Food

 This Vietnamese noodle salad recipe, or bun ga nuong in Vietnam, is seriously a wonder dish. We have a number of dietary restrictions and food allergies amongst the team, but this was one delicious meal that we were all able to enjoy! It is light and refreshing, and you can easily leave out the peanuts for a nut-free option. We used tamari to make this gluten free, but of course you can use soy sauce instead. Because this dish is generally served cold, we love it as a healthy lunch that you can pack and take on the go. Plus, it is surprisingly easy to throw all of these ingredients together for a quick dinner during the week!
 Find the entire Vietnamese noodle salad recipe in the printable template below. Browse through all of our recipes for culinary inspiration, or share some of your favorite packable lunch items with us in the comments section. We love hearing your feedback, so don’t be shy to tell us what you think after trying this recipe! If you are wanting a little crafting project to go along with this dish, take a look at our DIY apron patterns or our tutorial on how to make your own tea towels. Join in on the crafty fun, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for daily doses of DIY. Enjoy! ~ Lia & Team
 INGREDIENTS :

• 1.5 lbs Chicken (thighs or skinless, boneless breast)

MARINADE

• 1 stick Lemongrass (white part only, cut into half inch pieces and gently smashed)
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely diced
• 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar or Honey
• 1 Tbsp Fresh Lime Juice
• 1 Tbsp GF Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Cooking Oil

FOR BOWL

• 1/2 lb Vermicelli Noodles
• 2 Carrots, Julienned
• 1 English Cucumber, deseeded and Julienned
• 3 cups Iceberg Lettuce, finely sliced
• 1/2 cup Peanuts, toasted and lightly crushed
• 1 cup Cilantro Leaves
• 1 cup Mint, small leaves
• 1 Red Chili, finely sliced

NUOC CHAM DRESSING

• 1/4 cup Fish Sauce
• 1/2 cup Water
• 3 Tbsp Fresh Lime Juice
• 4 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp White Sugar
• 2 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
• 1 crushed Bird's Eye Chili (or 1 Tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce for less heat)

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. Slice chicken breast into approx 3 equal pieces and place in a ziplock bag. Add all marinade ingredients to the bag and refrigerate overnight (or at least 2 hours).
2. Place all the dressing ingredients into a jar and shake well. Adjust to taste.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and, once hot, add the chicken pieces. Brown on all sides and then reduce the heat to low to allow the chicken to cook through. Allow to rest and then slice.
4. Boil water, remove from heat and cook the dried noodles in the boiled water for 3 minutes. Then plunge the noodles into a bowl of cold water and set aside. Drain and place on a paper towel just before serving to remove excess water.
5. Place a portion of noodles into individual serving bowls and add all the bowl ingredients in small piles on top. Serve with a generous helping of the nuoc cham dressing. Mix bowl well and enjoy!

 Ingrédients:
Pour la pâte:
8 c à s ou 115 g de beurre non salé, ramolli
170 g de sucre
1 jaune d’oeuf
125 g de farine tout usage
2 1/2 cuillères à soupe de poudre de cacao

Pour le caramel
1/2 tasse d’eau
340 g de sucre granulé
1/4 tasse de sirop de maïs léger
1/2 tasse de crème épaisse
8 cuillères à soupe de beurre salé
2 cuillères à soupe de crème liquide

Pour la ganache
1/2 tasse de crème épaisse
120 g de chocolat mi-amer extra, haché finement
Le sel de mer  pour la garniture
Préparation :
1. Mettre le beurre et le sucre dans le bol d’un mélangeur et mélanger à moyenne vitesse pendant 3 minutes. Racler les parois et ajouter le jaune d’oeuf et bien battre.

2. Dans un autre bol, fouetter ensemble la farine et la poudre de cacao. Ajouter au mélange de beurre en une seule fois. Puis mélanger à basse vitesse jusqu’à ce qu’il tienne ensemble. Ne mélanger pas trop car il deviendra collante et difficile à travailler.

3. Étaler la pâte dans un moule à tarte. Presser dans le fond de la tarte et vers l’extérieur en utilisant le talon de votre paume. Réfrigérer pendant une heure.

4. Préchauffer le four à 180 c. Cuire au four pendant 15 minutes en gardant un œil sur elle pour s’assurer qu’elle ne se brûle pas. Laisser refroidir sur une grille.

5. Faire le caramel: Dans une casserole, mélanger le sucre, le sirop de maïs et l’eau et porter à ébullition. Cuire à feu moyen-vif jusqu’à ce qu’une couleur ambre foncé à moyen apparaisse, en remuant de temps en temps. Retirer du feu et ajouter la crème, le beurre et la crème liquide. Mélanger jusqu’à consistance lisse. Verser dans la croûte tarte refroidie et laisser refroidir à température ambiante, puis placer au réfrigérateur pour refroidir et mettre de coté.

6. Pour faire la ganache: Porter la crème à ébullition dans une casserole à feu moyen. Mettre le chocolat dans un bol moyen, versez la crème chaude et laisser reposer pendant 1 minute, puis remuer doucement avec une spatule en caoutchouc jusqu’à consistance lisse. Verser la ganache uniformément sur la tarte et réfrigérer 4-5 heures. Saupoudrer la tarte avec du sel de mer, trancher, et servir frais.

“Spice and heat work so well in a butternut squash soup – I'm loving this Malaysian-style twist ”

 Starting Monday with a flavorful meatless vegetarian coconut curry soup made with Malaysian-style red curry paste called Laksa. Just like any other glorious bowl of Curry Soup, I like to eat Laksa soup loaded with zucchini simmered in creamy spicy coconut-curry broth, topped with silky rice noodles and fresh tofu.

