Category: Recipes

tofu pad thai on a plate with a margarita on the side

Easy & Delicious Peanut Pad Thai Recipe & Tamarind Margaritas

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by Myles Katherine ❤

I’ve been wanting to make pad thai forever but I always found it a bit intimidating. It seemed like I would need so many ingredients and I was worried that it just wouldn’t taste as good as it does at restaurants. I ended up surprising myself though, and it was one of the best meals I’ve made in a while! I prefer my pad thai sauce with a little extra peanut flavor, so I created my own peanut pad thai sauce. The recipe I adapted it from was super easy, especially if you have a Vitamix blender. I threw all of the ingredients in there, and voila! A dual use recipe as a dipping sauce for my fresh vegetable rolls (I’ll be posting these tomorrow!) and a pad thai sauce. I also made vegetable spring rolls & had sticky rice with mango for dessert, but I’ll create a post tomorrow about those. 🙂

Pad Thai Ingredients:

(serves 2-4)

Sauce:

  • ½ cup smooth peanut butter, preferably natural
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk or cream
  • 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice, more as needed
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons grated ginger root
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ teaspoon sriracha or other hot sauce
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon plus a pinch kosher salt, more as needed
  • 1/3 cup tamarind concentrate – This is what really gives it the pad thai flavor, so add more as needed for that tangy flavor that pad thai is known for! I purchased it at a local asian food market, along with the pad thai noodles used below.

Dish:

  • 1 package extra firm tofu
  • 1 TBSP sesame oil
  • 2-4 servings of noodles, prepared as needed
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1 Egg
  • Cilantro, for garnish
  • Lime, for garnish
  • Fresh bean sprouts, about a cup
  • Crushed peanuts, about 2 TBSP
  • 2-3 green onions, chopped
  1. In a food processor or blender, combine peanut butter, coconut milk/cream, 3 tablespoons hot water, lime juice, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, rice vinegar, garlic, sriracha, tamarind concentrate and a pinch of salt. Purée until smooth. Add more lime juice and or salt to taste. Scrape into a bowl.
  2. Sauté the tofu in a pan with the sesame oil until browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Prepare the noodles as labeled on the package. I purchased fresh noodles from a local market so they didn’t require pre-cooking.
  3. Add onions and garlic to the pan and sauté with leftover sesame oil and a tsp of coconut oil for about 2 minutes over medium heat, until fragrant.
  4. Add in the tofu, cooked noodles, egg and peanut sauce to the pan and sautee over low heat, just until warmed and egg is cooked thoroughly.
  5. Serve! Garnish with cilantro, bean sprouts, lime wedges, crushed peanuts and chopped green onions.

    Tamarind Margaritas Ingredients:

    (adapted from Flaming Tortillas – 4 servings)

    • 4 ounces tequila
    • 2 ounces Triple Sec- or any orange liqueur
    • 1/3 cup tamarind concentrate
    • Sparkling water (optional)
    •  Ice
    • 1 lime (juiced), plus wedges for garnish

1. Fill glasses with ice.
2. In a cocktail shaker (or blender) with ice add the tequila, triple sec, tamarind juice, and lime juice.
3. Pour into the salt-rimmed glasses (I’m not a salt fan, but most people are!) and top off with sparkling water and lime wedges, if using.

Tip: I like my margaritas pretty sweet, so I added extra Triple Sec and tamarind concentrate!

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment below if you’ve tried the recipe, and let us know what you think!

❤

Asian Fusion Chicken Curry Noodles

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By Natalie Anne ❤

This is probably the tastiest dish I have ever made, and I want to eat it over and over and over again.So you should make it and love it too.

I used the following ingredients from my Japan and Thailand Try the World boxes:

Akagi Soba Noodles, Massaman Red Curry Paste, Umami Ponzu Soy Sauce, Nori Seaweed Sheets

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The recipe was adapted from Table for Two (serves 3-4):

Sauce Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1-2 tablespoons honey (I like it a little sweet!)
  • 1 tablespoon of (dark) brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger

Dish Ingredients:

  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken strips cut into pieces
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 egg (optional)
  • chopped cilantro
  • 2 Seaweed sheets

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  1. Boil the Soba noodles in lightly salted water for 5-6 minutes (I used the 9.5 OZ package of noodles) and drain.
  2. Mix the following sauce ingredients all together in a bowl and set aside.
  3. In a pan over medium heat add 3 cloves of minced garlic, chopped red onion, and a tablespoon of coconut oil. (Optional additions: carrots and mushrooms)
  4. After simmering for 5 minutes, I scrambled in an egg to the mixture for two minutes and then added the chopped chicken. Cook until the chicken is completely cooked through.
  5. Add the sauce mixture over everything, stir well and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
  6. Toss the Soba noodles and shredded seaweed with everything.
  7. Top with cilantro leaves (maybe even bean sprouts and/or peanuts) and enjoy!

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Japanese Matcha Shortbread Cookies

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By Natalie Anne ❤

I’ve been so obsessed with my Thailand Box from Try the World that I accidentally neglected my Japan Box, which has so much to offer. So yesterday during a lazy Sunday, I decided to get out my Japan Box and make a recipe. I saw one for these Matcha Shortbread Cookies and knew I had found my answer. My mother gave me a Totoro rolling pin for Christmas I had been dying to use so this was the perfect recipe!I cut the recipe in half, since I was low on butter and didn’t need want to tempt myself with 24 cookies in my apartment.

