Showing posts with label chili powder. Show all posts

Day 95: Celery Salad

I know I've talked about our favorite restaurant Benjas before. It truly is sublime! When we went for our anniversary Matthew and I were feeling adventurous and ventures away from our usual Masaman Curry and Pad Thai....well, we still got that but we also tried the seaweed salad. OH MY! The crunch, the flavor, the infusion of nutrition with each bite. I went back the next day and had it for lunch. Since our anniversary 4 months ago I've been craving it regularly. I HIGHLY recommend you find some and try it! But what does that have to do with celery?....Hold your horses, I'm getting there. About the same time we started signing up for "bountiful baskets"
How everyone in the world knew about this but me I have no idea but even my non vegetable eating brother was aware of the option. So we signed up and while I truly admit that it is a good value don't let people exaggerations miss lead you. I have spoken to several people about them and they go on about how much produce there is and how you couldn't eat it all there is always so much and people even split the basket because there is so much. yada yada ya....All I can say is that either Matthew and I are produce pigs or these people need to eat more fruits and vegetables! But it still is an extremely good value for your money. If there is one in your area I recommend you check it out. Plus co-ops are great! So, to make a long story even longer, in our bountiful basket one week we got 2 stalks of celery. One stalk is easy to go through but two got me thinking. I found this recipe on line and It was so yummy we went through one whole stock that night. And going back to the yummy seaweed salad, it tastes quite a bit like it and solved the whole craving problem. What do you think? Do they taste similar or are my taste buds just whacked out?




Simple Celery Salad


1 bunch celery
sesame oil


toasted sesame seeds


salt


chili powder or flakes




Slice the celery thin on an angle, toss with sea salt. Place in a strainer and put strainer in a bowl and let drain for at least 1 hour in the fridge. Rinse extra salt from celery. Toss with sesame oil, sesame seeds and chili powder. Serve chilled.
celery chili powder onion salt
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Day 69: Enchilada Sauce

So, Mexican food isn't that big here in Samoa. I don't know if it's the spicy flavors or if it's the whole bean thing but you can't really find Mexican food here. There was actually a Mexican restaurant that started in Leone which is the village down the road. We were very excited when we drove past and saw it. But the next time we drove by to check it out it was out of business.

So, with a lack of ready made ingredients I began to make my own. I found this great recipe for Enchilada Sauce and with a little tweaking with the ingredients that I had available it appeared at our table in this glorious form. So, as they say in those lame El Monte commercials...."lets eat"

Enchilada Sauce
1 tb oil
3 tb flour
2 bullion cubes crushed
1 tb garlic powder
1 tb onion powder
4 tb chili powder
2 tb dried cilantro
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can water

In a large sauce pan make a rue with the oil and flour. Add all the dry ingredients including the cilantro. Heat till very fragrant. Slowly add the tomatoes, stirring constantly to minimize lumps. Add water till it is the desired consistency.
bullion chili powder cilantro
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Day 49: Poke - Oka

Poke or Oka are both raw fish dishes. Poke is Hawaiian and Oka is Samoan. They are very similar so I'll give both recipes here. Oka also means "oh my good gosh golly" in Samoan.....Ya, it's that good! Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I can be a bit......hormonal. Let's just leave it at that. And the consumption of soy doesn't exactly help that. So, needless to say, my dear husband doesn't allow it in the house. But this is one of the 2 recipes that I do use tofu in to satisfy my fish craving. Interesting, tofu makes me hormonal but I eat it to satisfy meat craving that I get when I'm hormonal......hmmm,.....I'm sensing a vicious cycle.

Vegan Poke
1 pkg extra firm tofu
3-4 firm roma tomatoes
1/2 red onion chopped
2 thingies of green onion
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Slice the tofu into small cubes. Mix the soy sauce and chili powder. Marinate the tofu in the soy sauce for several hours in the fridge. Chop the tomatoes, onion, green onion very fine and mix with the pepper flakes. Drain the tofu but save a bit of the sauce. Lightly mix the tofu with everything else. Try to keep the tofu in cubes. Serve chilled.

Vegan Oka

Follow the same recipe for Poke only instead of tomatoes use cubed cucumber and add coconut milk to the finished mixture. Also serve chilled.
chili powder cucumber green onion
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Day 46: Hawaiian Meatballs

The first time I had Hawaiian meatballs was at a Samoan luau made by a Samoan auntie.....Ironic. I don't know if that makes them Samoan but whether Hawaiian or Samoan, they were really good. I was however, on a sugar high for days after. Have you ever gotten a sugar high from meatballs? So I asked my auntie what was in them and she told me her secret ingredient. I was shocked because normally I hate this ingredient in real life but in this it's not too bad. I would go a little easier on it then my auntie did or you'll be feelin the buzz for days.

Hawaiian Meatballs
1 c cooked lentils
1/4 c oats
1/4 c flour
1 c brown rice
1/4 c vital wheat gluten
2 tb soy sauce
2 tb EVOO
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 dash nutmeg
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tb bbq sauce

Sauce
1 can crushed pineapple
1/2 c ketchup
1/3 c grape jelly (yep, that's the secret)
If you can't find a safe jelly you can use brown sugar

In your food processor blend the brown rice and lentils till smooth. In a bowl combine everything else, adding the vital wheat gluten at the last. Roll into balls and place in a greased 9 x 13 pan. place on the middle rack and bake on 350 for 15 minutes, turn and bake another 15 minutes.On the other rack under the meatballs place another pan with water. This well help to steam the meatballs so they don't go rubbery. Let stand for at least 5 minutes out of the oven to firm up.
Combine all the ingredients for the sauce and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve over meatballs and rice.
bbq sauce brown sugar chili powder
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