Asian Lemon Chicken

Marinate some chicken in

soy sauce
lemon juice
garlic
ginger
honey

for 20 minutes.

Saute sliced onion in some canola oil...
add the chicken mixture...
cook for a few minutes until the chicken is almost white,
then add a chopped up package of medium-firm tofu.

Very last, throw in some diced red pepper and water chestnuts if you have 'em,

and zest some lemon peel over the whole thing.

Serve with hot rice and canned corn and cantaloupe (whaaat? I didn't plan ahead!).

Amazing gluten free Thai spicy Eggplant

In the mood for Fall Stirfry?

You know when you get the urge to bring home every weird veggie you see at the fall farmer's market... And then the insanity passes, and you have all these weird veggies sitting on your counter?


We gotcha covered! Here's an amazing eggplant recipe that isn't bitter, slimy, tough or stringy. 

Hey!  And that's hard to achieve from eggplant.  

The secret to good eggplant is soaking it in salt water. Soak it, cut, for at least an hour and up to 8. Rinse really well and pat dry before using. 

Throw some veggies together. We used green beans, red pepper and onion. Those stringy white things are amazing Enoki mushrooms from the Asian market. For protein, pick any ground meat or firm tofu (if you use tofu and don't drain and pay it dry, I disinherit you).

As with all things good, start with hot oil and a ton of minced garlic (I used about 8 cloves). Add a chopped onion and then, when it's translucent, the protein. 

You may need to separate to two pans at this point. If your stir fry outgrows its pan it will become stir steam slop instead of stir fry sear mm mm delicious. So your choice ;) 

The eggplant and green beans need a little longer than the red peppers, so plan accordingly. 

Now douse the whole thing in a mix of fish sauce, soy sauce (GF!!), sriracha sauce and lime juice (about a one part fish sauce, 2 parts soy sauce, 1 part  sriracha and 2 parts lime ratio--or to taste!). Sprinkle a teeny bit of sugar or dash of honey and stir.  

Add green onions and sesame seeds for kicks. 

Happy New Year!

GF Asian Sesame Green Beans

This is an easy, quick side with a tangy Asian sauce. Throw in sesame seeds if you have them or substitute (like we did) with slivered almonds or another nut.
The essentials are just soy sauce, sesame oil and (of course) green beans.

2 TB soy sauce to 1 tsp sesame oil,
about a pound of green beans (we steamed 'em first),
and sesame seeds.

Stir it all together until the wet has sucked into the beans and the whole thing smells Asiany.




Reality Bite:  Having spent two years living in Hong Kong, and speaking fluent Cantonese, I can totally say that.

G-F Hot & Sour Soup

Yup, we have colds and sickness after the holidays so a cleansing soup is just what my body is hungering for.  I tried this recipe from Yahoo recipes.  It was so simplistically written that homeschool guy made it for me.   He said as he cooked,  "Dang, Mom, that's a lot of vinegar."  I should have listened.  TOO MUCH vinegar--HALF THAT.     But still drank it down.  Vinegar cleanses the sinuses.  That I can state emphatically!

I'll make this recipe for HOT and SOUR Soup again when I'm not mucus challenged and see how it really tastes.  Here are our modifications from what was in the pantry:   (I'm not driving nor shopping in my condition.)

He used onion instead of shallots,
seaweed instead of tofu  (maybe the tofu would have sucked up some of the vinegar)
wood ear instead of fresh mushrooms
and ground beef, not ground pork.

And then he set up the photo/lighting and took the picture.  Pretty awesome huh?

I'm back to bed.    Um... Happy New Year!

Gluten-Free Fried Rice

A quick and simple fried rice that can get as authentic as you dare. Just remember the GF soy sauce!!

TOFU OPTION: Get firm or very firm tofu and drain all the water off. If you're a purist, weight the thing with a plate and a heavy pan on top to squeeze out even more water while you're getting ready to cook. Then chunk it, season with salt and pepper and roll in potato starch. Fry 'em up in a few teaspoons of canola oil.

The Fried Rice:

 Start with plain (cooked) rice,

 slice up and sizzle the Asian trio:

GINGER

GARLIC

GREEN ONION

 Then throw in the rice, whatever veggies you please, and an egg.

 Cook it around for a bit, then season with fish sauce and soy sauce, both GLUTEN FREE.

Finish with a handful of peanuts and the already-cooked tofu (or other meat) and serve hot. 

GF Black Rice Pudding

Naturally g-f, this  flaky, chewy nutritional powerhouse, black rice pudding is a delicious natural choice.  

I love that Asian experience found in markets like NamHi in Tulsa.  The smells there take me back eight months ago to Hong Kong.  What a delightful experience we enjoyed there.  The son walks through the store with his t-shirt pulled up over his nose, but not Me!  I revel in the sights, the smells and the memories.

Making this dish reminds me again of the beauty and delight found in food from diverse cultures.  This is a warm/cold, sweet/sour, crusty/creamy taste ephiphany.  This naturally dark food will bleed onto your hands, onto whatever food you cook with it, and  it carries all of the potential nutritional power of nature's most brightly colored foods.  

Polished white rice - contains 6.8 protein, 1.2 iron, 0.5 zinc and 0.6 fiber.
Brown rice - contains 7.9 protein, 2.2 iron, 0.5 zinc and 2.8 fiber
Purple rice - 8.3 protein, 3.9 iron, 2.2 zinc and 1.4 fiber.
Red rice - 7.0 protein, 5.5 iron, 3.3 zinc and 2.0 fiber.
Black rice - 8.5 protein, 3.5 iron, zero zinc and 4.9 fiber.

Rinse 1 cup of rice until the water has removed the floaties in the rice. 
For best best results, SOAK THE RICE for at least three hours in cold water. Best is overnight.
 Then cook the rice exactly how you cook other rice.  I use a rice cooker so I add one cup rice to one cup water in a cooker and steam until tender and water has disappeared.  

Serve with heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, rice milk, or as I did, homemade vanilla yogurt.
I accent the sweet rice with a sour, colorfully contrasting fruit like mango, orange, peach, or apricot.

It's one of the best desserts my mom-in-law loved in Hong Kong and it was her diligence in finding this grain, that inspired me to seek it our here too.  Thanks Pat!  

Reality Bite:  Yum

GF Thai Tuna Patties

What fun it was to make this simultaneously with the daughter long distance over the phone last night.  We joked, laughed and cooked together, her modifying the crumbs to whatever she could find in a newlywed cupboard.  Once again, the guys liked it so much they fought over the last burger.  Truly delish!

First posted 1-25-10

My boys loved this recipe! Shock and awe! I called it a tuna burger... that might be why.

1 lb of Ahi Tuna flaked (or you could do like me and open three (5 oz.) cans of Starkist)

1/2 cup bread or cracker crumbs (YAY someplace to use all those stale loaves.) (watch out for dairy)

Mix the following ingredients together then combine all together:

1/2 tsp onion powder (or green onions)

1/4 tsp minced ginger (I doubled this and it was great)

1/2 tsp sesame oil (Sushi Chef most are GF)

1/2 tsp fish sauce (Thai Kitchen  most are GF)

1 Tablespoon GF soy sauce (LaChoy or Kikuman's new GF type)

1 egg

Mix altogether and form into patties. Brown on each side in a nonstick skillet or my trusty cast iron on medium heat.

Serve atop greens with a Cucumber Aiolo sauce (fancy name for a simple sauce)

1 Tbs. mayo

1 Tbs. finely grated cucumber

Delicious! Easy and already to make from the contents of the pantry!!! So this one moves to one of the top twenty easy/fast main dish recipes.