Tag: sriracha

Cranberry Sriracha Green Beans

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I don’t know if it’s all the beautiful leaves on the ground, or the fact that I can cover up in a  cute jacket, without having to bundle up in a stuffy down winter coat. It probably has a lot to do with all the amazing pumpkin recipes, the sweet apple cider, and of course,…Thanksgiving! I’m on to Thanksgiving food weeks before the holiday (and not just because I’m a food blogger)! Case in point: my dinner last night was turkey burgers with cranberry pear relish, fried sage and Paleo pumpkin biscuits. I just can’t get enough of classic Thanksgiving dishes and flavors – I can eat them all year round.

Now speaking of classic Thanksgiving dishes, y’all know how traditional green beans are – especially green bean casserole. I’m not one for casseroles, but sriracha? yes please! Whether you are going Asian or not with any of your dishes – this sweet and spicy recipe makes the perfect Thanksgiving side dish! The sweet cranberries add the perfect festive touch, making this a great addition to your holiday meal. Gobble Gobble!

Cranberry Sriracha Green Beans

1 lb green beans, ends trimmed, blanched
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp oil
1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce (not jellied)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sriracha
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Method:

Add the cranberry sauce, soy sauce and sriracha to a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or skillet and saute the garlic until fragrant, but not browned. Add the blanched green beans and stir fry until coated and heated through. Pour in the cranberry sauce and continue to stir until well coated. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.


Related Recipes:

crunchy shriveled green beans
spicy roasted edamame
teriyaki mushrooms

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Spicy Tuna Melt Twice Baked Potatoes

I think I subconsciously invented this dish sometime back in grade school. Remember how they always served tuna with french fries and ketchup? It sounds weird, I know, but somehow it just goes! If you think about it, tuna patties are often mixed with mashed potatoes (along with other veggies), so it’s not that far fetched. And anything smothered in ketchup is a child’s dream dish.

I’ve had my fill of ketchup as a kid, but now I’m all about a different kind of bottled red sauce – sriracha! If you’ve never tried amping up your tuna salad with some heat, you don’t know what you’re missing. I am a spicy tuna girl all the way! I’ve added harissa, schug, sriracha and hot sauce to spice up my tuna – and they all do the perfect job in adding flavor and heat to boring-old tuna and mayo.

Now that you’ve got the baked potato and spicy tuna idea down pat – here comes the cheddar! When it comes to the classic tuna melt, you’re either a tuna melt person or you’re not. Some people are grossed out by the idea of mixing fish and cheese – and I get that. If that’s you – go ahead and leave out the cheese and go pareve on this one. Spicy tuna loaded baked potatoes are still delish.

Although if you ARE a tuna melt kind of person, then get ready to be blown away! I love how such humble ingredients create this dish of pure comfort food. Who says you can’t indulge on the cheap – you sure can!

When I do baked potato night for dinner, I try to mix it up for variation around the table. I’ll do broccoli and cheddar (of course), tuna (with ketchup for the kids, sriracha for me!), baked beans, avocado and salsa, and of course plain ole salt and butter. You can never go wrong with that!

If you want to go all out on the cheese sauce, try making my harissa cheddar sauce to top off some steamed broccoli or baked beans. Can you tell I’m a little obsessed with spicy?

OK, I can go on and on about potatoes, and tuna, and cheese – but lets face it – we’re in The Nine Days, so what else are you making for dinner this week? I’ve got you covered with a Nine Days category, Pinterest board and of course updates on my Facebook and Instagram pages!

So far, I’ve made bruschetta tilapia with basil-almond pesto zoodles (those recipes are in my ebook) and Linguini Lasagna for the kiddies. Tonight it’s gonna be vegetarian chili and cornbread pie. Tomorrow, I plan to tackle tofu for the first time with a marinated Asian tofu with stir fried veggies and rice noodles. Any tips for a tofu novice like me?

I’ll be finishing the week with my tuna nicoise patties, green bean salad and roasted potatoes (also in my ebook) and then onto some meat again for Shabbat (thankfully!). What are you making for dinner this week? I’d love to hear! And please share your favorite baked potato fillings too!

