Marinated, Grilled, Steak Skewers

These are SOOOOOO good! SOOOOO easy to make and one of the best marinades that I have ever tried. SOOOOO give them a try!

Korean BBQ beef skewers
(from ourbestbites)

1 1/2 lb sirloin steak, cut thinly against the grain. (I like to stick the steaks in the freezer for about 15 minutes right before I slice them to make it easier to slice).
1/2 c. rice wine vinegar
1/2 c low sodium soy sauce (regular soy sauce makes it too salty and tough)
2 T brown sugar
2 T minced garlic
1 t Sriacha chili sauce (found in the asian section of your local supermarket)
1 1/2 t sesame oil
Combine rice wine, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, chili sauce, and sesame oil in a large bowl. Add meat and marinate at room temperature for 1 hour. Preheat the grill. While the grill is preheating thread the steak pieces onto bamboo skewers. Cook over medium high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side. They cook fast and you don't want to overcook them, so watch them vigilantly! Serve immediately. This is another recipe that I always double because my family gobbles them up immediately! And we can't have hungry little Lamb's running around!!! :)

Asian Beef Noodle Soup

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I have a sister in law who makes the best Pho you have ever tasted. (Pho is a vietnemese noodle bowl with steak and broth and lots of other yumminess). It quickly became a favorite of ours and we would request it every time we would visit. The problem is the original recipe takes all day to make and try as I might I could never duplicate her deliciousness. So when I found this recipe, I was hopeful that it would be a quick and close substitute that I could make on a weeknight. We weren't disappointed! While of course it isn't too authentic the flavors are there and the kids and hubby devoured it!

Asian Beef andaa Noodle Soup

(adapted slightly from Cook's Country)

8 c. chicken broth

1 T. greated fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T fish sauce (found by the asian foods in the supermarket)

1/4 t. chinese 5 spice powder

4 (3 oz) packages of ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded)

1 small flank steak, cut lengthwise into thirds and then crosswise into 1/4 inch slices

1/2 medium hadaa napa cabbage sliced thin (about 4 cups - I just bought the preshredded package at the grocery store)

Toppings:

1/4 c finely chopped cilantro

sliced green onions

a couple limes cut into quarters
soy sauce

Siracha chili sauce

Bring broth, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, and 5 spice powder to boil in a large pot. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until flavors blend, about 10 minutes. Add noodles to simmering broth anda cook until nearly tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in beef and cabbage and simmer until cabbage is wiltedaa anda beef is cooked through. Top with your choice of any of the above toppings and serve immediately!

Orange Pork and Happy Chinese New Year!

So since Valentines day fell on Chinese New year this time around, I thought we would have a little fun and have a chinese Valentines feast for dinner! We enjoyed lettuce wraps, rice, pot stickers and this amazing orange pork!!! It was probably the highlight of the meal! You could also do it with chicken and it would be just as tasty I'm sure!!Recipe modified from Blogchef.net
1-2 pounds boneless, skinless pork chopes, cut into small bitesized cubes
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 eggs (beaten)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce-
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
¼ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)
½ teaspoon garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.

Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions. Enjoy

Asian Grilled Chicken

This is what we had with the Sesame Noodles from the last post. So moist and delicious!!! My new favorite grilled chicken marinade!

Asian Grilled Chicken
from Ourbestbites.com

1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 T. lime juice (about 1 lime)
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/4 t. curry powder
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. grated, fresh ginger
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Combine everything but the chicken in a small bowl. Wish to combine. Reserve a couple of spoonfuls of the marinade in a small bowl and place the rest, with the chicken, in a ziplock bag to marinade. Marindade for a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight for best results. Preheat a grill or indoor grill pan or broiler. Spray with cooking spray and place chicken on to cook. Cook for 5-10 minutes on each side until done, depending on thickness. I am not a huge fan of chicken thighs ( I like the light meat of the chicken breast better), but this recipe is different. The thighs are so moist and cook so well with this marinade. You could definitely try it with chicken breasts, but I would go for the thighs first, you won't be sorry!!

Sesame Noodles

I love recipes like this, easy, fast, and oh so yummy!! This recipe is adapted from one I found on the Pioneer Woman website. It is a great go to side dish! Hope you enjoy!

