Recipe Re-Visit: Szechuan Noodles

I made this simple vegetarian meal again with the help of my new mandoline which is a big help with the julienned veggies in this recipe. This is a great dish and an excellent take-to-work lunch. See the original post and recipe here.

Asian Chicken Burgers

Can you guys tell that I am on a chicken/turkey burger kick? I have done them just about everywhichway. And, there's more to come. Oh yes, lots more. I mean, what's not to love? You can fill them up with all sorts of spices and veggies and have a deliciously flavorful burger that is a guilt-free twist on your standard burger.

This burger was definitely a completely different flavor profile with a classic Asian taste to it. It was very moist, slightly sweet, with a tangy bite from the onions and cilantro. In a word: yummy!

 

Ingredients:
1 small carrot
1 small red onion, divided
1 lb ground chicken
1/4 panko Japanese breadcrumbs
1/4 cup hoisin sauce, divided
1 tbsp peeled ginger, grated
4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce, divided
3 tbsp hot Asian chili sauce (I used Sriracha), divided
8 ounces white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tsp sesame oil
Juice of 1 lime
4 whole wheat sesame hamburger buns

Directions:
Finely chop the carrot and 1/2 of the red onion and place in a large bowl. Add chicken, panko, 2 tbsp hoison sauce, ginger, 3 tsp soy sauce, and 1 tsp chili sauce. Using clean, wet hands, mix until the ingredients are evenly combined.

Shape the chicken mixture into 4 patties. If chicken mixture is too sticky, wet your hands with water before forming the patties.

At this point, you can either bake the burgers on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or you can grill the burgers. If you plan to grill them, place the patties on a plate and stick them in the freezer while you prepare your grill. Freezing the burgers during this time helps them to not fall apart when you place them on the grill. Once the grill is prepared, cook the burgers evenly on both sides until cooked through.

While you are preparing the grill/cooking the burgers, thinly slice the remaining 1/2 onion. Place the onion, sliced mushrooms, and chopped cilantro in a medium bowl. Add the sesame oil, lime juice and remaining 1 tsp soy sauce and toss to coat. Set aside.

In a small bowl mix the remaining 2 tbsp hoisin sauce, 2 tsp chili sauce and 1 tbsp water. Set aside.

Warm the hamburger buns on the grill or in the oven. Serve the burgers on the buns topped with a drizzle of the hoisin-chili sauce mixture and some of the mushroom-onion mixture.

Adapted from Pass the Sushi

 

 

Linked to Prairie Story Recipe Swap Thursday and Little Brick Ranch Foodie Friday.

Asian BBQ Chicken

This Asian BBQ chicken was super easy and tasted fantastic. It was flavorful and moist and the leftovers were great shredded and eaten as lettuce wraps. I served it with some grilled cabbage on a whim. Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoon lime juice (about 1 lime)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Green onions, sliced, for garnish

Directions:
Place all the ingredients except the chicken and green onions in a small bowl. Whisk to combine until the brown sugar is dissolved. Pour marinade into a ziplock bag. Add the chicken to the marinade bag, making sure all pieces are evenly coated. Place the bag in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, preheat your grill. Spray grill surface with cooking spray. Discard the marinade and cook chicken for 5-10 minutes on each side until done. Top with sliced green onions.

Linked to Prairie Story Recipe Sway Thursday and EKat's Kitchen Friday Potluck.

Quick and Easy Sesame Noodles

I was looking for an easy dish to make for dinner without having to make a trip to the grocery store. This fit the bill! The only thing I didn't have was green onions so I used chives instead. I love green onions and next time I will be sure to include them! Regardless, this was a breeze to prepare and quite tasty. I didn't have hot chili oil so instead I used red pepper flakes (which make a pretty garnish, too) and used 1 tbsp hot sesame oil and 2 tbsp regular sesame oil. My variations gave it just the perfect amount of kick! Recipe slightly adapted from Let's Dish.

Ingredients:

12 ounces thin spaghetti

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

3 tablespoons sesame oil

½ teaspoon hot chili oil (or chili pepper flakes)

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons hot water (can use pasta water)

3-4 green onions, sliced

Sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, whisk remaining ingredients (except green onions) together in a large bowl. Pour drained noodles into bowl with soy sauce mixture and toss until noodles are evenly coated. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds and serve.

 

Linked to Mostly Food and Crafts Mostly Made by You and Not So Homemade What's Cooking Wednesday?

