Childhood favourite cabbage noodle salad

This was a favourite in my house when I was a kid, and now that I have kids it has made a major comeback. Adults love it too!

Part of the point of this recipe is to throw in what you have, so feel free to add other stuff that you think might belong… (peas, cooked broccoli, ..)

Ingredients

Main salad

• 2 tbs toasted sesame seeds (or just a random amount)
• 2 tbs toasted chopped nuts (I typically do sliced almonds, if I have them)
• 1/2 head finely chopped cabbage (I just got my first mandoline, which makes really fine much easier - it doesn’t have to be that fine though, but quite fine is good. If your cabbage is small, do the whole thing!)
• 3-4 packages of ramen noodles (I have been using 4 if they are Mr. Noodles and 3 if they are Sapporo Ichiban .. usually I use chicken flavour but it doesn’t really matter)
• Cut up leftover chicken (or you have use fresh rotisserie chicken)… about 1/2 a chicken’s worth
• Chopped cilantro if you are a cilantro family

Dressing

These quantities are for 3 packs of noodles. If you use 4 packs you may want to bump everything up a little bit.

• 3 tbs white sugar
• 4 tbs vinegar (rice wine or apple cider)
• 3 tbs oil
• Pepper
• Flavour packets from the noodles

Directions

1. Toast the almonds and sesame seeds in a dry frying pan. Set aside in a small bowl.
2. Quarter the cabbage and cut out the core. Slice the quarters with a knife or mandoline into long thin strips, no more than about 2-3mm wide if possible, ideally closer to 1mm (you want them to kind of blend in with the noodles). Put the cabbage in the largest bowl you have. It will seem like A LOT of cabbage.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (no salt needed). When it is at a rolling boil, add all the noodles (don’t forget to remove the flavour packets first). Set the timer for 1 minute and prepare a strainer at the sink. When the timer goes off, strain the water off and give the noodles a shake to get out excess water. Dump the steaming hot noodles on top of the cabbage so they soften the cabbage a little.
4. Add the diced chicken on top of the noodles.
5. Put all the dressing ingredients in a microwaveable container (such as a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup) and microwave for a minute or 2 then give it a good stir to dissolve the sugar.
6. Pour the dressing over the salad.
7. Sprinkle the toasted nuts and sesame seeds and the cilantro over top. (I add these at the end so they stay a little more crunchy).
8. Now for the hardest part - toss everything together, trying not to fling too many noodles and too much cabbage out of the bowl. Consider using a bigger bowl next time. When everything is well mixed, it is ready to serve. 

Serve kids a healthy portion with plenty of cabbage and chicken for their first bowl so that when they ask for seconds and try to get only noodles, they have already had some good balance :)

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I have made a few different versions of these in the last while but these were some of my favourites!

I've consulted and made these from several recipes that are all similar, but this version uses the sauce from this one: https://joyfoodsunshine.com/asian-chicken-lettuce-wraps/

Ingredients

Sauce

• 3 tbs soy sauce
• 3 tbs hoisin sauce (or substitute with massaman curry paste)
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 1 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tbs peanut butter
• 1 tbs honey
• 2 tsp sweet chili sauce
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp powdered ginger

Chicken filling

• 1 lb chicken, ground or chopped small - I used thighs and pulsed them in the food processor
• 1-2 tbs peanut oil
• 1/2 - 1 onion, diced small
• 1 8oz can water chestnuts, drained and minced
• ~2 cups grated carrots (optional but very tasty)

Accessories

• 1/4 c roasted peanuts, crushed (I whizzed them in a mini food processor)
• chopped cilantro
• lettuce leaves
• cooked rice (optional)

Method

1. Whisk together the sauce ingredients until well-combined
2. Heat peanut oil in a large frying pan or wok. Once hot, add the chicken.
3. Cook until the chicken bits are starting to brown, stirring regularly - this will take some time.
4. Add onion and cook for 5 mins or until onion is becoming translucent. 
5. Add the water chestnuts and cook another 5 mins or so.
6. Add the sauce and simmer on low heat until the chicken mixture is evenly coated and everything is heated through.
7. Turn off the heat and mix in the grated carrots.
8. Assemble the lettuce wraps at the table and don't forget to top with peanuts and cilantro!

Instant Pot Butter Chicken

We have borrowed Ziggy's and now we are getting our own Instant Pot, so some Instant Pot recipes may start to find their way here...

