Asparagus, Pepper and Steak Stir-Fry

Again, to Tim's dismay, the spring asparagus just keeps rolling in from the CSA... I thought I'd shake things up by cooking the asparagus in a stir-fry- turned out pretty well!

I based the stir-fry on this recipe from Simply Recipes, but rather than use flank steak, I used some shaved steak that Tim picked up at Trader Joes to make cheese steaks. I sprinkled sesame seeds on at the end for some crunch.

Thai Time: Thai Corn Fritters and Pad Kee Mao (kinda)

It was Thai time tonight at 1346.

A probably-not-authentic-but-tasty-nonetheless version of Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) with chicken and broccoli. The sauce has the quadruple threat: sweet, spicy, sour, salty.

Served alongside some delicious Thai-style corn fritters dipped in sweet chili sauce.

The corn fritters are tasty, but dangerous! Chuck was in charge of frying these up, but when the oil got hot and made contact with the corn kernels, they popped like popcorn. Actually, more like searing hot corn kernel mini bombs. Chuck has the battle wounds to show for it, too.
So, beware if you attempt these corn fritters. They are not to be fried by the faint of heart or those slow to react in the face of fast-moving projectiles.

Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Another Steamy Kitchen recipe... this time a Vietnamese summer rolls with a spicy peanut dipping sauce. I always wanted to try my hand at making these, and this week I had mint, a cucumber, and Bibb lettuce from my CSA. I had the rice noodles and rice wrappers from a trip to Eden Center with Jennifer many months ago.

These were delicious. I added some basil in there, and used lemon zest in place of lemongrass for marinating the shrimp, as Jaden recommends. I omitted the mango because the ones I saw in the store weren't really ripe yet. I considered adding nectarine or peach instead for a little bit of a sweet factor, but the peach just turned into a pile of mush when I tried to make it into matchsticks with the mandoline. We didn't miss it, though.

Warning: these things are very hard to wrap! Mine were pretty messy looking. My lack of skills may have been due to the 3 margaritas and hookah full of cinnamon tobacco I had on Amy's roof just prior to making these, though.