Build your own noodle bowl

When I go grocery shopping, I try to have a plan. But sometimes I come up short, and come home with a seemingly random mix of food items, and it's hard to put together a meal. After searching for the perfect recipe for chicken, bean sprouts, Thai basil, and cucumbers, I decided to go rogue and do a twist on a chicken vermicelli bowl, or Bun Ga Nuong.  Usually, you use shallots, lemongrass, peanuts, mint, and iceberg lettuce.  But I swapped those items for red onion, Thai basil, and fancy lettuce mix. And we just went without the peanuts and lemongrass, but it was still very tasty. My favorite part of this meal is putting assembling the bowl!

Platter of goodies

 "Make your own noodle bowl"

Chicken:

• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce (or tamari)
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, plus 1 extra for pan (I used sunflower)
• Juice of 2 limes
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 fresh red Thai chili pepper, minced (not seeded)
• 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders
• 1/2 onion, chopped 

Dressing:

• 4 ounces water
• Handful of shredded carrot
• 1 ounce lime juice 
• 2 ounces fish sauce 
• 1 ounce sugar 
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic 
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil (don't use olive oil or the taste will overpower the dressing)

Other ingredients:

• Cooked vermicelli (rice stick) noodles (8 oz or so)
• 1 cucumber chopped and seeded
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1 bunch Thai basil or mint
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 carrot, julienned
• Thai chili pepper, chopped (if you like spicy food)
• Crushed peanuts
• Lime wedges
• 2 cups of leaf lettuce

Directions:

1. Mix first six chicken ingredients together, and pour over chicken in a non-reactive bowl. Marinade preferably for at least an hour.
2. Mix ingredients for dressing together, and set aside.
3. Prepare the vermicelli noodles, if desired.

4. Heat a grill pan or large frying pan over medium-high heat, and add 1 tablespoon of oil.
5. Saute the onions until soft, then add the chicken and discard the marinade.
6. Grill/fry until the chicken is cooked through.
7. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
7.  Assemble the bowls: add lettuce, vermicelli, chicken, and other ingredients together. Then add the dressing.

Notes: I recommend marinating the chicken as long as possible. I made the dish without any marinade time, but I guarantee it will be even better if you do.

Mostly guilt-free chips/crisps!

Kale chips

Today I was craving something salty and crunchy, and since I already had my fill of deliciously starchy yucca and moist and spicy Peruvian rotisserie chicken last night from Chicken Latino, I decided to make use of the head of kale staring me in the face in the fridge.

Making kale chips is really very simple.  First preheat the oven to 275 degrees. There's only one thing you have to do to ensure that you have kale crisps, and not soggy leaves: After you wash a head of kale, remove the ribs, and chop it into small pieces, make sure the pieces are completely dry. If you don't dry the kale, you don't get crisps. Then drizzle olive oil all over the kale, spread on a baking sheet, then sprinkle salt and maybe some garlic powder on it. Pop the baking sheets in the oven, and bake for 20 minutes, or until the kale is crispy.  That's it!  I may or may not have followed my rules of drying all of the leaves completely, but the majority of the kale was crispy perfection! And I ate it all!

Rachael Ray Oven Lovin Nonstick Crispy Cookie Sheet (Google Affiliate Ad)

Mango smoothie bubble tea and Thai Chicken with Basil

Dustin and I revisited Pho Van again on Saturday, and had a disappointing experience.  The broth was weak, with minimal flavor.  So we weren't going to risk trying the ba mau, which we have been wanting to sample.  We had a tasty dessert at Ben and Jerry's instead, which was fine, but I still had a craving for tapioca balls. So yesterday when I went shopping in the Strip, I went to Lotus Food Company and picked up some green tea flavored tapioca pearls for bubble tea. 

For dinner last night, I made Thai basil chicken, and for dessert, a mango smoothie with tapioca pearls.  I omitted the tea yesterday because I didn't have any caffeine-free options, but today I finished off the remainder of the cooked tapioca for a banana-mango green tea smoothie.

The chicken dish recipe, courtesy Food and Wine, is not very difficult to make, but very tasty.  I served it with rice stick noodles, but jasmine rice would work just fine.  The recipe is supposed to serve four people, but if you like to have seconds, and you don't have any side dishes, it's probably only enough for 2-3 people.

Thai Basil Chicken
Ingredients:

1 1/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4), cut into 1-by-2-inch pieces 

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam) 

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce 

1 tablespoon water 

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 

2 tablespoons cooking oil (I used sunflower)

1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces (optional) 
1 large onion, cut into thin slices 

3 or 4 fresh red chiles, seeds and ribs removed, cut into thin slices (reduce amount if you don't like spicy food) 

3 cloves garlic, minced 

1 1/2 cups lightly packed thai basil leaves (don't use Italian basil, the taste is not the same)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken with the fish sauce, soy sauce, water, and sugar. In a large nonstick frying pan or a wok, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Stir in the chiles and garlic; cook, stirring, 30 seconds longer.
2. Remove the chicken from the marinade with a slotted spoon and add it to the hot pan. Add red pepper, if desired. Cook until almost done, stirring, about 3 minutes. 
3. Add the marinade and cook 30-1 minute seconds longer. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the basil. Serve topped with the remaining 1/2 cup basil. 

 

Thai chicken with basil

 Mango banana green tea smoothie with tapioca pearls

Cooked tapioca pearls

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped mango (preferably frozen)
1 banana, chopped
1/2 cup green tea
Prepared tapioca pearls
Honey, to taste

Before heading to the blender

Directions:
1. Prepare tapioca pearls according to directions on package
2. Boil water and make a cup of green tea, then let cool
3. Add mango, banana, green tea, and honey to a blender
4. Process well, add tapioca pearls, then serve!

Note: If you don't have a bubble tea straw, you will probably need to use a spoon to eat the tapioca pearls. Also, if you cooked the pearls ahead of time, they will probably dry out, so to refresh them, soak them in hot water for a couple of minutes.

The smoothie!

Zingiber Ginger Coconut Loose-Leaf Rooibos Tea, 8oz (Google Affiliate Ad)