THE Very Best Peanut Sauce

See the picture below? It's a simple photo of five basic ingredients, some (if not all) of which I bet you have in your pantry right now!

Okay, you may argue the red curry paste, but can I just tell you, I tried to find red curry paste at our local grocer for over two weeks and they were completely cleaned out? So there are a lot of people, somewhere in this community, with red curry paste in their pantry/fridge, but I digress.

These five simple simple ingredients are going to change your life. Trust me (unless you have a peanut allergy, in which case all bets are off). 

Photo courtesy of Lynne Cannon O'Connell. 

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while, know that every year or so, I wax poetic about peanut sauce. I love it. And, well, it's time has come!

We've received napa cabbage in a couple of our CSA shares this season and it pairs so incredibly well with the sauce, that I made it my mission to incorporate it into our dinner menu one night last week. 

I simply grilled some boneless, skinless chicken breast (which we bought through our chicken share at Square Roots Farm). Once it was cool enough to handle, I sliced it thinly and placed it on top of a bed of chopped napa cabbage that had been tossed with some shredded carrots and onion greens, also from Square Roots Farm (except for the carrots - it's not quite time for those yet).

Then I drizzled the room temperature peanut sauce on top (generously) and finished the plate off with a sprinkle of peanuts for some added crunch.

The sauce recipe, which came from Alice Currah's Savory Sweet Life cookbook, is really quite quick and easy to make. 

1 13.5 ounce can of coconut milk

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I add closer to a 1/2 cup or more)

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce (or Tamari if you're gluten free)

1 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste

Combine the coconut mile, peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and red curry paste in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. 

NOTE: This sauce keeps well in the fridge for a couple of weeks, if it lasts that long. Use it over grilled meat, vegetables, steamed rice, your favorite pasta or eat it right off a spoon - it's THAT good! 

Buon Appetito!

PS - We drizzled this sauce on some sauteed chicken breast with snap peas served over rice a few nights later. DELICIOUS!

Farm Fresh Fried Rice

What is this and what do I do with it? That's a question nearly every CSA member asks at one point in time or another. One of the great benefits of joining a CSA is the abundance of (often times) organically raised fruits and vegetables you receive each week. Some are easily recognizable - lettuce, onions, snap peas, cucumbers, zucchini, while others may not be quite so familiar - kohlrabi, bok choi and hakurei turnips. 

NOTE: I didn't stage this photo well, there's a bundle of beets hidden in there. More on those in a future post.

I've learned a couple of things over the years. 

1. Nearly any vegetable can be tossed in EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and sea salt, then roasted. Don't pressure yourself to find a new recipe for every item in your share each week. We're all busy, and roasted veggies are GOOD (they're also good FOR you)!
2. Nearly any vegetable works in fried rice (or a frittata more to come on that too).

I had to remind myself of #2 when I received a rather large bundle of salad (aka hakurei) turnips recently and didn't have the time, nor energy, to figure out what to do with them. I immediately began chopping and the process looked something like this...

I sliced up the turnips, then halved or quartered each slice, depending on the size. I also chopped up the greens (they're loaded with vitamins A and C)! I sliced up the spring onion that was in our share, including some of the ends. I also sliced up a couple of a carrots I had left over from a package I purchased at Guido's. Once I was done doing that, I quickly fried up a couple of fresh eggs from Square Roots Farm, then I put them aside. I poured a couple Tablespoons of EVOO in a non-stick pan and added a generous Tablespoon of butter, tossed in the onions (including the green ends) and sauteed them until they were limp. Then I added the turnips and carrots, which I cooked 'til they were tender at which point I tossed in the greens and pre-cooked rice (either white or brown works here, you could even try other grains like quinoa). I added a bit more butter, a couple Tablespoons of Tamari (I used Tamari, but you can use soy sauce if that's what you have in the pantry, we're mostly gluten free here, so that's what I had on hand) and a Tablespoon or so of sesame oil and let it all heat through so the flavors meld. Last, but not least, I added the egg back in at the end.

This is one of those dishes that's just as good (if not better) reheated in the microwave the next day, so I cook a LOT when I make it and pack it for lunch!

As I said up above, this recipe works with nearly any vegetable. Personally, I always add an onion to it, cuz that's the way I roll, but it's entirely up to you! Let me know how you end up making this recipe 'your own.'

Buon appetito!