Khow Suey: Burmese Noodle Soup

Check out my bowls for a minute. Yes, I said my bowls! BOWLS!! Home Sense, people! Get on it!

On to the subject of this post: Khow Suey.  Apparently Khow Suey is an egg noodle dish served with either curried chicken or beef, coconut milk and an assortment of condiments. This particular version is more of a soup with a number of colourful vegetables in it. While it has deviated somewhat from its roots, it looks and tastes like a hot damn.

Wait for it......

Another bowl shot! Those colourful vegetables sure compliment my lovely new bowls.

On the subject of colourful vegetables, my friend Scott started growing peppers on his patio this year. His interest in all things pepper-related got a little out of hand, as his patio and indoor plant growing operation could be a candidate for the next episode of Hoarding: Buried Alive. One night, we were rummaging through the fridge looking for a snack and wound up preparing a dish of cheese, crackers and sliced jalapeños. I tried not to be impressed, but the flavour combination was pretty terrific. Now I can't seem to get enough of the hot stuff in almost everything I prepare. I can't eat enough heat.

I wouldn't call this dish a hot number, but there is plenty of opportunity to heat things up. Garnishing each serving with jalapeños is a great way to use up the insane number of chili peppers I seem to have on hand. The coconut-curry combination helps combat the heat and just compliments the flavour altogether.

Whether heat is your thing or not, Khow Suey offers a wholesome chicken and vegetable soup with a ton of dimension. Frankly, nothing will make your new bowls 'pop' in photographs quite like it either.

Adapted from: http://www.spicechronicles.com

Ingredients

• 2 T vegetable oil,
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1T fresh ginger, minced 
• 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 t dried coriander powder
• 1 t cumin
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup pureed tomatoes
• 2 T tamari
• 750ml chicken broth
• 250ml coconut milk
• juice of one lime
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• rice noodles

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, cooking until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and spices, cooking until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and tamari and combine well. Pour in the broth and coconut milk and simmer for about 5 minutes. Squeeze the lime juice into the pan and pour in the chopped cilantro.

Boil 3 cups of water in a large pot. Add rice noodles and simmer for two minutes. Use a set of tongs to remove the noodles and place them in serving bowls. Ladle portions of the soup on top and add handfuls of cilantro and sliced jalapeños to garnish.

Chickpea Veggie Bowl

My work colleagues have a step challenge underway and it's breeding all sorts of other good behaviours, one of which is healthier eating habits. Frozen meals are being traded in for salads and home cooking is back in style. Hallelujah!

I tweaked my own diet earlier this year and a few key changes have stuck.  I cut out sweets after most meals and with the exception of holidays and a few weak moments, haven't deviated from this plan. I now crave sweets less and find that my tolerance for all things sugared has changed.  Desserts I used to love seem too sweet for me now.  I also cut back my alcohol intake, which has fattened up my bank account and trimmed my waist line.

This recipe celebrates the progress I and my colleagues have made to eat well in order to live better. Build on it or modify as required. I topped my veggie bowl with a spoonful of olive tapenade to give it a little extra dimension. Chili sauce (sambal oelek), a dollop of sour cream or humus would be nice with it as well.  Pair it with rice or noodles if you want more substance and of course, add some chorizo or chopped ham to it if meat isn't optional for you.

Adapted from: http://eathealthyeathappy.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chick peas
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• 1 bunch of asparagus, chopped
• 3 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup of fresh basil, chopped
• juice of half a lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Saute the garlic for about half a minute, then add the onion, allowing it to cook for two minutes. Toss in the pepper, zucchini and asparagus and stir well to coat the vegetables with the oil. Let the vegetables sit for about two minutes. Add the mushrooms and cover the saucepan with a lid, keeping in the heat for another three minutes. Add the chickpeas, the basil and lemon juice and toss until they are combined well with the other ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Serve with a spoonful of chili sauce or olive tapenade on top.

Pasta Alternatives: Bacon Bolognese-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes & Zucchini Spaghetti

I recently came across two ideas for traditional pasta-based dishes that have omitted the pasta for other ingredients. If pasta doesn't sit well with you, these alternatives may help you enjoy some old Italian favourites. If you're just looking for something a little different, these recipes are also a little different.

Bacon Bolognese-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Adapted from: http://cafedelites.com/
Serves 8

Ingredients

• 4 medium or 2 large yams/sweet potatoes
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 500 g bacon 
• 1 kg ground beef
• 398 ml of tomato sauce
• 1 T vegetable stock powder
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Fresh basil, chopped

Method

Cook the bacon in a frying pan or oven at 375F until crispy. Remove from the heat and chop finely when cooled. Set the oven to 450F.

In order to bake the sweet potatoes with the prettiest results, bake them whole after cleaning them with warm water and poking a few holes in them. I sliced my very large potatoes in half in order to reduce the amount of baking time. With this method, the exposed flesh develops a skin that needs to be removed and discarded before serving.

While the potatoes are baking, sauté the onions, garlic and other vegetables in oil on medium heat until translucent. Add the ground beef and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the beef has cooked through. Add the tomato sauce, stock powder and bacon, mixing well.  Once the potatoes are baked, cut each of them in half, vertically and scoop out the potato until only half an inch lines the skin. Combine the potato in with the bolognese mixture.

Scoop the bolognese into the potato skins until filled and top with parmesan cheese. Broil on high for 5 minutes. Remove and top with chopped basil.

As tasty as they look.

