Sweet Red Chili Salad - I Think We're Alone Now

Needed something to bring to our Father's Day dinner and was assigned a veggy side dish. We decided to experiment (of course) with asparagus, red pepper, and sweet red chili sauce.


Simply put we sauteed asparagus and red pepper with several cloves of garlic, tossed in some red onion for a bit of bite, and seasoned with lots of pepper and a bit of lemon juice. Lastly, added in the sweet red chili sauce. Just before serving we tossed it with avocado.

Let me tell you, it was a hit. We're not alone now.

Cooking Time: 0.5hr
Activities during cooking: Eating an icecream float with strawberry icecream and 7up.

song: i think we're alone now - tiffany

love is a battlefield - asian tasters

trying out a whole bunch of recipes, I made a plateful of asian tasters last night. this includes miso eggplant, miso soup with mushrooms, and sesame spinach salad. add in some edamame and avacado and BANG you've got a meal!

the eggplant was a simple chop and stirfry deal. (with garlic...mmmmm) mix in some chili pepper for zang.
the sauce is a combo of tamari, miso, broth, and a touch of sesame oil. something to be noted however, is to brown the eggplant a bit rather than just softening it.

for easy miso soup i heated broth and added miso and green onions. later on i stirred in some mushrooms and tofu cubes. i didn't want to over cook them so i put them in just before serving.


although not a spinach fan, i cannot get enough of sesame spinach salad! blanch some spinach in hot water for a minute, add tamari and sesame oil, top with some sesame seeds. voila. instant iron.

realizing that this meal was very salty (two miso dishes - usually i wouldn't do that but i was in the mood for some serious miso) and then adding in some sardines as well......BING...needed some avocado to balance out the palate. And of course, whats asian food without edamame?

in retrospect some rice with the miso eggplant might have balanced it out a bit as well.

arigato!


Cooking Time: 1hr
Activities during cooking: um...just cooking. staying sane with four dishes on the go!

song: love is a battlefield - Pat Benatar

Take A Bow Curry Vegetables

We decided on zucchini, mushrooms, tofu and butternut squash as our vegetables tonight. Some green onions for zest. I like thick chunks in curry type dishes, so I chopped them up.


The sauce was an experimental thing. Yogurt (plain, non-fat) with chicken broth, and a whole hoard of spices including yellow curry, italian, lemon/garlic, and one we picked up in Grand Central NYC. Adding the onions, it became quite the affair. I realize afterwards that some honey or maple syrup would have helped counter the dry texture of the yogurt. Learn from my mistake.


For the meat lover (me) I tossed some chicken with the curry sauce in a frying pan with garlic.


The squash took some imagination, trying to get it soft enough without having to stirfry it for ages. In the end I cut it up and tossed it with oil and spices, then cooked in at 350" for about 10 minutes. Result? Soft and tasty squash! I added the squash and tofu in last to avoid them disinegrating.
Voila. Nutritious and delicious!


Cooking Time: 1hr
Activities during cooking: checking email

song: take a bow - Rihanna