I love meals that Mike and I can work on together. Translation – he can grill. I also love meals that are fairly easy to prep. Souvlaki was just that!
I served this with homemade pita bread and some Greek salad for the perfect meal. So, quick, give this meal a try before it gets too cold to grill! I swear we’re only a couple of weeks away from our first snow.
Souvlaki serves 6
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 – 3 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 medium onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 green bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
skewers
In a large non-reactive bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce, oregano, and garlic.
Add pork, onions, and green pepper to the marinade and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
Thread pork, onion, and green peppers onto skewers.
Problem: Mike loves “Chinese” takeout. My stomach can;t handle the grease.
Solution: make it at home.
I made it this time with a lightly battered fried chicken, but I think next time I’ll skip the frying all together. It will 1) save time and 2) be just a tad bit healthier. Using low sodium chicken broth is absolutely essential. The sauce will be horribly salty if you don’t!!
So, give it a go. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up opening your own Chinese restaurant…
General Tso’s Chicken serves 4
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 large egg white
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon soy sauce, divided
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon Chinese chile-garlic sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for frying
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
Rice, for serving
In a medium bowl, combine sesame oil, egg white, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons corn starch. Add chicken, stirring to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine chicken broth with chile-garlic sauce, sugar, and 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
In a large, deep skillet, heat 1/2 inch of oil until shimmering. Carefully add the chicken, one piece at a time and fry over high heat, turning once or twice, until brown and crisp, about 4 minutes.
Remove cooked chicken to paper towels to drain and immediately add to the sauce with the scallions. Cook until just coated, about 30 seconds.
A quick, delicious way to use up your summer vegetables! Our garden is finally starting to produce some awesome tomatoes (heirloom, cherry, and grape) and I couldn’t be more excited.
Greek Salad
3 large tomatoes, chopped
2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl. Mix to distribute ingredients evenly. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
What?! Yeah, you read it right. Marga-daiquiri-screw-aloda-on the beach. What is this you ask? Well, if you’re a country fan you may have heard Jerrod Niemann’s “One More Drinkin’ Song”. If you’re not a country fan then 1) shame on you and 2) you can find the video here. In the song, he sings “… my favorite drink, a marga-daiquiri-screw-aloda-on the beach”. Check it out at around the 1 minute mark. Excited, I decided to troll the internet and see if a recipe existed already. No such luck. It’s okay though, because being able to experiment to find the perfect recipe was really, really fun.
Anyway, this drink was so good. So dangerous, but so good. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with a drink that combines a margarita, daiquiri, screwdriver, pina colada and sex on the beach! Give it a try with a couple friends and have everyone bring a bottle so you aren’t shelling out $90 on everything. Oops. I’m writing the recipe with the specific brands I purchased. It would probably be fine if you subbed them with another brand, but I know this version is delish!
Marga-Daiquiri-Screw-Aloda-On the Beach serves 2
1 shot Pucker Citrus Squeeze (or other citrus flavored vodka)
1 shot DeKuyper Peachtree (or other peach schnapps)
1 shot Jose Cuervo (or other tequila)
1 shot Malibu
1 shot Pinnacle Tropical Punch (or other tropical punch flavored vodka)
2 tablespoons frozen cranberry juice concentrate
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate
2 tablespoons frozen pineapple juice concentrate
4 cups ice
1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
This was the perfect side to serve with the pulled pork sandwiches. The best part? Leftovers are even better. That’s right folks, make this coleslaw, stick it in the fridge and give it a few days to rest before you start shoveling it into your mouth.
Don’t like coleslaw? That’s ok. Make a batch and send it to me. I’ll take care of it!
Tangy Coleslaw
1 medium head cabbage, shredded
1 large red onion, diced
3 large carrots, grated
1 cup chopped celery, about 2 – 3 large stalks
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon dry mustard
salt and pepper, to taste
Combine vinegar, oil, mustard, salt and pepper in small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
Combine cabbage, onion, carrots and celery in a large bowl. Pour dressing over and stir well to mix.
Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours or more before serving.
I’ve tried a ton of cucumber salad recipes I’ve found online and every single time, I was disappointed. I finally gathered up the courage to just wing it. Man, am I glad I did that – this turned out so darn good and it was even better the next day!
I served this as a side to the Pad Thai I posted about earlier.
Cucumber Salad
1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of finely chopped green onion
2 tablespoons sesame oil
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 garlic clove, crushed
Sprinkle sliced cucumbers with salt and set aside.
