Peanut Sauce Rice Noodles

I posted this little gem in April 2011 with the title "It's so good, we made it twice!" We have a tendency to always try new recipes in our house and forget to venture back to our Go-to's.

In a state of "we didn't take anything out for dinner and I don't feel like slaving away in the kitchen today, whatever will we make?", I remembered this recipe. Part of the reason it came to mind is because I've been chatting with my friend Becca who has been sincerely missing her daily PB intake while she travels around Asia - which made ME think I needed to eat some PB!

Instead of simply linking out (although it's linked above), I thought I'd re-write the recipe out so it's at the top of things on here. I also changed a few things based on what I had in my kitchen. If you like peanut butter and you like Thai food, get on this!

How to make this recipe in the easiest way possible?

1. Cook your vermicelli rice noodles (the fat kind) - takes about 6 min in boiling water.

2. Meanwhile, chop up some broccoli, kale and shrimp (buy pre-cooked and you're gold!). Throw it all in a pan and saute! Throw shrimp in last if it's cooked.

3. While the above two things are cooking, throw the following ingredients in a little sauce pan on low - no need to cook it, but the temperature makes it easier to mix together:

- 1/3 cup of broth
- 1/3 cup of 100% PB
- 1 tbsp of minced ginger (you can buy it minced!)
- 1 tbsp of coconut oil
- 2 tsp of olive oil
- 1 tbsp of lime juice
- 1 tbsp of fish sauce (using soy would be fine, too)

4. Once everything is done, mix it all together in the pan and throw in lots of cilantro if you have any! You're done.

What we added to our dishes:
- More cilantro
- Ground peanuts
- More lime juice
- Sriricha

The reaction? Oh yeah - people would DEFINITELY spend $15 for this dish at any Thai restaurant in town. 

An Assortment of Recipes + Ideas

Here are a few of the things that have gone in our bellies over the last two weeks...

Baked Salmon with Asparagus + Beets (with an adaptation of added procuitto)
This is the ultimate kind of throw together meal. I cheated and used canned beets (I confess and don't care!) so I threw all of this on two tinfoil packets and in the oven it went. A seemingly gourmet meal in minutes (well, it took longer than the recipe said, but basically..) 

Weekend Breakfast
Breakfasts like this give you reason to get through your work week. I had some procuitto and asparagus leftover from the above recipe (it's all about no waste) so we cooked them up and plopped our egg on top. Delicious saltiness! It went perfectly with our perked coffee and tropical smoothie (fresh pineapple + banana + frozen mango + almond milk)

Egg Muffins
SO perfect for a work week for breakys and snacks. There are variations all over the place for this, but I used what I had in the fridge at the time: 9 eggs (for the above 12 muffins) + cut up red onions + spinach + tomatoes + salt and pepper + Italian spices. Grease your pan, pour them into the cups and put them in the oven for about 20 mins at 350. Breakfast for the week! 

Pork chops, veggie salad and kimchi.
Not entirely paleo, but nothing overtly "do not eat" on the menu I don't think. The pork chop was bbq'd with a mix of spices (anything!) and some lemon + oil. The salad is a simple spinach salad mixed with a little bit of quinoa cooked in broth (little as in most veg, different from how I usually make it) mixed with salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. J liked this more than the pork I think. 

Bangers n' Mash
Okay - admittedly this photo is not exactly visually appealing and the idea of eating an entire head of cauliflower in one sitting (for two people) seems foreign, but we devoured this. Like: a head of cauliflower and four sausages and we devoured it in minutes. I had a bit of a hard time figuring out what to do with the cauliflower, so it took longer (and made a larger mess) than it probably should have but we were thoroughly impressed. J grew up on meat and potatoes and had an odd eye on me as I tackled this recipe. Luckily he trusts me enough to give it a go...;) A "will try again" (along with cauliflower rice!). (note: the bangers came from Sweet Williams at the market, yummers).

Shrimp Yellow Curry (on it's own)
I filled this dish with a can of coconut milk, + 2 - 3 tbsp of yellow curry + 1 tbsp of fish sauce + basil + lots of onions, broccoli, cooked shrimp and mushrooms. Top it off with almonds. Voila.

Thai Chicken Salad with Almond Dressing
Adaptations: almonds + almond butter in place of peanuts/butter + fish sauce in place of soy sauce +honey for the brown sugar + my salad ingredients: lettuce, spinach, carrots and cucumber
TWO thumbs up, for sure.

Who knew that dinners would be so good (and so fun) after removing all forms of white potatoes, rice, pasta and bread? We definitely did not. Eat your heart out (and feast) my gluten-free friends! I've been trying out a lot of the recipes I've been pinning under Paleo Possibilities and all are free of dairy, soy, gluten and sugar (among other things)....woot woot! Here's a little diagram of what eating paleo is all about. I'll share more resources in another post.

Enjoy :)

A Stir Fry Without Rice or Noodles! (Cilantro Pork)

As you can see from the title, I threw together an extremely easy and tasty stir fry - minus the rice and noodles that we always use. I found this recipe on Paleo Diet Lifestyle , along with some other stir fry options. I have to create a bit of a mental shift to create meals like this. For so long, I have been taking one piece of pork and would divide that amongst the two of us for our dinner - and even sometimes for our lunches. With the pasta or rice, I could get away with doing that.

Now that I'm experimenting a little with our diets, I had to use both pieces of our pork and we didn't have leftovers. That being said: I felt fantastic. This meal felt good as I was eating it. I'm not sure if it is just that food tastes and feels better when you're creating that mental connection?

