Summer Side Dish: Sweet Chili Quinoa Salad

A light, tasty accompaniment for all those yummy grilled summer proteins! Feel free to add avocado for creaminess, or some cucumbers or shaved radish for more crunch.

Sweet Chili Quinoa Salad
(serves 2)

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup chicken or veggie broth
1 small zucchini, sliced thin (I use a vegetable peeler)
1/2 - 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 lime
Handful of chopped cilantro
1 tbspn sweet Thai chili sauce (start out with this much, then increase the amount gradually to taste -- a little goes a long way)

Rinse and drain the quinoa. Place the quinoa with the broth in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Place the zucchini, tomatoes, and lime juice at the bottom of a serving bowl. Add the cooked quinoa and toss -- the warm quinoa will gently cook the zucchini. Add the chili sauce and cilantro. Enjoy!

Quick + Easy: Goi ga (Vietnamese slaw)

So, you've made pho ga and you have leftover boiled chicken and don't know what to do with it. Solution? Goi ga -- a light salad of shredded cabbage and chicken. It is crunchy and tasty, you'll love boiled chicken in a way you never thought possible.

1.5 cups of shredded chicken (eyeball it depending on how much cabbage you have, how much leftovers you're trying to get rid of, the chicken ratio you want in this)
1 shredded carrot
1 small head of shredded cabbage
1/2 thinly sliced onion
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tspn. sugar
Torn coriander, mint or Thai basil leaves (or all three!)

Crushed peanuts for garnish
Nuoc cham
Black sesame rice paper crackers (optional)

Dissolve the sugar in the white vinegar. Place the red onions in this mixture and let soak for about 15 minutes. Drain and mix the onions with the rest of the ingredients. Toss with nuoc cham to taste. Top with crushed peanuts and serve with toasted sesame rice paper if using.

Quick + Easy: The easiest dip ever.

I went back and forth about posting this -- it's so simple, was it even worth posting a recipe for it? But I think it's delicious, and I was very excited about it when I first made it (growing up in a household of primarily Asian cuisine, everything not Asian is an exciting discovery for me).

I make this when I crave hummus but I'm too lazy to go to the grocery store. It makes a great quick addition to an array of appetizers, or even a quick lunch (which is why I made it today). Serve it with pitas, pretzels, veggies. Experiment with flavored oils (I used white truffle oil today and it felt so decadent). Throw in whatever herbs you have on hand. Just start with a can of beans.

1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 tbspns. olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 lemon, juiced

Salt + pep to taste

Process all of the ingredients together in a processor. Done.

Xoi lap xuong

I just purchased tickets to see my family for Thanksgiving this week and it's making me feel like Thanksgiving is just around the corner, even though we've barely reached Halloween. My family makes a mix of Asian and typical American Thanksgiving foods for our big meal -- a turkey marinated in Peking duck spices, stuffing and cranberry sauce along side a bowl of quick pickled cucumbers, onions & radishes, and always always xôi lạp xưởng -- sticky rice with chinese sausage. My mother has perfected a quick method of cooking this dish in a microwave, so if you exclude the time spent soaking the rice this meal takes less than 20 minutes. Awesome. A small price to pay for a taste of home.

The soy sauce and sugar quantities listed below are a minimum suggested amount -- it is easier to add soy sauce to taste when you eat. You can adjust accordingly when you become more comfortable cooking this dish.

2 cups of sticky rice (it may be labeled as "nep" in an Asian store)
8 dried shitake mushrooms or fresh shitake mushrooms
1 tspn. vegetable oil

1 1/2 chinese sausages, halved and cut into half moon shaped pieces
1 1/2 carrots, diced

1/4 onion, diced
handful of dried baby shrimp (optional)
1 1/2 tbspns. soy sauce
1 tspn. white sugar

In a large microwave safe bowl, cover the rice with warm water and soak overnight.

When ready to cook, drain the water and then cover the rice again with enough water to just cover the rice. Place a paper towel over the bowl and cook in the microwave for 8 minutes. Take the bowl out and stir the rice, cover again with the paper towel and cook for an additional 5 minutes. If the rice is still soggy and all the water hasn't been absorbed, keep microwaving it in 3 minute increments until the rice is moist and sticky, but not too wet.

In the meantime, if using dried shitake mushrooms, bring a pot of water to boil. Cook the mushrooms until tender, drain, rinse with cold water, pat dry and slice.

Heat the oil in a sautee pan. Add the chinese sausages and sautee until lightly browned. Add the carrots, onion,  mushrooms, and dried baby shrimp (if using). Sautee until the onions are translucent. Add the soy sauce and sugar, cook until the sugar dissolves.

Combine the sauteed mixture with the cooked rice. Makes 4 servings.