Spicy Green Curry Shrimp over Coconut Lime Rice

Coconut Lime Rice:
1 cup white long grained balsamic rice
2 cups coconut water
½ Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp salt
2 green onion sprigs, sliced
Juice from one lime

Spicy Green Curry Shrimp:

½ yellow onion, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 lb raw shrimp, deveined and peeled
1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp green curry paste
Salt
 
In a rice cooker, combine rice, coconut water, coconut oil and salt. Cook until ready. Stir in green onions and lime juice. Set aside and keep warm.

In a medium pan over medium high heat, sauté onion, bell pepper, jalapenos and garlic in EVOO until soft. Add shrimp and cook until pink. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside. Stir in coconut milk and curry paste; let thicken. Season with salt, to taste. Before serving, add shrimp back to dish to heat through. Don’t over cook.

Serve Spicy Green Curry Shrimp over Coconut Lime Rice in a shallow bowl. Garnish with minced fresh cilantro and enjoy.

Honey Lemon Chicken

I found this recipe on a blog that I follow – Closet Cooking. It was so easy to make and super tasty. I look forward to making it again.

 

2 chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 lemon (juice and zest)

2 Tbsp honey

¼ cup chicken stock

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 green onion sprigs, chopped (for garnish)

 

Cut chicken breasts into cube sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. In a frying pan over med-high heat, drizzle EVOO and brown all sides of chicken; cook until almost done. Remove chicken from pan; set aside. 

 

In the same pan, add ginger and cook for about one minute. Add lemon juice, zest, honey, stock, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and allow to thicken. (NOTE: if sauce is too thin, whisk in a tablespoon of cornstarch.) 

 

Add chicken breast, coat with honey lemon mixture and let chicken finish cooking all the way through.

 

Serve over rice and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

 

Kung Pao Chicken

In the spirit of Chinese New Year, I decided to make this spicy Asian dish. I always enjoy a trip to the Asian market because there are so many different things to check out (and they have cheap veggies!). On this visit, I had to pick up the dried red chilies for this dish. You can also pick up some fortune cookies for a fun, festive dessert.

新年快乐！

For Chicken Marinade:

2 ½ tsp soy sauce

1 tsp corn starch

½ tsp sesame oil

 

1 lb chicken breasts, cubed

 

For Sauce:

1 ½ Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp chicken broth

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

 

3 Tbsp oil

½ cup diced red bell pepper

½ cup diced yellow onion

10 dried red chilies

1 Tbsp fresh cracked black pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

4 green onions, sliced

¼ cup peanuts

 

In a small bowl , whisk together ingredients for the chicken marinade. Marinate chicken cubes in sauce for at least 30 minutes.

 

In a separate small bowl, whisk together ingredients for the sauce; set aside.

 

In a large frying pan over high heat, add oil and cook chicken until almost done and all sides are browned. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

 

In the same frying pan, sauté peppers and onions for about 3-4 minutes. Add dried chilies, pepper, garlic and ginger. Sauté for about 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Mix in sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Add chicken, green onions and peanuts, turn heat to low and mix together. Continue to cook until chicken is cooked all the way through.

 

Serve over rice.

 

Shrimp & Vegetable Stir Fry

This is an easy dish to get your daily servings of veggies, if you don't mind all the prep work of slicing and dicing.

 

 

1 Tbsp sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil

1 large carrot, sliced

1 small zucchini, sliced

½ small yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ red bell pepper, sliced

2 green onion sprigs, chopped

1-2 baby bok choy, roughly chopped

¼ cup Ponzu sauce

A dash of red pepper flakes

½ lb raw shrimp, peeled and tails removed

½ cup slivered almonds, for garnish

 

1 package of Chow Mein noodles (I prefer the fresh, refrigerated ones vs dry) 

 

In a large wok, or frying pan, heat oil over med high heat. Add carrots and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add remaining veggies with Ponzu sauce and red pepper flakes. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until veggies are tender. Add shrimp at the end and cook until they turn pink. Remove from heat. 

