Tag-Archive for ◊ cilantro ◊

28 Sep 2010 Chinese Pasta Salad

Chinese Pasta Salad?  Is there such a thing?  I doubt it.  So what is this?!  I don’t know what else to call it! Chinese Pasta Salad is the name it came to me with and I welcome all suggestions for a new name 🙂 This cold pasta side dish is good.  Very good.  I made it for a potluck last night, and three people asked me to post the recipe.  Always glad to oblige! Cold noodles, in a sauce of sesame oil, maple syrup (Chinese?  I think not!), and soy sauce with chopped dry roasted peanuts (again, Chinese?  I think not), green onion and cilantro. I wouldn’t have made this if I hadn’t tried it first.  Believe me, with this dish, the whole is better than the sum of it’s parts!

An old coworker of mine, Mary Lou Stuart, brought this to an HR potluck at LifeScan on Tuesday, September 20, 2005.  I know the date because I still have the email with the recipe (and that horrible name).

I changed the method a bit, just to make it easier, but other than that, I made no changes. Please forgive me for mixing up my cultures and photographing this Chinese Noodle Salad (which isn’t) on a Japanese cloth.  Also, the cilantro looks a little old, in the picture, doesn’t it?  It is.  I forgot to take a picture the day I served this. This is a picture of what was left in the refrigerator container because it wouldn’t fit into the serving container.  So that cilantro has been sitting in the dressing for three days.  Yours will look much better. The world is out of alignment today.

Chinese Pasta Salad (not..)

1 lb. angel hair pasta, cooked and drained
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (Grade B, if you can find it)
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce (I have also used teriyaki)
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 bunch chopped green onions (6-8)
3/4 cup coarsely chopped dry roasted peanuts.

Blend the maple syrup, sesame oil, and soy sauce in the blender.  Pour over cooked and drained noodles.  Add in chopped cilantro and green onions. Refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving stir in the chopped dry roasted peanuts.

Mary Lou said she sometimes adds about 2 cups of chopped cooked chicken to the salad (she uses a cooked rotisserie chicken).  I’ve done this once or twice (with a chicken breast poached in a bit of soy sauce and water/broth), but actually prefer this salad without the chicken.  Plus, it’s always nice to have something on the table for the vegetarians and vegans in the group.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  If you know Mary Lou Stuart, please forward this message to her. I have lost track of her.  If she is uneasy with her name being on this post, I will use a pseudonym.

25 Sep 2010 Baked Chicken Taquitos

Yes!  You can bake taquitos!  Who knew?  My kids loved taquitos when they were growing up.  They were always happy when there was a box of them in the freezer. I wish I knew then what I know now.  I could have made batches of these and had them in the freezer for them to reheat.  I could have been my own Costco!  I could have served them real food, and it could have been baked, rather than fried.  Oh well.  I can make these now and my daughter is heading back to her college apartment with two dozen of them (frozen), and the knowledge of how to make them for herself.  Hey, I AM my own Costco!

I was afraid this would be a bit spicy for my tender palate.  Not at all.  In fact, if you want a bit of a kick you should probably add in a few chopped chilies.  We made most of these with corn tortillas, but tried a few with flour, too.  We didn’t like the flour ones nearly as much. BTW, I’ve found a really good brand of corn tortillas, they don’t crack when folded (even when taken right out of the refrigerator).  They are  “La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style Corn Tortillas”.  Here in San Jose they are at both Lucky and Safeway. I found this recipe at Our Best Bites.

Promise me you won’t skip the sprinkling of Kosher salt before baking.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

4 oz cream cheese
1/4  cup Salsa Verde (green salsa)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1  cup grated pepperjack cheese

16-20 small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray (Pam) or oil placed in an oil mister

Heat oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir (but not melted).

Stir salsa verde, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, garlic, cilantro, green onions, chicken and grated cheese into softened cream cheese and combine well. You can easily prepare  this mixture ahead of time and store covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Working with a few tortillas at a time, place between damp paper towels and heat in microwave (20-30 seconds) until soft enough to roll without cracking (not necessary if you are using La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style Corn Tortillas!)

Place 2 tablespoons of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Roll tortilla as tightly as possible.  Secure with a toothpick if desired, but it’s probably not necessary (Now would be the time to freeze, if you want to save and bake at a later time). Place rolls seam side down on the prepared baking sheet. The rolls should not touch each other.

Spray taquitos lightly with cooking spray or oil in a mister.  Sprinkle tops lightly with kosher salt. Don’t you dare skip this!

Place taquitos  in preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Serve hot, with dips that suit you–guacamole, sour cream, salsa…

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today, I hope you enjoy this recipe!

