Evil Jungle Prince with Chicken

I had never tasted this spicy stir-fry with the intriguing name of "Evil Jungle Prince with Chicken" until I made it myself. "Evil" in this instance translates to tasty!

Omit the chicken if you like, for a surprisingly flavorful vegetarian/vegan dish.You could also substitute shrimp, turkey, or tofu for the chicken.Use almost any combination of slivered or sliced vegetables that you like. Utilizing what I had on hand I used green beans, zucchini, straw mushrooms, baby corn, and slivered red bell pepper. The stir fry is served on a bed of sliced or chopped cabbage. Although the recipe didn't indicate it, I briefly stir-fried the cabbage in a little oil before cooking the chicken and vegetables because I like the way stir-frying brings out the sweetness in cabbage, and makes the texture more pleasing. Just a personal preference, but it's not a necessary step.


The sauce is comprised of lemon grass, red Thai chili peppers, coconut milk and fish sauce. Some don't care for the pungent flavor of fish sauce, so I cut the strength by using 1/2 fish sauce, and 1/2 soy sauce. (You could use all soy sauce if you prefer.) The recipe also calls for slivered Kaffir lime leaves (I had none so I omitted.)

Basil leaves are sprinkled over the final dish, but you won't see them in the pictures ~ because I forgot about them until we sat down to eat. *sigh*
One of us doesn't care for extremely spicy food so I reduced the amount of Thai peppers, and the coconut milk tames the heat a bit, lending a silky, non-sweet smoothness to the dish.


Wow, I was surprised at how much we liked this! I'll definitely make it again soon... probably the veggie version later this week.





If you would like a copy of the recipe you can find it on my recipe blog by clicking HERE.

Pacific Rim Tofu Salad ~ Vegetarian & Vegan Friendly

Tofu.

Love it, indifferent about it, or loathe it?

Please don't run the other way if you don't like it ~ You can substitute boneless, skinless chicken breast strips, or tenders in this recipe (or even salmon), if you prefer!

Liza Barnes, in her article Tofu 101 gives a great analogy of tofu ~
"Cheese is to cow's milk as tofu is to soymilk."

However you feel about tofu it has a lot, nutritionally, going for it and it fits right in with our current eating style, which makes me very happy. :)

A 3 ounce portion contains 70 calories (4.5 grams of fat)
0.5 g Saturated Fat ---- *yay!*0 grams Trans Fat ---- *yay!*Cholesterol 0 grams ---- *yay!*Sodium 5 grams ---- (not bad) Total Carbohydrate 1 gram ---- *yay!* Dietary fiber 1 gram Sugars 0 gram ----*yay!*Protein 8 grams ---- *yay!*Calcium 10% of daily recommended requirements --- *yay!*Iron 6% of daily recommended requirements

I've always enjoyed tofu, and now I find I'm serving it more often.

I tend to prefer recipes using firm or extra firm tofu as a substitute for chicken breast and other mild meats in recipes, and because plain tofu is a "flavor neutral" it takes on whatever you decide to season it with ~ as in this DELICIOUS salad:

A light, yet filling salad. Low in calories, low carb but bright with flavor from the lively dressing.

The dressing is simply a little canola oil, water, unseasoned rice vinegar, sesame oil, a little honey or Splenda, etc., grated ginger, garlic and low sodium soy sauce.

It goes together in minutes ~

Whisk the dressing ingredients together.

Drain & slice the tofu, toss with a little of the dressing & brown in a non-stick pan for a few minutes.

While the tofu is browning, I prep the vegetables; slice the hot house cucumber and radishes on a mandolin, you can grate the carrots or use a julienne hand tool.

Arrange the veggies on a plate, place the warm tofu on top and drizzle with remaining dressing.

Voila!

A quick, healthful lunch or dinner is served. :)

NOTE: You can substitute boneless, skinless chicken breast strips (or tenders), or then salmon filet slices for the tofu if you prefer, and still have a fast, healthful meal.

If you would like the recipe, click HERE for a printable copy on my Recipe Blog.

Scallion Crepes with Hoisin Pork...

These are so versatile as you can use Pork, Chicken, Turkey, Shrimp or Tofu for the filling. Just make your favorite non-sweetened crepe batter and stir in thinly sliced scallions, then cook them as usual.

Spread a little hoisin sauce* on the cooked crepe, arrange your choice of filling, drizzle with a little Asian dark sesame oil, some cilantro sprigs, and more thinly sliced scallions.

Fold one end up and both sides over, then enjoy!

If you don't care for cilantro, you could easily substitute thinly sliced lettuce or cabbage instead.

This time I used leftover roasted pork loin, cut into strips and warmed for the filling.

Of course you can cook the filling specially for the pancakes, but this is also a good way to use leftovers. There are never any left when I make them.

I hope you like them too.

.* Usually most grocery stores carry Hoisin sauce today.

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