Recipe: Bright and Spicy Shrimp Noodle Salad

Bright and Spicy Shrimp Noodle Salad

Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2020, p.60

4.6 stars

Nice, easy and healthy weekday "salad."

Ingredients: shrimp, glass noodles, cucumber, roasted peanuts, basil, lime juice, honey, serrano, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Used rice noodles instead of bean thread (cellophane or glass) noodles
• Add mango
• Add edamame
• Serve with egg rolls

Recipe: Beefy Vegan Tempeh and Broccoli

Beefy Vegan Tempeh and Broccoli

VegNews.com

4.6 stars

This dish was fine -- I think I need to use different tempeh next time because I didn't love the texture of the one I bought from Trader Joe's.

This dish was great with spring rolls on the side, and we added chile garlic sauce to the dish to taste at the table.

Ingredients: brown rice, tempeh, broccoli, vegetable broth, hoisin sauce, tamari, red wine vinegar, sriracha, toasted sesame oil, cornstarch, shallots, ginger, garlic, scallion, dried hot chile pepper, toasted sesame seeds

Tips/Notes:

• Used quinoa instead of brown rice
• Used soy sauce instead of tamari
• Used a serrano instead of a dried hot chile pepper
• As noted above, added chile garlic sauce at the table

Recipe: Beet Tostadas

Beet Tostadas

Food & Wine Magazine, Feb 2024, p. 35
4.7 stars

I was so intrigued by this recipe, though, there were so MANY steps so with our culinary knowledge, we modified it a bit. It was overall good but needed something with umami -- see notes below.

Beet Tostadas Ingredients: beets, black beans, yellow onion, guajillo chiles, garlic, limes, lime juice, ground cumin, ground coriander, chile powder, red pepper, Kosher salt, olive oil

Picked Vegetables Ingredients: scallions, jalapeno, radishes, lime juice, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, sea salt

Additional Ingredients: tostadas, queso fresco or crumbled feta, cilantro, roasted pepitas, flaky sea salt

Tips/Notes:

• Used frozen beets already peeled and sliced -- roasted them for about 28 min with all ingredients but used guajillo chile powder and garlic powder
• Did not grate the beets
• Need to drain the black beans about 75% as the puree was too runny
• Used queso fresco; also bought Oaxaca cheese
• Added hot sauce to taste
• Skipped the roasted pepitas
• To add umami, add mushrooms or plant-based meat

Recipe: Chilled Zucchini Soup

Chilled Zucchini Soup
Food & Wine Magazine
4.9 stars

This recipe from Chef Michael Anthony was just as good as Chef Grant Achatz's Silky Zucchini Soup but it had another layer of complexity because of ALL the other vegetables in it -- there are 12 (including the herbs)! 

We took this recipe and simplifed it by A LOT. See notes below. In short, we sauteed, then blended, then served it hot. We'll eat the leftovers chilled.

Soup Ingredients: zucchini, leek, spinach, yellow onion, shallots, garlic, lemon thyme, parsley, basil, vegetable broth, olive oil, Kosher salt

Garnish: hakurei turnips, summer squash, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper

Tips:

• Literally just sauteed everything, blended it and served. No ice bath, no straining through a wire-mesh strainer, no chilling of the soup.
• Added red pepper when sauteing the vegetables.
• Used 5 sprigs of thyme and lemon zest since we don't have lemon thyme.
• Didn't use turnips.
• Topped with sauteed squash, Parmesan and croutons.