Asian Peanut Sauce

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chilli pepper, condiment, condiments, cooking, peanut, peanut sauce, receipe, sauce, spicy peanut sauce, sriacha

I often tell my husband that cooking to me is a lot like the practice of medicine (you know, without the saving lives part). In fact, when teaching someone how to perform a medical procedure, I often tell them it is like following a recipe – preparation is key to confident and safe execution. Have all of your ingredients at the ready, go through the recipe in your mind, and then go for it. After you are finished, always ask for feed-back, and think about what went well and what you could have done better.

Yesterday though, my adventures in the kitchen felt more akin to that of a 17th century explorer, boldly going where no man has ever gone before. Thats right, I discovered peanut-sauce! When I was done with this recipe, I knew I had something I could eat salads, wraps, stirfrys, spring-rolls, eggs, and much much more with. This recipe on Season with Spice was my inspiration. Once I was done, I instantly felt like Marco Polo must have felt when he bought the spices of the East to Europe. It was like a whole world of possibilities opened up.

Here are some of the ways I deviated from the recipe: I didn’t have lemon-grass on hand, so I did the logical thing and added Sriracha sauce, hoping the vinegar would be a good enough substitute for the pungent, tangy flavor of lemon-grass. The sweet-salty-creaminess, and spicy kick at the end complimented the asian-inspired meal I had cooked up perfectly.
My husband (who has a nose like a bomb-sniffing dog) took a whiff and said it was too creamy (don’t ask me how he could smell texture), so I added a table-spoon of water. I used chillis freshly picked from the garden since I didn’t have Thai chilli paste or lemons. I omitted the coconut milk, because my sniffer-dog husband would crinkle his nose at me if he smelled coconut in peanut sauce. I used honey instead of sugar and Braggs liquid aminos instead of soy sauce. In other words, I didn’t really follow the recipe.

Recipes aren’t set in stone, though, and if the results are any indication, it’s sometimes just best to wing it. Here are my rough guidelines for making peanut sauce.

Ingredients:

1 tsp honey

1 tsp Braggs liquid aminos

3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

3 red chilli peppers

2 tsp sriracha

1 tbsp water

Mix together slowly in a small bowl so ingredients don’t splash. Enjoy!

Growing Basil for Vegan Pesto

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antioxidants, basil, condiment, Food, herb, pesto, plant, receipes, seasoning, vegan, vegan pesto, vegan receipe

I love growing fresh herbs at home. They’re tastier and more nutritious than the dried ones I keep
in my pantry, and also more economical when they are home-grown since half of the fresh herbs I buy at
the store go to waste from underuse. Plus, it adds lasting aesthetic value, counterbalancing the
modern, concrete-jungle feel of my apartment.

My Basil Plant

Not only is basil a versatile herb for cooking, it’s also rich in antioxidants and essential oils. Its only downside is that it needs to be watered almost daily (something I have hard time remembering). If you want to grow the plant outdoors, it needs a dry environment and plenty of sun.

One thing I love to do with basil is to make vegan pesto.  Pesto is my favorite way to season food. Basil is common in a lot of Italian and Asian cuisines so I use it in my pasta, bread, even fried rice. Plus, it is a great way to season anything from salads, to fish to veggie burgers.  Food network has a good list of 50 Things to Make with Pesto.

VEGAN PESTO RECIPE:

• 1 cups fresh basil leaves, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup pine nuts or shelled walnuts
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (or until pesto achieves desired consistency)
• 2 tsp of nutritional yeast (optional, also makes for a thicker consistency)
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

1. Combine and blend the basil, garlic and nuts in a food processor.

2. Slowly add olive oil in streams until the mixture reaches the desired consistency.

3. Turn off the motor, then add nutritional yeast (optional), salt and pepper. Blend the ingredients for another few seconds. Now it’s ready to serve!

-NZ