Lady and Pups, Spicy Sambal Meatballs

Ask, and you shall receive! Well, I asked.

I have been needing new and exciting chicken recipes (I know, my life revolves around chicken recipes. Pretty boring, right?) and look what shows up in my "in box" this morning!  This wonderful recipe for Spicy Sambal Meatballs!!

This recipe comes from a wonderful blog that I follow called Lady and Pups. Her photos of the recipes she creates are stunning! I want to make very single recipe she posts.

This especially caught my eyes because, first of all the meatballs are made with chicken thighs. Second, she poaches eggs in the sauce. And third, the sauce is SPICY!! She also stuffs a crusty baguette with these meatballs and poached eggs. It looked amazing!!

Alas, I did not make subs but we still enjoyed the heck out of them. I had to adapt her recipe a little because she calls for long, Asian, red chili's, which I normally find everywhere but for the life of me could not find this time. I bet it's because this recipe went viral, and they sold out... just kidding! So I subbed in jalapeños. And the sambal sauce called for more fish sauce but I ran out when I used it for the meatballs. If you don't have fish sauce, you can sub all the soy sauce for fish sauce.

The one ingredient she says to try not to sub, is the Thai shrimp paste, so I went out specifically for it. It shouldn't be too hard to find.

Oh, and I also doubled the tomatoes because I was worried the sauce would be too spicy, and in fact was perfect because I think the jalapeños that I used were really hot!!

The next time I make this dish though, I'm definitely making subs.


Spicy Sambal Meatballs

(Original recipe from Lady and Pups)

Lemongrass Chicken Meatballs

5 skinless/boneless chicken thighs
4 stalks lemongrass, soft/white parts only
2 garlic cloves, grated
3 shallots, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 tablespoons fish sauce or 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Flash freeze the chicken thigh for 2 hours or until firm. Cut into pieces and grind in a food processor until finely minced.
Trim off the tough ends on both sides of the lemongrass, then cut and mince as finely as you can, otherwise it would be like biting into pieces of wood.
Mix the ground chicken, finely minced lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger, mint, cilantro, fish sauce or soy sauce and black pepper.
Shape into balls and bake in oven until lightly browned. At this point you can make these ahead of time and refrigerate until the next day (thats what I did).

After they were baked

Spicy Pineapple Sambal Sauce

1/2 cup pineapple, fresh or canned
The zest and flesh of 1/2 orange
5 jalapeño peppers, sliced
4 small red chili
7 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Thai shrimp paste
4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups canned peeled tomatoes

In a blender, puree the orange zest and juice, pineapple, jalapeños, red chili's, garlic, soy sauce, shrimp paste, vinegar, and brown sugar until smooth. Let it run a few minutes. Don't rinse the blender yet.

To Finish

4-6 eggs

To assemble dish:

In a large non stick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the partially cooked meatballs until nicely browned on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Add the pineapple/ chili sauce and cook until the mixture is reduced by a 1/3. Puree the tomatoes in the same blender and add to the sauce along with the meatballs. Simmer until the sauce is reduced by 1/3 again.
Make little wells in the skillet to make room for the eggs. Carefully drop the eggs then cover completely and simmer until the whites set and egg yolks are runny. Turn off the heat and serve immediately.

m xo

Braised Chicken, Fennel and Tomatoes

Well, as you may have noticed, I haven't been posting much lately. You want to know why? BECAUSE MY HUSBAND IS ON A DIET!!! And I have to say, I'm not liking it much. Not only because he has lost quite a few pounds and I haven't, but also because I'm not cooking what I really want to cook. I've been making a lot chicken dishes. I'm getting sick of chicken! And the thing is, he would be totally fine with the same chicken dish over and over. He is a creature of habit, as you know from my blog...remember, he eats the same thing for breakfast, day after day. And now he eats the same thing for lunch, day after day. It's me that needs variety and I am constantly looking for new ways to make chicken, which I have to say, hasn't been that easy. There are only so many different recipes on Pinterest!

