Thai Summer Slaw

This Thai Summer Slaw from Cooking Light is summer perfection. It combines napa cabbage, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, bell peppers, carrots, radishes, jalapeno, and green onions in a light, slightly spicy dressing. It is crunchy, flavorful and completely delicious.

I was planning on making this for a potluck dinner that we were going to attend, but I forgot to buy a lime. I debated going ahead and making it with lemon juice instead, but I decided to wait, buy the lime and follow the recipe. I'm glad I waited! I don't think lemon would have given the dressing the right flavor.

The day I was planning on making this for dinner, I prepped all the veggies (the photo above) and the dressing and kept them in the fridge until I was ready to serve it. Cutting all the veggies took a little bit of time, but getting that out of the way earlier in the day really made this a fast and easy dish to serve. I grilled some tuna steaks to serve along with it and it was a really great dinner.

Here is the recipe for Thai Summer Slaw
* I only added a 3/4 tsp of sugar to the dressing

Vietnamese Salad

The other night when I made this delicious Vietnamese Soup, I decided that I wanted to make it a soup and salad night. I googled vietnamese salad and chose from the different links that came up. I have never looked at Goop before, but this salad sounded perfect because it included lots of the same flavors as the soup.

I had purchased a bunch of baby bok choy at the farmers market the weekend before I made this salad. The combination of the bok choy and napa cabbage made for a really great texture in this salad.
The flavors were unbelieveably delicious. So tasty. My whole family loved this salad.

Vietnamese Salad from Goop

This healthy, quick salad has great crunch and lots of refreshing flavors. It’s wonderful on its own and also takes well to simply prepared proteins; grilled fish, shrimp, chicken or tofu are great.

SERVES: 4
TIME: 15 minutes

• 4 large bok choy leaves, rough bottoms discarded, stems cut into ¼" bias and leaves shredded (I just sliced these very thinly)
  
• 4 big leaves Napa cabbage, shredded (I just sliced these very thinly)
  
• 1 bunch watercress (discard thick stems), roughly chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• the leaves from about 8 stems each basil, mint, cilantro, roughly chopped
• ½ small cucumber, thinly sliced on the bias
• 1 red Thai chili (or more…or less), thinly sliced (I used less - omitting it from the kids)
  
• ½ cup roasted, salted peanuts, roughly chopped
• Vietnamese Dressing (see recipe below)
• grilled fish, shrimp, tuna, chicken, or tofu for serving (optional)

Toss the bok choy, cabbage, watercress, carrot, herbs, cucumber, chili and ¼ cup of the peanuts together with enough dressing to coat. Serve sprinkled with the remaining peanuts and whatever protein you like.

Vietnamese Dressing

A perfect balance of hot, sour, salty and sweet, this dressing is like a flavor knockout—also a great dip for summer rolls.

SERVES: about 4
TIME: 5 minutes

• ¼ cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon hot pepper sesame oil (I used plain sesame oil)
  
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar (I used honey)
  
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons finely diced red onion or shallot

Mix everything together.

Napa Noodles

I like health foods and health stores. They are just so much fun.
A couple of months ago, I tried soba noodles for the first time and this is the recipe I used.
I was seeing recipes pop up all the time in magazines and on the web, that used soba noodles, so I finally grabbed some.
This recipe also includes edamame, which is one of my favorite foods.
This was a great dish, that we all enjoyed, but I thought that the hoisin sauce flavor was a little too strong. If you love hoisin sauce, than that won't be a problem, but if I were going to make it again, I would cut back on that a little bit.
I also reduced the amount of oil that the veggies were stir-fried in, because I think a little oil goes a long way.
This was ready really quickly and had lots of green veggies, so it was good, quick dinner.

Napa Noodles From Every Day with Rachael Ray
May 2009
Salt
One 12-ounce package soba noodles or 1 pound whole wheat linguine pasta
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 head napa cabbage (about 2 pounds), thinly shredded
1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 bunch scallions, cut on an angle into 2-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, chopped
One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Grated peel and juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper (1/3 palmful)
1/2 cup mint leaves, shredded
20 basil leaves

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
2. While the pasta is working, in a wok or large skillet, heat the oil over high heat until rippling. Add the cabbage and edamame and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the scallions, garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, lime peel, lime juice and black pepper. Add the pasta, mint and basil and toss.

