Slow Cooker Thai Beef Curry (57 of 150)

Last night was April Sunday dinner. Our theme was Thai. This was a tough theme for me. All the things I would normally make for Thai were taken. That left me with having to do some research in my recipe database to see what I have for "thai". I didn't want to make chicken (we already had two chicken dishes coming). I opted for beef. 

This meal turned out way better than I thought it would. The flavor was not spicy, but had a good red curry flavor. I was worried it'd be too spicy considering the amount of red curry paste that went into it. 

The green beans added a nice crunch to the dish. 

Overall, I'd give this dish a solid 4 stars. 

Slow Cooker Thai Beef Curry
Recipe from Eating Well

Serves 8

• 1 T canola oil
• 2 pounds beef stew meat
• ½ c unsalted beef stock
• ¼ c Thai red curry paste
• 2 T fish sauce
• 1 T light brown sugar
• 1 (10-oz.) yellow onion, sliced (about 2 1/2 cups)
• ¾ c well-shaken canned full-fat coconut milk
• 8 ounces haricots verts (French green beans), halved crosswise
• ½ c loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 9 ounces fresh spinach (about 9 cups)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add beef, and cook in 2 batches, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. 

Place browned beef in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add stock to skillet, stirring and scraping to loosen browned bits from bottom of skillet; transfer mixture to slow cooker. 

Add curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, and onion; stir to loosely combine. 

Cover, and cook on low until beef is very tender, about 8 hours.

Add coconut milk and haricots verts to slow cooker.

 Increase heat to high; cook until haricots verts are tender, about 12 minutes. 

Turn off heat; add cilantro leaves, spinach, and lime juice. Stir gently until spinach starts to wilt. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

Thai Red Curry Chicken

Red curry with coconut milk is one of my favorite Thai meals. I've had it so many times that I really know what I like and don't like. In the restaurants they usually put basil, bell peppers, and bamboo shoots.  I'm ok with everything but the bell peppers.

This recipe is really a very stripped down version. I didn't add anything to it, but when I make this again I'd add bamboo shoots for sure.

I caved and ate this with white rice. I had cauliflower rice, but it had been in the fridge too long and had some furry elements to it.

I didn't use light coconut milk because the regular has only 2 g carbs, so I'm ok with that. There isn't much difference in the taste between the full fat and the light one.

I didn't use brown sugar but monkfruit instead. This was a mistake. It completely changed the flavor and it wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped. If/when I make it again, I'll keep the brown sugar and just plan on those carbs.

Thai Red Curry Chicken
Recipe from Weight Watchers Ultimate Cookbook
Serves 4

2 tsp canola oil
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, lightly pounded to even thickness
1/4 tsp salt
2 scallions, chopped
2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 c light coconut milk
1 T red curry paste
1 T Asian fish sauce
1 T packed brown sugar
2 tsp lime juice
2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and add to the skillet. Cook the chicken until browned on the outside and cooked through, 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.

Reduce heat to medium, add the scallions, ginger and garlic; cook stirring constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. add the coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. Bring to a boil. reduce the heat and simmer; stirring constantly until mixture begins to thicken, 5-6 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer until heated through, about 1 minute longer. Serve, sprinkle cilantro over top.

Weight Watchers Thai Style Chicken

In my new eating plan I'm supposed to eat 30 grams of protein a meal - and then some - to get to a total of 105 grams total for the day. In order to do that, I fear, I need to eat a lot of chicken. In order to eat a lot of chicken I have to make it interesting and flavorful.

This recipe was not my favorite. It was missing, well, flavor. If I make it again, I'd put lime in it to add flavor.

Thai Style Chicken
Recipe from Weight Watchers Ultimate Chicken
Makes 4 servings

1 c light coconut milk
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
2 T Asian fish sauce
2 large garlic cloves, crushed through a press
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 (1/2 lb) whole chicken legs, skinned (I used chicken breasts)

Combine the coconut milk through black pepper. Then add the chicken into a sealed Ziploc and marinade for at least 4 hours or over night.

Grill the chicken until done.