This time I decided to braise the chicken with fennel and tomatoes. Braising the keeps the breasts moist. Easy. Tasty. One pot meal. Doesn't get any better than this.

Braised Chicken, Fennel and Tomatoes 

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
3 green onions, sliced
1 jalapeño, sliced, totally optional
1 tablespoon capers
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper
Parsley, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to pan. Let it brown on one side for about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken over and add the fennel, tomatoes, green onions, jalapeño and capers. Pour the the stock over, cover and reduce the heat. Cook until the chicken is done, which should tale about 10 minutes. Take off the heat and sprinkle with parsley. Serve.

m xo

Raw Thai Almond Kelp Noodle Salad

So, this is a first for my blog. A guest in my kitchen!!

Barbara, a Holistic Nutritionist

Over the years as a hairstylist, I have been very fortunate to meet some wonderful, interesting people. I have known Barbara Ollerenshaw for a few years and she has truly inspired me because she recently went back to school and became a Holistic Nutritionist. I asked her if she had a dish she would share with me on my blog and this is one of her favourite dishes. A raw Thai noodle salad. This is a healthy answer for when she gets a craving for Pad Thai.  I love Thai food! I was intrigued!

This really is a nutritious dish! I've never had kelp noodles before and I have to say they were very similar to rice noodles except they were a little on the rubbery side but not in a bad way! If I didn't know they weren't rice, I probably wouldn't have noticed. The salad itself was so refreshing and flavourful. It was amazing! The fact that it is also good for you is an added bonus. Here are just few reasons it's good for you.   

Kelp, a sea vegetable is very nutrient rich. Calcium, iron, manganese and complex B's, to name a few. It also aids in the healthy growth of nails and hair. And who doesn't want healthy hair and nails? I talk to a lot of women in my chair and hair and nail growth is one of our main concerns. The kelp noodles are found in the refrigerated section of the health food store. Garlic provides enzymes to help with digestion and alkalizes the body. Ginger is an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and stimulates digestion and liver.

I urge to try this recipe, even if it's just to try something that you haven't had before. Trust me, you'll like it! 

Raw Thai Almond Kelp Noodle Salad

Noodles

massaging the kelp noodles

1 package of kelp noodles
Juice of 1/3 of a lemon
Himalayan salt

Dressing
1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons tamari
1/2 cup lime juice, about 3 limes
1 tablespoon honey
1 jalapeño, or to taste
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 inch of ginger, peeled

Salad Vegetables
Red pepper, slivered
Carrots, slivered
Cilantro, chopped
Salad greens
Sprouts
Green onions, chopped
Sprouted mung beans(crunchy pea) to sprinkle on top, optional


For the noodles:
Put the noodle in a strainer and rinse with hot water. Drain well and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and a bit of salt. With your hands, message the kelp until soft. Cover and refridgerate.

For the dressing:
Place all the ingredients in a blender and mix until thick and fluffy. This makes more than enough dressing for this salad. Keep leftovers in refrigerator for another salad.

To assemble the salad, cut the noodles with kitchen scissors because they tend to be on the long side. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of dressing on noodles and mix together. Add the veggies and add a little more dressing and mix. The amount of dressing you use depends on the amount of vegetables you have for the salad but don't be afraid to use most of it. The vegetables and the noodles tend to soak up a lot of it. Sprinkle with cilantro and sprouted mung beans, if using. Serve right away.

m xo

Guacamole

I came home from work last night and really didn't feel like cooking anything so I decided to make guacamole because I had some really nice, ripe avocados sitting on my counter. 

This isn't a recipe per se. I just wanted to share it with you. 

Guacamole 2-3 ripe but firm avocados 1 small red onion, chopped handful cilantro, chopped 1/2 jalapeño, finely chopped juice of 2 limes salt and pepper to taste

Put everything in a bowl and mix. I like pretty chunky so I don't mash it too much but you can mash it to the consistency you prefer. Serve with tortillas chips.


Enjoy!
m xo