Dear Sister, Please tell me you Remember!

  So I got this email from my sister this week. Here is how it went...Heyyyyyyyyy Inge,We are trying to remember what you put in the salad that you made for Christmas last year... it was soooooo good and I really want to make it again. Please say that you remember???? :)My first response?? Oh, Did I make a salad last year? really? I forgot that I even helped with the cooking...Oh and you liked? cool... hehehe because usually when I cook, I just put random things together and pray to the Lord above that they taste good and luckily! Last year's Christmas,  I managed to score a hit.. Good timing, God! :DSo I couldn't remember for the life of me what salad I had made last year.. Until I went back into time in my pink polka dot time machine and realized for Christmas 2011 I was then obsessed with Thai food.. And then the pieces of my salad making brain started to come together :) I love time machines, don't you? They are all the rage in Korea now.. I named mine the super Western Digital Harddrive... ;)So here is my response to her recipe request... just incase you feel the need to make A Thai inspired salad for Christmas or any other day of the year ;)Hello, Hello!

Ok so the most important thing in the salad is the dressing...So here is the deal, traditionally it is a Thai dressing which uses basil but I used cilantro last time your choice both are good :) Here is the dressing recipe, but this is just one serving :) Make lots more.. :D and mess around with the spicy, sweet, sour, salty balance to your liking...

You can make the dressing with the blender if you like..

Dressing

1 Garlic4 tbsps soy sauce4 tbsps fresh lime juice

with cilantro or basil a big bunch4 tbsps palm sugar or white sugar (put this sugar into a couple of TBS... of warm water to dissolve it.)

fresh chili, quantity as desired

Salad ingredients - you can change as desired ---

All of these are prepped separately and then put on the salad after... not a lot of mixing going on..

1. Boiled Eggs

2. Avocados

3. Onions -- mixed with salt and soaked in lime juice.

4. Red Bell Peppers mixed with salad greens...

5. Blueberries

6. Strawberry slices

7. Orange slices

8. A saute of mushrooms and onions

9. Cherry tomatoes sliced in half

Mix the salad greens with the dressing

Put all of the other goodies on top and then put extra salad dressing on the top :D

How do I remember this salad so well?!?! because I'm a genius of course! photographic memory! could you expect anything less from a real Hooker? ha! No do you want the truth? Luckily, I took a photo and that is the only reason I remember this.... And I attached the photo to the email

P.s. Are you happy you have a cook and photographer sister in the family? I'm not even home this year, and I'm contributing to the Christmas dinner merriness! Boom.. I impress myself... hehehe

Love you guys and I hope it turns out even better than you remembered maybe put some delicious bacon on it to take it up a notch? good idea, eh?

Merry christmas and send me a photo of your salad creation! :D

p.p.s. I remember as well that we had eggs benedict last year? wow! sooo good ! I want to learn how to make those!

Dreams of Summer

Yesterday was the first snow of the year! So beautiful, so magical, so nostalgic and of course, soooo cold that your nose and hands might just decided that life is not worth living anymore and say, 'Adieu!'All this winter land whiteness has made me think of Summer and all of its delicious salads. One of my favorites this summer? Anything with Blueberries and Red Bell Peppers! Yummy! Just in case that you live in Heaven (ie you can find fresh blueberries even in December) Then have a go at this recipe. Delicious, delicious! :)Now I'm off to bundle up and find some hot chocolate!But first here is the recipe. Quantities are to your tastes and creativity :)Baby Spinach & ArugulaHalved Orange SectionsChopped AvocadoSliced Red Bell Peppersand a Healthy drizzling of Olive Oil, splash of Balsamic Vinegar, pinch of Salt and Delicious fresh-cracked Black Pepper :) 

