Stolen lentil salad

The bearded man we stole this from called this "East meets West salad." We traded some very important things for this recipe. I'm going to miss my brother...



The ingredients:
2 cups cooked lentils
2 cups grated carrots
1 bunch scallion
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 stalk celery
1 red pepper
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 ume plum vinegar

Mix together and enjoy!

Roasted Salsa Verde

Ingredients:
10 tomatillos (about 1 lb.)
1-2 cloves garlic, with the skin still on
2-3 serrano chilies
1/2 white onion
1/4 cup cilantro
salt

Directions:
Remove husks and wash tomatillos. Place tomatillos, whole garlic cloves, and whole serranos on a pan with edges. Place under the broiler and heat until charred on all sides.

Remove outer skin from garlic and stems from serannos. Unless you like salsa on your ceiling, allow the vegetables to cool to prevent a blender explosion. Place tomatillos, garlic, and serranos in a blender and puree until large chunks are gone. Add diced onion, cilantro, and salt to taste.

Corn and Chili Chowder

Some guy at the farmer's market was roasting freshly picked peppers over a fire pit. They smelled so delicious that we bought a whole bag. Crazy good cooking ensued. This soup is a little spicy and gets hotter the longer it sits in the fridge. Leave the skin on the potatoes for added iron.

Ingredients:
2 ears sweet corn
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups cream or half and half
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 lb. potatoes, diced
2 roasted, peeled and seeded green chilies
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Boil corn. Cut kernels off the cob and set aside. In a large soup pot, combine broth, cream, and corn cobs. Simmer for 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove cobs.

Saute onion in oil until soft. Add onion, potatoes, and roasted chilies to cream mixture. Cook until potatoes are tender. Add corn kernels and cook for 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Green Chili and Corn Quesadilla

This is way basic, but also tasty.

Ingredients:
1 ear corn
1 roasted, peeled, and seeded poblano
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheeses
4 flour tortillas

Directions:
Boil corn in water for 5 minutes or until tender. Cut corn off of ear. Chop chili into small pieces and mix with corn. Spoon corn and chili mixture onto one tortilla, top with half of cheese and remaining tortilla. Cook until golden brown.

Orange Chicken

Jen and I found this one while we were traveling in the Sichuan Province of China. Not really. Actually, we were craving some Panda Express (Happy Panda if your Jen) and wanted it without the sodium. Its pretty good but needs the orange zest for a little extra flavor.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound chicken breast (cut into bite-size cubes)
5 dried red chilies (cut into 1.5 inch length, seeded and soaked in warm water)
1 teaspoon minced orange zest
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 inch ginger (minced)
1 stalk scallion (use the white part only, cut into thin threads for garnishing)
2 teaspoons oil
Oil for deep frying

Orange Sauce:
1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
3 tablespoons canned chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
5 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder
1 teaspoon corn starch
Salt to taste

Frying Batter:
1/2 cup water
2 oz. all-purpose flour
1 oz. corn starch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 egg
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1 small pinch of salt

Directions:
Mix the orange sauce ingredients and set aside.

Mix the frying batter and dip the chicken meat into the batter. Heat up a pan of cooking oil. When the cooking oil is hot enough for frying, drop the chicken pieces into the oil and deep fry them until they turn golden brown or crispy. Transfer them out onto a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

In a pan, add 2 teaspoons of cooking oil and quickly stir-fry the minced garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add in the dried red chilies and toss around until you smell the spicy aroma. Follow by the minced orange zest and then chicken. Quickly stir the chicken around before adding the orange sauce mixture. Continue to stir-fry until the sauce thicken. Dish out, garnish with the scallion threads and serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Tasty Collard Greens

It was a nice day out so Joe and I headed to the farmer's market down on campus. We found some collard greens and decided to give them a try. I altered a recipe found online and they turned out pretty good. Not bad for my first time. Joe liked them with a little hot sauce over the top.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1-2 cups chicken stock
1 bunch collard greens - rinsed, trimmed and chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic, and gently saute until light brown. Pour in the chicken stock. Add the collard greens to the cooking pot, and turn the heat up to medium-high, cover the pot. Let the greens cook down for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to medium, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook until the greens are tender and dark green. Drain greens, reserving liquid. Mix in red pepper flakes. Use liquid to reheat leftovers.

SPICY! Green Curry

The Ingredients:
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1-2 tablespoons green curry paste
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1 tablespoon sugar
1 scallion
1 ½ tablespoon asian fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
½ tablespoon cornstarch (dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water)
1 tablespoon cilantro
1 tablespoon basil

The Preparation:
Add 2 tablespoons coconut milk with curry paste, sugar, and ginger in pan on simmer. Wisk together until smooth. Add remaining milk and remaining ingredients and boil.

Guiseppi’s Smoky Alfredo

Ingredients: 3 Tablespoons Butter
1 ½ cups of half and half
½ cup Smoked Gouda
1 Garlic Clove
1 Tomato
2 Green Onions
¼ cup of Basil
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Melt butter in a wide frying pan over high heat until butter is lightly brown. Add garlic and ½ cup of half and half and boil rapidly until slightly thickened. Reduce the heat to medium, add half of the cheese and ½ cup of cream. Let cheese melt and add remaining cheese and half and half. Let cheese melt and add remaining ingredients. Serve over choice of pasta.