Combine green onion, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, vinegar, soy sauce, honey and garlic in small bowl. Stir to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Toss cucumbers with dressing. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.
It’s just like take-out. But better. I seriously can’t get enough of this stuff. I never bothered making it at home because I thought Mike hated it. Boy, was I wrong. I’m not sure why I ever thought that, but I tentatively brought up making Pad Thai for dinner and he enthusiastically agreed to it. I was thrilled. And disappointed that I hadn’t brought this up sooner. Like, 4 years sooner.
I purchased a large portion of these ingredients at the local Asian grocery store. I was able to find the tamarind concentrate, palm sugar, fish sauce, rice stick noodles, cilantro and mung bean sprouts there. I love the Asian grocery store because everything is so dang cheap. I can buy bean sprouts at the normal store for $2 or pay $1 at the Asian store for 3 times as much.
I opted to use shrimp for this, but I think I’m going to try chicken or tofu next time. Feel free to use whatever protein you want!!
The best part (other than the leftovers, that is)… I was able to cross of the first dish on my 11 for ’11 list!!
Pad Thai serves 4
For the sauce:
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup palm sugar
1/2 cup tamarind juice concentrate
4 cloves garlic, minced
For the noodles: 14 ounces dried rice stick noodles
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups shrimp
2 eggs
2 cups carrots, match stick
1 cup green onion cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
1 cup cilantro, optional
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges, optional
Combine sauce ingredients in small saucepan over medium high heat. Cook until sugar has dissolved. Taste, and add more sugar if you would like. Remove from heat and set aside.
Boil noodles 5 minutes, or until al dente. Drain and immediately run around cold water. Cut noodles in half with scissors.
Heat 1 tablespoons oil in wok or large pan and cook shrimp. Remove to small bowl.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil to pan and scramble eggs. Remove to small bowl.
Heat remaining oil and add garlic and onion to pan. Stir fry for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add noodles and cook for an additional minute. Add 5 tablespoons Pad Thai sauce, stirring mixture until noodles are well coated.
Add shrimp to pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add egg and 3/4 of the following: carrots, green onion, and sprouts to pan and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Taste noodles and add more sauce, if desired. Cook until all additional sauce has been absorbed.
Remove from heat and plate. Garnish with remaining carrots, green onion, and sprouts. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and garnish with lime wedge and cilantro, if desired.
There was a Chinese restaurant in Madison that had this pepper chicken that I loved. It was spicy and I loved that the chicken wasn’t fried. I haven’t had luck finding a comparable pepper chicken in Appleton, WI. So, I decided to make my own.
It turned out pretty darn well and I know for a fact that I will never pay a restaurant to make this for me. I loved that I could make it as (not) greasy and spicy as I wanted.
Pepper Chicken serves 4
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and thinly sliced (optional)
black pepper
white pepper
salt
Marinate chicken in soy sauce for 15 minutes.
Heat up oil in large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until aromatic. Add green bell pepper and jalapeño. Cook for 2 minutes and add in chicken strips with soy sauce. Season liberally with black and white pepper, until desired level of spiciness is reached.* Cook until chicken is cooked through.
Caramel popcorn is one of my favorite foods. We had some around the house, but they were drizzled in one of my least favorite foods – chocolate. After staring at the bag for weeks, having it taunt me, I decided to make some of my own (untainted) caramel corn.
This stuff was seriously delicious. How delicious? It disappeared in 3 days. And this was a LOT of popcorn. Granted, I was kind enough to share with my in-laws and my parents and brother, but I was still in a sugar coma.
I will definitely make this again. Mike and I had a blast doing this together. Combining my two loves (husband and cooking) was a win for sure. Ok, three loves (can’t forget the dogs!) – the pups may have had a few pieces of plain popcorn. And by a few a mean a few handfuls 😉
Crunchy Caramel Popcorn
3/4 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 quarts air-popped popcorn
Preheat oven to 250°F. Line three baking pans with foil.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Allow to boil, unstirred, for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla.
Pour popcorn onto baking pans, dividing evenly between three pans.
Pour caramel in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
Bake in preheated oven for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Stir gently, breaking up large pieces. Serve immediately or store in air-tight container.
Tips for clean up – soak the pot and utensils in hot water. The syrup will melt right off and there will be minimal scrubbing required. The foil in the pans will give you a quick, easy clean up. Just crumple up and toss!
DoughSeeDough 