Category: Recipes

Pan Fried Okra with Sriracha

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Okra seems to be pretty polarized in the food world, with it’s champions and detractors holding pretty strong positions at their respective ends of the spectrum. I have a personal affinity for the aloe like mucilage that hides in the prehistoric looking pods, but I know many recipes have you soak the okra to remove the “slime.” Not this girl…bring on the slime!

This particular incarnation keeps the okra fresh and crunchy on the outside, so you get the contrast of the silky center and the pop of the seeds to tantalize your taste buds. The light crunch of the cornmeal and the zest of one of the most coveted condiments ever just moves this one into the realm of veggie Valhalla.

I can thank Kathryn Lovell, the best mother-in-law a girl could ask for, for this recipe inspiration. She made this for us one night–sans the sriracha– on their house boat, and I have been obsessed with it ever since. The key here is fresh cut okra. You just season and use the okra’s natural aloe like center to make the fine cornmeal adhere. Frozen okra does not work in this particular situation, so make sure you are using fresh. Also make sure to discard the giant woody pieces as this doesn’t cook long enough to tenderize that tough old shit.

Ingredients:

8 cups of fresh cut okra

1tsp garlic salt

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal

1/4 cup of oil for frying (your choice as I know some of you hippies will only use coconut oil or yak juice).

sriracha as a condiment

Directions:

Season fresh cut okra with garlic salt, pepper and paprika and toss well. Then toss in fine cornmeal until well coated.

Heat frying pan or cast iron skillet and then add okra and sautee for 3 – 5 minutes just until bright green and crunchy.

Serve with sriracha drizzled over the top or on the side for dipping.

 

 

Larb Gai

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
1 stalk lemon grass, chopped
2 red chilies, jullieaned
2 cloves garlic, minced
500 g minced or ground chicken
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon soft brown sugar
2 Shallots sliced
1 cup chopped cilantro chopped
1⁄2 head of cabbage or butter lettuce, leaves separated

Directions:
Heat oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add ginger, lemon grass, chilies and garlic. Cook 1 minute, stirring. Add chicken and cook, stirring, 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked.
Remove from pan into a bowl.
Add onion, shallots, mint and coriander, reserving a few leaves for garnish. Toss gently.
In a small bowl, combine lime juice, fish sauce and sugar; pour over chicken salad and toss gently

Serve with cabbage or lettuce leaves.

Roasted Acorn and Butternut Squash Soup

At Sprouts tonight I was very successfully marketed to by the huge fall display of colorful squashes. As soon as I saw them I could taste the sweet, hearty flesh of a season roasted squash. I knew at that point that a squash soup was in my very near future.

I couldn’t decide between them all, because they were all so unique and beautiful, so I grabbed a few different varieties and a bunch of carrots for some added depth. On the drive home I formulated my game plan so that I didn’t waste time once I was in the door. I needed soup in my facehole…STAT!

I was so greedily anticipating that first buttery, velvety bowl, and too impatient to let the roasted squashes cool, that I burned my friggin’ finger tips off trying to the peel the damn things. They were too hot for even my asbestos fingers…

I may have destroyed the nerve endings in my finger tips, but it was well worth it!

INGREDIENTS
  • 3 pounds whole butternut squash (about 2 medium or 1 large), halved lengthwise and seeds removed
  • 1 acorn squash halved and seeds removed
  • 8 carrots peeled and trimmed
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 3 cups of water
  • 2 teaspoons garlic salt
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
  • 1 cup sour cream (for vegan soup use 1 cup almond milk in place of sour cream).
  • 1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees with the rack in the middle of the oven.
  2. Line baking sheets with aluminum foil. Place the squash pieces and carrots cut-side up on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Season generously with garlic salt and pepper. Roast until knife tender, about 50 minutes to 1 hour depending on your oven. Remove carrots from oven after 30 minutes or once fork tender.
  3. Cool the squash and scoop out the inside into large stock pot discarding the skins. Add roasted carrots.
  4. Add the broth, water, salt and pepper to the squash and carrots, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.
  5. Turn off the heat and using an immersion blender, blend until the soup is a creamy consistency. Then stir in the sour cream. Taste and season with salt, pepper and cayenne as needed. Garnish with pumpkin or sunflower seeds and a sprinkle of cayenne.

Lobster and Green Pea Risotto

For George’s birthday I wanted to make him something special that combined some of his favorite things in a less than common way. Hence the lobster and green pea risotto idea. He loves his rice and green peas, and seafood always excites his flexitarian palate. I topped it with a simple pan seared red snapper and accompanied with a homemade caesar salad.

Risotto seems to frighten/impress people that have never made it, but it’s really actually very easy to make. It is time consuming and requires your full attention from ineception to ingestion, but it is not difficult, I promise!

This risotto is perfectly creamy and velvety; rich in a melange of butter, olive oil and stock. There are sweet chunks of lobster meat and the firm delicious pop of fresh green peas in every decadent mouthful. Are you turned on yet? This risotto is the best risotto I’ve ever made, and probably the best I’ve ever eaten. I know what you’re thinking “she probably broke her elbow patting herself on the back like that.” And yes…yes I did!

Ingredients

1 medium sweet onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
6 cups chicken broth or stock
2 1/2 cups arborio rice or other short grain starchy rice
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 cups green peas
1 cup cooked lobster meat chopped
1/2 cup cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Peel and chop the onion.
Add the butter and olive oil to a 4-to-5-quart saucepan over low to medium heat, stirring until melted and combined.
Add the onion and cook until it is soft and translucent, but not browned.
Meanwhile, pour the chicken broth into a separate saucepan, set over medium heat, and bring to a gentle simmer to keep the broth hot for ladling while you are making the risotto.
Once the onion is soft, add the rice and cook over medium heat. Stir constantly for about 3 minutes, and do not let the rice brown.
Ladle in 3/4 cups of broth at a time, continuing to stir until the liquid is absorbed. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you go.

When most of the liquid is absorbed into the rice, add another ladle of broth to the pan and stir constantly. Continue ladling in the liquid and stirring for approx 20 minutes, or until the rice is creamy and tender. If the rice is not finished in 20 minutes or you run out of liquid, you can add water in 1/2 cup increments until it is the right consistency (creamy and porridgey, but not mushy).

Once the rice is done, gently stir in the lobster, cream cheese, parmesan and peas. You really just want to heat through and or melt these last few ingredients. This will keep the texture of the lobster and the bright green of the beautiful peas.

Let me know how it goes and if you make any changes or have suggestions!