Note to self: I am under strict orders from my wife to give her credit for the following dinner.
During the morning and early afternoon, it was pretty humid and it looked like the day was going to be a rehash of the weekend: soupy air and threat of thunderstorms. And the morning is when we discuss what we want for dinner. Given the weather, we were looking for something light and Ann had Asian on the brain and specifically mentioned cellophane noodles (the credit, folks, is all hers). I wanted grilled fish, so I put the two together.
After we picked the kids up from school at 5:00, I started prepping dinner, making a quick cellophane noodle salad (yum woon sen), the dressing for the salad, and prepping a side of red drum.
Standard Thai Salad Dressing |
Dressings in Thailand are very simple and although I make mine from slightly different ingredients than they would in Thailand, the end result is almost identical. The dressing above is a mix of lime juice, sambal oelek, fish sauce, minced garlic, and agave nectar. I use sambal so that I don't have to crush the chiles in a mortar and I use agave nectar so that it goes directly into solution without a lot of stirring. A basic recipe idea is:
juice of 3 limes
3 tablespoons agave nectar (to taste)*
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sambal oelek*
2 cloves garlic, minced
Mix well. Adjust seasonings to your taste. Makes enough for a large salad.
*or your favorite sweetener/your favorite heat
Cellophane Noodle Salad without Fish and Dressing |
Mix with your favorite crunchy raw vegetables and herbs and toss with dressing. Add a protein if you like. My salad above has noodles, orange peppers, red peppers, carrots, cilantro leaves, and Thai basil leaves, green onions, lots of each. I love sliced red onion in this salad too, but didn't have any. No worries, it's just a salad!
After prepping all this, we went outside and enjoyed a glass of wine while the noodles were chilling and the grill was heating. I congratulated my wife on her brilliant choice of dinner.
Asprinio d'Aversa, our new Favorite Summertime Sipper |
Dinner! All Ann's Idea! |
Dead Soldiers at Dusk |
Jack ass!!!
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