Moral of the story is this is a good mental shift (if I decide that eating lots of meat is the right direction for me to go in), but will require a shift also in how I also approach my grocery shopping. As much as I talk about - and try to do - meal plans, I usually don't (I confess!). In order to buy enough and to not waste, I'm really going to try it for the next week or two to see how it works. Life's a constant transition of some kind, isn't it? :)

This meal is perfect for those weeks when you buy cilantro for something else and don't want it to go bad on you (happens all the time for us). I will say that I was moving slowly when prepping - even though it's only essentially slicing a bunch of stuff - so it took a bit longer to make than it normally would or should. I do think this is a perfect weekday meal: barely any cooking time needed!

Make it: Delicioso!

Cilantro Pork Stir Fry
My changes to the recipe:

- 1 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms (add to the pan about a minute after adding the peppers)
- 2 scrambled eggs (add at the end, right before throwing the cooked pork back into the pan. I pushed the veggies to the side, scrambled the eggs and then mixed it all together, re-adding the pork).

This is just a quick post as I know when I get back "on the grid" on Monday night, I'll be too tired to post and will only want to share photos of Prince Edward Island when I do feel like posting. We're off on our annual road trip...Lobster and mussels here we come!

Have a great weekend!

Meatless Mondays: Fried Noodles (Vietnamese Meets Balinese)

More noodles. Are you shocked?

Listen. When I travel, I basically eat rice or noodles every single day and embrace it. Not only do I embrace it, I crave more! It might be a slight addiction, but if I'm health-ifying it as much as possible, then why not? Koreans eat rice every single day - sometimes three times a day - and their diet is much healthier than that of the typical North American! Spice + Rice + noodles. There has to be some benefit there for your body.

Prior to really learning how to cook, J used to do most of the cooking. I've mentioned this before. Well, his specialty is bringing in a mix of flavours from our travels. We, of course, love Thai food (who doesn't?), but we truly love Laotian, Vietnamese and Balinese food. His meals would typically fall mostly into the Vietnamese category. As I've been trying to do most of the cooking as of late, we've been lacking in this area. Last night I was craving a little bit of mie goreng and a little bit of fried Vietnamese noodles.

When we were in Bali (both times), we spent a lot of our time trying out the various versions of mie goreng and nasi goreng. The "mie" stands for noodles and the "nasi" stands for rice. Each restaurant or street stand served it slightly different, but all were filled with finely chopped veggies and egg (and meat, too - depending on what you fancied). The spiciness of the dish varied quite a bit and you could always add more once it was served.

When I think back to my week in Ho Chi Ming and Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam, I think about noodles. Pho (noodle soup). Fried noodles. Regular noodles. From a restaurant. From a street vendor. All served with a side of extra fish sauce - my first real introduction to the sauce that would later lead to being a star of many, many of our meals. It was heaven.

Top: Fried Noodles in Phu Quoc, Vietnam + Hammocks & Dinner Tables (Not a bad place to relax & eat!)
Bottom: Sukawati, Bali, Our honeymoon balcony overlooking rice paddies + A typical Mie Goreng

Can you see why I'd crave both again - or often? I was torn, though, on which to choose so I tried a make-shift meet-in-the-middle creation of my own.

A Taste of Vietnam and Bali in Fried Noodles
From Allie's Kitchen


What I Used:
5 pieces of bok choy (not baby bok choy), stalks + leaves, cut small
1 cup of eggplant, diced small
3 scallions, diced
1 cup of bean sprouts (mung bean)
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 shallot, diced
2 eggs
1 tbsp basil (I have basil tubes that stay in the fridge - it equals 1 tbsp of fresh)
1 tbsp of lemon grass (same as above)
3 tbsp of fish sauce
2 tbsp of sriricha chili sauce
Chow mein noodles

What I Did:
1. Have everything chopped and ready to go. Have water boiling for noodles.
2. In a wok, add garlic and shallot. Cook on high for a few minutes.
3. Add eggplant, bok choy, basil, lemon grass, 2 tbsp of fish sauce and 1 tbsp of sriricha. At same time, add noodles to boiling water. Cook on high for 3 minutes.
4. Drain noodles and let sit. Add the bean sprouts and scallions to the pan. Push everything to the side and add both eggs. Keep stirring eggs so that it scrambles and remains in little pieces as it cooks.
5. Once the eggs are almost cooked, mix everything together. Add noodles along with remaining fish sauce and sriricha.

Serve warm and top with more bean spouts, fish sauce, sriricha or lime juice - your choice! This would also be great with ground peanuts on top or fresh cilantro. I didn't have these at home.

NOTE: So I made this Meatless Monday meal, all excited to share it as it's my own creation. Then I thought: CRAP. I added fish sauce. Fish sauce is not at all vegetarian. Sigh. So: There is no actual meat added to this, but this meal is still not 100% vegetarian or 100% vegan. I added fish sauce because I love the taste of it, but you could add tamarind or soy sauce (negating my soy-free label) to fully make this veggie-friendly. If you're vegan, you could also add tofu instead of egg. As much as that sounds lovely, the soy-free me has to have mine minus tofu and soy sauce - so forgive me! I promise you this will be just as good with these alterations.


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Enjoy! I actually hope you try this one out because I want you to experience this taste! Soooo good. I served us each a boatload of this and we both ate it all...probably could have (and should have) served 4! Delish. Delish. Going into my Go-To list for sure. Have you had Vietnamese or Balinese food? Have a favorite?