've been slowly working my way through some freezer stuff to try to make room for the edamame and I finally did it!  So this recipe might seem similar to the last recipe I posted.  It is.  But it's also different enough that it is totally worth having both of these in your recipe box.  (Do people still have actual recipe boxes?)  This is more of a side dish, as opposed to the entree salad from the last post and the sauce/dressing has a hint more spiciness and nice ginger undertone to it.  Just like the last one, the colors are really beautiful--better than the picture really shows.  I had some green cabbage I needed to use this time, so I put that in instead of coleslaw mix.  That means I am missing the pretty purple pop of the red cabbage, but it still tasted amazing.

Asian Slaw with Ginger Peanut Dressing

Number of Servings: 3-4
Time to Prepare: 20 minutes

Dressing

• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp sriracha
• 1/2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Slaw

• 2 cups coleslaw mix
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced small
• 1/2 cup edamame
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced (green and white parts)
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined.  Set aside.

Combine the slaw ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add the dressing and toss well.  Let sit for 10 minutes for the flavors to soak in.

Source: slightly adapted from Once upon a Chef
Produce Used: Ginger, garlic, cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, red bell pepper, edamame, green onion, cilantro

Chopped Thai Crunch Salad

I love a good entree salad.  I have a complicated relationship with side salads--I hate a boring salad with not much to it, but I also hate spending a lot of time putting together a complex salad when I've already spent a lot of time and effort on the main part of the meal.  That's where the entree salad comes in.  When the salad is the main event, it is a lot easier for me to expend the effort to make a fully-loaded salad.  Plus, they are so light and fresh tasting with all the veggies, yet still very filling.  This is a recent addition to my entree salad repertoire, but it is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  It has two different sauces--a vinaigrette to toss with the lettuce and a peanut sauce to drizzle over the top--and trust me, you want both of them.  This salad has great flavor, nice textures, and beautiful color.  What more do you need?

Chopped Thai Crunch Salad

Number of Servings: 2-3
Time to Prepare: 40 minutes (or longer, depending on marinade time)

Chicken

• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 3/4 pound chicken breast

Vinaigrette

• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper

 Peanut Sauce

• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce
• 1 Tbsp hot water, plus more as needed

 Salad

• 2 cups chopped romaine
• 1 1/2 cup chopped napa cabbage (you can also add in red cabbage for color if desired)
• 1 cup edamame
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
•  2 green onions, sliced (both white and green parts)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• chopped peanuts

Make the marinade for the chicken by whisking the oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper together.  Place the chicken in a ziploc bag and cover with the marinade.  Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or up to 24 hours. Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill 6-7 minutes per side, until cooked through.  Remove to a plate and let cool, then cut into bite-sized pieces.

For the vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients in small bowl and whisk until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the peanut dressing, whisk together all the ingredients until well combined. Add additional hot water, a little at a time, until the dressing is smooth and thin enough to drizzle.

In a large bowl, toss together the romaine, cabbage, edamame, carrots, bell pepper, green onion, and cilantro with the cooled and chopped chicken. Pour the vinaigrette over the top and toss until the ingredients are coated with the dressing.

Dish into salad bowls, drizzle with peanut sauce, and top with chopped peanuts.

Source: slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Produce Used: Lime, romaine lettuce, napa cabbage, red cabbage, edamame, carrots, red bell pepper, green onion, cilantro

Spicy Thai Noodles

Recovering from an extended "vacation" always takes longer than I think it will.  I've been back for over a week (from a month long trip to see family) and we are just barely settling back into a normal routine.  Thankfully, I have a good number of super quick and easy meals up my sleeve and they have been my go-to dinners while I try to get my life back in order.  These Thai-inspired noodles are a nice change from heavy Italian-type pasta dishes and the spiciness is easily adjustable to your preference (we like just a hint of spiciness...no burn-your-face-off spicy food for us).  The toppings make it fun and colorful, and you can just work with what you have.  They end up a little bit different every time I make them, just based on what toppings I have available in my fridge and pantry.  Added bonus: this is totally vegetarian (but still really tasty and filling).  I served this with a cabbage salad the other night and after dinner my husband said, "Dinner was really good.  You didn't even notice it was a vegetarian meal."  High praise indeed.

Spicy Thai Noodles

Number of Servings: 4
Time to Prepare: 20 minutes

• 3 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or more, if you want to increase the spiciness)
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 lb linguine
• selected toppings: thinly sliced celery, thinly sliced or shredded carrots, diced bell pepper, edamame, chopped green onion, chopped cilantro, chopped peanuts, etc.

In a small saucepan, heat the sesame oil and red pepper flakes on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Pour the oil through a fine strainer into a liquid measuring cup and discard the pepper flakes.  (It's ok if a couple of the flakes somehow make it in...that always seems to happen to me and it's fine.)   Whisk the lime juice, rice vinegar, honey, and soy sauce into the oil.

Cook the linguine according to package directions. Drain the noodles and place them in a large bowl. Toss the noodles with the oil mixture.  

Serve with the desired toppings sprinkled on top.  (I've only ever eaten these warm, but they would probably be good at room temperature or cold too.)

Source: adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Produce Used: Lime, celery, carrots, bell pepper, edamame, green onion, cilantro

2/11/2012 Basket - Creamy Ranch Succotash

Creamy Ranch Succotash

Uses from this basket: Corn

Other produce: Edamame, potato, onion, jalapeno, grape tomatoes

I followed Rachael Ray's recipe here, with the following modifications:

- I used the edamame instead of fava beans

- I used a jalapeno instead of a Fresno chile pepper

- I mixed 8 oz. cream cheese with a dry ranch dressing powder mix, rather than the herbs and seasonings listed in the recipe

I'd never had succotash before, so I was a bit skeptical, but it turned out really well. It's a hearty dish with nice flavor that's mostly healthy. Next time we'll use boneless skinless chicken thighs, as my wife hates bones.