Zucchini Pasta Primavera

A friend of mine recently purchased the Paderno spiral slicer (https://paderno.com) and has been raving about her re-inspired pasta dish that replaces spaghetti with zucchini noodles. Yep, the spiral slicer will give you long, spaghetti-like noodles from a zucchini. I had to give it a try. I wasn't interested in buying another appliance, but I had alternatives.

In the adjacent picture, I used the julienne slicing disc attachment on my KitchenAid food processor. I also experimented with a simple vegetable peeler and while neither tool gets the same results as the spiral slicer, it provides a viable substitute. This version is vegetarian, but my friend usually adds a few Italian sausages to her recipe. You need a good shot of protein in this dish to fill you up. I would add toasted pine nuts, or roasted chick peas if sausage doesn't work for you.

Adapted: From my head!

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 2 small zucchinis
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T olive oil
• handful basil, chopped
• handful cherry tomatoes, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• grated parmesan to taste

Method

Slice/grate the zucchinis using the tool of your choice. For the vegetable peeler, I left the skins on and kept the end on the zucchinis to give me something to grip while I peeled. For the julienne slicer, I also left the skin on, but cut the ends off each of the zucchinis.

Warm the olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Sauté the garlic for a minute and then add the zucchini, tossing it thoroughly to coat it with the oil.  Let the zucchini heat up for about 2 minutes. I opted not to cook it further in order to keep the texture of the zucchini somewhat al dente. Too much heat time in the pan will also extract the water from the zucchini, causing the dish to get soggy. Add the tomato and basil, tossing well and remove from heat. Season with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.

Pan Fried Halibut with Grilled Halloumi & Vegetable Salad

Hats off to Chatelaine magazine for their ongoing efforts to bring simple and delicious recipes to their readers consistently. I get a little giddy at the thought of each month's issue and try as many recipes as I can with solid results. I recently tried a grilled vegetable and halloumi salad from the magazine's June issue.  I've seen halloumi, a Mediterranean, semi-hard, unripened and brined cheese at a few grocers and figured it was time to try cooking with it. This recipe allowed the opportunity to do just that and offered another take on salad that is refreshing and loaded with ingredients that give you a full meal out of your salad. I paired the original serving with halibut fillets and used the leftover salad for lunches.

We are fortunate enough to have access to some decent not-so-domestic fish in Alberta, thanks to the miracles of modern-day logistics and market demands. Miracles are expensive however, so when buying fillets of fresh fish from your neighbourhood market, make it count!

Grilled Halloumi and Vegetable Salad

Adapted From: http://www.chatelaine.com

Ingredients

• 4 small zucchinis cut diagonally into 1/2" pieces
• 250g package of halloumi cut into 1/2" pieces
• 2 T lemon juice
• 2 T olive oil
• 540 ml can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 2 T chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 T chopped dill
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

If using a barbecue, preheat the barbecue to medium. If your barbecue is out of commission for the season like mine, get yourself a grill plate and make good use out of it. Just make sure to place one of your oven racks on the top level of your oven and preheat it to 500-550F. Brush the surface of the plate/barbecue with olive oil. Whisk 2 tablespoons each of olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside. Place the zucchini pieces on the grill for 3 minutes each side. Remove the zucchini and add the halloumi pieces, grilling for one minute on each side. I recommend testing your halloumi grilling time by grilling one piece first for a minute each side and then sampling it. If overdone, it will be very rubbery and will require less time.  Place a few of the zucchini and halloumi pieces on to a plate and add the chick peas, herbs and toss with the oil and lemon, salt and pepper.

Halibut with White Wine and Shallot Sauce

From: http://www.canadianliving.com

Ingredients

• 350 g (two fillets) of skinless halibut
• 1 t butter
• 1 t extra virgin olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 t kosher flaked salt

Method

Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Fry the halibut in the pan, turning once until the fish flakes easily when tested; about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and keep warm by tenting the halibut with aluminum foil. Add the wine and minced shallot to the pan on medium-high heat and allow to until the sauce is reduced to about 2 tablespoons; about 2 minutes. Place each of the halibut fillets on plates and drizzle the reduction over top.

Mediterranean Stuffed Zucchinis

I love the idea of self-contained food.  Anything I can use my fingers to eat that offers two or more food groups fits that definition. Man, when pizza pops came out, I thought the world had undergone a revolution!  These aren't pizza pops, but they are self-contained and a meal in themselves if so desired.


From: Canadian House & Home, July 2011 Edition


Serves 4

• 4 medium zucchinis 
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 T olive oil
• 3/4 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 pkg soft goat cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
• 2 t finely chopped mint
• 1 T chopped parsley
• 1 t lemon zest

Set oven to 400F and preheat a baking sheet on the bottom rack.

Cut zucchinis in half lengthwise. With a small spoon, scoop out the seeds and flesh, leaving a 1/4" wall. Place seeds and flesh in a bowl. Toss with a 1/4 t salt and set aside.

Brush the zucchinis inside and out with olive oil, then season the insides with salt and pepper. Carefully place the zucchinis cut side down onto the hot baking sheet (they will immediately sizzle). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until flesh has softened and skin appears slightly wrinkled. Remove zucchinis from oven and flip. Keep oven on.

Working one handful at a time, squeeze the reserved zucchini-flesh mixture over the sink until slightly moist, then roughly chop. Place chickpeas in a large bowl and mash slightly with a fork, keeping some intact. Add zucchini flesh, goat cheese, walnuts, olives, mint, parsley and lemon zest.

Divide filling evenly among zucchini halves, pressing mixture with a spoon and mounding extra filling on top. Place stuffed zucchinis on baking sheet on middle rack of hot oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until heated throughout and tops are slightly golden. Garnish with parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.