Spicy Tuna Melt Twice Baked Potatoes

2 russet potatoes
2 cans tuna in water
1/4 c mayonnaise
2 heaping tbsp chives
2-3 tsp sriracha (depending on the level of heat you like)
1 cup shredded Natural & Kosher cheddar cheese

Method:

Scrub the potatoes and pat dry. Pierce several times with a fork to allow steam to escape during cooking (this prevents them from exploding in the oven). Rub with olive oil and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 1 hr, until they pierce easily with a fork.

Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh, leaving a thin border so it holds the shape. Add potato flesh, tuna, mayo, sriracha and chives to a bowl and mix to combine. Divide the tuna between the 4 potato halves and top with shredded cheddar. Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is melted. Drizzle with additional sriracha, if desired.

VARIATION: for a kid-friendly version, omit sriracha and use ketchup instead.


This post was sponsored by Natural & Kosher Cheese. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, or via their Blog

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Quinoa Pad Thai

The first time I ever tasted Pad Thai was when I attended the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, last year. It was pasta day, I think, and we were experimenting with different types – including rice noodles. We made our own chili paste from scratch and it was so hot, I cried just from blending it. I took one bite of the Pad Thai and my mouth was on fire! Even though my tongue could barely take it, there was just something about the stuff and I kept going back for more (and refilling my glass of water!). Even with cilantro (one of my least favorite ingredients) the stuff was just. that. good. It wasn’t long before I was making pad Thai at home for my whole family to enjoy.

Now when I started to ease up on my carb-load, I knew I had to come up with a lower carb pad Thai recipe to enjoy. Enter quoina – the super grain. Or super seed, I should say! Quinoa, after all, is not a grain or legume – it’s called a Pseudo-cereal and is botanically related to spinach and beets. So although some refer to it as an ancient grain, you can rest assured that this protein-rich superfood is a great low-carb alternative to pasta and rice.

They may teach you to make pad Thai in culinary school. But they don’t tell you the obvious things, like not to write your recipes on scrap pieces of paper. When I was developing this quinoa pad Thai dish, I hit the nail right on the head – it was perfect! I wrote the recipe out on the edge of my calendar, and what do you think happened? I promptly forgot about that golden combination of ingredients, and weeks later, when I went to look up something in the calendar, I decided to rip out all the old months that had already passed. And there my recipe went – crumpled up amid egg shells and dirty plates – right in the garbage.

I realized the error of my ways the next day and I ran outside to see if the garbage truck had taken out the garbage yet. Oh yes, I was right about ready to put on some gloves and sort through the trash! No such luck, my garbage had already been picked up and my prized recipe was doomed for the garbage dump. So, I did what any pad-Thai-obsessed-girl-on-a-diet would do…I made it again. That’ll teach me never to write my recipes on the edge of my calendar! (Did I mention this is not the first time this has happened?)

Quinoa Pad Thai

1 cup quinoa
1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, julienned (I use this julienne peeler)
3 tsp peanut oil, divided
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground chicken or turkey (dark meat preferred)
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sambal oelek (garlic chili sauce) or sriracha
1 cup bean sprouts
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro
1/3 cup peanuts
lime wedges, for garnish
sriracha, for garnish

Method:

Place the quinoa in a small pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, honey, lime juice and sambal oelek. Set aside.

Heat 1 tsp of peanut oil in a wok and stir fry the carrots and peppers just until slightly softened, 1 minute. Remove from the pan. Whisk eggs, add a bit more peanut oil to the wok and scramble. Remove from the pan. Add a bit more peanut oil and add garlic. Saute just until softened and add ground turkey. Cook until turkey is no longer pink and add the soy sauce mixture. Return the carrots, peppers and eggs to the wok and stir to combine. Add the quinoa and bean sprouts and stir to incorporate. Sprinkle scallions, cilantro and peanuts over the top and garnish with lime wedges and a drizzle of sriracha.

Related Recipes:

summer rolls with spicy dipping sauce
spicy roasted edamame

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Summer Rolls with Spicy Dipping Sauce

I couldn’t imagine  going through summer without posting the ultimate light and healthy dish – summer rolls. To be honest, I have no idea why they are called “summer” rolls. I think it’s because they are lighter than their wonton cousins, but I could be wrong.

