When we go to the local Vietnamese Pho restaurant we always order the Spicy Garlic Green Beans ( Đậu Xanh Xào Tỏi ) as an appetizer. They taste great but cost about $5 and we always want more. I decided to see what I can make them at home and have come up with my own recipe that tastes remarkably similar.
Mix all the ingredients but the green beans in a bowl and adjust with additional sugrar if needed. Cook the green beans by putting about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of a sauce pan and bringing to a boil. Add the green beans and cover and let steam for about 10-15 minutes till tender. Pour the water off now add the sauce into the pan and mix the green beans in the sauce. Pour onto a plate and serve.
This is my own version of a Chipotle burrito bowl. You can make this vegetarian by leaving out the Chicken or vegan by leaving out the cheese also. One meat substitute that I have not tried is to marinate tofu and grill it instead of chicken, which might turn out to be good also, if you try it you can leave a comment on how it comes out. Also if you leave out the meat you will probably want to add in guacamole.
Ingredients
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts Sliced thin (I slice each to make 3 filets)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt for marinade + 1/2 tsp for black beans.
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup lime juice
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/3 cup of canola oil
1 bunch of green onions sliced finely
2 cups of black beans (1 can rinsed or two cups of cooked black beans)
1 chipotle pepper (canned in adobo sauce) minced along with 1 – 2 tbsp of the adobo sauce
Sour cream
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
6 -8 cups of cooked rice
Directions
Mix the first 9 ingredients in a bowl and let the chicken marinate for 1 – 4 hours. While marinating chicken mix the chipolte pepper and adobo sauce and 1/2 tsp of salt with the black beans. Remove chicken from marinade and grill on a very hot grill so it is slightly charred on the outside and done through. Dice chicken into pieces. Now put 1 cup of cooked rice in a bowl, add cooked diced chicken, a scoop of the black bean mixture, a spoonfull of sour cream and sprinkle cheese on top. You can also add your favorite hot sauce on top also. Enjoy.
This is a great quick and inexpensive meal to make in the morning when getting ready for work and is very healthy. You get the health benefits of the oats and the cinnamon. If you use maple syrup, it is a little less refined than sugar also. You need to use the Coach Steel Cut Oats and not regular steel cut oats since they are cut differently and cook quickly.
Directions add all ingredients to a bowl with about 1″ of space from the fill level to the lip of the bowl. Microwave for 6 minutes at 40% power (On a 1000 watt microwave). Any higher setting and it might boil over.
If using a can of black beans skip ahead to frying the garlic and peppers, otherwise soak beans overnight then drain and put into a pan and cover with 1 inch of water and simmer covered for about 1-2 hour till tender. Now drain and pour into a bowl and put aside. Now rinse pan and add the olive oil on medium high heat and add in garlic and jalapeno and fry for about 3 minutes till tender. Add in cumin and chipolte and fry for another 30 seconds, then add in beans and chicken broth. Cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour till beans are falling apart. Now add in salt (you can add additional salt to taste). With a stick blender, blend till it becomes a paste, but not all the beans need to be completely. If you don’t have a stick blender, put about 1/2 or all of the beans in a food processor and process, then add back into rest of beans and stir. Serve with rice and tacos, or scoop some into a flour tortilla add cheese roll up and you have a bean burrito.
This is a spicy jalapeno hot sauce, but not nearly as hot as a habanero sauce. You can kick up the spiciness by using serrano peppers instead of jalapenos. You can also make it less hot by removing the seeds and pith from the inside of the peppers. Goes great on mexican food, eggs, or whatever else you want to kick up a bit.
Ingredients
6 jalapeños med to large Stems cut off
3 Seranno peppers stems cut off
1/2 onion sliced
6 cloves of garlic minced
5 sprigs of cilantro
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cornstarch
1/8 cup of white vinegar
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp canola
Directions
Take the jalapenos and blacken the skins. You can do this by holding them over a gas burner with a pair of tongs, use a culinary torch, or put then under an oven broiler.
