Tag: fresh ginger

Butternut Squash Coconut Curry

Imagine my surprise at finding more butternut squash at our Favourite supermarket, Superama, here in Mexico. It is highly unusual, so much so that I bought all seven of them! They were hidden among the pumpkins which had just arrived. Those of you who live in northern climates will easily find these everywhere this time of year. Pinterest to the rescue with this recipe…

Butternut Squash Coconut Curry

Ingredients

  • 4 cups butternut squash, peeled, deseed and diced
  • 1-2 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
  • 1 cup vegetable broth, or 1 vegetable bouillon plus 1 cup water
  • 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper, optional
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
  • 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium-high. Add onion, garlic and ginger.

2. Cook until onion is soft, about 3 minutes.

3. Stir in curry powder, paprika and thyme. Cook for 1 minute.

4. Stir in squash, coconut milk, vegetable broth.

5. Bring to boil, Cover and reduce to a simmer on low heat.

6. Cook for 15 minutes until squash cubes are tender but not mushy

7. Stir in pepper, salt and cilantro.

Delicious served with rice.

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Zucchini Chicken Stir Fry

Must say that this recipe turned out very well. The sauce was great. Be very carefulnot toovercook the zucchini or it will get mushy!

Zucchini Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless – skinless chicken breasts (or thighs or tenders), thinly sliced then cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce – divided
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar – divided
  • 2 teaspoons granulated sugar – divided
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 3 cloves minced garlic – about 1 tablespoon
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 medium zucchini – yellow squash, or a mix
  • 1 large red or yellow onion
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Sesame seeds – optional for garnish
  • Chopped green onion – for garnish

1 In a large bowl, combine the chicken, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Set aside while you prep the remaining ingredients.

2 In a small bowl or large liquid measuring cup, stir together the remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce, remaining 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, the ginger, garlic, water, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.

3 Trim off the ends of the zucchini. Cut in half lengthwise, then place the flat, cut sides on the counter. Slice crosswise into ¼-inch thick half moons. Thinly slice the onion.

4 In a wide skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken and its marinating liquid. Sauté until the chicken is golden brown on the outsides and fully cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove to a plate.

5 Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add the onion. Cook until tender and beginning to brown, 4 to 5 minutes.

6 Give the sauce one more stir, then add it to the pan. Let cook 30 seconds, then add the sliced zucchini. Cook just until the zucchini begins to soften, about 3 minutes more.

7 Remove from the heat, then stir in the reserved chicken. Serve hot with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and green onion as desired.

Teriyaki Salmon Bowl with Coconut Rice and Ginger Sesame Greens

At first glance, this recipe seems complicated as you are cooking three items for the bowl. The salmon and the rice both require the same cooking time! Like many Asian recipes, the prep is more time consuming. The greens take very little time. Trust me, this all makes for a great meal!

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Teriyaki Salmon Bowls with Coconut Rice and Ginger Sesame Greens

Ingredients for the Teriyaki Sauce OR Use store bought to simplify

  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 tsp mirin
  • 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 clove fresh garlic, crushed or finely grated
  • 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 1 large salmon fillet, roughly 200g (you could also use chicken breast or thigh OR for a veg version, some firm tofu, cut into inch sized cubes)

Ginger Sesame Greens

  • 5 large handfuls of greens – I’ve used green beans. Feel free to use your favourite green veg. Other delicious options – bok choy, snowpeas, broccoli, broccolini, baby spinach, etc.
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed or finely grated
  • 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

Coconut Rice

  • 1 cup jasmine rice, rinsed well – It’s important to rinse the rice as this helps make it nice and fluffy. It also means we add less water to the pot when cooking, 1¼ cups of water instead of 1½ cups if we didn’t rinse.
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1¼ cup boiling water

Toppings

  • Toasted sesame seeds or black sesame seeds
  • 4 spring onions, finely chopped
  • Japanese mayonnaise for drizzling (optional)

 Teriyaki Salmon

Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the honey, tamari, mirin, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, garlic and ginger.

Add the salmon fillet (or protein of your choice) and coat thoroughly.

