Dear Emm,
To innaguarate my mother's first night back last night and our first night together in the house in over a year, I decided to really venture into unknown territory. I've never cooked with tumeric before and I had been eyeying this Vietnamese salad recipe from GOOP for quite a while. I usually just use recipes as inspiration to come up with my own, usually making just a few changes to make the recipe just how I want.
Making this turned out to be really fun, although a bit time consuming. I'm loving taking my time in the kitchen and really mindfully cooking, a bit of a lost art I would say these days.
Mom's reaction: 'I love all the colors in the salad, and the chicken is really juicy and flavorful."
I'm still learning how to take better looking food pictures, so please forgive the amateur photos :)
To innaguarate my mother's first night back last night and our first night together in the house in over a year, I decided to really venture into unknown territory. I've never cooked with tumeric before and I had been eyeying this Vietnamese salad recipe from GOOP for quite a while. I usually just use recipes as inspiration to come up with my own, usually making just a few changes to make the recipe just how I want.
Making this turned out to be really fun, although a bit time consuming. I'm loving taking my time in the kitchen and really mindfully cooking, a bit of a lost art I would say these days.
Mom's reaction: 'I love all the colors in the salad, and the chicken is really juicy and flavorful."
I'm still learning how to take better looking food pictures, so please forgive the amateur photos :)
And now, the recipe! This is enough for two people.
Vietnamese Salad (adapted from Goop)
Ingredients.
1 large carrots
4 leaves of bok choy
4 leaves of purple cabbage
1/2 medium cucumber
8 stems of cilantro (coriander)
8 stems of mint
a few slices of avocado
toasted sesame seeds
Dressing.
2 Tbs sesame oil
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 small lime
2 cloves of garlic
1 sq inch of ginger (half the size of my thumb)
1 shallot, diced
2 drops of Harissa paste (see bottom of post)
1 drop of Agave nectar (optional)
a sprinkle of sea salt
Cut bok choy, cabbage, cucumber, cilantro, and mint into as tiny slices as you'd like. I used Emm's approach of using scissors towards the end. I find this to be the easiest and most effective way to cut your salad up and it looks quite professional. Add to bowl with few slices of avocado.
Next, comes the dressing! Combine sesame oil, rice vinegar, harissa paste, Agave nectar and diced shallot into a small bowl. Squeeze the juice of one lime. With the garlic and ginger, turn into a paste (I used a mortar and pestle) and add to bowl. Add a sprinkle of sea salt (of course you can use more if you'd like).
Add dressing to salad and mix. Finally sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and voila!
Tumeric Chicken
Ingredients.
2 chicken breasts (you can use thighs as well)
1/2 teaspoon of coconut butter (i like to cook with this, but you can use whatever oil suites you)
1/3 of large onion, sliced
Gomasio (will be used to sprinkle on chicken at the end)
For paste/marinade.
2 garlic cloves (i love of garlic!), cut into small pieces
2 sq inches of ginger (its about the size of my thumb), cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon of tumeric (could have used more actually, can also use fresh tumeric which would probably make this recipe even tastier)
1/2 lemon
2 drops of Harissa
1 shallot, diced
3-4 stems of cilantro
Combine all ingredients of paste into a blender, except cilantro and tumeric. Blend it all up! Pour paste into a plastic bag (I used a Ziploc sandwich bag). Dice cilantro into small pieces and add to bag. Add tumeric.
Now, add your chicken into the plastic bag and use your fingers to rub into the chicken. I did this for about a minute, but if I had more time, I think this would have been a great marinade to let the chicken sit in for a few hours at least.
Grab a medium pan and place on low heat. I added my coconut butter and next I added my sliced onions. I let simmer for a few minutes before adding the chicken. Cook each side for about 4 minutes. I like my chicken juicy, rather than overcooked so I prefer to stick to 4 minutes a side. My chicken breasts were really thin however (about 1/2 the size of a normal chicken breast).
And there you have it! Wish you could have been here to enjoy over a glass of red wine!
Filakia,
Meli
Vietnamese Salad (adapted from Goop)
Ingredients.
1 large carrots
4 leaves of bok choy
4 leaves of purple cabbage
1/2 medium cucumber
8 stems of cilantro (coriander)
8 stems of mint
a few slices of avocado
toasted sesame seeds
Dressing.
2 Tbs sesame oil
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 small lime
2 cloves of garlic
1 sq inch of ginger (half the size of my thumb)
1 shallot, diced
2 drops of Harissa paste (see bottom of post)
1 drop of Agave nectar (optional)
a sprinkle of sea salt
Cut bok choy, cabbage, cucumber, cilantro, and mint into as tiny slices as you'd like. I used Emm's approach of using scissors towards the end. I find this to be the easiest and most effective way to cut your salad up and it looks quite professional. Add to bowl with few slices of avocado.
Next, comes the dressing! Combine sesame oil, rice vinegar, harissa paste, Agave nectar and diced shallot into a small bowl. Squeeze the juice of one lime. With the garlic and ginger, turn into a paste (I used a mortar and pestle) and add to bowl. Add a sprinkle of sea salt (of course you can use more if you'd like).
Add dressing to salad and mix. Finally sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and voila!
Tumeric Chicken
Ingredients.
2 chicken breasts (you can use thighs as well)
1/2 teaspoon of coconut butter (i like to cook with this, but you can use whatever oil suites you)
1/3 of large onion, sliced
Gomasio (will be used to sprinkle on chicken at the end)
For paste/marinade.
2 garlic cloves (i love of garlic!), cut into small pieces
2 sq inches of ginger (its about the size of my thumb), cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon of tumeric (could have used more actually, can also use fresh tumeric which would probably make this recipe even tastier)
1/2 lemon
2 drops of Harissa
1 shallot, diced
3-4 stems of cilantro
Combine all ingredients of paste into a blender, except cilantro and tumeric. Blend it all up! Pour paste into a plastic bag (I used a Ziploc sandwich bag). Dice cilantro into small pieces and add to bag. Add tumeric.
Now, add your chicken into the plastic bag and use your fingers to rub into the chicken. I did this for about a minute, but if I had more time, I think this would have been a great marinade to let the chicken sit in for a few hours at least.
Grab a medium pan and place on low heat. I added my coconut butter and next I added my sliced onions. I let simmer for a few minutes before adding the chicken. Cook each side for about 4 minutes. I like my chicken juicy, rather than overcooked so I prefer to stick to 4 minutes a side. My chicken breasts were really thin however (about 1/2 the size of a normal chicken breast).
And there you have it! Wish you could have been here to enjoy over a glass of red wine!
Filakia,
Meli
Vietnamese Salad Dressing
Vietnamese Salad
Tumeric Paste
Tumeric Chicken Cooking
Emm bought me this Harissa paste during my last trip in Brussels. Harissa is a staple in North African cuisine and I have to say it's become one of my favorite condiments lately. I was able to find it online here, but I was also able to find a good recipe to make your own, and that's exactly what I'm planning on doing once I run out of my two tubes of Harissa!
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