Ambitious Delicious(ness)

Do you ever find yourself eating just rice and seaweed as a meal? It’s actually one of my favorite quick dishes to eat! But it’s kind of sad when seaweed is the only thing to accompany your rice! That’s when I realized that it’s been a long time since I’ve made any sort of ban chan (Korean side dish), so I decided to try my hand at making something new.

Fish cake (aka o-deng) is similiar to imitation crabs in the sense that it’s been processed to have hints of fish flavor, but not quite. I’m sorry but I have no idea what is really in it. Isn’t that comforting to know?

One thing I forgot to do is to lightly poach the fish cake by dipping it boiling water for a minute. This will soften the fish cake by adding moisture, as well as to clean out the “toxins,” according to my mom.

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Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is when a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Interested consumers then purchase a share to receive a box of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. The produce is fairly priced, local grown, and in my case, organic.

Let me begin by apologizing for the lack of posts this week. I’ve been running around like a headless chicken, and when that happens, blogging falls to the wayside. But alas, here I am, ready to share another one of my culinary adventures.

Here’s what I made for dinner last week:

While it’s nice to go out for a fancy meal, there’s something alluring about taking the time to cook a nice meal at home. Yes, it takes effort, but this meal definitely does not take hours!

I was excited to get Cippolini onions in my CSA share last week, along with some Savoy cabbage. I’ve been meaning to try this great recipe from Cathy from Not Eating Out In New York. It was delicious!

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Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is when a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Interested consumers then purchase a share to receive a box of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. The produce is fairly priced, local grown, and in my case, organic.

This is something I whipped up together with a few ingredients I had on hand. I used a couple of pieces of anchovy fillets just to see what it would taste like. I was pleasantly surprised, as it added an entire new dimension of flavor to the salad that I didn’t expect! It was scrumptious!

There is nothing more delicious than eating fresh vegetables that are in season. Check out the gorgeous colors on this swiss chard!

This salad is delicious cold or hot, depending on your mood. A quick blanching of the vegetables seals the nutrients, as well as the crispness. I have a taste for root vegetables that are bitter. If you prefer to add a bit of sweetness, try adding some honey to the dressing. Give it a whirl; I promise you won’t be disappointed!

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Poaching is a great way to cook chicken, especially if you are sick of tough, dry, chicken. Brining is another good way to prevent dryness, but I’m really happy to have discovered this method! Here are a couple of the dishes I made with poached chicken.

I made cold sesame noodles, using Bittman’s recipe.

And here is chicken salad with fresh herbs.

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I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Did you miss me? Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! Now, onto the recipe!

After having green papaya salad at a Thai restaurant, I thought it might be fun to try making it at home. And it also made sense to pair it as the appetizer to go with the noodles. The chopping took a while, but it was well worth the effort. The crunchy, refreshing papaya + jicama was refreshing against the fresh cilantro and fresh mint. Sprinkling of chopped peanuts on top added a good layer of contrast in texture!

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