Place the salmon and the combined sauce into a small paper-lined baking dish.

Bake at 180C / 350F for 15 minutes then grill for 5 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.  Once cooked, remove from the oven.

Coconut Rice

In a small saucepan add the coconut oil, rinsed rice, and a little salt.

Add the boiling water, bring to a boil, then turn down to low heat and simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes.

DO NOT remove the lid at any time. We want all the steam trapped in the pot to create that perfectly fluffy rice.

After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and leave the rice to sit for 3-5 minutes.

Remove the lid and fluff up the rice with a fork.

Set aside until ready to use.

Ginger Sesame Greens

While the rice and salmon are cooking, grab a large saucepan and add the sesame oil, ginger, and garlic.

Now add the greens then sauté on medium heat until bright green and slightly wilted.

Add the tamari and stir to combine.

To Assemble

Add a scoop of rice to each serving bowl, some salmon and surrounding leftover baked sauce, and the ginger sesame greens.

Top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds, spring onions, fresh chopped basil and a dollop or drizzle of Japanese mayo (if using). Enjoy!

 

Korean Chicken Stir Fry and Zucchini Pancakes

Apologies for not posting sooner, but Internet was down here. Back in action with 2 great Korean recipes! First tried these pancakes at Korean Grill and Ice Cream and they were an awesome appetizer. To upgrade the pancakes to a dinner, I have prepared the Korean Chicken Stir Fry.

 

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Hobak Buchim (Zucchini Pancakes)

Ingredients

  • 1 medium zucchini about 8 ounces
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 medium sweet onion thinly sliced
  • 2 green hot chili peppers thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup buchim garu (Korean savory pancake mix) or flour (see note)
  • 1 large egg (omit for a vegan version and add some water)
  • vegetable or canola oil for frying

Dipping Sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • pinch of black pepper
  • pinch gochutgaru (red chili pepper flakes)
  • OPTIONAL baby shrimp and chopped green onions

Instructions

Cut the zucchini into matchsticks. Place them in a bowl, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes until wilted and released some liquid. Squeeze the liquid out from the zucchini as much as possible, reserving the liquid in the bowl. Set the zucchini aside.

Add the egg and pancake mix (or flour) to the bowl with the zucchini squeezed mix. Mix everything well with a spoon, and then combine with the zucchini, onion and chili peppers. The zucchini mix may look stiff when mixing, but it will become more liquidy after a few minutes. If it’s still too stiff, mix in some water (2 to 3 tablespoons to start with).

Heat a skillet with two tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Add about 2 heaping tablespoons of the batter and spread it evenly into a thin round shape. Depending on the size of your pan, you can cook 3 to 4 pancakes at once. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the bottom is light golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat the process with the remaining batter. Serve hot with a dipping sauce.

Notes

Use 5 tablespoons all purpose flour with 3 tablespoons cornstarch if available.

This recipe makes 6 to 8 3-inch round pancakes, or two large pancakes.

Korean Chicken Stir Fry

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 lbs chicken breasts boneless and skinless, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 large egg beaten
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
  • 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste

Korean Sauce

  • 3 tbsp butter unsalted
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger minced
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce low sodium
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp. Red curry paste or sambal oelek

Garnish

green onions        toasted sesame seeds             red chilis sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

Toss the chicken pieces through the egg first, then dredge through cornstarch.

In a large bowl whisk together all the sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Add about 3 inches of oil to a heavy bottom pan and heat to 375 °F.

Add chicken to the pan and fry in batches about 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Transfer the chicken to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining chicken.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Stir in the brown sugar and honey and cook for about 1 minute until the brown butter dissolves. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and gochujang sauce to the skillet and stir. Cook for 30 seconds then add the chicken to the skillet and toss well with the sauce.

Serve garnished with green onions, toasted sesame seeds and red chilis.

Turmeric and Ginger Chicken Soup

Ok…its a little chilly out there, depending on where you live. Actually it’s chilly in Mexico where the temperature last night dropped to 13 C. Forget Christmas…LOL. It’s chicken soup time! Dig in (to the soup, NOT the snowbanks).