Thai Red Curry Beef

Oh you should smell this house right now. This recipe has been in the slow cooker since 11am this morning. It smells AMAZING. I can't wait to taste it.

I'm posting this early because I know I'm going to love this. I love everything about it already so I'm sure it'll be great. I'll update later if it's not.

This is a slow cooker recipe, so you'll need to plan. I was supposed to make this last night and as I began to prep to cook I realized it was a slow cooker recipe. DOH!

Update: Sadly not  nearly as curry-ee as I had hoped. I, personally, think it could have gone for only 4 hours and been fine. The beef had basically fallen apart and there were vey few chunks of meat...mostly meat pieces.

Thai Red Curry Beef

Photo courtesy of MyRecipes.com

Recipe from Cooking Light Dinner's Ready

Serves 8
245 calories (3/4 c beef, 1/2 c rice)

2 lbs lean beef stew meat
1/8 tsp salt
2 c finely chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 c low sodium beef broth
1 T dark brown sugar
3 T red curry paste
2 T fish sauce
2 T fresh lime  juice
1 can (13.5 oz) light coconut milk
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
2 c bagged baby spinach leaves
4 c hot cooked jasmine rice
1/2 c fresh basil leaves

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Drain. Place beef in a 4-quart electric slow cooker; sprinkle with salt.

Return pan to medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Spoon onion mixture over beef. Combine beef broth and next 6 ingredients (through jalapeño); pour over beef.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours.

Stir in spinach. Cover and cook on LOW for 15 minutes or just until spinach wilts. Serve beef mixture over rice; sprinkle with basil leaves.

Thai Steak Stir-Fry

Two nights in a row I've had Thai.  Last night was a Thai chicken salad that was to....die....for....

Tonight's recipe was good and easy. Two of my favorite things.  I modified it slightly because it doesn't make much sauce. I like sauce. If you are not a sauce person, then don't bother adding my modifications.

Thai Steak Stir-Fry

Courtesy of Everyday Food

Courtesy of Everyday Food
Serves 4

1 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 pound skirt steak, cut against the grain into thin strips

1 pound green beans, trimmed

4 T minced peeled fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 T fish sauce

1 cp fresh basil leaves, torn if large

2 c cooked rice, for serving

In a wok or large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add steak and cook, stirring, until browned, about 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer steak to a plate. Add green beans, ginger, and garlic and cook, stirring, until green beans are crisp-tender, 5 minutes. Return beef and any juices to pan along with fish sauce and basil. Cook 1 minute. Serve with rice.

My modifications are simple. I mixed about a quarter cup beef broth with 1T soy sauce and then about a T cornstarch. I added that at the end and cooked it until it was thickened.

Thai Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Princess Lori is coming over for dinner tonight to help me with a project tonight. I love cooking for people who love to eat.  Well, I love cooking in general, but especially when I'm cooking for someone who appreciates every bit of it.

I decided to keep it relatively light and make Thai Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce. I had seen this recipe on FB a month or so ago and thought it looked delicious. 

I actually followed this recipe too. Crazy I know.  I grilled the chicken inside because I couldn't get the grill to work outside.  I did the chicken early and put it in the fridge so when I make the salad it'll chilled and the same temp as the salad. Oh I should say I didn't put in the red bell peppers cuz those are gross. But otherwise, I followed the recipe.

Photo from
 mykitchenescapade.com

Thai Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Recipe from MyKitchenEscapade.com
serves 8

Chicken marinade
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 Tb rice vinegar
1/4 C sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
dash of salt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - about 2 1/2 pounds total

Salad
2 hearts of romaine, chopped
1/2 large head of napa cabbage, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 carrots, shredded
1 red bell pepper, chopped
5 green onions, chopped
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 C salted peanuts

Dressing (I doubled this part of the recipe. It didn't seem like very much dressing for so  much salad.)
1/4 C rice vinegar
1/4 C Thai sweet red chili sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch of salt and pepper

Peanut Sauce
1/4 C creamy peanut butter
2 Tb soy sauce
1 Tb rice vinegar
1 Tb Thai sweet red chili sauce
2 Tb water

In a ziplock bag, combine all the ingredients for the chicken marinade.  Mush it all around, then place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to marinade.  Cook the chicken either on a hot grill, 6-8 minutes a side or in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.  Allow it to cool a bit, then chop up all the chicken into bite sized pieces.

Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl, except for the peanuts, then add the chicken. Combine all the dressing ingredients then pour over the salad.  Toss until the salad is evenly coated with the dressing.  Dish out the individual servings of the salad.

Stir together the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a small bowl.  If the sauce is too thick to drizzle, add a bit more water.  Generously drizzle the peanut sauce over each serving of salad then top with the peanuts.

Thai Red Curry Turkey

Red curry is a fave of mine.  Its so flavorful and can, on occasion, clean out one's sinuses. I've had this recipe before with chicken, but found the use of turkey interesting and a bit different for a change.

Super easy recipe, flavorful and worth the cook. 

Thai Red Curry Turkey
Serves 2

1 T peanut oil
12 oz turkey tenderloin, sliced, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 c sliced red onion
1 T red curry paste (less if you aren't a fan of hot)
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
1 c canned lite coconut milk
1/2 c low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp fish sauce (if you don't have fish sauce you can use soy sauce. Not the same flavor, but close)
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp cornstarch
2 c chopped fresh spinach (I almost didn't put this in, but decided it would be good for me. And it was really delicious with it)
chopped dry roasted peanuts
chopped red pepper

Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add turkey and sauté until brown on both sides and cooked through (4-5 minutes). Put on a plate .

Add red onion to pan and cook until soft (2-3min). Stir in curry, garlic, and ginger and cook 1 minute.  Combine coconut milk, broth, fish sauce and brown sugar. Stir mixture into pan, scraping up any browned bits on bottom. Bring to a simmer; cook until slightly reduced, 5 minutes.

Whisk together lime juice and cornstarch. Whisk into pan until thick, 1 minute.  Return turkey to the pan and add spinach, tossing with tongs until wilted.

Garnish turkey curry with peanuts and peppers. Serve over rice.

Cilantro Chicken and Spicy Thai Noodles

I love when I turn on the Food Network and whatever is being made sounds so good I just have to make it. That's what happened this weekend.  I was watching a show and the chef was making cilantro chicken...it looked so good on the grill that I had to make it.

Blueberry was over tonight and so I tried it out on her. The consensus is this is a 5 star recipe that must be made again.

Cilantro Chicken and Spicy Thai Noodles
Courtesy of Big Daddy, Food Network
Serves 4

Cilantro Chicken:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3 T canola oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1/4 c cilantro
• 2 limes, 1 zested; 2 juiced
• 2 T Seasoned Rice vinegar

Thai Noodles:

• 2 T canola oil
• 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 c chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 1 T Thai green curry paste - I used red curry because I didn't have any green curry on hand AND I'm not a big fan of green curry.
• 1 T seasoned rice vinegar
• 3 scallions, white and green parts chopped for garnish
• 1 pound spaghetti, cooked al dente
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1/4 cup crushed roasted peanuts

 
For the chicken: Combine all the ingredients in a nonreactive bowl and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Prepare a grill pan to medium-high heat and place the chicken thighs on the pan, cooking for 4 minutes per side.

For the noodles: In a medium sauté pan over medium heat, add the canola oil. Add the ginger, lime zest and juice, garlic, red pepper flakes and chicken stock. Stir all to combine and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the curry paste, seasoned rice vinegar and scallions. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes.

Place the noodles in a large serving bowl along with the carrots and crushed peanuts and toss well to combine. Add the cilantro chicken and serve.

The noodles were a bit too tangy for me, so I popped in a tablespoon on peanut butter.  That was delicious!

Thai Style Chicken

Update June 20, 2022

I made this again tonight. I noticed in my notes that I recommended blending the ingredients together to allow it to combine better. I'm not sure that was the right choice. The cilantro was overwhelming. Good, but overwhelming. 