Back to the Kitchen

Yesterday I spent a lovely day of cooking madness, helping my dear friend Net out in her vegan/vegetarian restaurant Mae Loe Gyi in Mae Sariang. In the process she taught me some of her most delicious recipes. It was a wee crazy busy but super productive. I even came up with a new salad to add to the repertoire.  It was a lovely day and worth every bit of suffering that comes with not having the time to eat breakfast or lunch on account of all of the customers clamoring to eat Net's delicious food. :)After a hard days work in the kitchen, we finally got a chance to rest our tootsies and enjoy Net's amazing Vegetarian Khao Soi and the new creation Salad. I included the salad recipe if you fancy trying it out.  But sorry, dear friends, the Khao Soi is Net's recipe which I am shamelessly hoarding. You may only taste it if you come to visit me in Thailand. :) And please allow yourself the freedom to experiment with the salad. Strict recipes zap all the amazingness out of cooking.  The Salad of the Day Recipe...1) Mix the following ingredients in a bowl.1 Onion sliced very thinly2 small chile peppers minced2 green onions sliced4 Tomatoes cut in 8ths1/2 cucumber chopped1 red bell pepper sliced1/3 fresh cashews or favorite nut.2) Add the following to your bowl of veggiesDressing:1-2 Juice of Lime1 Tbs. White Sugar1 Tbs. Soy Sauce2-3 Tbs. Hot Water.3) Then Mix in3/4 c. Deep Fried Mushroom Meat-substitute. It's delicious you find the right substitute brand or try your favorite meat in bite-sized pieces.4) Then mix in -->2 tsp toasted rice powder (optional) Look in a Asian grocery storehandful of mint leaves5) Taste it to adjust your desired sweet/spicy/salty balance...6) FINALLY.....Prepare a bed of lettuce,pour the salad on top of the bed and garnish with2 boiled eggs quartered, a sm handful of mint leaves and a sprinkling of toasted rice powder ENJOY! ^^ 

Watermelon Salad Love

It's Monday here in Thailand, and Monday is always a good day to express Love right? It helps the Mondays go a wee bit better than if you had less love. And how do I choose to express my love on this lovely Monday? With a salad of course. I can't think of much else in the whole wide world that I like to make and eat than a nice big amazing salad. Three times a day, if possible.I am a little or perhaps a lot in love with salads. I am in fact twitterpated with salads. Yes, twitterpated is a word. Google it.I love salads so much that eventually I'm plan on opening my own salad restaurant, but that shan't be for years in the future, in a foreign land, with odd looking people surrounding me. For now I'm very happy with my picture taking ways. In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to have you come along with me on my salad escapades. Perhaps you'll even be a brave soul and try to make AND eat one of these creations? Gasp! Perhaps, but I shan't get my hopes too high, it is only Monday, you know.My first salad of choice? Well I opened up the refrigerator last night and the food started speaking, ::what? the food doesn't normal speak to you too?:: Well this is what my food friends introduced me to.

Mr. Cashew, Watermelon*, Coconut Salad

* cultural note * My Thai brother says that Watermelon is a lady's fruit, but I disagree. He is just jaded because he is Thai, and the only fruit he still likes is durian and rambutan.  Lames choices of fruit lovin' if you ask me.

The recipe follows the pictures :)

Ingredients:

(change amounts to personal taste + experiment please! that's what makes cooking so fun!)

1. 2 cups seedless or seed watermelon cubed

2. 1 cup fresh coconut meat sliced

3. 1 cup tomatoes sliced in eighths

 4. 2 cups sm. white radishes found an asian grocery store.

Amazing, amazing!

5. 1 small onion sliced thinly

6. 1/2 cup cashew nuts halves + 1/4 cup (saved for garnish)

7. olive oil + salt to taste

prepare and mix first the first 6 ingredients. Toss the salad with the olive oil and salt to taste.

Then make it all pretty like with a drizzle of oil and 1/4 cashew nuts to top it off!

Korean Food Challenge, Home Stretch, Baby!

With only a short time left here, I've made it my mission to cook and eat as much Korean food possible... Except for my major fail.... Yesterday, I went to an Italian restaurant, while in Korea ::gasp!:: but it gets much worse! at the Italian restaurant... What did I order? A Greek Salad? What is wrong with me? I must have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed,  forgot to drink my morning coffee and walked under a ladder all in one day! But I'm hoping my failure will be forgiven because I've been hard at work on my Korean food cooking list and I'm almost finished! So close that my next food update I may be finished, finished! Asah!p.s. thanks to the lovely Lisa and Rosi for coming over to dinner and eating and cooking with me! ^^