Tag: Salad

Bean Thread Noodles with Oyster Mushrooms and Cucumber

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I could eat noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day and I wouldn’t get bored. But I’m trying to reduce the amount of grains in my diet lately, and this citrusy Southeast Asian-inspired salad is just the answer. It’s light, summery, and best of all, delicious.

Made from mung beans, bean thread noodles are gluten free, grain free, and have a slippery, wonderful mouthfeel similar to Korean sweet potato noodles. Use these in stir-fries, soups, salads — really, anything.

Bean thread nooles with oyster mushrooms and cucumber

Ingredients:

1 pound oyster mushrooms, cleaned
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound ground chicken
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bundles (about 3 ounces) bean thread noodles, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes and drained
1 green onion, cut lengthwise into thin slices and then cut crosswise into 2-inch lengths
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
Ground black pepper
4 tablespoons lime juice
4 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
1 teaspoon sugar

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over high heat and add the oyster mushrooms, stir-frying until cooked through and slightly golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, cut into bite-size pieces, and set aside in a large bowl.

2. Wipe out cooled wok and return to stove. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in the wok over high heat and add the garlic and stir-fry until golden, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and stir-fry, then add the salt and a small pinch of sugar and continue stir-frying until cooked through and slightly golden. Remove from heat and add chicken to the bowl with mushrooms.

3. Bring a pot of water to a boil, cut the soaked bean thread noodles into 5-inch lengths, and add to boiling water for 1 minute, until just cooked through. Drain into a colander and rinse with cold water. Drain again. Place the noodles in the bowl with the mushrooms and chicken.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the lime juice, fish sauce, chili flakes, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Pour dressing over salad and toss gently.

5. Add the green onions, cilantro, and cucumber to the salad and toss again. Arrange noodle salad on a platter and sprinkle lightly with ground pepper.

Smacked Cucumber in Garlicy Sauce

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There’s this cucumber appetizer at Z&Y Restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown that I love: piquant, garlicy, and salty, it’s perfect in its simplicity yet a challenge to recreate. Until now. This is as close as I’m going to get to achieving this cooling cucumber that’s perfect alongside a meal of spicy dishes.

Resist the urge to make smacked jokes: the smacking refers to whacking the cucumber to help it absorb the flavors of the sauce. Try not to crush it into a million pieces!

Smacked cucumber in garlicy sauce

Ingredients:

1 English cucumber
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar (or substitute balsamic vinegar)
1 tablespoon chili oil

1. Lay the cucumber on a chopping board and smack it a few times with a rolling pin. Cut the cucumber lengthwise into 4 pieces. Cut the cucumber on the diagonal into 1-inch slices. Place in a bowl with the salt, mix and set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl.

3. Drain the cucumber, pour over the sauce, stir, and serve.

Roasted Pepper and Artichoke Antipasto

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Summer is finally here and I am all about it, y’all. Gimme all the greens, gimme all the corn, gimme all the tomatoes, gimme all the peppers. This simple vegetable antipasto is like summer on a platter. Best of all, you can make it ahead of time and let the flavors marinate. Now go outside and get some sun.

Roasted pepper and artichoke antipasto

Ingredients:

4 red bell peppers
3 yellow or orange bell peppers
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
a few drops of hot pepper sauce (optional)
4 canned artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1 garlic clove, sliced
salt and pepper
1 handful basil leaves, plus more to garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Lightly oil a foil-lined baking sheet and place the whole peppers on the foil. Bake for about 45 minutes, until beginning to char. Remove from the oven, place in a heatproof bowl and cover lightly with plastic wrap for 5 minutes.

2. Slice the sun-dried tomatoes. Remove the core and seeds from the peppers and peel away the skins. Slice each pepper into thick strips.

3. Whisk the vinegar, oil, and hot pepper sauce, then season with salt and pepper.

4. Toss the peppers with the sliced artichokes, tomatoes, basil, and garlic. Pour the dressing over and sprinkle a few more basil leaves on top.

Caesar Salad with Parmesan Toasts

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Kale Caesar salad, spinach Caesar salad, Brussels sprouts Caesar salad. You get the picture: Caesar salad is overdone. But despite its infinite variations, I always return to the first Caesar salad I learned to make, well over a decade ago. It’s heavy on the garlic, the anchovies, and the Meyer lemons.

The best part? Little Parmesan cheese toasts to sop up all of the leftover dressing. And if you want to be fancypants, don’t chop up your lettuce. Instead, serve the leaves whole and delicately piled on top of each other. Who’s eating fancy salad? YOU’RE eating fancy salad!

Caesar salad with Parmesan toasts

Ingredients:

1 sourdough baguette
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese plus 1/3 cup thinly shaved Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/3 cup lemon juice
9 canned anchovy fillets, drained
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound romaine lettuce leaves, rinsed and dried

1. To make Parmesan toasts, cut baguette into diagonal slices 1/4 inch thick. Lightly brush one side of each slice with olive oil, using 2 tablespoons total. Arrange in a single layer in a baking sheet.

2. Bake bread in an oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Sprinkle slices evenly with 2/3 cup shredded Parmesan and paprika. Bake until cheese is melted and bread is golden, 10 minutes longer.

3. In a food processor, whirl 7 tablespoons olive oil, 1/3 cup shredded parmesan, lemon juice, anchovies, garlic, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth.

4. Place lettuce in a large bowl and Parmesan toasts in another. Drizzle 2/3 of the dressing over lettuce and remaining 1/3 over toasts. Mix toasts to coat with dressing; gently lift and mix lettuce to coat.

5. Arrange Parmesan toasts alongside lettuce and add Parmesan shavings, layering if desired.

Sigeumchi Namul (Korean Spinach Banchan)

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The best sigeumchi namul I ever had was during a hurried ten hour stopover in Seoul. My sister and I had just spent a week in Hanoi and were on our way back to San Francisco. Exhausted, we were determined to see — and eat — as much as we could during our day long excursion into the city. Our banchan spread during lunch in a nondescript Insadong restaurant included this spinach banchan. Jet lagged and half asleep, the bright, fresh greens perked me up and fortified me for the precious few hours we had in the city. The rest of the meal was just as good, but that’s another story.

Whenever I eat this simple but delicious spinach dish, I’m transported back to that rainy day in Insadong. This mild banchan comes together in less than 15 minutes. Perfect for when you’re exhausted but hungry.

Sigeumchi namul (spinach banchan)
Ingredients:

1 pound spinach, trimmed
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1. Fill a saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil. Add the spinach and blanch for 1 minute, then drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to cool. Drain and squeeze out excess water, then chop into 1-inch pieces.

2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add the spinach and toss to coat. Serve or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.