We made this recipe from Asian Flavors after one of Lisa’s running buddies put the thought of Korean food in our heads. I’d been wanting to make this recipe for a while, and the promise of a new hot sauce to dip them in made it a no-brainer. These pancakes aren’t as fluffy as American pancakes, and you can throw just about anything in them. These feature green onions, green beans, and red bell peppers. This is sure to be a fun recipe to experiment with later.

I could eat an entire meal consisting of just these.

Lisa says:

We’re almost there already…

Chris says:

Well, I had to toss the first one — my pan and oil weren’t nearly hot enought and it turned into a super-oily goo.

Lisa says:

Well it looks like you figured it out fine…

Chris says:

Yep, I think each successive one was better. By the way, I love that red hot sauce.

Lisa says:

I know! I like dipping them in that better than the soy sauce-based one.

Lisa says:

I didn’t think it was too spicy at first, but it builds… the more you have, the hotter it gets.

Chris says:

In that case, I have to find more stuff to dip into it!

Korean Green Bean & Scallion Pancakes
2 oz green beans
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup cold water
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
peanut oil
4 scallions, sliced into thin strips
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips

Blanch the green beans in a saucepan of boiling water for about a minute. Drain, cool with cold water, and chop into small pieces.
In a bowl, mix together the two flours. Make a well in the center, add the egg, and stir into the flours until mixed, gradually adding the cold water. The batter will be runnier than breakfast pancake batter. Stir in the sesame oil and let stand for 30 minutes.
Heat a small, heavy, non-stick skillet over medium heat, and add peanut oil to coat. Pour in a quarter of the batter, then add a quarter of the vegetables. Cook for 3-4 minutes until set and browned underneath. Flip and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Transfer to a warming platter, and repeat to make a total of four pancakes.
Cut into squares and serve with the dipping sauces.

Dipping Sauce #1 (not pictured)
1/2 cup Korean Hot Pepper Paste (Gochujang)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp of sesame oil
1 clove of garlic, minced

Dipping Sauce #2 (pictured)
4 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp ginger puree
1 tsp sesame paste
Pinch of sugar
1 tsp black sesame seeds

Sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and pay full price. That’s what I walked away with after Lisa made this version of Pad Thai from Almost Meatless, a great cookbook to give those in your life who are trying to eat less meat but can’t quite, or don’t want to, go vegetarian. When we went shopping to pick up the ingredients for this one (a few months ago, now), the lump crab meat at our local Whole Foods was something like $32/lb, and they didn’t have any whole crabs on hand. We already had the rest of the ingredients for this recipe at home, so we decided to go with the pre-pack cans of crab meat. The pieces fell apart rapidly and overly-infused the dish with too much crabbiness. One the other hand, we’d never made Pad Thai at home, and it’s good knowing that it’s actually pretty easy to do. Next time we’ll either wait for a sale, or go with tofu.

Whoa, way too crabby.

Chris says:

…but the noodles themselves are good.

Lisa says:

Yeah I like the noodles and the sauce, but the crab is still overpowering.

Chris says:

Although… hunger vs. tastebuds…

Lisa says:

Well obviously hunger wins. But next time I’m just making this vegetarian.

Chris says:

And I like the picture, so there’s that.

Lisa says:

Yes, there’s that — is that why you waited so long to post this one, though? Because it wasn’t exactly our favorite?

Chris says:

Hmm… laziness vs. pride…

Crab Pad Thai
8 oz rice noodles
1 cup tamarind water/concentrate
1/2 cup fish sauce
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
8 tsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
8 oz lump crabmeat
2 cups bean sprouts
6 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped
2 limes, cut into wedges, for serving

Prepare the noodles as directed on the package by soaking in hot water for 10-15 minutes until just softened, then rinsing under cold water. Set aside.
Whisk together the tamarind concentrate, fish sauce, sugar, and soy sauce in a bowl and set aside.
Make each serving one at a time: Heat two teaspoons of the oil in a wok over high heat. When the wok and oil are hot, drop around 2 cups of the noodles (about 1/4th) and toss continuously for 30 seconds. Add 1/4th of the sauce mixture and 1/2 tsp of minced garlic, tossing to coat the noodles. Push to the side and add in 1/4 of the beaten eggs. Let it start to set, then scramble into the noodles. Add 1/4th of the crab meat, bean sprouts, and scallions, toss to heat through, then plate. Top with peanuts and add lime wedges. Repeat for the remaining three servings.

4 Servings

Here’s another good one from Almost Meatless: okra, chard, onions, and just a bit of chicken in a richly-flavored broth made with peanut butter and chicken stock. The recipe makes quite a bit, and was so good that in addition to Lisa, I brought in leftovers for lunch the following day! (Those of you who know us realize how monumental that is!) The original recipe calls for dark-meat turkey (attention to those of you looking for ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers!), which we substituted for chicken.

Yum, this sauce is so good — and the rice just soaks it all up.

Chris says:

Yeah, I really like this — and even though you’re not the biggest fan, I heart the okra in it.