Unlike classic eggrolls, which are usually fried and heavy, summer rolls are made with rice paper rounds and don’t require any cooking. If you’ve never worked with rice paper before. don’t be intimidated, it’s really super easy.

The great thing about summer rolls is that they can be filled with anything – fruit, veggies, or your protein of choice. Fish and tofu work wonderfully in these rice paper roll-ups, but grilled chicken and veggies are my faves. I once watched Giada de Laurentiis make a fruity version on the Food Network. She filled the rounds with pad Thai noodles, strawberries, mango and almonds and prepared a honey-mint dipping sauce to go on the side. She served them after a yoga lesson as the perfect post-workout treat.

For me, making a dish like this doesn’t really require a recipe. I look into my fridge and put together whatever scraps I can find. In this case, I had leftover marinated chicken breasts, so I threw them on my grill pan for a quick sear. I found some nappa cabbage, shredded carrots, scallions and edamame, and put them all together for a fabulous combo. Feel free to do the same (grab whatever you can find in your fridge) or follow my recipe below.

Oh, and the dipping sauce? Let me just say this — it’s awesome.

Rice Paper Rolls

6 rice paper wrappers
2 pieces grilled chicken, sliced
1/4 head nappa cabbage, thinly sliced
1 carrot, shredded
1 cup edamame
2 scallions, ends trimmed, thinly sliced lengthwise

Method:

Prepare all your fillings on a tray, so they are ready to go once your rice paper has softened. Fill a shallow bowl with warm water and slide the rice paper wrappers inside for 10-15 seconds, until soft and pliable. Remove gently from the water and place on a cutting board. Place filling in the center of the wrapper, and roll the bottom portion of the rice paper around the filling. Fold the sides over, and continue rolling to form rolls. Cut summer rolls in half and serve with dipping sauce

Dipping Sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Zest of 1/2 lime
Juice of 1 lime
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sriracha
salt, to taste

Method:

Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. Serve with summer rolls.

1 year ago: roasted beet salsa
2 years ago: gefilte fish patties in tomato sauce

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Spicy Roasted Edamame

I am so excited about this post. And not because of the recipe (even though it is incredibly delicious!). It’s because I finally cracked the code to the mystery of food photography. OK it’s not exactly a mystery, but it was to me. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you  may have noticed how my photography has been slowly evolving. First, I ordered this book. And then this ebook. Then I took a photography class. And then I listened intently to the talented food photographer Noah Fecks at the Kosher Food Blogger Conference. And finally, finally, I pulled out my tripod from the basement. As if 2 books and a class in photography didn’t stress it enough! I was just too lazy to set up a whole mini “studio” to photograph my dishes. But slowly I’ve been pulling out little things here and there (like my son’s old portacrib mattress that serves as my lightboard!) to form my little space in the corner of my kids playroom. Here’s a peak at my “studio”!

So, now for the food! I absolutely love those spicy wasabi roasted peas that they sell with the nuts in all the drug stores. You know what I’m talking about right? Well I wanted to recreate them at home, so I started playing around with some recipes. And here’s what I learned: wasabi loses it’s potency when heated. That’s right. Once you put wasabi-anything in the oven, it loses it’s flavor and it’s like you added nothing! So, to get that spicy kick, I added Asian hot sauce (sriracha) and sprinkled on wasabi powder once the edamame were browned and toasty. The resulting healthy snack is incredibly addicting. I like the medium spice level but you can adjust the sriracha to make it more or less hot. Roasted edamame beans are best eaten fresh, straight out of the oven!

For more Chinese recipes, check out the kosher connection link-up below!

Spicy Roasted Edamame

1 bag frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sriracha sauce
1 tbsp wasabi powder, for sprinkling

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, combine the edamame, oil, soy sauce and sriracha. Spread out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, tossing occasionally.

Remove roasted wasabi beans from the oven and sprinkle with wasabi powder. Eat immediately.

1 year ago: crunchy shriveled green beans
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