Roasted Jalapeno
The torch is the easiest. Now slice them and add them to a frying pan with the oil, the onion, and the garlic. Fry them on high heat till there is some brown color on the onion, but do not burn the garlic. Add the fried mixture to a food processor along with cilantro, vinegar, water and salt and grind to a paste. Pour the paste into a strainer over a bowl and press out all the liquid from the paste into the bowl. Pour this back into the frying pan and add 1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon of water, stir, and bring to a boil. Boil for about 2-3 mins and let cool. Pour the sauce into a jar and your hot sauce is ready. It will be hottest the first day but will mellow in the fridge. It will keep in the fridge for at least a month or two. (Makes 4 – 6 oz).
This has an excellent spicy flavor and is a great filling meal. If goes great with cornbread (see my cornbread recipe). For a more healthy version you can use turkey bacon or cook the vegetarian/vegan version.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup of dried pinto beans
1 large jalapeno pepper, diced
4 pieces of cooked bacon, diced. (veg/vegan: Instead add 1 tsp smoked paprika instead of regular paprika)
1/2 pound lean hamburger (veg/vegan: Leave out, or use veggie crumbles)
1/2 of a large onion diced.
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon salt
~1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Directions
Soak beans overnight. Cook and dice bacon and then brown the hamburger add in onion an jalapeno and fry with the hamburger for about 3-4 minutes. Add beans into pot with hamburger and cover with 1/2 inch of water cook for about 2 hours. Now add in the bacon, salt, pepper, and paprika and cook for another hour till beans are starting to split.
Wow, this tastes great. It is nice to have a cold or frozen one on a hot summer day and is great for getting an extra kick of energy. Using the frozen fruit makes it into a frozen smoothie. If you will be hooked on it. It is much lower in calories than a milkshake and I think it tastes as good.
Ingredients
1/4 cup of blueberries
1/4 cup of raspberries
1/4 cup of strawberries
1/2 cup of packed fresh spinach
1 tablespoons honey (optional, depends if you like it slightly sweet or sweet)
1/2 to 1 whole banana (optional)
1/3 cup of water
1/4 cup of ice (crushed)
Add all ingredients to a blender and blend till smooth. You will not even taste the spinach, but it adds a great health benefit. You can use frozen berries if they are out of season. The banana will make it a little more creamy.
This satisfies both your craving for asian food and for something tangy and spicy. This tastes great and is pretty easy to make. You can serve it with rice, on lettuce as a salad or even over asian noodles.
Ingredients
4 tsp canola oil with additional canola oil for frying chicken
3 large boneless/skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1″ cubes (veg/vegan use sliced firm marinated tofu).
5 – 6 green onions sliced crosswise. Use white part up to where the stem turns green.
12 oz pineapple juice
5 large cloves of garlic, minced
4 tablespoons of garlic chili sauce
5 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar
6 teaspoons of sugar
3 tsp of soy sauce
4 tablespoons of water
3 teaspoons of corn startch (mix with water)
1/2 cup of corn starch for coating chicken, don’t need for tofu.
Additional oil for frying chicken or tofu.
Prep and measure all the ingredients out ahead of time. Start by frying the garlic and onion in the oil on high heat till they soften then add pineapple juice, chili sauce, vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce. Cook till boiling, then add the cornstarch and water mixture and continue cooking till it turns clear after adding the cornstarch. Pour the sauce into a bowl and set aside. Now coat chicken cubes then fry them in canola oil on high heat until crispy on the outside (Veg/Vegan: Fry tofu till crispy). For a healthiest chicken option skip cornstarch coating on chicken and just lightly fry. Spoon chicken or tofu over lettuce or rice and then spoon sauce over the top. Enjoy!