Sesame Seared Tuna with Lime Ginger Vinaigrette

I have had this recipe from Steamy Kitchen bookmarked for a long time. I noticed my local grocery store had sushi-grade tuna steaks on sale so I decided to try it out. My first attempt with rare tuna didn't turn out so well, I didn't get a great sear on them and they were just mediocre. This time they turned out great! I think I might need a few more times to master getting those sesames seared just perfectly, but even if it didn't come out picture perfect, this dish was yummy. I love the vinaigrette with the fish, although we did end up adding some extra wasabi to each bite.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons black sesame seeds

3 tablespoons white sesame seeds

2 pieces tuna fish fillet (about 1 pound)

1 teaspoon wasabi paste

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice (or other vinegar)

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

3 tablespoons avocado oil (or other oil)

salt and pepper

2 large handfuls salad greens (optional)

Directions:

In a shallow bowl, add the black and the white sesame seeds. Pat the tuna very dry. Smear a bit of wasabi paste on both sides of the fish. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Coat all sides of the tuna in sesame seeds.

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat and add the cooking oil. When the oil is shimmering, carefully lay the tuna fillets in the pan, not touching. Cook for 2 minutes then flip the tuna. Cook 2 minutes, then flip the fillets to its side to cook 1 minute. Flip one more time to cook the other side for 1 minute so that you have a good sear on all sides. Please take care not to burn the sesame seeds. If the seeds start turning brown too quickly, lower the heat. Remove the fish to a plate.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, ginger and the oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Slice the fish into thin slices and arrange on a plate. Drizzle some of the lime-ginger vinaigrette over the fish. Toss the remaining lime-ginger vinaigrette with salad greens, if desired.

Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a main dish.

 

Amanda's Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

My best friend, Amanda, came over the other night to cook dinner for us. She made up a chicken and veggie stir fry concoction that she wanted me to try and it was super delicious. I don't have exact measurements for everything but this is easy to make just by adding as much as you need of each ingredient. The end result, served over jasmine rice, was a great and satisfying meal!

Ingredients:

3-4 uncooked chicken breasts, diced

2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets

4 celery stalks, sliced

1 large zucchini, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

1 package sliced mushrooms

1 package bean sprouts

Cilantro, roughly chopped

Cooking oil (like canola or safflower)

Rice vinegar

Sesame chili oil

Sweet chili sauce

Salt

Jasmine rice

Directions:

Heat cooking oil in a large wok or fry pan. Add diced chicken and saute until slightly cooked and no longer pink on the outside. Add broccoli, celery, zucchini, and onion. Add rice vinegar (roughly 1 tbsp) and sesame chili oil (roughly 1 teaspoon), to taste.

Cover and allow vegetables to cook down for 5-10 minutes, adding more oil as needed.

Add mushrooms, bean sprouts, and cilantro, stirring to combine. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly. Add sweet chili sauce and salt to taste.

Serve over jasmine rice. Top with additional sweet chili sauce or soy sauce, as desired.

Yum! Thanks, Amanda!

Citrus Beef Stir-Fry with Carrots

This recipe was pretty good, I overcooked the beef a bit so it could have been better. I would cook the beef to rare at first and then when you add it back to the pan it will cook the rest of the way.

Ingredients:
1 lb beef, strip sirloin, trimmed, raw, cut into thin strips

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
3 tbsp unpacked light brown sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp orange zest
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp sesame oil
2 cups carrots, matchstick-cut
1 medium onion, cut into 8 wedges and separated

Directions:
Place beef in a shallow dish; pour 2 tablespoons soy sauce over beef. Turn to coat completely. Let marinate 15 minutes in refrigerator.

Combine orange juice, sugar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, vinegar, orange rind and red pepper in a small bowl. Stir with a whisk.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add beef and cook 6 minutes. Remove from heat and place on a serving platter; keep warm.

Reduce heat to medium-high; add carrot and onion. Cook 7 minutes or until carrot is lightly browned and crisp-tender, stirring frequently. Increase heat to high; add beef and its juices and orange juice mixture. Cook 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Servings: 4
Points: 7

Szechuan Noodles

This recipe is from Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa). The peanut ginger sauce has a lot of ingredients but most of them are things I typically have on hand. I definitely recommend adding in extra veggies in here based on your preference (try mushrooms, cucumbers, carrots, etc).

Ingredients:
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste, found in the international food aisle)
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup good soy sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon hot chili oil
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 pound spaghetti
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned
4 scallions, sliced diagonally (white and green parts)

Directions:
Place the garlic and ginger in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the vegetable oil, tahini, peanut butter, soy sauce, sherry, sherry vinegar, honey, chili oil, sesame oil, and ground peppers. Puree the sauce.

Add a splash of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water and cook the spaghetti al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander, place it in a large bowl, and while still warm, toss with 3/4 of the sauce.

Add the red and yellow bell peppers and scallions; toss well. Serve warm or at room temperature. The remaining sauce may be added, as needed, to moisten the pasta.

Notes:
- This makes a ton of sauce, next time I would probably halve the sauce recipe.
- I didn't have any chili oil so I used hot sesame oil instead.
- I used whole wheat pasta, which tasted great with this sauce.