True confessions: PF Changs Edition

 

I. Love. PF Changs. There, I said it.

Authenticity and innovation be damned, their food is consistently good and you can find one or more in pretty much any larger city in America. My favorites there are the chicken lettuce wraps, Mongolian beef, and fried rice.

I recently came across damndelicious.net’s recipe for PF Changs-style chicken-lettuce wraps, so I thought I’d give them a shot. I am happy to report, the recipe was a hit!

Of course, I had to put my own twist on it. Here’s what I changed:
– I used four whole skinless/boneless chicken breasts instead of the ground chicken. To me, ground chicken is weird and gross. I diced the breasts into tiny cubes to mimic the original.
– I left out the sriracha, as I am just not a fan.
– Before cooking the chicken, I marinated it for a few minutes in a mixture of about a teaspoon of lemongrass paste, a few drops of fish sauce, black pepper, and garlic salt.
– I also added some fish sauce to the hoisin/soy/mirin mixture in the recipe.
– I boiled up some thin rice noodles and let them cool.  I served them along with the chicken and lettuce to add a little more heft to each wrap.

Salads: Not just lettuce and tomatoes anymore!

The idea of living in a home without air conditioning is a completely alien concept to those of us from South Florida. When I first got to Washington, I thought “wow, these people are savages!” But, as it turns out, all summers are not Miami summers. That being said, I’ve definitely been trying to use my oven and stove for the least amount of time possible. Salads have become a mainstay in my dinner menus since they require little to no stove time. Here’s a new one I’ve been working on the past few weeks. It looks fancy, tastes delicious, and you can pretty much use any grain to veggie combination you like.

Couscous Salad:

1 cup cooked couscous, cold
1 cucumber, diced
1 2 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, minced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 small can sliced black olives
1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
5 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir.

You can do this with any grain you like. I like to use farro, barley, and quinoa as well. You can also add feta cheese to add some richness.

Enjoy!

Fun with a spiralizer and an all-purpose tomato sauce

 

So my aunt recently gifted me a spiralizer. This thing is awesome. It slices your vegetables into a noodle shape, making for a wonderful guilt-free version of “pasta” out of zucchini, carrots, squash, and potatoes. You can also use it on cucumbers and other fruit and vegetables for a mighty fancy looking salad.

I recently made a zucchini “pasta” with my version of a pomodoro sauce that both husband and I agreed that we did not miss the real thing. For my vegan/vegeterian friends, the recipe can be easily adapted and you won’t miss out on flavor. Well, I might. I like bacon. And cheese. The sauce yields enough that you can freeze the leftovers or repurpose the next day. Here’s part 1 of how I made two meals out of sauce, zucchini, and some frozen chicken breasts.

Pomodoro Sauce:

1 large carrot
5 cloves garlic
1 large stalk celery
1 medium onion
1 tsp chopped fresh basil, plus more for serving
1 28oz can diced tomatoes (I prefer San Marzano)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 strips bacon
1 1-inch piece parmesan cheese rind
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated parmesan for serving

Using a food processor, finely mince the carrot, onion and celery. Then mince the garlic separately. I like to do each one separately as the carrots require a lot more processing.

Render the 2 strips of bacon in a medium, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Once the bacon is rendered, remove the strips from the pot and set aside. You can have them as a snack while you’re cooking.

Add the garlic to the hot, rendered bacon fat and saute for about 1 minute. Add the onion, celery, carrot,  and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine, reduce the heat to medium and allow to cook until the vegetables soften.

Add the tomato paste, canned tomatoes, cheese rind, red pepper flakes and 1 tsp of the fresh basil. Stir. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Simmer for 45min to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add a drizzle of olive oil before serving.

To make this a vegan recipe, just omit the cheese rind and bacon. Use olive oil instead of the bacon fat.

I had some fresh tomatoes on hand as well, so I chopped them and added to the sauce for texture.

Some Whole Foods will sell you a package of Parmesan cheese rinds. They are an amazing addition to soups and sauces. I just keep the rinds of the wedges of Parmesan in a Ziploc as I finish each wedge, so I always have them on hand. 

If you find that the sauce is too acidic, you can stir in a tiny bit of sugar to tone it down. 

Zucchini Pasta:

4 large zucchini, peeled
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Spiralize the peeled zucchini

Heat the olive oil in a large pan.

Add the zucchini and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

See my next post for what I did with the leftovers!

 

 

 

 

 

Things I never thought I would miss: Grilling

 

To be honest, I actually never owned a grill while living in Miami. But, I had an all access pass to the one at my parent’s house, which I really didn’t use all that much either.

Fast forward to the present here in the PNW and now all I want is a grill. Not even a fancy one, just one of those little gas powered camping ones would be amazing! Never mind that my building probably doesn’t allow them and that our 3×3 balcony probably isn’t safe to have one, but whatever.

Well, common sense and good citizenship have prevailed and I have learned to use my broiler. And I have to say it really is a lifesaver when you can’t grill on anything and even a grill pan won’t do.

For the steak pictured above, I took a 2lb flank steak and marinated it in chimichurri for about four hours. I preheated the broiler and left it alone for about 10 minutes before putting the meat in on the top rack of the oven. I checked the meat in about 5 minute intervals, taking it out somewhere between 15-20 minutes for a nice, pink medium doneness. You could probably take it out somewhere closer to 15 for medium rare.

I served it with some wild rice and extra chimichurri on the side. I use this recipe by Michelle Bernstein as a starting point for the chimichurri. It’s also great with chicken and pork as a marinade or condiment.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Things I have strong feelings about: Salad Dressing Edition

You bought the most beautiful, expensive organic produce. You lovingly chopped up your kale into perfect, bite-sized pieces and arranged your sliced heirloom tomatoes to showcase their jewel-like colors. Maybe you even ever-so-meticulously shaved a nice Grana Padano over it to create that lovely magazine-spread look. And then you slathered the whole thing in a bottle of “Tuscano-inspiration-balsamic-honey-mustard-sriracha” dressing.
No. Stop it. Bottle dressing is the worst. I’m serious.

Now, that’s not to say that there are some appropriate applications for it, just not actually on your salad. More on that later.

It is my personal belief that you can make an excellent salad dressing, without all the sugar and god knows what, at home. Here is my basic recipe. Once you’ve mastered that, and believe me, it will take you three seconds, you can apply the same idea across a wide array of items already found in your fridge and pantry.

Feel free to lower or raise the quantities depending on how big your salad is.

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste

Pour all ingredients into a small bowl. Beat with fork or small whisk until emulsified (thickened) and drizzle over salad.

Now that you have that mastered, here are some variations:

Add 1 tsp. honey and 1 tsp. mayonnaise for a honey mustard dressing.

Add 1 tbsp. grated parmesan or other hard cheese to add another level of flavor. I find that Romano and Manchego also work nicely.

Add 1 tsp. dried or fresh basil, oregano, tarragon or sage.

You can also substitute the balsamic vinegar for apple cider, red wine, white wine, sherry, or plain white vinegar. Each one brings its own flavor so you can get creative. You can also leave the mustard out as well.

Now go, make salad! I promise you’ll never buy bottled dressing again because yours will be just that good!