Lively Blueberry Lemon Smoothie

On a recent trip to Nashville, Oia and I popped into a new juice bar for a little mid-morning snack and shared an amazing smoothie of blueberries, lemon, bananas and cashews.

The smoothie was so filling and refreshing I continued craving its deliciousness long after I left Music City.

This is my version. With blueberries as a colorful, antioxidant-rich base, lemon for invigorating freshness, bananas for sweetness, and cashews for satisfying richness and healthy, filling heft, this is one smoothie that won't leave you crashing from a fruit-only sugar rush.

Lively Blueberry Lemon Smoothie

juice from 2 large lemons
1/4 cup raw cashews
1 (generous) cup frozen blueberries (preferably organic)
1 banana, sliced and frozen

Place all ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend until completely smooth. Pour into serving glass and enjoy.

Serves 1.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

The Setting: A somewhat rainy, somewhat chilly spring day in good ole' South Bend.

The Soundtrack: Cars and buses breezing by; Oia's dreamy breathing.

Steaming up the Oven: Leftover Ham and Kale pizza.

The Scenario: Did the Crispy Rice Chips, Grilled Tomato Salsa, and Spicy Cucumber Salad whet your appetite for more of Alford and Duguid's Southeast-Asian finds?

If so, you're in luck, because today we're headed to Vietnam for ga xe phai, or Vietnamese Chicken Salad, a hot, sour, salty, and sweet entree that'll have you packing your bags and stamping your passport by the time you can ask for seconds.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad may be something you can find at your local Asian-bistro chain in the States, but that doesn't make it any less authentic. Alford and Duguid found this version many years ago at a mom-and-pop establishment in Vietnam, and to this day it's one of their favorite dishes.

One of the things that makes this dish so special to the authors is the inclusion of rau ram, or Vietnamese coriander, a "strong, distinctive-tasting herb" (Hot Sour Salty Sweet, p197) that is not at all reminiscent of the coriander we in the States know as cilantro.

Unfortunately, I have been, as of yet, unable to track down any rau ram in my general vicinity.

Fortunately, the authors suggest a few alternatives. I used a mixture of mint and sweet basil in my salad, and the combo was incredible.

Hoosband and I served the salad atop freshly steamed brown rice, which helped diffuse a bit of the heat from the Serrano peppers and created nice contrasts of hot and cold and soft and crunchy...though honestly, I could easily eat the whole bowl of this stuff by itself if left to my own devices.

With saltiness from the fish sauce and vinegar, sweetness from the sugar, sourness from the lime juice, and heat from the chiles, this dish is a prime example of Southeast-Asian cuisine's mastery of combining opposing-yet-complementary tastes in a single dish.

Easy...tasty...healthy...what more can you ask for?

This recipe is reprinted with permission from Artisan Books; my notes are in red.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad with Rau Ram (ga xe phai --Vietnam)

2 pounds chicken legs and/or breasts, rinsed (see Note below) I used 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts; also I never rinse my chicken--it gets the juces everywhere and creates more opportunities for contamination.
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce
2 T rice or cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar, or to taste
2 to 3 bird or Serrano chiles, minced I used 2 Serrano with the seeds and membranes
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed I omitted these because my market did not have any at the time
2 cups shredded napa cabbage, or substitute finely shredded Savoy cabbage I used 3 cups of packaged cole slaw shreds with carrot and red cabbage
2/3 cup Vietnamese coriander leaves (rau ram), coarsely torn, or substitute Asian basil or sweet basil leaves, torn, or 1/2 cup finely chopped mint leaves plus extra whole leaves for garnish I used half mint and half sweet basil
freshly ground black or white pepper

Place a heavy pot with about 4 cups water in it on the stove to boil. When simmering, add the chicken and poach until the juices run clear when the flesh id pierced with a skewer, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the cooking liquid and let cool; reserve the broth for another purpose. (The chicken can be cooked ahead, and stored, once cooled to room temperature, in a well-sealed container in the refrigerator, for up to 48 hours. Before proceeding, bring back to room temperature.) My boneless, skinless breasts took about 25 minutes at a very gentle simmer.

Remove and discard the chicken skin, lift the meat off the bones, and pull into shreds. There should be about two cups of meat.

In a small bowl, stir together the lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, chiles, and garlic. Separate the shallot slices into rings, then add to the dressing. Let stand for 30 minutes, if you have time. I did this step before I put the chicken on to simmer so the shallots could hang out in the dressing as the chicken poached.

Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water (or the reserved chicken broth) for about 30 seconds, then refresh with cold water and drain thoroughly. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, bean sprouts, cabbage, and herbs. Pour the dressing over and toss gently to blend well. I mixed up the dressing in a large bowl so I could add everything else straight to the dressing without dirtying extra dishes.

Mound the salad decoratively on a plate. Grind pepper over if you wish, and garnish with herb leaves.

Serves 4 with rice or noodles.

Note: If you already have 2 cups or more of cooked chicken, you can use it. Just shred it into bite-size pieces, then mix up the dressing and assemble the salad as directed. This salad is traditionally served with deep-fried shrimp chips. We like it simply with rice or noodles.

Excerpted from Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid (Artisan Books). Copyright 2000.

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I hope you are enjoying our trip down the Mekong. Stay tuned for more tasty travels and our final entree from Hot Sour Salty Sweet, coming soon!

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Spicy Cucumber Salad

The Setting: Wednesday, already?

The Soundtrack: Just the gentle sleep-sounds of my little Oia-bug.

Steaming up the Oven: Nothing yet, but who knows what the night will bring?

The Scenario: The journey down the Mekong continues!

When the authors of Hot Sour Salty Sweet, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, first began exploring Southeast Asia in the 1970s, they were limited to visiting Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) because of wartime restrictions prohibiting outsiders from entering China, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

One of the first formerly restricted areas to loosen its restrictions after the war was the Yunnan Province of China, where Alford and Duguid picked up today's tasty tidbit, layou huanggua, or Spicy Cucumber Salad.

This snappy salad that celebrates the tastes of hot, salty, and sweet is as simple to make as it is to inhale.

I snacked on some of the crisp cukes immediately after dousing them with the hot oil, as the recipe suggests, and Hoosband and I savored the rest, slightly softened, as a side dish with some burgers later that night--I know, probably not what the authors intended, but delicious nonetheless.

The only problem I ran into with this recipe was an inability to source Sichuan peppercorns.

I subbed in black peppercorns (no relation to the Sichuan, but I had them on hand) and used an entire jalapeno (instead of the half called for in the recipe) to make up for some of the lost heat. I considered throwing in a dash of Chinese Five Spice powder, since Sichuan peppercorns are one of its five spices, but I held back. Something to try next time!

This recipe is reprinted with permission from Artisan Books; my notes are in red.

Spicy Cucumber Salad (layou huanggua--Yunnan)
In this salad the cucumbers are first dressed with a little vinegar, then dressed again with hot oil. The contrast of smooth chile-warm oil and crisp fresh cucumber is a knockout. The salad has a mild but not aggressive heat made with the 5 dried chiles. Note that the cucumbers will soften if they're left standing, so don't pour the hot oil over them until just before you with to serve the salad.

1 large or 2 medium European cucumbers (1 to 1 1/4 pounds) I used 4 European cucumbers, as I felt mine were especially small
2 T rice vinegar
1 T sugar
2 T peanut or vegetable oil
5 Thai dried chiles, or 3 for milder heat
1/2 jalapeno, minced I minced and used the whole pepper with all the ribs and seeds
7 Sichuan peppercorns I used black peppercorns, but they are not a legitimate substitution from what I've read
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed torn coriander leaves (cilantro; I finely minced mine)

Peel the cucumber, leaving some thin strips of peel on if you wish, for a decorative effect.

Cut lengthwise into quarters and discard the seeds. I did not discard the seeds, as that would have left me with very little cucumber.

Use the flat side of a cleaver or large knife to bash the cucumber pieces several times.

Cut the pieces lengthwise into thinner strips, then cut crosswise into 2-inch lengths.

Place in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the vinegar and sugar. Pour over the cucumber, mix well, and set aside.

Place a wok or skillet over high heat. When it is hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the pan.

Toss in the dried chiles, jalapeno, and peppercorns and stir-fry for 20-30 seconds. Pour this over the cucumbers. Sprinkle on the salt and mix well.

Mound the salad in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle on the coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Serves 4 as a salad or as one of many dishes in a rice meal.

Note: The traditional way to make this uses 3 tablespoons of oil, giving a well-oiled texture that may be undesirable. If you wish, try both and see which you prefer.

Excerpted from Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid (Artisan Books). Copyright 2000.

Stay tuned for more tasty travels down the Mekong with Alford and Duguid, coming soon!

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.