Vietnamese Pork Salad

A colleague at work asked me on Monday if I was still posting recipes on my blog. I stumbled over my words a bit before I finally blurted out the honest truth:

"Not really."

"Why?"

I had to think about it for awhile to determine the reason behind my lack of food-related posts, my silence on the blog in general, really.

"Well," I started. "I've been writing about other topics lately and it seems I have a greater readership when I'm NOT writing about food. And to be quite honest," I continued, "I haven't really cooked anything good and worthy of sharing all summer."

Yikes. It's true but I didn't really like the sound of it as it rolled off my tongue. What have I been feeling my family? A lot of mediocre, apparently.

In my defense, we traveled a whole heck of a lot over the summer so many of my meals were at the mercy of the camp stove. But as I thought further about my lack of cooking creativity lately, I realized just how claustrophobic I have felt all summer long. When we weren't traveling (or packing for the next trip!), I was either working or clawing desperately for a minute to myself. I felt very much at the mercy of everyone else but me. In case you are in need of a visual, a friend shared a with me a little video clip that very much depicts with striking similarity what my summer hours at home looked like, me and my desperate pursuit for alone time:

Needless to say, it is VERY hard to do anything, creative or not, with littles underfoot. I'm still looking for my groove, searching for how to be a mom of school-aged kids (and maybe more importantly, how to survive the summers when they aren't in school!!!) But now that school is back in session, I'm very hopeful my kitchen will be pumping out delicacies again in the weeks and months to come. Thankfully, my youngest is pretty keen with the whisk so I'm sure he and I will spend a lot of our waking hours cooking while the big girls are in school. Hopefully we will have some successes that we can share in this space!

I did make one hit dish this summer that I'm excited to post. My garden, much like my kitchen, wasn't quite as happy this year as last, but I did manage to have great success in the herb and summer squash department, which is how I landed on this recipe. It is super fresh, herbaceous, and the kids were happy because it featured "pasta" (i.e. rice noodles). My husband took his first couple bites and exclaimed "You should definitely add this one to your rotation!"

Good man.

Nevermind that I made the very same dish the following week and his reaction was "Is this a new recipe?" Some memories, even good ones, can sometimes be short-lived. ;)

I tweaked the original recipe to feature a full pound of meat to make it a bit more filling (and so that you'll use up an entire package of ground pork rather than being left bewildered with a couple ounces in hand). If you are cooking for kiddos, I'd recommend holding the sriracha sauce in the dressing and serving it on the side instead for the spice-lovers. Feel free to play around with your ratios of lettuce and veggies and even get creative and substitute snap peas or blanched green beans when they are in season. Also, get generous with the fresh mint and cilantro and load up on the peanuts too. Serve the salad with a slice of fresh lime for squeezing and juicy watermelon wedges. Of note, the recipe can be gluten-free if prepared with gluten-free fish sauce for those of you who can't have gluten. Happy cooking and eating and I hope to be back with another yummy kitchen success sooner rather than later!

Vietnamese Pork Salad
(adapted from Cooking Light Magazine)

8 ounces uncooked rice vermicelli noodles
1 pound ground pork
12 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 tablespoons fish sauce, divided
1 tablespoon peanut oil
3 tablespoons chopped unsalted peanuts
3 tablespoons sliced green onions
2 teaspoons Sriracha
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup diagonally cut seeded cucumber
1 cup diagonally cut or julienned carrot
1/2 cup diagonally cut yellow squash
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

Cook rice vermicelli according to package directions; drain and rinse with cold water. Drain.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork to pan; cook 8 minutes, stirring to crumble. Combine 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, and oil in a bowl; add to pan. Cook 1 minute; remove from heat.

Combine remaining 10 tablespoons juice, remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce, peanuts, green onions, and Sriracha in a bowl. Arrange lettuce, cucumber, carrot, and squash on a large platter. Top with noodles, pork mixture, cilantro, and mint. Drizzle juice mixture over top.

Serves 6

Chilled Tomato Gazpacho with Cucumber and Feta

(I originally authored this post nearly a year ago now, back when we were homeless and living with my in-laws while deep in our house hunt. The recipe was an instant hit but alas, the photo I took before we devoured the soup was not. And so I had to wait a year for my next crop of tomatoes to come full circle so I could make the soup again and snag a better picture. I made this soup with my tomato bounty tonight. Yowser. It's just as good this year as last. If not even better. The ripe tomatoes produced such a natural sweetness in the soup that my husband asked if it was made out of watermelon after taking his first bite. So without further adieu....read on for last year's post and the recipe):

I have already mentioned our Tomato Conundrum. When we moved in with my in-laws back in June, we brought more than just boxes of our belongings. We also brought my patio garden which we added to the plot that was already here. So between all of our tomato plants, fresh tomatoes are piling up almost as rapidly as my 5-year-olds unanswered questions.