Lisa says:

Hey, I guess I won’t have to have my ritual spoon of peanut butter tonight!

Chris says:

Ha, guess not — and although you definitely taste the peanut flavor in here, it’s not like those Thai peanut sauces that are *super* peanutty.

Lisa says:

Nope — definitely not… not that I’d mind. I’m glad this is “almost” meatless, I’m almost ready for another vegetarian week.

Chris says:

…I’ll gladly eat whatever you aren’t in the mood for!

Lisa says:

Hey, fork off! I didn’t say I was ready for vegetarian week just yet…!

African Peanut Stew
2 tbsp oil, divided
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 3/4 lb), cut into strips
4 oz okra, sliced thinly
1 onion, sliced into strips
4 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp garam masala
1 cup canned diced tomatoes (or fresh, if you have ‘em)
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
4 cups thinly-sliced rainbow chard
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
6 green onions, thinly sliced

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for five minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer meat and juices to a plate.
Add the 1/4 cup water and deglaze the pot, scraping up the bits from the bottom. Pour the liquid and bits over the chicken and set aside.
Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pot, add the okra, and saute for five minutes on medium heat, until it starts to look sticky. Add the onion and saute another five minutes. Pour in 1/2 cup of the stock and deglaze the bottom of the pot.
Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Stir in the spices, tomatoes, peanut butter, reserved meat and juices, remaining stock, and chard. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes.
Serve over brown rice and garnish with red bell peppers, chopped peanuts, and green onions.

6 Servings

Here’s a quick & easy, packed-full-of-flavor slurpy bowl of goodness from Super Natural Cooking: Noodles, tofu, and onions swimming in a rich, creamy coconut curry broth. Just the right amount of spice, and a garnish of cilantro and shallots provide nice color contrast to the yellow broth.

Ooooh, good choice! This is different than what we usually make.

Chris says:

Yeah, I’m usually not in the mood for coconut-broth-type dishes like this. I certainly never order them out.

Lisa says:

Well I’m glad you made this one; and I actually like the spiciness level.

Chris says:

Yeah it’s perfect — could always kick in additional hot sauce if you want it hotter.

Lisa says:

What makes it yellow, the curry paste?

Chris says:

It was a little closer to orange before the turmeric. Adding that and the coconut milk gave it the nice yellow color. I think the only thing I don’t think the recipe as shown in the book needs is the peanuts. I’ll leave them out when I make this next time.

Lisa says:

Agreed — they don’t really add much. It’s plenty awesome without them!

Big Curry Noodle Pot
8 1/2 oz. dried whole wheat udon noodles
2 tbsp coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp red curry paste
12 oz. extra firm tofu, cut into 1″ long columns
1 14 oz can coconut milk
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
Juice of 1 lime
2 shallots, sliced into rings
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Cook noodles according to package directions in lots of boiling water with a dash of salt. Drain, stop the cooking by running cold water over, and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the coconut oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, onion and curry paste, stirring until the curry paste is well incorporated, 1-2 minutes. Add the tofu and gently stir until coated. Stir in the coconut milk, broth, turmeric, soy sauce and sugar. Bring to a slow simmer and keep it there for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the lime juice and noodles, and stir.
Add the noodles and some extra both to each of 4 bowls. Top with the shallots and cilantro.

4-6 Servings

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a while, looks like I had bookmarked it about a year ago and finally got around to making it.  Originally from a Cooking Light recipe, this modified version from The Kitchen Sink features chicken, potatoes, and other veggies in a smoky-tasting, creamy broth — using just 1/4 cup of cream.

This is bueno — I knew I’d saved that link for a reason…

Lisa says:

It’s pretty creamy tasting…

Chris says:

I know! There’s a little cream in there, but not a lot — most of the texture is from pureeing the broth and onion, celery, and carrots.

Lisa says:

Oh good, I like that the potatoes aren’t pureed in. I like the chunks.

Chris says:

Same here… and I just want to add lime and cilantro to every recipe.

Lisa says:

Don’t we already?.

Chris says:

Good point.

Lisa says:

Good dinner.

Chipotle Chicken Chowder
1 chipotle chile canned in adobo sauce, minced with 1 tsp of the adobo sauce *
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground oregano
6 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups chicken broth
2 small chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3/4 lb yukon gold potatoes, in 1/2″ dice
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more to garnish
1/2 teaspoon salt
lime wedges

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chopped chile, adobo sauce, onion, carrot, celery, cumin, oregano, and garlic; cook 7 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring frequently. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Remove pan from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth. Stir in the potatoes and chicken; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, uncovered, 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in cream and cilantro; simmer 5 minutes. Top with additional cilantro and serve with the lime wedges.

* Tip: To avoid wasting an entire can of chipotles when you only need one for a recipe, do the following: Once the can is opened, line a baking sheet with foil, spoon each chipotle chile with sauce onto the foil, and place in the freezer. Once frozen, remove from the foil (they’ll slide right off) and place into a ziploc bag or other container and keep in the freezer. Easy to remove just one when required for future recipes.