Sesame Noodles:

12 oz thin noodles cooked and drained (I have used spaghetti noodles and angel hair noodles, you could be really authentic and use some from the asian food aisle, too).
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 T. sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. rice vinegar
3 T. sesame oil
1/2 t. hot chile oil (found in the asian food section of your grocery store).
4 T. canola oil
2 T. hot water
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 c. shredded carrots

Cook and drain noodles. In a large mixing bowl, wisk together all the rest of ingredients except green onions and shredded carrots. Add warm noodles and mix. Add green onions and carrots and mix. Can serve hot or cold! (you can play with adding other veggies to taste: red peppers, snap peas, mushrooms, etc. and could even add some cooked chicken or edamame to make into a complete meal!!!)

COCONUT CHICKEN (OR SHRIMP!) AND ORANGE SWEET AND SOUR DIPPING SAUCE

My husband loves shrimp...I don't. He always wants me to make them. I finally found a recipe that we could both love - him with shrimp, me with chicken. A match made in heaven.

The shrimp:

(recipe adapted from Our Best Bites)
12 chicken tenders (or shrimp
1-2 eggs, wisked together

1/2 c. flour

1 c. sweetened coconut flakes

1 c. panko bread crumbs

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp table salt

3/4 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix coconut, panko, and spices in a shallow dish. Place flour in another shallow dish, and the eggs in another. Dip chicken in flour, then egg, then panko mixture. Coat well. Place the coated chicken tenders on a foil lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until done. (if using shrimp, use peeled, deveined shrimp and wash and pat dry. Then dip and coat the same way as the chicken and bake in oven until pink and curled).

Orange Marmalade dipping sauce:

orange marmalade

soy sauce

rice wine vinegar

ketchup

salt and pepper

mix together to taste and dip away!!!! any sweet and sour sauce would be delicious with this. I intend to try more.

Teriyaki Sauce

This is a homemade teriyaki sauce/marinade that I found on allrecipes.com. It was really good! I made it with "Anniversary Chicken" and I can't wait to try it out with other things!!

2/3 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine) - I found this in my regular grocery store in the asian section.
1 cup soy sauce
4 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 cup white sugar
7 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 dash red pepper flakes
black pepper to taste

Bring mirin to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour in soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar. Season with garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and black pepper; simmer an additional 5 minutes. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao chicken is one of my FAVORITE chinese dishes... I first experienced it at P.F. Changs years ago and fell in love on the spot. I have been looking for a good, easy recipe for it and stumbled upon this one. We were so excited to eat it that I forgot to put my chopped green onions on top for presentation, so just imagine them there for a little splash of green...This recipe is soooooo easy and has just enough heat for flavor, but it's not too overpowering. My kids loved it and they don't like spicy things. You obviously could up the HEAT to your own level, but we liked it just the way it was.

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast, diced into bite sized chunks
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp sesame oil
4 green onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (less if you don't want it really spicy)
3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
White rice, prepared per instructions

Prepare rice. Combine chicken and cornstarch in a bowl and toss until evenly coated. Combine the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in another bowl and set aside for later. Heat a large skillet or wok with sesame oil over medium high heat. Once the pan is smoking hot add the chicken and stir fry for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.Add the garlic, ginger, red pepper and green onions (leaving a few for garnishing) to the pan and stir fry for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar mixture to the pan along with the cooked chicken and peanuts. Coat the chicken and peanuts with sauce and heat thoroughly. Serve over rice and top with remaining green onions. Enjoy.

Salad with Teriyaki dressing

This salad is AMAZING! You can add a grilled chicken breast for protein, and to make it into a meal. A delicious twist on an asian style dressing using bottled teriyaki sauce. I had seconds and thirds!!! Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law for sharing this one with me!!!

16 0z bow tie pasta

1 bag baby spinach

3 cans mand oranges

1/2 c chopped parsley

1/4 c sesame seeds

3 c cooked chicken

1 6oz bag of craisons

1 bunch green onions chopped

1 cup honey roasted peanuts

Dressing-

1 c oil

2/3 c white vinegar

2/3 c teriyaki sauce (Kikkoman)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

6 tbs sugar

Thai Chicken Salad

This salad is so fun and yummy, with a kick from the jalepeno's, creaminess from the avocado, and freshness from the cilantro!!! Try it - you won't be disappointed!!!