This is a great pizza dough and the key is to let it set overnight. I took the original recipe from the food scientist himself, Alton Brown. I adjusted it slightly for my own taste and increased the quantity to make two fair sized pizzas. It came out great. Here is the recipe
3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 1/2 tablespoon pure olive oil 1 cup warm water (1 1/8 for fluffier crust, 1 more cup if doing large batch) 3 cups bread flour (for bread machines, for healthier crust substitute 1 cup of bread flour with 1 cup of whole wheat flour) (1 more cup of flour for large batch) 1 tablespoon instant yeast 3 teaspoons olive oil Olive oil, for the pizza crust Flour, for dusting the pizza peel
Directions
Add 1 slightly warm cup of water to bowl along with 1 tbsp of the sugar and the yeast. Stir and let set while measuring the dry ingredients and putting them into a mixing bowl starting with the flour, then adding remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and the rest of the dry ingredients on top. Using the paddle attachment mix on low until dry ingredients blended. Now add in yeast and water mixture along with olive oil and mix on low again until the dough comes together. Switch the mixer over to the dough hook attachment and knead for about 15 minutes on medium speed. Take a small piece of the dough and stretch it till thin and hold up to the light. If you have a taut membrane before it tears the dough is ready. If not knead in mixer for another 5-10 minutes and try again. Now pour about 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a bowl add the dough and roll around till coated in olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight. Next day remove and let come to room temp. divide in half and roll into two crusts. Sprinkle a thin layer of corn meal on the pizza pan and put the rolled out dough over it and let it set for about 15 mins. Add toppings and bake at 475 to 550 degrees in a pre-heated oven with a pizza stone till edges of the crust turn a deep brown and cheese is melted in the center. See my pizza sauce recipe for a great homemade sauce to go on top.
Customizations:
Softer, Fluffier crust: Add another 1/8 cup of water (1 1/8 cups total)
Chewier Crust and better gluten Devopment Notes:
Use 00 Flour to get a less bready crust and more like a Pizzeria
Better Gluten development to allow easier stretching of crust and better chew and bubbles
Add the water & suga first, mix, then add yeast and flour to the bread maker pan. Run the cycle till the first rest. While the bread maker is in resting period, make a pocket and add the salt and olive oil into the pocket and close the pocket around the salt and oil.
Flavor development: Make the day before and let ferment in the fridge overnight. Add 1/2 of the yeast and create the dough. Form into two balls and coat with olive oil, then put in a bowl and cover with saran wrap and set in the fridge overnight. Take out of the fridge 1 hour ahead and let warm to room temp before forming crust. This not only makes the crust chewier, but also improves flavor.
Large Batch:
Add 1 more cup of water and 1 more cup of flour. Rest of ingredients do not make a noticeable impact or flavor or quality.
Crispy Bottom:
Use Pizza stone as mentioned above. If no pizza peel is available form crust and put onto aluminum foil that has been oiled with olive oil, put foil with crust onto pizza pan and slide onto pizza stone, when removing grab edge of foil not touching pizza stone and slide back onto pizza pan. If no pizza stone is available put crust on foil as if to put onto pizza stone (above) but instead preheat pizza pan in oven then remove pan and put foil with crust onto preheated pizza pan and put back into oven to cook,
I love to eat Hummus, and especially the version I make since it has been adjusted to my taste. I like to have the flavor of the garlic come through a little to add another dimension to the flavor and the olive oil processed in give it a nice creamy texture. It is great to eat with pita, on crackers instead of cheese, or on a sandwich to add another layer for flavor. Here is my recipe, enjoy.
Ingredients
1 15 oz can of low sodium Garbanzo beans (drained)
1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste), Good quality and freshness matters.
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus oil for drizzling on top when serving.
3 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced
1/2 to 1 tsp of salt (add 1/2 tsp and if it needs more add the other 1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper.
1/2 tbsp cumin
1 tsp paprika + a sprinkle on top for ganish
Juice of 1 lemon, plus more as needed
1/2 cup of water
A sprig of cilantro for garnish (optional)
Directions
Put all ingredients except for garnishes into a food processor and process until nicely smooth. Taste and adjust salt, lemon, and tahini to taste and process a few more seconds to mix. Put into the serving bowl and sprinkle some paprika on top and drizzle with olive oil and optionally add cilantro on top for additional garnish.