 

In a pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to directions. Drain. Toss noodles with vegetable and shrimp stir fry. 

 

Serve in a shallow bowl and top with almonds and extra fresh green onions. Drizzle with extra Ponzu sauce, if desired.

 

Variations:

·         Substitute or add sliced yellow squash or mushrooms

·         Add sliced water chestnuts, bamboo shoots or hearts of palm

·        Substitute almonds for cashews

·        Substitute  bok choy for regular or nappa cabbage

·         Add freshly grated ginger

·        Serve over white or brown rice instead of noodles

Spicy Asian Chicken with Sriracha Cream Sauce

2 Chicken breasts

¼ cup Ponzu sauce

1 tsp dried ginger (or use fresh ginger if you have it)

1 tsp dried pepper flakes

2 Tbsp mayo

2 tsp Sriracha sauce

In a small bowl, combine Ponzu sauce, ginger and pepper flakes. In a bowl or bag, add chicken and Ponzu sauce mixture. Marinate for 30+ minutes.

Over med-high heat, grill chicken for about 5-7 minutes on each side, or until cooked all the way through. Let chicken rest for a few minutes before slicing.

While chicken is cooking, whisk mayo and Sriracha sauce together in a small bowl; set aside until ready to use.

Serve chicken over rice mixed with sautéed vegetables. Drizzle with Sriracha cream sauce.

Helpful hint: To drizzle sauce over chicken, spoon sauce into a small Ziploc bag. Using scissors, snip off the edge of one corner. Try to get the air out of the bag, then use as a piping bag.

Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with Vegetable Stir Fry Rice

2 salmon filets
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Juice from one lime
1 cup white long grained basmati rice
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 large carrot, peel of ribbons
½ yellow onion, sliced
About 5 asparagus, cut into ½” pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Sea salt
EVOO

In a small bowl, whisk soy sauce, brown sugar and lime juice until combine. Marinate salmon for 30+ minutes.

Cook rice in chicken broth in rice cooker until done.

Preheat grill to med-high heat. Grill salmon skin side down until crispy. Flip filets and turn heat to med-low. Remove skin and cook until just flaky, but not over cooked.

In a wok or large sauté pan over med-high heat, drizzle EVOO and cook vegetables, garlic and cilantro for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and drizzle with a few dashes of extra soy sauce. Add cooked rice and mix together.

Serve grilled fish over a bed of vegetable stir fry rice.

Note: If you’d like to spice this up a bit, add freshly sliced jalapenos to the vegetable stir fry or add pepper flakes when seasoning.

Spicy Orange Chicken

For New Year’s Eve, we had two couples over to help us bring in the new year…Asian style!

Names for the placecards were written in Chinese.

Here was the menu, although I’m only sharing one recipe with you:

Appetizer: Chicken Egg Rolls
Main Dishes: Spicy Orange Chicken over Rice and Vegetable Stir-fry over Egg Noodles

Dessert: Fortune Cookies and Mango Mochi



Spicy Orange Chicken: The star of the meal.



4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 egg

2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
1/2 cup cornstarch, plus
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
4 green onion sprigs, sliced diagonally in one inch strips
2 Tbsp rice wine

Orange Sauce
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
7 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp white vinegar
Zest of one orange

In a large bowl, combine egg, salt, pepper and 2 Tbsp oil; mix well. Stir in cornstarch and flour. Add chicken pieces and coat with mixture.

In a frying pan, heat 1 inch of oil over med-high heat. Add small batches of chicken at a time and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden crisp. Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on a plate lined with paper towels; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the sauce. Whisk together; set aside.

Discard oil from pan, wipe it clean and add 1 Tbsp of fresh oil. Add ginger and garlic; cook until fragrant. Add red peppers, green onions, rice wine and orange sauce. Bring to a boil, then turn to low. Stir in chicken to coat with sauce. To thicken sauce, stir in 1 Tbsp cornstarch and cook until sauce thickens.

Serve over white rice and garnish with fresh orange slices.

A simple dessert,