Thai Steak Tacos with Mango & Cucumber Salsa

Lately, I have been planning my meals based on my Door to Door Organics fruits and veggies.  I had a mango and cucumber to use up. I went to my handy dandy Pinterest and searched "Mango Cucumber" and came up with this! 

Ingredients - Sauce (this sauce is very similar to this, and can be substituted)

½ cup sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup fish sauce
2 T Lime juice
Sriracha, to taste

1 1/2 cups water

Ingredients – Tacos
1 1/2 lbs stir fry steak.
1/2 cup sauce 

Tortiallas

Ingredients- Salsa

1/4 cup Shallots ,minced
1/2 Cucumber diced
1 Mango diced
1/4 cup Cilantro
dash of salt

Directions
Sauce
Combine 1½ cups water and sugar into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. 

Simmer until reduced by about half, about 15 minutes. 

Stir in garlic, lime, fish sauce, and siracha. 

Steak 

Combine steak with ½ cup of nuoc nam in  Ziploc bag. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Sear for about 3 to 4 minutes each side. Set aside and let rest for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Salsa

Toss mango, cucumber, and shallots, and cilantro with ¼ cup of sauce and some salt. Cover and refrigerate.

Heat up tortillas according to package instructions.
Assemble own tacos with steak and cucumber and mango salsa.

Adapted from: Cook Smarts

Vietnamese Chicken Banh Mi

 Vietnamese food is quickly becoming one of my favorites to cook and eat! I think I like how it uses a lot of fresh flavors and veggies. The Banh Mi Sandwich can also be made with pork, but I needed to use up some chicken, so I found this recipe and adapted it to my liking.


Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces
4 tsp olive oil
garlic powder
salt and pepper
cilantro, chopped
jalapeno, sliced
cucumbers, sliced
pickled carrots (recipe below)
4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 tbsp water
Sriracha, to taste
Bread – I used crusty french bread


Directions:

Make pickled carrots the night before: Place about 1½ cups of shredded carrots in a container. Dissolve 2 tbsp sugar in ½ cup warm water. Add 1 cup white vinegar. Cover carrots with mixture and let marinate at least two hours but preferably over night.

Heat 4 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Season chicken well with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook chicken over medium heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Prepare sauce: combine 4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce with 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 6 tbsp water. Add a few squirts of sriracha, depending on how spicy you want the sauce. 

Toast bread in the oven, at 350*, for a few minutes to make it nice and crispy. 

On toasted bread spoon 1 tbsp sauce mixture on each side of bread. Top with chicken and pile on the cucumber, cilantro, jalapeno, and carrots. Top sandwich with sriracha and serve with additional sauce.

Pho

One of my best friends is Vietnamese.  She was always talking about how good her mom's pho (pronounced fuh) was.  I had never tried it, and saw a recipe for pho on a blog that one of the moms at my school writes.  I decided to give it a whirl, and have loved it ever since! I changed her recipe up just a bit, but the base of it is the same.  

Ingredients:

For the Broth:
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 medium onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
zest of 1 lime
1/3 cup fish sauce, divided
32 oz. chicken broth
32 oz. beef broth
2 cups water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
5 whole cloves

Noodles, Meat, and Garnish

8 ounces dried, flat rice noodles
1 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
1 lime, sliced in wedges
1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
2 green onions, sliced thin
12 ounces flank steak, sliced thin across the grain (place in freezer, to make it easier to slice)

Directions:

For the Broth:

Heat the oil in a medium-large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, lime zest, and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce. Cook until vegetables are soft. Stir in the chicken broth, beef broth, and water. Bring to a boil.

Stir in the soy sauce, sugar, cloves, and remaining fish sauce. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer. Cook until the flavors have blended, about 15 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer (I used the colander, because I don't have a strainer). Return the broth to pot. Bring to a boil, turn off the hat, and stir in beef and mushrooms.  Let stand for 2-3 minutes. The beef will cook, so be ready to serve!! 

While broth is simmering, cook the noodles according to package instructions. Drain the noodles, and portion them between the bowls. 

Have the bean sprouts, cilantro, lime, and green onions read to top the soup with. 

Ladle the soup on top of the prepared bowls. Serve immediately, topping with garnishes of your choice.

Vietnamese Bánh cuốn

This weekend, my friend Annie and I tried a new Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Hoa Noodle Soup in Kansas City. It was really good!  We had steak pho and a "house special"banh mi.

I was really hoping for some bánh cuốn like we had tried when I went home with Annie a few months ago. After lunch, we saw a little Asian market. Annie was sure they would have it. We stopped!

From the market/grocery store we bought fish sauce, bean sprouts, cilantro, lime, chả lụa, fried onions, and the most important ingredient: the noodles! The noodles are made from a thin wide sheet of steamed fermented rice batter.  They were in the refrigerated section of the market. 

Annie texted her mom for the recipe for the sauce. 

Sauce: 

Lemon or lime juice from fresh fruit 1/4 cup
Sugar 3/4 cup
Water 1 cup
Fish sauce 1/2 cup
Mix lime/ lemon juice , sugar and water till sugar dissolve then add fish sauce, mince fine chopped fresh garlic, and red pepper.
You can cut half or a quarter of this recipe.
Good luck and enjoy!
Love, mom

We separated the noodles into thin slices.  Then topped them with bean sprouts, cilantro, lime, fried onions, and the special sauce!

You can also make these with pork rolled in the middle. 

The Sauce

Bánh cuốn with chả lụa

The side for this dish usually consist of chả lụa (Vietnamese pork sausage).