Chicken is boring to me. Its the main meat that I eat for many reasons, one of which it's supposed to be healthier than red meat.  Not that I don't eat my red meat, I am just trying to eat less of it.

Thus chicken has become boring.  I have hundreds of chicken recipes that all seem to be slight variations of each other and usually include, well chicken, cheese, rice/pasta, cream...in other words, nothing healthy.

No, I'm not on some health kick, but I figured every now and then eating better for me might be a good thing.

So this recipe.  Flavorful! Took chicken to a different level of goodness.  I'm a fan of curry which could be why I thought it was so good. There is a strong curry presence, you've been warned.

This also appeared to be a very close cousin to the Chicken Satay I did last week.  I think I'm a chicken / curry phase.

Thai Style Chicken
Recipe from Martin Yan
Serves 4

• 3T fish sauce
• 3T finely chopped cilantro
• 2T minced garlic
• 1T grated ginger (I forgot this in my version. With it I'm sure it would be 10X better)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp white pepper (i used black pepper because that's what I had)
• 8 chicken thighs (yah not so much. I used chicken breasts)

Combine everything but the chicken.  I did mine by hand, but if I did it again I'd put it in a food processor to make it nice and paste like.  Put the marinade and the chicken into a zip loc bag. Let sit for AT LEAST 4 hours - over night if you can. I did 5 hours and it was fantastic.

Bake, broil or grill the chicken. I cut my chicken into big chunks and put it on a skewer and grilled it. See my theory here is if you cut a chicken breast into chunks, 6 sides gets marinade. Where as if you just leave the chicken breast alone only 4 sides (top/bottom/2 sides) gets marinade.  I think you see what I'm saying.

Thai Rice Noodles

I can always tell when I got into a recipe because the recipe is usually covered with splatters, spills and gunk from the cooking. As simple as this recipe was, I'm shocked to look at the page in my cookbook.

Despite that, it was delicious. I'm a big fan of Thai food in general. But I usually don't like how heavy it can be. This recipe allowed me to have the Thai flavor without the heft.

I use Fish Sauce in so many recipes I cook that I thought it might be good if I described it and what I think about it. It's a Southeast Asian equivalent of Worcestershire sauce. It has a pungent, salt flavor to it and adds a hit of complexity to most dishes. The best part of it is despite it's name it doesn't taste fishy - instead it has a unique, unmistakably authentic flavor to it. Fish sauce actually is derived by fish that has been fermented...great rotting fish. It got an amber, translucent look to it and you can find it in most supermarkets around the Asian food. We have several Asian markets in our area so I usually buy it there. It's way less expensive.

Thai Rice Noodles
Serves 4

• 8-10 ounces medium thick rice noodles
• 3 T Fish Sauce
• 3 T Sugar (I used brown sugar cuz I like it better with these flavors)
• 3 T Soy Sauce
• 4 scallions
• 1 jalapeno
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 T Peanut oil
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 2 handfuls fresh basil (mint can also be used)
• 1/2 cup peanuts or cashews
• 1 lime

Put the rice noodles in a bowl with hot water to cover. Soak until tender and pliable, about 30 minutes. (Or follow the instructions on the box if you have them).

Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together the fish sauce, sugar and soy sauce. Set aside.

Thinly slice the white and green parts of the scallions. Set aside.
Roughly chop the jalapeno (seed it first - or leave the seeds in if you want the heat), set aside.
Roughly chop the garlic. Set aside.

Drain the noodles and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok until hot. Add scallions, jalapenos, and garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do not over cook the garlic. Add the sauce mixture; gently swirl around the pan. Add the noodles and toss t ocoat. Remove from the heat and coarsely tear basil (or mint). Sprinkle with nuts and squeeze lime over it if you like.

Thai Style Chicken Stir-Fry

This is a recipe from last week. I got a bit behind on my recipe blog. Not that anyone reads it? Is anyone reading this?

In a spur of the moment decision, I had my boss who was here from the UK, over for dinner and made this for her. I had to change it up some because of the ingredients I had on hand but it was quite good. I'd make it again if I ever get around to making a recipe a second time.