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I followed the recipe, with one small twist of using half brown sugar/half white sugar for the sugar portion of the recipe. Other than that, I followed the same ingredients and directions from TTW’s recipe and they turned out so cute and delicious:

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups flour, plus more for rolling
  • 2 Tbsp. matcha green tea powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup sugar

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DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the flour, matcha, and salt in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, beat the butter until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. Gently stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.

2. Place a piece of parchment paper on a work surface and dust with flour. Roll the cookie dough to ¼-inch thick. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut out cookie rounds using a cookie-cutter and transfer to the baking sheets. Gather, roll, and cut out the scraps once more. Chill until firm, about 10 minutes.

4. Bake until a knife inserted into the middle of a cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and serve. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

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Review: Blue Apron Food Subscription Box

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By Natalie Anne ❤

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I love to cook. I am inspired by discovering new recipes and flavors. But, sometimes, it can be daunting to have to go to the grocery store and collect a bunch of different ingredients. Sometimes you’re not sure which is the freshest or the most delicious or the easiest on your wallet. This is where a subscription to Blue Apron can come in handy. They send you a box of fresh, local ingredients once a week for three meals that feeds two people (with plenty of leftovers). They are prearranged menus that focus on  balanced and healthful recipes.

Every box comes with a step-by-step instruction packet with pictures for preparing and cooking your food. Plus, you can always change up the recipes to make it your own if you choose. Blue Apron sends you the exact amount of items and ingredients you need: spices, proteins, milk, eggs, the list goes on and on. The only things not included are salt, pepper, and olive oil (pretty easy to handle those on your own).

My favorite part about Blue Apron is that you can sign up for whatever weeks you desire. You can have a subscription and receive a box every week or whenever you feel ready for one. You can browse through the menus online and click which weeks you wanna cook with Blue Apron and it’s that easy.

The recipes have broadened my cooking abilities with new flavors and it has been fun using ingredients I would have felt too intimidated to pick up in a grocery store.

The menu for my first week with Blue Apron was:

Trinidadian Chicken Curry and Coconut Grits with a side of Collard Greens

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My Favorite 🙂

 

Pretzel Burgers with a Hoppy Cheddar Sauce and Sweet Potato Rounds:

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and Acorn Squash Risotto with Crispy Sage and Radicchio Salad

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Red Curry with Chicken and Avocado + Jasberry Rice Pudding with Mango

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by Myles Katherine ❤

Curry is one of my favorite dishes to make because you can improvise using whatever vegetables you have in your house. I could hardly wait to try the Red Curry from my Try the World Thailand Box (read more about Try the World here) because I’ve heard such great things about it. For dessert, Jasberry Rice Pudding with sliced mango. My sister made the Jasberry Rice Pudding with Banana slices earlier this week. If you don’t want to sign up for the subscription boxes, you can still order these ingredients (like the Jasberry Rice and Nittaya Curry Paste) from their online store!

I adapted the recipes to serve 2 instead of 4, and used chicken instead of beef. I also didn’t have fish sauce so I used soy sauce for the salty flavor. 🙂

RED CURRY WITH CHICKEN AND AVOCADO

Ingredients:

From the Try the World Thailand Box

– 2-3 TBSP Nittaya Thai Curry paste (can be substituted with other curry pastes)
– 1 cup cooked Jasberry rice (can be substituted with white or brown rice)

From Your Pantry

– 1 14.0z can of coconut milk
– 1 TBSP soy sauce or 1 TBSP fish sauce
-2 TBSP Tamarind Concentrate or 1/2 TBSP Tamarind Paste
– 1 TSP sugar

Fresh Meat & Produce:

-4 Fresh Kaffir Lime Leave (optional)
– 1 Russet Potato, peeled and diced
– 1 Sweet Potato, peeled and diced
– 1 Large Carrot, cut lenthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thin
– 1/4 cup basil (with stems)
– 1/2 pound boneless white chicken, sliced
– 1/4 small onion, thinly sliced
-2 cloves of garlic, chopped
– 1/4 red bell pepper, sliced, for garnish
-1/2 avocado, diced

Directions:

  1. Heat a skillet over moderate heat. Combine 3 to 5 tablespoons of the thick coconut cream from the tops of the can with the curry paste and lime leaves. Transfer to a pot and cook until fragrant and browned, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add the remaining coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes, carrots and basil leaves and continue to boil until reduced by a quarter, 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Add the chicken, onion, garlic, soy sauce or fish sauce, tamarind concentrate and sugar. Reduce the heat and let simmer until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

4. Add the avocado and mix in until warm. Transfer to two plates, garnish with bell peppers, and serve with the cooked rice.

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JASBERRY RICE PUDDING WITH MANGO
(adapted from Try the World – serves 2)

Ingredients:

From the Try the World Thailand Box

-1/2 cup Jasberry Rice

From Your Pantry

-1/4 TSP salt
– 1/2 13.7 oz can coconut cream, stirred
– 1/8  cup brown sugar
– Fruit (optional), for garnish

Directions:

  1. Bring the rice, salt and 2 and 1/4 cups of water to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat, and let simmer for 35 minutes. Strain, then return to the pot. Stir in 1/2 cup of coconut milk and the sugar and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce and let simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. Let cool.
  2. Transfer to two bowls, add the remaining coconut milk, and garnish with fruit.

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