Oh, you know the best part?! I often ready the Laksa paste over the weekend and then enjoy Laksa soup, any day of the week, in just 10 minutes! An amazingly flavorful subtle-spicy broth comes together with Laksa paste, coconut milk, vegetable stock, and splash of lime juice. That sounds easy, isn't it?

I'm sure you thinking red-curry paste and subtle spicy? I agree that red-tone curry pastes are mostly considered spicy due to use of lot of chilies... but laksa soup is not different and has flavor of chilies yet it is not that hot spicy. Actually the sweetness of coconut milk, and hint of sugar balance the spice and makes Laksa broth savoury.

However, if you like heat, you can use more Laksa paste too. Then just dunk-in some rice noodles and slurp!
 First time, I tried Laksa soup in London, UK. We had a 12 hours layover in London. Of course, we got short visa and decided to explore the city a bit. Vishal had lived in London for sometime. So finding our way around, with all train-network of London, was fairly easy. It was cold winter evening and our first stop was in small eatery in busy part of the city. All they sold was some pastries, soups and sandwiches. And Vishal's favorite fish and chips. I think, every eatery in London has fish and chips in their menu. :)

So, shivering in the cold, I was scanning the menu for a familiar soup. Reading the world "curry" I stopped at Curry Laksa Noddle Soup. There was option to add chicken or veggies and I decided to keep it veggie-only. Even talking about that soup bowl reminds me of rich, creamy, aromatic soup. I don't even remember breathing few times before I finished that bowl. And in minutes of, feeling harsh winter, I felt warm head to toe. Indeed it was an unforgettable experience. In-fact, pictures of the soup today are totally inspired from the bowl of soup I drank that day.

I never thought to try and make it at home until last year when UK Chef and TV personality Nigella Lawson shared the picture of Laksa Soup she had in a London restaurant. That day I spent lot of time researching for the recipe... and spent hell lot of time trying to create that silky smooth soup with amazingly beautiful color.

I'm happy to say, after a number of tries, I found the taste and balance of flavor I was looking for. This recipe is very close to my original experience and I love it. Since early this year, it has become a staple in our home.
How to make Laksa Paste?
Laksa paste is essentially a red curry paste and is back-bone of Laksa soup. Hence the name - Laksa. You will be surprised that such simple 6 ingredients provide depth of flavor and rich color to laksa soup.  If you look at the list in recipe below, all are easy to find pantry-staples. I mean, we all have lime, onion, garlic, dried chilies in our kitchen? Right? If you don't have **Sambal Oelek (chili paste) in your pantry? You can replace it with sriracha or any regular Asian chili-garlic paste.

Now, I must tell you that authentic Laksa Paste or laksa recipe uses Lemongrass instead of lemon or lime. I had full plans to use lemongrass too. But, thing is, it is not that easy to find everywhere. Also, lemongrass paste, which is often used to avoid hard stems of lemongrass in soups/curries, is not that easy to find either. So I decided to switch to my trusty ingredient that I often use when recipe calls for lemongrass and I don't have any.

Let me tell you, if you are every  get stuck on a recipe due to not finding lemongrass? Just do this: zest a whole lime and mix with three tablespoon of lime juice. For every 1 tbsp of lemongrass paste use 1 tbsp of this mixture. And you will not notice difference in the flavor.

To make paste, I process all ingredients in food processor until smooth paste forms. If mixture looks too thick, I add a little more oil or lime juice. Laska paste stays good in refrigerator for 1 week. Recipe below is good to make soup twice.

Originally, Laksa soup is from Malaysian/Singapore region but this recipe is my taste of Laksa from London. I adapted the recipe from a number of sources in attempt to create these flavors. In no particular order, the list of sources referred are listed in the Recipe Notes. During my research, I also came to know that there is a similar version of Laksa soup in Asaam, India. I think, every country leaves their mark on a recipe as it travels.

 I love the flavors of Thai cooking. The contrasts between sweet, sour, salty and spicy are intriguing and unique. This soup, with flavors of creamy coconut, spicy red chilis and a bit of curry, finds balance with citrusy lemongrass and lime. This is a recipe I’ve wanted to make for a while now. There are endless variations of this soup, but this is my lightened up interpretation. The end result is delicious.
 The key ingredient is coconut milk and normally, I’ve always reached for the canned variety. Even though I’ve only used the light version, the amount of calories, fat and saturated fat is really high. I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of saturated fats in my diet to keep my heart healthy. For this recipe, I decided to give Silk’s Unsweetened Coconut Milk a try. I did my homework on this and was so shocked to see the difference between Silk and the light canned coconut milk. Cup for cup, Silk has 45 calories compared to 180 in the canned milk. Most important to me, Silk has just 4.5 grams of fat, 4 of them saturated, compared to 16 grams of fat with 12 of them saturated in light coconut milk! That is about the maximum number of saturated fat you should have in your diet in one day!

INGREDIENTS :
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
4 teaspoons minced lemongrass or lemongrass paste
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups vegetable broth
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cups Silk Unsweetened Coconut Milk
2 cups Napa cabbage, finely shredded
sea salt to taste
lime wedges, for serving
fresh cilantro or parsley, for serving
green onion, sliced, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS :
In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, garlic, ginger and lemongrass. Give it a stir, then add the curry, crushed red pepper flakes and the broth. Increase the heat to medium-high bringing the broth to a light boil. Add the shrimp and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and cabbage. Increase the heat just a bit and as soon as the soup comes to another very light simmer, remove it from the heat.
Season with salt to taste. Serve in bowls and top with a squeeze of lime and some cilantro or parsley, green onion and additional crushed red pepper if you'd like.