Thai Style Chicken Stir Fry
Serves: 4

• 1 1/2 tablespoons Fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon Low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Bottled minced fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons Fresh lime juice, divided
• 1 pound Skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tablespoon Canola oil
• 2 cups Zucchini, sliced ( added asparagus too since it was on hand)
• 1 cup Onion, sliced
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 Jalapenos, seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup Cilantro, minced
• 1/4 cup Sliced fresh basil
• 1/4 cup Chopped green onion

Combine fish sauce, soy sauce, fresh ginger, 1 1/2 T lime juice in a ziploc bag. Add chicken; seal and marinade in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Remove chicken; reserving marinade.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; stir fry for 2 minutes or until chicken begins to brown. Add zucchini, onions, garlic and jalapeno. Stir fry 5 minutes or until chicken is done.

Add reserved marinade and cook 1 minute - make sure it boils for a minute. Remove from heat. Stir in the remaining lime juice, basil, cilantro and green onions.

Thai Chicken

You know I must have a dozen versions of "thai chicken" and each one seems to be very unique. This one was quite good and a bit off my normal radar of how I eat chicken. Still it was tasty and quite low on the calorie counter too I might add.

Thai Chicken
Serves: 8

• 1 cup Fresh cilantro, packed
• 6 tablespoons Brown sugar, divided
• 6 tablespoons Fresh lime juice, divided
• 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
• Salt to taste
• 2 pounds Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced 1/4-inch thick strips
• 1/2 cup Creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/4 cup Shallots, chopped
• 1/4 cup Soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Fresh ginger, chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 16 Bibb or Boston lettuce leaves
• Lime wedges for serving

1. Blend cilantro, 4 T brown sugar, 2T lime juice, 1 T curry paste, pepper flakes and slat in food processor until smooth. Pour over chicken, toss to coat and marinate 10 minutes. Preheat broiler to high with rack 6" from heat. Coat broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Process 2 T brown sugar, 4 T lime juice, and 1 T curry paste with peanut butter, water, shallots, soy sauce, ginger and garlic in food processor (its not necessary to wash bowl) until smooth.

3. Transfer to serving dish.

4. Thread chicken into 32 skewers. Arrange 8 skewers on prepared pan; cover ends of skewers with foil to prevent burning. Broil chicken in batches until browned and cooked through, 6 minutes.

5. To serve, wrap lettuce leaf around 2 strips of chicken, remove skewers, then drizzle with lime juice if desired.

*******************************
Surprisingly enough I changed nothing on this recipe other than the serving amount. I don't need enough to feed 8 people. Enough for one chicken breast and one person was plenty. Oh actually that's not completely true, I didn't bother with the skewers. It was just me, so I BBQ'd instead of broiled (I hate broiling when a BBQ is available) and then sliced the chicken and put that into the lettuce.

Thai Style Grilled Chicken Breasts

If you like the spice, this is the recipe for you. Flavorful and delicious without causing too much pain. And I suspect it's relatively healthy. In fact, according to my cooking software, this recipe (without the rice) comes in at 52 calories. Huh, that seems too little. Maybe that's why I'm still hungry.

Thai Style Grilled Chicken Breasts
Serves 4 - but I drilled it down to 2 - this is the 4 recipe

• 1/2 cup White vinegar
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 T Fish sauce (did you know if you didn't have fish sauce soy sauce can be used in it's place? You do now!)
• 1 T Fresh grated ginger (I used about 2 tsp of dry ground ginger)
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 T Vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper

Heat vinegar, sugar and pepper flakes in small sauce pan over medium high heat until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in cilantro, fish sauce, ginger and garlic.

Rub chicken with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over hot fire until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to platter and brush with 1/4 cup sauce. Tent with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve, passing remaining sauce at table.

I let the chicken sit then thinly sliced it on a bias. Put that over rice, and drizzled the sauce over that. Nummers!

Thai Chicken and Noodle with Garlic, Ginger and Roasted Peanuts

I pulled three recipes last week from the bowl. This was the third I tried during the week. Despite the number of ingredients this had, I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of making it - patience helped - and how good it truly was. Even the leftovers were good. And I'm so not a left over girl.

