Gratitude of the Day: Being an easy-going cook

Now, I wouldn’t be so bold as to say I am a good cook. If you put me on the set of one of those reality cooking shows I would stare at the rows of ingredients like a deer in the headlights and then maybe manage to whip together a mediocre salad off the top of my head. I wouldn’t know where to begin when creating a recipe for muffins or cookies or pies from scratch. I don’t know anything about palates or contrasting flavors or any of those things cool people go to culinary school to learn. What I do know is that I am relatively easy to please and my mother was kind enough to instill upon me what I call the “shrug and go” technique. It involves exactly what it implies. When you come upon an ingredient you don’t have or a method you don’t understand you simply shrug and proceed ahead with whatever first pops into your heard. For instance, this evening, I decided to put together a recipe I found for Kelp Noodles and Spicy Peanut Sauce and my inner monologue went something like this:

“I only have one package of noodles instead of two. Ah well, never liked noodles much anyway — more veggies for me! Oh. I don’t have broccoli. Brussel sprouts it is then! What on earth are Enoki mushrooms? Let’s pretend it says button mushrooms. One teaspoon of grated ginger? What if mine is frozen into a solid block formation? Hmm… yes this large chunk I have sawed off will do. Don’t have red curry paste…let’s go with green. Two teaspoons? That’s awfully complicated to measure. I think a small-ish sized glob will be just fine. Hey wait, I don’t have cumin or coriander or chili sauce like I thought. Curry powder? That’s spicy-ish. And cultural. Meh… sound good. Hurrah!”

And I gotta say… it was a pretty darn fine meal. I mean look at it:

Now, truth be told, this method doesn’t work for everything. I once swapped evaporated milk in for condensed milk and the results were not pretty. I probably should have assumed from the names that evaporated would be the exact opposite of condensed… but hey — live and learn! I don’t think I’ve ever followed a recipe word for word and I’m okay with that. It all tastes fine to me!

P.S. You should totally try this recipe in whichever form works for you — because it’s seriously delicious.

Peanut Butter Soba Noodle Stir Fry

Okay, I virtually always like the things I cook. Even if something I whip up may be disgusting, the fact I made it makes it my baby and I feel I am required to like it. But this…this dish is AMAZING. I seriously feel like you could find it in a restaurant. It’s nutty, creamy and delicious.

I used this recipe almost verbatim: Soba Noodles with Shrimp, Snow Peas & Carrots — with a few exceptions…

1) I realized after I had started that I only had half the amount of shrimp I needed. So I pan-fried a diced chicken breast in sesame oil and added it to the mix at the same time as the sauce. I strongly recommend it!

2) I accidentally used snap peas instead of snow peas — but it was still delicious!

3) I forgot to add the cilantro which was sad but I have plenty of leftovers that I will load up with the stuff.

4) I think I added close to an extra cup of grated carrot which I think made it even better so I would totally recommend doing so.

5) I used these super cool soba noodles I found at my local health food store:

They’re 95% buckwheat and 5% sweet potato! How cool is that!? If you can track them down I can practically guarantee you will love them. Enjoy!!

Veggie, Chicken, Noodle Stir-fry

Sometimes it can be nice to follow a recipe perfectly and know you will get it just right. But it can also be deeply rewarding to play around with a recipe and really test one’s kitchen knowledge. It can be really satisfying to look for substitutions and alternatives. So this recipe originally started as Mushroom Asparagus Japchae but I wanted to add in some different veggies, mix in some chicken and used a different type of noodle because of what I had on hand. Never the less, it turned out wonderfully. I highly recommend it has a great combination of all the nutrients your body needs and it’s delicious to boot!

Veggie, Chicken, Noodle Stir-fry

Serves 4

Ingredients:

- 200g noodles (I used rice spaghettini but glass noodles or vermicelli would also work great)

- 500g sliced assorted mushrooms (I used a combination of button and enoki mushrooms but shitake or oyster would also work)

- 1 chicken breast (butterflied and sliced thinly)

- 1/2 bunch of asparagus (chopped into 1 inch pieces)

- 1/2 head of broccoli (chopped into small florets)

- 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil (divided)

- 3 tablespoons chicken broth

- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)

- 4 tablespoons soya sauce (divided)

- 4 teaspoons brown sugar (divided)

- 1 tablespoon sesame oil (divided)

- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (divided)

- salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch sliced mushrooms in boiling water for 10 seconds. Strain mushrooms and run under cold water. Set aside.

2. Prepare noodles according to package instructions. When they are done you can strain them and set aside. While noodles cook, proceed with the rest of the steps.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil in a frying pan with chicken. Once you can no longer see any raw sides in the chicken, add in the broccoli and garlic. After 2 or 3 minutes, add in the asparagus. Cook until veggies achieve desired tenderness. Add in chicken broth. Let simmer for a minute or two. Then transfer into a bowl.

4. Add 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil to the same pan and stir in mushrooms. Stir in 2 tablespoons soya sauce, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds. Remove from heat and add to bowl of veggies and chicken

5. Heat remaining oils, soya sauce, sugar and sesame seeds. Stir in cooked noodles and let them soak everything in. When noodles have warmed, add in the bowl of veggies and chicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.

It’s delicious eaten right away later as leftovers!