Carrot and Daikon Pickle (Do chua)

Ever since I worked at Lemongrass in college, I've had a love affair with this stuff.  Zesty, cool, refreshing, sweet and tangy, it goes wonderfully with a lot of things (including vermicelli noodle bowls, salads, banh mi... I'd even eat it on the side with some pho or pad thai).  It doesn't require any cooking and keeps in the fridge for probably even longer than a month, so you might as well make a big ol' batch of it.

Carrot and Daikon Pickle

adapted from Andrea Nguyen's Into the Vietnamese Kitchen

:: 3 small carrots

:: 1 pound daikon radish

:: 1 tsp salt

:: 2 tbsp sugar

brine

:: 1/2 cup sugar

:: 1 1/4 cup white vinegar

:: 1 cup water

Mix the carrots and radish with salt and 2 tbsp sugar.  This will draw some of the water out of the vegetables.  Stir, or get down and dirty using your hands to knead the vegetables!!  In 10-15 minutes, or after the vegetables have lost about 1/4 of their water, rinse in cold water and squeeze excess water off of the vegetables.

Meanwhile, make the brine by mixing the 3 ingredients together and letting the sugar dissolve.

Pour the brine over the carrot and radish.  Let brine for at least 1 hour.  Pickle will be good for up to 4 weeks.

Roasted Asparagus

It's in the name.  Simple, quick, healthy, with an extra bonus for those of us lucky enough to be born with a certain special autosomal recessive gene.

Oven-Roasted Asparagus

(serves 4)

:: 1 bunch asparagus, fibrous ends removed**

:: 2 tbsp olive oil

:: 2 tsp salt

:: pepper to taste

optional ingredients...

:: 2 cloves garlic, minced

:: juice of 1/2 lemon or shredded cheese (I used parmesan)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the asparagus down on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Drizzle over with olive oil.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over the asparagus (and garlic, if using), roll asparagus around until coated with a thin layer of oil. 

Bake for 12-18 minutes; 12 minutes will yield a more firm, crunchy texture and 18 minutes will be much softer.

Sprinkle with cheese or lemon (if using) right before serving.

**to remove the tough woody ends of asparagus, bend the cut end of the spear towards the middle.  It will naturally snap at the spot where the spear becomes tender.

Caprese Salad

This is a lazy caprese salad.  I had some tomatoes from Mom & Dad's garden, some fresh mozzarella, and pesto.  Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella.....drizzle pesto...Voila!

I would have really liked to add some balsamic vinegar to the dish, but much to my confusion, couldn't find any in the pantry.  Must remember to pick some up ASAP.... A true caprese salad consists of only tomato, mozzarella, basil, topped with salt and olive oil.  The balsamic is a 'non-classical' addition to the dish.
Caprese Salad

Sweet Potato Fries

I'm going to call these 'fries' even though they're oven-baked.

Sweet potato fries seem to be ubiquitous in Charlottesville these days, so I figured I'd give it a try at home - hopefully these satisfy your cravings and are a lot healthier for you, too! 


These are definitely not as crispy as FRIED fries, but they are much more guilt free :)

Brown Sugar Bacon

Do you love bacon?

Yes.

Do you own an oven?

Yes. 

Then you have no excuse NOT to try this recipe.  Two ingredients + 30 minutes = 1 tasty treat.

Guacamole

Summer! Avocados! Guacamole! Ole!

One of my favorite things about the summer is avocados. They become so much cheaper than during the winter, and are also much better tasting, since they're actually in season. Don't forget that most of the time when you buy avocados in the store, they need a few day or two to ripen up....so you may need to anticipate when you'll have a guacamole craving.

Since I have those cravings about every 2-3 days during the summer, I like to have an avocado or 2 just laying around and ripening all the time just so that I don't get stuck with a craving and a hard, unripe avocado.

So how do you tell if it's ripe or not? I go by color and feel. The color of a ripe avocado will darken slightly to a dark green.

You want your avocado to look somewhere between 3 and 5.

Maybe more importantly though, is how the flesh gives away. A just ripe avocado will give under firm pressure; overripe avocados will leave a visible indentation.

If your avocado isn't ready for eating yet, leave it at room temperature!! It won't ripen if you store it in the refrigerator. I always hear people say that they ripen fastest when kept in a paper bag with an apple or tomato. I have no idea if that's true, but I just leave the avocado sitting next to the other produce anyway, so let me know if you notice a difference at all.

Sauteed Green Beans with Red Onions

Friends, it is really damn hot outside. In an effort to maintain the ambient temperature of the apartment (and consequently, my sanity), I opted for a one-pot meal that spends minimal time on the stove. This dish has THREE (!!!!) INGREDIENTS! It's great as a side dish, and good served cold, too.

Thanks to my good friend and ex-pseudo-roommate Stephanie for this recipe idea. She is moving to New York this week with her fiance Sal (!) and Sophie to start their new jobs. Well, I guess Sophie will just hang out at home and play with her chew toys.... but anyways. They will be sorely and sadly missed.

I used haricot vert, which is just a fancy name for french green beans. They are thinner and I think more delicate and tender than their fatter counterparts. Would white or yellow onions work? Probably, but they certainly wouldn't be as pretty :)

Ingredients:

:: 1/2 pound green beans or haricot vert, ends snipped off

:: 1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
:: 2 cloves garlic, minced
:: 1 tbsp olive oil
:: s & p

Boil and blanch the green beans. Or, if you buy them in those prepackaged microwave safe baggies, you can just pop them in the microwave for a minute. Set aside.

Saute garlic in olive oil over medium 1 minute until it becomes fragrant. Add in red onions, saute about 2 minute, or until they begin to just slightly soften.

Toss in green beans, cook everything together another 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.