Archive for the ‘Vegetarian’ Category

Jan

Thai Noodle Salad

Posted by: Blondies Blog

I must say that I am just smitten by Asian flavors. It seems the older I get, the more I adore them. It is fresh, it is a lot of flavor profiles that I really enjoy, it is fascinating to see the focus on a balance of sweet, salty, sour and spicy. So I really wanted to continue experimenting with the flavors in the Asian profile.

Tonight for dinner I experimented with a Thai inspired cold noodle salad. Now I am not Thai - and I do not own a Thai cook book, but I looked at several recipes claiming to be Thai and came up with a noodle salad to try tonight.

I really hesitated with the tomatoes and brown sugar, but for me, they were good. The dressing is so simple, the brown sugar dissolves without needing to be heated, and it is very bite-y (if that’s a word). I really enjoyed this salad, Jason picked thru and ate the veggies only. It seems he is not so enamoured with cold noodles and cilantro. Oh well. It was easy, different, and a real visual stunner.

Thai Noodle Salad

4 oz rice noodles
3 oz snow peas, julienne
1 handful of grape tomatoes, halved
1 handful of cilantro, chopped
1/2 red pepper, julienne
2-4 scallions, chopped
1 handful of Cashews, chopped
1/3 c lime juice
1 Tbs fish sauce
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar

Place noodles in a bowl, cover with boiling water and soak until soft (about 5-6 minutes). Drain and cool by running under cold water, drain again.

Blanch the snow peas for two minutes, shock in ice water and drain. Set aside.

Mix together dressing ingredients.

Combine the noodles, snow peas, peppers, cilantro and scallions. Toss with dressing. Top with cashews.

Honestly, I really hesitated with the tomatoes and brown sugar. That didn’t really seem “Thai” to me, but they were good in the salad. The dressing is so simple, the brown sugar dissolves without needing to be heated, and it is very bite-y (if that’s a word). Overall I really enjoyed this salad, Jason picked thru and ate the veggies only. It seems he is not so enamoured with cold noodles and to be fair, he doesn’t like cilantro as much as I do. Oh well. It was easy, different, and a real visual stunner. I am sure this salad will find it’s way onto my summer menu.

~Blondie

No Comments

Sep

Puff Pastry with The Daring Bakers

Posted by: Blondies Blog

This months challenge comes from Steph from the blog A Whisk and A Spoon. She chose a Vols-au-Vent, using a puff pastry dough from Michel Richard that is featured in Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Huh? What? Don’t know what the heck a Vols-au-Vent is? Sure you do. It is those lovely little flaky hors devours that you have had at that fancy party. You know - puff pastry formed into a “basket” and filled with either a sweet or savory filling.

Lets just say I had such plans for this challenge! But in true Blondie form, I planned until I ran out of time and then crunched to get it done. With only one filling *loser* Hey, be nice! In my defense this very easy, but time consuming pastry does require chilly temps and we have had a month of 115 degree weather! A girl can not catch a break. The filling by the way was delicious - scrambled eggs with herbs and brie.

Coming soon expect to see the following recipes, some of my favorite ways to use puff pastry…

Prawn Thermidor
Baked Brie
Salmon Wellington
Napoleon
Carmelized Onion Tarts
Palmier
Blueberry handpies
and many, many more

Please also check out what the other Darings have done. It’s an impressive group of cooks and bakers that I have the honor of associating with.

And guess what? You can follow this link to see Michel Richard preparing his puff pastry with Julia Child on an old PBS episode!

Lastly, I am still dealing with a blog gremlin so I am unable to post more photos, the actual recipe and my normal ramblings (perhaps a good thing?). But this I will soon resolve and then I will post more photos and details and the blah, blah, blah… Blah, blah. In the mean time considered you have just dodged that bullet and go check out Steph’s blog for the recipe.

~Blondie

4 Comments