This week's menu-planning was easy. Our September Food and Wine Magazine arrived and it's as if they'd peaked over the fence and spied our tomato problem. The issue was plum full of tomato recipes so I dog-eared every one and have great aspirations of catching up with the ripening fruit in the days ahead. I wasn't expecting to have a post-worthy success so early on but this soup struck gold and so I couldn't help but share.

I never would have expected raw pureed tomatoes to taste so amazing but when they are ripened on the vine in your very own garden, there is no comparison. If you don't have a Tomato Conundrum, I'm sure you can find some ripe beauties at the farmer's market that will do just as well. This recipe is fast and easy and I had it ready to serve in the time it took my husband to whip up a tower of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. Make sure you use large tomatoes - I used 6 medium-sized Romas and felt like 3-4 more would have better achieved the volume I was shooting for. The tomatoes are first chopped and then pureed in a blender with a drizzle of honey. The soup is topped with red onions and that are lightly caramelized and olives and then tossed with red wine vinegar for a slightly sweet yet tangy contrast to the smooth soup. If olives aren't your thing, leave them out. I have made the soup both ways and the results are lovely. Cucumbers add crunch and feta cheese provides a delicious finish to this late summer hit.

Chilled Tomato Gazpacho with Cucumber and Feta
(adapted from Food and Wine Magazine)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

1 small red onion, thinly sliced 
3/4 cup pitted Kalmata olives 
2 tablespoons oregano leaves or 1 tsp dried oregano
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar 
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt 
1 small cucumber, peeled and chopped into small cubes 
1 tablespoon honey 
6 large tomatoes, chopped 
Freshly ground black pepper 
4 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved 
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup) 

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, olives and oregano and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vinegars. Season with salt. Cool to room temperature. 

Meanwhile, in a bowl, toss the cucumber with 1/2 tablespoon of the honey and season with salt.

In a blender, puree the chopped tomatoes with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of honey and season generously with salt and pepper. 

Pour the soup into shallow bowls. Top with the onion-olive mixture, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and feta.

Serves 4

Spicy Chicken Thighs with Rhubarb-Cucumber Salsa

My favorite produce stand, the Yakima Fruit Market and Nursery, finally opened for the season and
we've been filling our fridge drawers to literally overflowing every week. Last week I spotted their first crop of rhubarb and immediately thought of this dish. It's a perfect meal for either spring or summer and comes together quickly with just a little chopping. The cool salsa is a great contrast to the spicy sauce on the chicken. I've always loved the nice kick the habanero chile gives the sauce. Tonight I didn't have any habernos handy so I just used a jalapeno instead. I'm pretty sure my girls said a silent prayer of thanks (they are always requesting I make things "less spicy next time"). The jalapeno version turned out much milder which was great for the kids but personally I missed the heat so I'd say go for the habanero or a few jalapenos if you're like me and think spice is nice. It's rhubarb season which probably means a pie post is soon to follow!

Spicy Chicken Thighs with Rhubarb-Cucumber Salsa
(From Bon Appetit Magazine)

1 habanero, Scotch bonnet, or Thai chile, with seeds, stemmed (or 1 jalapeno if you don't want much kick)

2 garlic cloves

2 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts divided

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

6 large skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

Kosher salt

1 1/2 cups 1/4-inch cubes rhubarb

1 cup 1/4-inch cubes unpeeled seeded English hothouse cucumber

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 500°. Line a baking sheet with foil. Pulse chile, garlic, and white parts of scallions in a food processor until finely chopped. With machine running, drizzle in soy sauce, then olive oil; process until emulsion forms. Transfer sauce to a bowl.

Place chicken thighs, skin side up, on a work surface and slash each crosswise at 3/4-inch intervals down to the bone. Season lightly with salt. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush with sauce. Bake until skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°, 20–25 minutes. Broil on high for an additional 2–3 minutes for crisper skin, if desired. Let rest for 5–10 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss rhubarb, next 5 ingredients, and green parts of scallions in a medium bowl to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and let stand for at least 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Serve chicken with rhubarb salsa alongside.

 

Serves 4