 Here's one for some very tasty homemade butter chicken, adapted from https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/instant-pot-butter-chicken/ 

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp butter
• 8 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp fresh ginger minced
• 1 cup tomato puree or passata
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp coriander ground
• 1 tsp cumin ground
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 lbs chicken thighs/breasts boneless and skinless, cut into pieces
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 tbsp parsley chopped

Instructions

1. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting.
2. Add the butter and cook until the butter has melted. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for another minute or until the garlic becomes aromatic. Do not cook too long because you don't want to burn it.
3. Add the tomato puree and tomato paste to the Instant Pot and stir. Add the garam masala, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and salt to the Instant Pot, stir and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. 
4. Add the chicken thighs, water and stir everything together. There should be enough liquid in the pot to cover the chicken, so add more water if needed.
5. Close the lid (follow the manufacturer's guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to Manual, high pressure, 5 minutes.
6. Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 15 minutes. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
7. Switch the Instant Pot to the saute setting (do not put the lid on). Add the whipping cream and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken and reduce a bit. You don't want it to reduce too much. 
8. Turn off the Instant Pot and garnish with fresh parsley.

Leftover Chicken and Spinach Curry

So good and so easy... thanks to having a bit of roasted chicken in the fridge, I was able to whip this up in about half an hour!

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/chicken-spinach-curry/a32482de-e463-462b-bd93-a78bce0002c6

My version (based on what I had on hand):

Ingredients

• handful of almonds, chopped (since I didn't have any flaked)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2/3 of a red onion, coarsely chopped (what I happened to have in the fridge)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 heaping tablespoon mild curry paste
• 1/2 cup plain yogourt mixed with a little water (to make just under 3/4 cup)
• leftovers from a roasted chicken (about a large breast's worth), chopped into rough cubes
• most of a bunch spinach, leaves roughly chopped
• cooked rice, to serve

Method

1. Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. Add almonds. Cook, shaking pan gently, for 3 to 5 minutes or until toasted. Remove to a bowl. 
2. Add oil to the pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until soft. Add curry paste and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until aromatic. Add yoghurt and water mixture. Stir until well combined.
3. Add chicken. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes or until chicken is heated through. Add spinach. Cover and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until spinach has wilted.
    
   Spoon curry over rice. Top with toasted almonds. Serve.

Vietnamese-style Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

Poor ilan is sick so yesterday in Vancouver we found him some Vietnamese hot and sour soup for lunch.  It was super yum, so today I decided to try to make something similar at home.  I pulled ideas from a whole bunch of different recipes and websites and here's what I ended up doing (roughly)...

Ingredients (prep everything first)

- 3 tbs minced garlic
- white part of two lemongrass stalks, sliced finely and minced
- 2 red chili peppers with seeds, finely sliced and minced (this made for spicy soup! Use 1 if you want it milder and/or remove seeds)
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- some mushrooms (I think I used 7-8 creminis), quartered
- 3 celery stalks, cut into about 1cm long slices
- 1/2 head green cabbage, sliced into strips (next time I might leave it in somewhat bigger chunks)
- 3 large tomatoes, cut into 6-8 chunks
(You could use different veggies than the above if you like!)
- 1 can of pineapple tidbits
- 1/4 cup fish sauce plus a little more
- about 650mL of chicken broth (we had a yogourt container full in the freezer)
- if you have it, 2 tbs tamarind (I'm sure the soup would be fine even if you don't happen to have this on hand)
- about 1 cup boiling water to prep the tamarind
- fresh herbs for garnish: I used basil (even though I only had a wee bit), mint, and cilantro (could also use some spring onion, possibly even some fresh oregano)

Directions

1. Prep tamarind.  Put the tamarind paste in a bowl and add the boiling water.  Let sit about 15 minutes so tamarind softens.  Press the tamarind and water through a fine sieve into another bowl to extract as much tamarindyness as you can then discard the remaining tamarind chunks.

2. Prep the chicken. Slice the raw chicken across the grain into roughly 1/2cm thick slices.  Put in a bowl with some fish sauce and ground pepper then cover and put it in the fridge until you're ready for it.

3. In a large heavy bottomed soup pot, saute 2/3 of the garlic with the chili peppers and 2/3 of the lemon grass in some olive oil and/or schmaltz.  Once everything is nice and fragrant (about 30s), add 1/4 cup of fish sauce and cook for 2 minutes to reduce it.  Yes, it will smell intensely fishy.

4. Add the chicken stock and tamarind juice to the soup pot, adding a little extra water to help you get everything out of the bowls.  I'd add at least a cup or two of water at this stage.  You can also throw in the lemongrass tops in larger chunks if you like.  Bring to a boil.

5. Add the can of pineapple with juice and again rinse the can with water to get it all.  Add the chopped veggies (in my case, celery, mushrooms, cabbage, and the tomatoes - I added the tomatoes a little later than everything else and maybe should have waited longer than I did).  Reduce to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes (maybe less).

6. While the soup is simmering, heat some oil/schmaltz in a frying pan and add the remaining garlic and minced lemongrass.  Fry till fragrant (30s) then add a couple tbs of fish sauce.  Again, let it cook a minute or two to reduce down but not so much that everything starts sticking to the pan.  Add the sliced chicken and cook until just cooked through (about 4 mins).

7. Add the chicken to the soup, check to make sure everything is sufficiently cooked, and turn off the heat.

8. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh herbs.  Eat and enjoy!

ilan says: "If this soup doesn't cure me, nothing will!"