Thai Chicken and Noodles with Garlic, Ginger and Roasted Peanuts
Serves 2
(Although adding more noodles, this could totally serve more)

• 6-8 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts, julienne**
• 3 tsp Asian sesame oil, divided
• 1/4 cup Fish Sauce (soy sauce can be used if you don't have fish sauce. Use the low sodium though cause otherwise it'll be too salty.
• 3 T Fresh Lime juice
• 2 tsp Cornstarch
• 6 ounces Chinese-style noodles (I had no idea what this was so I used soba noodles.)
• 3 tsp Peanut oil, divided
• 2/3 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 6-8 green onions, both white and green parts, cut into 1 inch segments
• 1/2 small red or orange bell pepper, seeded and julienne (yah - I so didn't put these in - blech)
• 1/2 cup sliced sugar snap peas (I didn't slice mine - just added them whole)
• 1 med jalapeno pepper, seeded and julienne
• 1 piece 1-2 inchs fresh ginger, peeled and julienne
• 6 medium to large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup basil leaves, preferably Thai, julienne (I used regular basil)
• 1/3 cup fresh whole cilantro leaves
• 1/3 cup chopped unsalted roasted peanuts

In a small bowl, toss together the chicken and 2 tsp of the sesame oil. Set aside at room temperature.

In a small bowl or cup, mix together the fish sauce, lime juice and cornstarch. Set aside.

Prepare the noodles according to the package directions.

In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 tsp of the peanut oil over medium-high heat until hot. Test by putting a piece of chicken in it, if it sizzles, it's ready. Add the chicken, stir and turn to separate and cook. When the chicken is a uniform color, transfer with the juices to the noodle bowl. (This recipe assumed you made your noodles ahead of time. I made the soba noodles early and had them ready. But you could just wait and mix them all together at the end.)

In the skillet used to cook the chicken, heat the remaining 1 tsp of peanut oil, add the mushrooms, and sauté briefly. Turn the heat up to high, add the red onion, green onion, bell pepper, snap peas, jalapeno and remaining 1 tsp sesame oil and stir briefly. Add the ginger and garlic and stir constantly. Turn the heat down to medium, add the fish sauce mixture, and cook, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes.

Add the vegetables to the noodle bowl, and toss. (I just added the noodles to my skillet with the vegis). Add the basil, cilantro and half of the peanuts, and lightly toss. Sprinkle remaining peanuts over the top and serve at once.

**To julienne chicken or vegetables, cut into matchsticks-size pieces, about 1/8 inch thick and 2 inches long.

Thai BBQ Chicken

OMG..I love, love, LOVEd this recipe. I'll make it again in a heart beat. It reminded me of some chicken I had somewhere - don't remember where but I do remember the chicken. Where the chicken was BBQ's and brushed with a syrup that was infused with dried chilies, garlic and vinegar. It was delicious.

Don't make this marinade any earlier than the day you plan to use it. The herbs will deteriorate. I accompanied this meal with sauted fresh asparagus with grill seasoning (OMG so good), and Thai Kitchen Thai Yellow Curry rice. I had not had that particular rice and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. MMM. It didn't have a strong curry flavor (mom!) but a pleasant flavor. I almost did the Lemon Grass rice...and may try that next time.

But here's the recipe. Eat well.

Thai BBQ Chicken
Serves 4

2 frying chickens, cut into pieces (I used chicken breasts - boneless - cuz that's how I roll)

Marinade:

• 6 T freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 c freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 c packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 c Thai fish sauce or soy sauce (I used half fish sauce and half soy because I couldn't make up my mind)
• 1T Asian chili sauce (using this amount didn't make it spicy at all)
• 2 T finely minced ginger
• 6 cloves garlic finely minced (do not skimp on this...garlic is life)
• 1/4 c finely minced whole green onions
• 1/4 c minced fresh mint leaves (I skipped these - not a mint fan)
• 1/4 c minced fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 c minced cilantro

Combine the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken to the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours (I let mine sit for about an hour).