2 grilled chicken breasts, cubed (I seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic salt, brushed with olive oil and then grilled).
1/2 bag preshredded coleslaw mix (green cabbage, purple cabbabe, and carrots)
1/2 head iceberg lettuce chopped
2 jalepeno peppers, seeded and diced
1-2 avocado's chopped
1/2 c. cilantro

Toss together and cover with dressing.

Dressing:
1/2 c. Rice vinegar
1/2 t. sesame oil
3 T. fish sauce (This stuff smells nasty, but don't be scared...it makes a good dressing! you can find it in the asian section of the grocery store)
2 t. sugar

Wisk together, add to salad, and toss!

Asian Noodle Salad

This is from "pioneer woman cooks". I am making it for dinner tonight. We will see how it goes...

1 packages linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 to 1 head sliced Napa cabbage
1/2 to 1 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 to 1 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 orange bell pepper, sliced thin (if available)
1 small bag bean sprouts (also called “mung bean sprouts”)
3 sliced scallions
3 peeled, sliced cucumbers
LOTS of chopped cilantro—up to one bunch
1 can whole cashews, lightly toasted in skillet

DRESSING:

Juice of 1 lime
8 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 hot peppers or jalapeños, chopped
More chopped cilantro—LOTS


Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on platter.*Dressing keeps up to three days before serving, WITHOUT cilantro.
Enjoy!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I love "oriental" food of all kinds...Chinese, Japanese, etc, etc. This is the best lettuce wrap that I have ever made - hope you enjoy it too! Almost gone.....They don't last very long!

1-2 heads Lettuce (iceberg works the best - but I have used romaine and it tasted really good too, just not as easy to wrap up!)
6 T. oil
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cans water chestnuts - drained and chopped fine
8 oz mushrooms - chopped fine
6 T. chopped onion
2 t. minced garlic (I used 2 medium-ized cloves)
Shredded carrots

Saute onion and garlic in oil until translucent. Add chicken and cook until chicken is almost cooked through, breaking up the chicken into smaller pieces with a spatula as it cooks. Add water chestnuts and mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes. Then add the following sauce and cook for a couple of minutes:

4 T. soy sauce
4 T. brown sugar
1 t. rice wine vinegar

Separate the iceberg into big leaves and spoon chicken mixture inside and roll up like a burrito and enjoy! We like to dip ours in the following sauce:

Sweet and Sour dipping sauce:

1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. rice wine vinegar
2 T. ketchup (heinz is best!)
1 T. lemon juice
1/8 t. sesame oil
1 T. hot chinese style mustard (if this is hard to find, I use dijon mustard and it tastes fabulous!)
2 t. minced garlic
1 t. red chile paste (in the asian section of the grocery store)

*The recipe doesn't call for it, but I like to season my chicken with salt and pepper and garlic salt for some extra flavor. I also double the sauce recipe. This is very good with fried rice!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This is the best sweet and sour chicken recipe that I have ever found! My kids love it! I usually double the sauce because we like to spoon the extra over white rice for a great side dish!

3 lbs. chicken breast (I like to pound mine thin)
1 t. garlic salt
black pepper
1 t. MSG ( i never use this)
1 beaten egg ( i usually end up using 2)
4-6 T. cornstarch
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. vinegar (i like to use rice wine vinegar for a fun flavor)
1 c. chicken stock
7 T. ketchup
2 T. soy sauce

Sprinkle chicken with the garlic salt and let stand while you are gathering the other ingredients. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Dip chicken in beaten egg, then in cornstarch. Brown in hot oil. (I usually cook the chicken on med heat so it doesn't burn - you don't need to cook it all the way through because it will finish cooking in the over - just lightly browned on both sides). Place browned chicken in 9x13 baking dish. Meanwhile, heat sugar,vinegar, chicken stock, ketchup, and soy sauce in a saucepan until mixed together. Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered for 1 hour, turning once or twice. Serve over white rice!

Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks

This is my friend Kristi's recipe, she made it for me right after I had my baby, and it was a hit! my kids ate like 4 drumsticks each!!! It's easy and low maintenance, and is best served over rice with some of the leftover sauce drizzled over the top!!!

1 c. LITE soy sauce (very important to use the light!! way too salty with regular soy sauce!)
2 c. brown sugar

Mix together until the sugar dissolves. Pour into a 9x13 pan and then lay the frozen drumsticks on top ( i just buy a package of like 18-20 frozen drumsticks and the whole package will fit in the 9x13 pan.) Cook at 300 degrees for 3 hours, turning halfway through.