Papaya Salad: great food, or greatest food?

One of my favorite things ever is Thai papaya salad. I don’t remember the first time I had it, but my life has never been the same. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it is great, and I do love it, and it’s simple. So I think you should make it. One thing you should note, I don’t really believe in recipes. I’ll explain what each ingredient is for, give you a suggestion, but you should season to taste.

Ingredients:

• Fish sauce
• Green Papaya (unripe papaya, can be found in asian markets)
• Brown Sugar
• Thai chilis (little spicy chilis)
• Lime
• Tomato
• Clove Garlic

Optional:

• Crushed Roasted Peanuts ( I always use these)
• Green Beans (Thinly sliced lengthwise)
• bean sprouts (I never use these)
• grated carrots (never use this either)

Directions:

1. Peel the papaya, cut in half, and remove the immature seeds. Grate about two cups of it into a bowl using the large holes on a cheese grater, or a salad shooter.
2. Chop Thai chilis. These are obviously used to spice the dish, and use as many or as few as you want. Start with a quarter of one, taste, and add more if it’s not spicy enough for you.
3. Chop garlic and add to bowl.
4. Squeeze half a lime over the papaya salad, this adds acidity and tartness to the dish.
5. Sprinkle brown sugar over papaya to sweeten. ~ 1.5 Tbsp
6. Add about a tablespoon of fish sauce. Fish sauce is used in place of salt in this dish. It also adds a complexity. Don’t let the fish part scare you, I don’t like fish, but this is a good use, I promise.
7. Stir the salad, taste. Reseason if necessary.
8. Add tomatoes and optional ingredients. Stir again.
9. Enjoy!

Homemade Bagels

Last week I forayed into the world of pre-boiled breads by making some homemade pretzels. Despite the fact that I’d never made them before, they turned out… really well. Great in fact.

So this week I decided I would try my hand at another famous bread product which is first dunked in boiling water before baking: bagels!

Thanks to the amazing tool known as the internet, I went from knowing nothing about bagels to being a bagel master in less than an hour. I recommend you give it a try, it’s way easier than you’d think, and the bagels turned out great! I also recommend giving the soft pretzels a try because they were awesome. Oh, also, if you want to put toppings on the bagels or the pretzels, remember to do that after the boil but before the bake. Happy cooking!

Click here for the bagel recipe I used.

Butternut Squash Soup

A delicious soup recipe that will be a welcome addition to all your upcoming holiday menus.   A robust, sweet and creamy concotion, you won’t miss the dairy in this vegan recipe.  Beginning with fresh, local ingredients will give you the base layer for a tasty dish and using various cooking techniques will help to build flavors and add depth for a successful finished product.

Ingredients:

• Butternut squash (2 large)
• Carrot (1 large)
• Sweet Potato (1 large)
• Salt (2-3 t)
• Pepper (1 t)
• Olive oil (EVOO)
• Cinnamon (1/2 t)
• Nutmeg (1/2 t)
• Garlic (4 cloves)
• Onion (1 small-med)
• Shallot (2 small)
• Celery (1 stalk)
• Sage (8 leaves)
• Vegetable stock (1 qt)
• Coconut milk (1 can)

Procedure:

1. Peel and cut root vegetables into equal sizes for even roasting
2. Sprinkle vegetables w/ cinnamon, nutmeg, S & P, and EVOO (just enough to coat) and toss around on sheet pan for even distribution
3. Roast until fork tender and browning has occured (brown = flavor!), about 1 hour (375 degress)
4. Food process  onion, shallot, garlic, and celery and saute in EVOO until soft (medium-high heat)
5. Add sage and vegetable stock
6. Add roasted vegetables and fill pot w/ enough water to cover all vegetables, bring to simmer then blend until smooth (a hand-held immersion blender works best but a regular blender can be used as well)
7. Add coconut milk and season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with sage

Serve hot and enjoy!

Curry Carrot Dip

Need a recipe for a potluck?
Try making this easy curry carrot dip.
It’s delicious and gives you a dose of Vitamin A (good for those eyes).
I made it last weekend and everyone loved the flavors.

Curry Carrot Dip
3 pounds of carrots
2/3 cup of water (to help puree the carrots)
1 cups of sunflower seeds
2 tsp of cumin powder
2 tsp of garlic powder
2 tsp of salt (add more if you’d like)
4 tsp of curry powder
3 tablespoons of olive oil
dill

Preparation: Chop up the carrots into large pieces. Place the chopped carrots into a medium saucepan, and bring the water to boil. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to low-med, cover, and steam the carrots for about 15 minutes until they are tender.

Add the boiled carrots into a food processor to be pureed. Then you will add in sunflower seeds and spices (cumin, curry, garlic and salt). Drizzle in the olive oil until it is well-blended.

Place into a bowl and garnish with dill. This goes great with some chopped celery.

Bon Appétit!