Up Next- Tuesday's with Dorie- Perfect Party Cake

Craving Ellie-Sesame Stir-Fried Chinese Greens, Quinoa Stir-Fry and Cheesecake Pops

This week's Craving Ellie recipe, Sesame Stir-Fried Chinese Greens, was chosen by Apple Crumbles. You can find the recipe there. It was a really easy recipe- your choice of napa cabbage or bok choy, which you stir-fry and then add rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Simple and quick. Just how I like it. Oh, and you top it off with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. I was fixing a stir-fry to go with it and as I was preparing the stir-fry, I realized that the sauce for the stir-fry was exactly the same as the Chinese Greens. Perfect! I decided to include that recipe too, since that is what we had for dinner. The stir-fry was served over quinoa- I used a combination of normal and red quinoa. It was delicious. I also added a yellow and orange pepper for more color and nutrition.
My hubby also made a request for his favorite treat before he left a couple days ago. He loves Cheesecake Pops. I have made them at least 5 times since I tried them for the first time with the Daring Bakers last April. He wanted to take them to work and I made the leftover cheesecake into cheesecake cups. So, you have the healthy dinner and the decadent dessert. But, luckily the decadent dessert was made for other people to enjoy. Hope you try some of these delicious dishes!

The link for the Cheesecake Pops and Cheesecake Cups
Tofu, Asparagus, and Red Pepper Stir-Fry with Quinoa from Cooking Light

Dressing:

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

Dash of crushed red pepper

Stir-fry:

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups red bell pepper strips

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 cups (1-inch) sliced asparagus (about 1 pound)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (12.3-ounce) package reduced-fat firm tofu, drained and cubed

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

To prepare dressing, combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Set aside.

To prepare stir-fry, bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in the quinoa; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 10 minutes; fluff with a fork.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and stir-fry 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper, mushrooms, asparagus, salt, and tofu; stir-fry 3 minutes. Stir in dressing. Serve over quinoa, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Up Tomorrow- Steel-Cut Oat Risotto

Omelet Wraps with Stir-Fried Veggies and Pork

I love stir fry, so when I saw all the leftover veggies in my fridge, I thought that is what I would do. There were a couple of uncooked pork chops as well. But, I was a little tired of the same old veggies and rice, so I decided to turn it into a quick wrap. I scrambled some eggs with baby spinach and layered that on the bottom of the tortilla, then stir fried some veggies and pork, and layered that on top of the egg mixture. My usually very picky 6 year old loved it and I rejoiced!

So, here it is, folks, the dinner my son ate without bribery.



Omelet Wraps with Stir-Fried Veggies and Pork by Mary Ann
1 1/2 cups pork, cut into bite size pieces (you could use any meat or tofu)
2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbls dried onion flakes
5-6 Tbls soy sauce, divided
2 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage
1 summer/yellow squash, cut into 4ths lengthwise and chopped
1 cup matchstick carrots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 Tbls freshly grated gingerroot, or less to taste
6 large eggs
2 egg whites
3 oz (1/2 of a 6 oz bag) baby spinach
6 8-inch flour tortillas


Heat 1 Tbls canola oil in an electric skillet. Add pork, garlic, onion flakes, and 2 Tbls soy sauce. Saute until meat in cooked on all sides, 2-3 minutes. Remove meat and place in a small bowl. Add 1 Tbls canola oil to skillet and add cabbage, yellow squash, carrots, green onions, remaining soy sauce, and fresh ginger. Cover with lid and cook until veggies are tender, 5-8 minutes. Add meat back to skillet and saute for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and cover while you scramble the eggs.

Combine eggs and egg whites in a bowl, and lightly whisk. Spray another skillet with cooking spray and heat over low. Add egg mixture, salt, and pepper, to taste, and baby spinach. Scramble until eggs are cooked and spinach is wilted.

To serve, place a tortilla on a plate, spoon scrambled eggs down the center. Top with veggie mixture. Roll up and enjoy!

Lettuce Wraps

The original title of this recipe is Better Than P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps. It is taken from Best Bites in Boston, this recipe by Jennica Galovan. I adapted it a bit and so decided to leave off the first part of the title. They were delicious, let me tell you, but I don't want anyone to get upset about it!

Lettuce Wraps
20 oz ground turkey breast

2 minced garlic cloves

3-4 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage

1 cup finely chopped carrots

1 cup diced onion

3/4 cup chopped cashews

2 tsp freshly grated gingerroot

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 Tbls Hoisin sauce

lettuce leaves- Boston, Bibb, Iceberg, Romaine, or Red Leaf

Heat 2 tsp canola oil in a electric skillet. Add ground turkey breast and season with salt and pepper. Add minced garlic. Cook until browned and cooked through. Transfer meat to large bowl. Heat 2 tsp canola oil in skillet and add cabbage, carrots, and onion. Cover with lid and cook, until veggies are tender and cabbage is wilted, stirring occasionally, about 8-10 minutes. Return the meat to the pan and add ginger, soy sauce, and Hoisin sauce. Stir until all ingredients are combined and then, add cashews.

Serve meat and veggie mixture on lettuce leaf, folding over sides so the filling doesn't fall out.