In spite of the fact that my computer is telling me it's currently below freezing, I think it's supposed to be a nice, sunny day today…a good day to be unplugged…sounds like a good day for a walk.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Once you begin to acknowledge random acts of kindness – both the ones you have received and the ones you have given – you can no longer believe that what you do does not matter." ~ Dawna Markova
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Our grandson recently celebrated his third birthday and that meant that he got to choose the menu last week. He chose chicken pad thai and pumpkin pie! I had never made chicken pad thai before, it's so easy to pick up as take-out, but I had fun with it. I ended up combining some recipes and it actually turned out pretty good.
CHICKEN PAD THAI
- 1/4 pound medium width oriental style rice noodles
- boiling water
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 pound cut up raw chicken
- 1 + tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 + teaspoon Asia chili paste (sambal oelek)
- 1 + tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 + tablespoon cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- shredded carrots, about 1 cup
- bean sprouts
- fresh cilantro
- chopped peanuts
Place rice noodles in a flat dish/pan and pour boiling water over them to cover. Let sit until softened as you prepare the other ingredients, about 10 minutes or more.
Marinate the chicken in the corn starch and soy sauce mixture.
Mix together the peanut butter, Asian chili paste, brown sugar and cider vinegar. Set aside. (I added the + to the ingredient amounts because it seemed to come up a little short, I ended up making another batch but that was too much.)
Heat a large wok over medium-high heat, and add canola oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken (with marinade) and carrots and stir-fry until browned and cooked through, a few minutes. Add drained noodles and sauce mixed and set aside. 'Lift and turn' to mix to avoid breaking noodles and cook another few minutes. Add bean sprouts, cilantro and chopped peanuts, reserving some for garnish. Add green onion as additional garnish if desired.