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Turmeric and ginger are excellent additions healthwise BTW.

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 bone-in chicken thighs , skin removed
  • 12 cups cold water 
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro stems or fresh parsley stems
  • 2 shallots , quartered
  • 2 carrots , coarsely chopped
  • 2 large cloves garlic , smashed
  • 1 piece (1 inch) fresh turmeric (unpeeled), thinly sliced
  • 1 piece (1/2 inch) fresh ginger (unpeeled), thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (approx.)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves or fresh parsley leaves
  • OPTIONAL – 1 liter of Campbell’s Chicken Broth

METHOD

In Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine chicken, water and vinegar; cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium; simmer for 30 minutes, skimming and discarding froth.

Stir in cilantro stems, shallots, carrots, garlic, turmeric and ginger; partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 40 minutes.

Remove from heat; using tongs, transfer chicken to cutting board.

Using 2 forks, shred into bite-size pieces; sprinkle with salt.

Strain broth through fine-mesh sieve into separate large saucepan; discard solids.

I prefer my soups chunky, so I used my immersion blender to chop up some of the veggies before I added the chicken back to the pot. At this point I also added the liter of chicken broth.

Return chicken to broth; stir in cilantro leaves. Season with salt to taste.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS

Per each of 6 servings:

Sodium 493 mg

Sugars 0 g

Protein 30 g

Calories 171

Total fat 5 g

Potassium 611 mg

Cholesterol 155 mg

Saturated fat 1 g

Total carbohydrate 0.0

 

Thai Style Chicken Pumpkin Soup

Just in time for your Thanksgiving dinner! Make ahead and refrigerate. Serve as your first course!

Thai Style Chicken Pumpkin Soup

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1 large white onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 T. minced fresh ginger
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 stalks celery diced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 15 ounce can pumpkin
  • ½ cup mango nectar
  • ½ cup fresh lime juice
  • ½ cup peanut butter (or more)
  • 1 liter low sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cups water

Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add chicken and cook about three minutes, stirring frequently. Add onion, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Cook 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Transfer chicken to crock pot. Add celery, carrots, pumpkin, nectar, lime juice, peanut butter, broth and water. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours,

After the time is up, stir in the following –

3 Tablespoons rice vinegar

¼ cup chopped cilantro

Mix ½ cup heavy cream  and 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch together.Stir into soup and turn cooker to HIGH for  10 minutes or less until soup thickens.

Serve over white rice which has been previously cooked. Sprinkle with more chopped cilantro and chopped peanuts.

 Source – Crock-Pot Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes.

Scallops Stir Fry

Sorry dear followers, I fell asleep under a palm tree on the beach in a hammock…NOT…it has rained everyday now since last Thursday and my draft was waterlogged…LOL

Still in the process of cleaning out the freezer before we make the move to the new house next week. I found scallops and wanted to cook something quick.

Bay scallops may be sweet, but they’re not shy. Here, they stand up to the intense combo of soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and ginger. If you don’t find bay scallops, use the sea ones, but cut them in half. Actually I didn’t even make the rice. I just added a side of freshly steamed broccoli!

Bay Scallops Stir Fry [Inspired by Martha Stewart}

• Prep Time 15 minutes • Total Time 25 minutes • Serves 4
Ingredients

o Coarse salt and ground pepper
o 1 cup long-grain white rice
o 1/4 cup rice vinegar
o 1/4 cup soy sauce
o 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
o 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
o 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as safflower
o 1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
o 2 bunches scallions, white and green parts separated, cut into 2-inch lengths
o 2 carrots, halved lengthwise, or quartered if large, and cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
o 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
o 1 pound bay scallops, patted dry (or 10 larger ones)
Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups salted water to a boil. Add rice, and return to a boil, stirring once. Reduce to a simmer; cover and cook until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and let steam for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set sauce aside.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high. Add bell pepper, scallion whites, carrots, and ginger; cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add scallops and scallion greens; cook, stirring occasionally, until scallops are cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Whisk sauce briefly, and add to skillet; cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Serve scallop stir-fry over rice.