Pad Thai

This dish is the reason I'm done ordering take-out Pad Thai.  It's quick, easy and it tasty as hell.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons lime juice
5 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon peanut butter
1 squirt Sriracha 
4 ounces Pad Thai noodles, soaked per package directions
2 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg , beaten
4-8 shrimp (depending on how hungry you are)
Peanuts
Cilantro

Directions: 
1. Whisk lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, peanut butter and Sriracha together. Set aside.
2. In a skillet, cook garlic in oil over medium heat for about a minute. Then add egg and scramble until almost fully cooked. Remove eggs and set aside.
3. Add shrimp to skillet. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side. Then add about 4 tablespoons of sauce from #1. Cook until sauce caramelizes. Remove shrimp and set aside.
4. Put previously soaked noodles, green onions, and remainder of sauce in skillet. Cook over medium heat tossing constantly until noodles reach desired consistency, approximately 4-6 minutes.
5. Add egg and shrimp to the noodles, toss.
6. Remove from skillet and top with peanuts and cilantro.

Note: you can easily substitute chicken or beef for shrimp, leave peanuts out, add bean sprouts or carrots..... this dish is very adaptable. Make it your own!

Blender Salsa

I'll be the first to admit I stole this idea/recipe from my wonderful mother. Making salsa can be a pain with all the chopping and what not-- which is why the blender is so awesome. It takes all the leg work out of the process. This is a great recipe because it can be easily adjusted to your particular tastes. And it's easy as hell.

Ingredients:
1 can diced tomatoes (not pre-seasoned)
1/4-1/2 of an onion (white, yellow, or purple will do)
Generous handful of cilantro, washed with stems removed
1 clove of garlic
Dried hot peppers *
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Lime juice (optional) **

1. Combine onion, cilantro, garlic, cumin and hot peppers in blender. Use a few tablespoons of the tomato juice to lubricate the operation. Blend until everything is combined. (If your blender has a chop function, use that. If you have a lame blender with only one setting like mine, it'll do).

2. Drain the remainder of the tomatoes. The more juice you get out now, the less watery your salsa will be. Add these to the blender, then blend only until everything is combined. DO NOT hold down the button for more that 5 seconds. The more you blend, the more likely you are the end up with completely liquified salsa. Ew. I usually push the blend button about 5 times for half a second each time.

3. Pour blender mixture into bowl. Add salt and pepper to your liking. You can also add lime at this time (keep in mind that's going to make it more watery).

4. Put it in the fridge and leave it alone for at least and hour. Then taste it and decide what it needs. Don't try to asses this when it's first made, you're just going to frustrate yourself. The flavors need to mingle a bit. Pro-tip: if it tastes like it's missing something, try adding more cilantro before you try anything else.

*I usually use those little red peppers your find in the hispanic food section of every supermarket. You can use whatever you want. Keep in mind that the seeds and rib are what make it hot. If I'm looking for the pepper flavor but not the spice, I just chop off the top and shake out the seeds.
**In the event you added too many hot peppers, lime juice is going to be your friend.

Fancy Walnuts

Want to class up a salad or cheese plate? Look no further

Ingredients:
1 cup halved walnuts
3 tablespoons sugar (white, brown, raw, whatever)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg

1. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
2. Put walnuts in pan on medium heat. Sprinkle sugar mixture over nuts.
3. Stir constantly as the sugar starts to caramelize.
4. As soon as sugar is no longer granulated, remove nuts from pan and spread on parchment paper to cool.

Gorgonzola Dressing

Impress you cheese loving friends and family with this super easy and tasty dressing. Why buy it when you can make it better yourself?

Ingredients:
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese
1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons skim milk
Salt to taste

Note: If you are a garlic fan, you can easily add more.

Grown-up Cucumber Mint Lemonade

3 parts your favorite white wine

1 park lemonade 

3-4 cucumber slices, muddled 

2 sprigs of mint, muddled 

Serve chilled. Easy, fancy, perfect for summer. 

Note: I find that light, low cal, low sugar, whatever lemonade works better than regular lemonade. You could also substitute a couple tablespoons of lemon juice.

Apple Walnut Coleslaw

Salad: 

1 package shredded cabbage 

1 apple- chopped

3/4 cup chopped walnuts 

3/4 cup raisins 

Dressing:

1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt 

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup milk

Whisk together and pour over salad

Raspberry Mango Avocado Pudding

Ingredients:
1 mango, chopped
1 cup raspberries
1/4 cup flaked coconut
2 avocados
3 tablespoons honey

Combine all ingredients in food processor. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 1 hr before eating (does not taste good even a little bit warm, I repeat, does not taste good even a little bit warm).


I'm still not sure how I feel about this experiment. At first I didn't care for it at all, but once it chilled it actually started to taste good. I increased the ratio of fruit to avocado and that seems to help- it just gets tricky keeping the consistency thick enough. The coconut flakes are nice if you like a little texture, otherwise I'd say leave them out because the flavor is overpowered by the other ingredients. Oh yeah, the end result should look like baby poop.