When the weather turns warm, my palate shifts from rich cold weather offerings to fresh light goodness. This year we happily rounded out the cold season with a comfort food potluck for one last hoorah…savory meatballs with pine nuts and raisins in a red wine tomato sauce, perfectly baked mac and cheese, spinach salad with a warm bacon vinaigrette and blue cheese, freshly made minestrone with garlic crisps, soft sauteed zucchini with mozzarella, and of course, chocolate bread pudding for dessert. Of course this event ended up being perfectly timed for the first properly hot day of the year and the nine of us, cozily squeezed around my small dining room table, were reminded why we don’t eat these delicious riches when the season turns to hot. The post dinner food coma was inevitable and the heat accelerated its effect. Totally worth it…
With a proper farewell to the days of cold weather eating, we christened the grill shortly thereafter with a new recipe from Bill’s Open Kitchen, by Australian superstar chef Bill Granger. I’ve waxed on before about my love for all things Bill, and his recipes continue to find their way into my regular kitchen rotation. Simple. Fresh. Delicious.
The warm weather menu: Bill’s Marinated Coriander Chicken with Cucumber Relish served with my own Mango and Herb Salad. This simple grilled chicken scented with fresh cilantro, peppercorns, citrus, and the sweetness of the grill, pairs perfectly with his Asian inspired cucumber, shallot, and chili relish that is tangy with a hint of sweetness. The fresh addition of my ripe mango salad with herbs and a light acidic dressing made for a lovely combination that I will certainly visit again and again.
Bill’s Marinated Coriander Chicken with Cucumber Relish
Mango Herb Salad
For the salad:
2 ripe mangoes cut into bite size pieces (the organic ones from Planet Organic are amazing!)
1 head of fresh butter lettuce washed and torn
2 green onions sliced
handful of chopped fresh cilantro
tbsp of chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup of sliced cucumber
1 avocado sliced
For the vinaigrette whisk together:
4 tbsp good quality olive oil
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 finely diced shallot
freshly ground pepper to taste
Combine all of the salad ingredients in a big pretty bowl and toss lightly with vinaigrette just before serving. Happy sunshine days!
Tags: bill granger, cilantro, Coriander, Grilled Chicken, Mango, salad
For those of you who know me, I apologize that since vacationing in Vietnam, the only post I’ve done about it concerns fruit.
Amazing fruit, mind you, but fruit nonetheless.
Every time I think about doing a post, I start to miss being there. And as Edmonton’s winter still seems to be leaving its trace, remembering moments in tropical heat makes my current discontent all the more worse. As we cannot stop mentioning the longer Alberta days, I thought our obsession with the sun would twin nicely with posts on Vietnam. And as the days are just going to get shorter again (too) soon, I should get in while the getting’s good. Like Kramer and Newman with the Mackinaw peaches.
I don’t have to go much into why a foodie would want to go to Vietnam. Culinary stars such as Tony Bourdain and Dorie Greenspan have made recent journeys to taste the vast landscape of Vietnamese cuisine. More sweet in the South, more bitter in the North. City air that is as heavy with the smells of rice and cilantro as it is with scooter exhaust. The best baguettes I’ve had outside of France. Right now I’m craving a deep-fried pumpkin flower stuffed with catfish that I had while in the Mekong Delta. *sigh*
Green papaya salad with shrimp, Mango Rooms, Hoi An
Green papaya and green mango salads quickly became an obsession. Few things seemed more perfect on a hot afternoon than a cold salad of crunchy fruit in a salty dressing.
Green papaya salad, Hoa Sua School, Hanoi
Hoa Sua School
KOTO
Banana flower salad, KOTO, Hanoi
I also became a fan of the banana flower salad. Having a slightly chewy texture and a mild flavour, the flowers paired well with the other fruit. I even had a hand at making my own while taking a class at the Red Bridge Cooking School in Hoi An. Rather than eating the salad with chopsticks alone, you can break off pieces of grilled sesame rice paper and put mouthfuls on top.
Banana flower salad, Red Bridge Cooking School, Hoi An
The salads were what I wanted most when I came home. An inspired bowl of cold-spicy and salty-sweet to offset the persistence of dry radiator air. Something that would be kind to my waistline after one too many baguettes and cones of “young rice” ice cream. For a quick fix, I headed to Lucky 97 to get some ingredients to go with the rotisserie chicken I had at home.
With the exception of the dressing, I didn’t really follow a recipe. For two girls who were to stay in and paint their nails, I bought two mangos and one green papaya. Purple basil, cilantro, and mint. Shredded carrots. One diced chili. Scallions. Sesame seeds. The chicken. A super simple dressing c/o Red Bridge: juice of one lime, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 garlic clove crushed, and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
It was too cold for a cold beer, but that’s what was then needed.
And as they say in Vietnam: Yo!
Tags: basil, chicken, cilantro, mint, papaya, salad, salad dressing, Vietnam