Grill your chicken.

You will want to come back for more, I promise you.

Thai Style Chicken Soup

Also Know as Tom Ka Gai or something like that. It's my favorite Thai soup. And one I generally only order in the winter time. It's not exactly low cal - but can be.

It also doesn't warm up well at all. I highly recommend eating it all in one sitting. The coconut milk and chicken broth tends to separate when cooled. Then when warming it up, it doesn't really ever join back together for a creamy goodness it once was.

I cut this recipe in half for myself.

THAI STYLE CHICKEN SOUP
Serves: 6

• 1 Tsp Vegetable oil
• 3 Lemon Grass talks ; tough outer leaves removed, bottom 5 inches halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise (I couldn't find lemon grass so I cut one lemon in half and put it in there. Don't squeeze it, just plunk the lemon in the soup. You'll be draining it later so it doesn't matter. You just want that lemon flavor.)
• 3 Large shallots, chopped (Yah, I didn't have shallots either. I used the half of a yellow onion and it seemed fine)
• 8 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped coarse
• 3 T Fish sauce
• 4 c Low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cans coconut milk (14 oz) shaken well ( I used the low cal or lite coconut milk)
• 1 T sugar
• 1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise and sliced on bias into 1/8 inch pieces
• 3 T lime juice
• 2 tsp Thai Red Curry Paste

Garnish
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 Serrano chilies, sliced thin (I didn't bother with these it was already hot enough from the curry paste)
2 scallions, sliced thin on a bias
1 lime, cut into wedges

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until just shimmering. Add lemon grass, shallots, cilantro, and 1 T fish sauce; cook, stirring frequently, until just softened, 2-5 minutes (vegetables should not brown).

Stir in chicken broth and 1 can coconut milk, bring to a simmer over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until flavors have blended, 10 minutes. Pour broth through fine mesh strainer and discard solids in strainer Rinse saucepan and return broth mixture to pan.

Return pan to medium-high heat. Stir remaining can coconut milk and sugar into broth mixture and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium, add mushrooms, and cook until just tender, 2-3 minutes. Add chicken and cook stirring constantly, until no longer pink, 1-3 minutes. Remove soup from heat.

Combine lime juice, curry paste, and remaining 2 T fish sauce in small bowl; stir into soup. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro, chilies, and scallions. Serve immediately with lime wedges.

Phad Thai

I've recently discovered that there are two things I cannot, without a doubt, cook. The first is banana bread. No matter how I try, I cannot, for the life of me, bake banana bread. I've tried twice in the last week and both times - once in a loaf pan and once in muffin form -I've burnt the little bananas to a crisp. I give up.

The second thing I cannot cook is rice noodles. I think I'm lacking patience when it comes to these and so don't cook them enough and they end up, well, more than al dente.

This brings me to this weeks recipe. Phad Thai. Now, normally I love Phad Thai, especially when someone who knows how to cook rice noodles does all the heavy lifting. I found a recipe that doesn't call for rice noodles. Me thinks we have a winner.

Phad Thai
Serves: 4

• 6 OZ Dried Chinese Egg Noodles, broken in half
• 1/2 tsp cooking oil
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 3 T Dry sherry
• 3 T Rice vinegar
• 2 T Brown Sugar
• 2 T soy sauce (I used the low sodium on this)
• 2 T Oriental chili sauce (I used just Tapatio hot sauce)
• 1 T cooking oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 cups FRESH bean sprouts
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced at an angle
• 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts

Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain.

Heat a wok or large skillet, add 1/2 tsp oil. Add eggs; lift and tilt the wok to form a thin egg sheet. Cook, without stirring, about 2 minutes or just till set. Slide egg sheet onto a cutting board; cool roll up egg sheet and cut into thin slices. Set aside.

For sauce, combine sherry, rice vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and chili sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat 1 T oil in wok or skillet. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add sauce and noodles, toss until heated through. Add bean sprouts, green onions, cilantro, peanuts and sliced egg.

Toss well; serve at once.