sauteed shitake and broccoli rabe

Spring has sprung and so has my appetite for all things green.  Hence, this week I nabbed a new green item from the grocery store that I had never tried before: broccoli rabe.  Apparently, this is also known as rapini.  If you've never tried it, I'm obviously recommending you use the application in this recipe to combine it with other vegetables for a healthy meal or side dish.  The texture was really nice with shitakes, and mushrooms also gave the rabe a richness to balance its freshness.  The taste will remind you of broccoli, but more delicate and with the slight bitterness of spinach.  I may not be describing it well, but perhaps just saying that broccoli rabe will now be part of my normal repertoire is the best selling point.  

Like spinach, broccoli rabe is a vegetable that can be made to feel rich and filling without adding a million calories to your day.  I couldn't help but top it with a fried egg to get a good, rich coating of yolk (liquid gold), but it was really delicious without the extra cholesterol, as well.

If you were around for the Moroccan Stuffed Eggplant post, you know that I'm trying to trim down a little.  So far my results have been...mixed.  I started working out again and have been eating much healthier, but if you've ever been to Chicago on a sunny day over 50 degrees than you know that eating outside is a Chicagoans favorite thing to do.  So this weekend was packed with with food-hopping activities with family and friends.  I did my best to avoid multiple opportunities for french toast, but fell victim to candied bacon (yeah I didn't think that sounded good either, but trust me, you are wrong) and a slice of Sweet Mandy B's birthday cake.  Luckily, the time spent outdoors burned off a few extra calories.

So, despite the egg, the sauteed shitake and broccoli rabe is putting me back on track for this week.

Thai Red Curry Soup

THAI 
RED CURRY SOUP  
(VEGAN)

So you tried the recipe from the Chicken Pozole Rojo post and, just as I suspected,  you loved it. 

What now?  You want more of these spicy, hearty meal-in-a-bowl soups?  Yes, yes, I know it's officially Spring and still freezing in Chicago.  That makes sense.  You're on a vegan-paleo-gf diet?  Since when?  Is that even possible?  No, I haven't seen that documentary exposé about the cavemen who ate only wooly mammoth and chia seeds.  No, no, its not problem.  Really, I can make it work.  Yes, of course, it will use all those vegetables sitting around in your fridge.  Sure, any will probably work just fine.  Run out of chili pastes?  Ha, me?  Never. 

Alright: Thai Red Curry

Thought a recipe like this would be laborious and time-consuming since the flavors seem so developed and layered.  Turns out, pairing a good spice combination with something sweet and milky kind of opens up the spectrum of flavors throughout the dish.  The only hard thing about the recipe is deciding from your fridge won't make it into the pot (sorry spinach and carrots, you didn't make the cut).

Southeast Asian Soup with Turkey Meatballs

SOUTHEAST ASIAN SOUP W/ TURKEY MEATBALLS &  BROCCOLI

I quickly made this soup after work Friday to save for weekend consumption, since as a rule every Friday night Garrett and I go to Sultan's Market.

It was so good, though, that I ate a whole bowl and then went to Sultan's for a veritable bazaar of middle eastern delights.  We did manage to hold off eating my new favorite cookie - these Saudi date-filled treats below - to savor with a cup of milky chai at home before bed.  Err, at least before I also made the best mug brownie recipe I've come across yet...then went to bed.

Back to the southeast from the middle east.  Randomed* upon this recipe and perked up immediately because it happened to utilize much of the remaining produce and protein I had about the fridge.  Didn't have quite all the exact ingredients (sesame seeds, green onions, soy sauce, or pork), but was still delicious with substitutions or exclusions.  For example, had a few leftover rice wrappers from the Vietnamese spring rolls, so re-purposed them as rice noodles.  Clever me.

Maamoul, my new favorie cookie

Southeast Asia Trip, Summer 2011

cap cay soup in Bali and a Thai soup vendor

Bottom line, very quick, very delicious, very healthy.  Very good for storing away until Saturday lunch.

Basic Stir Fry

Basic Stir Fry with Indian Spices

This will work with pretty much any vegetable you have in your fridge, but I always like to start with zucchini and squash as a base vegetable.  For this recipe I just grabbed what needed to be used up from the shelves and it made about four servings. 

Tonight I used tofu (extra firm) for protein, but use whatever meat you want.