Here goes, Juice 3. Nadia thought it was too sour still, but if you love grapefruit like I do, this is the one for you.
There’s a pound of strawberries and a spot of honey in the mix to provide some sugar, but it’s needed to counteract so much beautiful tartness. A bunch of kale turns everything a mucky brown, but it adds more to the nutritional scorecard than flavor on this outing.
Keep reading for the recipe. Continue reading Week 33, Juice 3: The Sweet-Tart
I’ve seen beets with oranges plenty of times on the menu, so it’s not much of a stretch to throw beets and oranges into the juicer together. The additions of zippy anise, earthy spinach and sweet carrots make this the most vegetal juice on our menu–kind of like V8 but better … more like V12.
Keep reading for the recipe. Continue reading Week 33, Juice 2: Beet-fennel-O.J.
I joked on the Fat Dude Facebook page recently about how I thought green curry paste only came in jars from Trader Joe’s. But the fact that this recipe calls for making Thai green curry paste from scratch reminded me of how far I’ve come in the kitchen.
I used to rely on boxed items as side dishes and pre-marinated meats for the grill or the oven. Now, I freaking make curry paste, and dishes using ingredients I’ve never even heard of before (Thai eggplant, wut?!).
For the first meal of Week 27, Chef Brian serves up a plate of vibrant Asian comfort cooking. Here’s Week 27, Meal 1: Shrimp green curry. Continue reading Week 27, Meal 1: Mean green shrimp curry
Chef Brian’s put out quite a few ethnic menus in the past–Italian, Mexican and Vietnamese dishes come to mind most–but one country he’s left alone until now is Thailand.
“It kinda surprises me that I haven’t done any Thai menus considering I love it so much, but now is as good a time as any,” he wrote to me.
True, this blog was born at a Thai restaurant–in many people’s opinions one of the best, if not the best in the country–yet we’ve failed to bring some of those flavors into the Fat Dude kitchen.
No longer. Here’s what’s cooking:
Week 27, Meal 1: Shrimp green curry
Week 27, Meal 3: Grilled catfish with Thai tamarind-chile sauce over cabbage slaw
The seafood recipes make two portions and the Tom Kha Gai soup recipe makes four portions. Follow the jump for the shopping list. Continue reading Week 27: Thai-m for Thai
If I’m eating pork ‘n’ slaw, it’s usually pulled pork and coleslaw, with a big ol’ hunk of cornbread to sop up the sauce and juice on the bottom of the plate.
For the first time, those words take on another meaning, with Week 19, Meal 1: Vietnamese pork meatball lettuce wrap with carrot and cucumber salad in fish sauce and lime vinaigrette.
I’m not really a fan of lettuce wraps — they’re kinda wimpy IMO — but three of these wraps, made with big ol’ leafs of bibb lettuce and stuffed full of savory, lemon-y pork did the trick.
An added bonus, I didn’t get the sleepies like I usually do after a plate of BBQ. Continue reading Week 19, Meal 1: Pork ‘n’ slaw
Chef Brian’s dishes usually have three or four components, so I was really confused by Week 13, Meal 2: Marinated lamb kabobs with a pomegranate, pistachio, citrus and mint relish.
I saw lamb and I saw relish, but was confused at how such a seemingly simple recipe would satisfy.
One bite of the smoky, lemon-softened meat paired with the sweet-tart, crunchy relish and I was sold.
Sometimes keeping it simple yields the best results. Continue reading Week 13, Meal 2: Marinated lamb kabobs with pomegranate, pistachio, citrus and mint relish
I tried to make this meal look as beautiful as I could to show my appreciation for my wife’s family, which hails from Jordan.
I often joke that the best part of marrying her was the food. Before, I only had an appreciation for the flavors, but now I have respect for anyone who has ever made tabbouleh, because in all honesty, the wheat-based staple is a pain in the ass to prepare.
No matter though. The effort was worth the final product. Here’s Week 13, Meal 1: Parsley and black pepper-crusted ahi over tabbouleh with mint yogurt and roasted bell pepper. Continue reading Week 13, Meal 1: Parsley and black pepper-crusted ahi over tabbouleh with mint yogurt and roasted bell pepper
Before I started this blog, there was pretty much one style of rice on the plate when I cooked at home.
It was white, flavored with a little salt, and that’s pretty much all folks.
Since, Chef Brian has introduced me to wild rice, brown rice and now, spiced rice.
For our next dish, Chef is breaking out the turmeric along with a whole lotta mint, cilantro, lemongrass and fish sauce.
Week 12, Meal 2: Grilled lemongrass chicken over yellow chile rice with snap peas and pickled carrot slaw is one hell of a ride on the flavor train. Continue reading Week 12, Meal 2: Grilled lemongrass chicken over yellow chile rice with snap peas and pickled carrot slaw
While Week 11 was all about pasta, really, this meal could do without.
Just ask Wifey Nadia and our guests Jamil and Justine, who, after having a bowl of Week 11, Meal 3: Orecchiette with lamb ragu and ricotta cheese, all grabbed seconds to spoon-gorge on the clove-and-mint spiked, lamb-packed sauce. Continue reading Week 11, Meal 3: Orecchiette with lamb ragu and ricotta cheese
My stepmom never made Indian food like this, but if she had, I sure would have eaten more of it growing up.
As it turns out, crafting Week 10, Meal 1: Chicken tandoori tacos with harissa yogurt felt like finding my roots, on my own terms.
I swooned over the fragrant spices — especially the vibrant, beautiful turmeric — and today I’m proud to sport yellow stains on my fingertips from working with an array of spices.
Better than the spices, though, was the harissa yogurt, a chili-lemon-spices mix that tied it all together.
Who would have known Indi-Mex would turn out so well? Continue reading Week 10, Meal 1: Chicken tandoori tacos with harissa yogurt