31 Aug 2010 Green Rice (Arroz Verde)

I first posted this recipe on my Facebook “Polly, Julie and Julia” page in 2009.  Since then I have had a lot of feedback:  we have a winner! Green Rice has become a welcome addition to  many dinner plates.  Finally, a new rice side-dish; one that both looks good on the plate and is deliciously, delicately flavored. Odd, that you cook the rice in pureed spinach, cilantro and milk, but it works!  Don’t let the name-or the method-scare you off.  BTW,  the rice is not green-green, it’s more herby-green.  It’s pretty!

I found this recipe in “The Best 150 American Recipes“, by Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens, the book that spurred this food blogging urge.  The authors of the book  used some interesting turns of phrase to describe this rice dish (and other rice dishes of Mexico) the book said, “…like unexpected treasures at a rummage sale”.  This recipe certainly is an unexpected treasure…I don’t know about the rummage sale part though.

One note of caution, my rice, although very tasty, was a bit crunchy. Next time I will add a bit more liquid (2T – 1/4 cup). Check your rice about halfway through, to see if yours needs a bit more liquid, too. Other than that, you can probably fit this into your dinner plans in the next day or two. It will make the whole meal shine a bit more brightly “(…like an unexpected treasure at a rummage sale”!).

Green Rice

1 cup tightly packed spinach leaves (about 1.5 oz)
1/2 cup cilantro leaves (about .5 oz)
1 1/4 cup chicken broth (homemade is best)
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
3 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
1/4 cup minced onion
1 minced garlic clove

Place spinach, cilantro and broth in a blender and puree. Add milk and salt to spinach mixture and blend until combined. Set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat butter and olive oil. When butter has melted, add rice. Saute rice, stirring frequently, until rice just begins to brown, 3-4 minutes. Add onion and saute for 1 minute more, then add in garlic and stir. To rice in pan pour mixture from blender, turn heat up, and bring to boil. Cover pan, reduce heat, and cook for 25 minutes. (You might want to check, about halfway through, to see if rice needs a bit more liquid. If it does, add 2 – 4 T of additional warm broth, water, or milk.) After 25 minutes, turn off heat, stir rice, re-cover pan and let sit for another 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Recipe states the rice is best just after it’s made but can be made up to 2 days ahead and reheated in the microwave.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  Hope it was worth your while!

14 Jul 2010 Roasted Crab
 |  Category: Main Dish, Seafood, Seasonal  | Tags: , , , ,  | One Comment

Crabs! After two years of miserable harvests, they are abundant this year. I’ve seen ads for crab for $4.99 lb, $3.99 lb, and Buy One Get One Free (but they hike the price up to $6.99 lb.to get a free one). Here’s a fabulous, easy, finger-licking good recipe which takes about 20 minutes to pull together after arriving home with a few cracked and cleaned crabs. You have to eat the crab with your fingers, and you have to lick your fingers. It’s required. Eaten this way, this crab is DELICIOUS. The only side needed is a loaf of fresh sourdough bread to mop up a bit of the sauce in the bottom of the pan. For dessert, my daughter shared her Terry’s Chocolate Orange. Simple, quick and what a memorable meal!

NOTE #1: I made my first three batches of this crab in glass 13 x 9 inch pans. On the fourth batch, I took one pan out of the oven, placed it on a cutting board, stepped away…, and then the glass dish EXPLODED! Glass EVERYWHERE, including all over the 2 crabs in the dish. (Second glass dish, cooked in same oven, was fine.) Because of this potentially dangerous–and obviously very messy– situation I would caution against using a glass (Pyrex, Anchor Hocking) pan to roast the crab.

NOTE #2: Don’t underestimate how HOT a pan gets in a 450 degree oven. Be careful, very, very careful when transferring the HOT pans . Use your thickest oven mitts, on both hands, to move this pan.  I have had painful burns from not protecting my hands enough. A burnt hand can really interfere with your enjoyment of a good meal.

I found this recipe on Epicurious.com, LOVE that website!

Roasted Crab

For each pair of cracked and cleaned crabs:

Salt and pepper, to taste
1 T. chopped parsley or cilantro
1 T. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 minced shallot
1/2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 c. freshly squeezed orange juice
grated peel of 1 lemon
grated peel of 1/2 orange

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place pieces of each pair of crabs in a 9 by 13 inch baking dish, sprinkle with salt, pepper, parsley/cilantro, and thyme. Melt butter and olive oil in a skillet. Stir in garlic, shallot and red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes. Pour sauce over crabs. Place in hot oven for 6 minutes. Stir, shake, turn crab and then return to oven to roast for another 6 minutes. Remove crab to a serving platter. Pour drippings back into skillet. Add 1/4 c fresh orange juice and 1/4 c fresh lemon juice, grated orange and lemon peel. Boil for 5 minutes and then pour sauce over crabs. Serve. Definitely finger food. Must lick fingers. Have towels on hand for wiping. Mop up sauce with bits of sourdough bread.

This was a really GOOD day to stop by my kitchen!