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As promised, here’s the bean sprout salad recipe to accompany the recently-posted Thai-style pork patties. We adapted Cook’s Illustrated’s original recipe by adding more vegetables and some sesame oil and leaving out the chopped peanuts. It’s a ridiculously easy dish — just toss together bean sprouts, green onions, carrots, cucumber and cilantro with a mixture of vegetable and sesame oil, lime juice, brown sugar, sriracha and salt & pepper. The result is a fresh, slightly spicy and flavorful salad that would go well with pretty much any Asian-style main course. Or you could make it a meal on its own by adding leftover pork, chicken or shrimp for a filling lunch or even a light summer supper.
“Pork patties” may not sound very appetizing, and I’ll admit that I was skeptical about how these would turn out, but this is a Cook’s Illustrated recipe, so we know it was tested extensively by the folks at America’s Test Kitchen until they got it just right. We’re big fans of Cook’s Illustrated and subscribe to them online (great site to find tried & true recipes for dishes you may be cooking for the first time), receive their magazines at home (6 issues per year, packed with interesting cooking tips, info and recipes) and have many of their “best of” books (highly recommend this one for weeknight cooking.) I’m also always on the look-out for any of their special edition magazines, usually available in the grocery store. Their Fall 2011 issue of “30-Minute Suppers” has 64 recipes that are perfect for a weeknight meal, including this pork recipe and several others we have tried and enjoyed. But enough of this non-sponsored free commercial for Cook’s Illustrated — back to the pork patties! We were pleasantly surprised by how delicious they turned out, most likely due to the unique combination of flavors from several Thai-style ingredients: fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, shallot, serrano chile, lemongrass and cilantro — blended together with ground pork, an egg and fresh breadcrumbs that resulted in flavorful patties with the ideal crispy-outside-moist-inside texture. These patties have an unexpectedly sophisticated flavor (makes me want to name them something more refined than “patties”), especially considering how quick and easy they are to prepare in under half an hour.
Saturday
Sunday Happy Easter!
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Here’s the final non-meat dish for this season of Lent, and we saved the best for last. You might be surprised to find that cauliflower can constitute an entire meal (we were), but there is enough going on with this recipe to create a more than satisfying and delicious dinner made up entirely of vegetables. We had heard of roasted cauliflower steak before and were intrigued to try it, but we (mostly me) were a little skeptical about how a slab of cooked cauliflower would actually taste. When I found this recipe incorporating olive relish and tomato sauce, I knew we had a winner — if olives and tomatoes can make fish appetizing (and they can), we were excited to see what they could do for cauliflower. Turns out they add a ton of rich, salty and tangy flavor to transform a roasted vegetable into an elegant meal. An easy weeknight meal with simple ingredients: cauliflower, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, parsley, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, butter, Parmesan cheese, garlic, tomatoes and salt & pepper.
Continue reading “Cauliflower Steaks with Olive Relish and Tomato Sauce”
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Here’s another one for vegetarians or anyone avoiding meat on Fridays during Lent. Not being much of a vegetable eater, I wasn’t so sure I would enjoy a dish made with just pasta and veggies. Turns out that with the right sauce and vegetables, I’m a fan. We adapted this pasta primavera recipe by using veggies that we already know we like and beefing up the sauce (so to speak) with tomatoes. We also left out the chicken called for in the original recipe, but adding some leftover cooked chicken if you’ve got it would be a welcome addition of protein. This is an easy and flavorful dish with a creamy tomato sauce that has a hint of spice and complementary textures from the sauteed veggies and cooked pasta. It’s worth a try with whatever veggies you happen to like for a relatively quick and healthy weeknight meal.
The word “souvlaki” comes from a Greek word meaning “skewer” and refers to meat (usually lamb or pork) grilled on a skewer. Although we’ve never been to Greece (add it to the Life List!), we were inspired by a visit to a Greek food festival to try making this type of cuisine at home. Given our prior success with meat-on-a-stick recipes (pork, beef and more pork), we figured that the Greek version of the kebab would be a good place to start. We used this recipe for a simple, yet flavor-packed marinade made from olive oil, red wine, lemon juice, dried mint, dried oregano, garlic and a bay leaf. We made pork souvlaki because we happened to have pork shoulder in the freezer (most likely leftover from our Charcutepalooza efforts), but the marinade would likely be just as good with lamb or even chicken. Aside from the dried mint, these are all ingredients that we almost always have on hand, but wouldn’t necessarily have thought of combining. Surprisingly, the combination resulted in the unmistakable “Greek” flavors we remember sampling at the festival. Who knew it would be so easy to make Greek food at home? This is one of our favorite things about cooking — the satisfaction that comes from learning a new flavor profile or technique that opens up a whole new realm of recipe possibilities. Opa!
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We love a good soup, especially one that is hearty enough to be a meal all on its own. Bonus points for also being healthy and vegetarian. This soup (adapted from a recipe by Chef Michael Chiarello) not only fits these criteria, but also is delicious and easy to make with simple ingredients you most likely already have on hand: a can of whole tomatoes, olive oil, butter, celery, a carrot, onion, garlic, chicken broth, a bay leaf, orzo pasta and spinach. It’s a great dish for anyone avoiding meat on Fridays during Lent, or anyone who likes soup and is looking for a nutritious, meat-less, meal-in-a-bowl dinner.