I always get asked how I come up with my dishes? So, I’d like to post my dinners while they’re fresh in my mind and may be quite random.
Sometimes I have a clear vision, sometimes I don’t know till I plate!
My advice? Consider yourself an artist with a palette to create a ‘painting’! The more you ‘allow’ yourself to be creative, the more you will enjoy the intuitive side. Use this time as a relaxing and meditative time after a hard day’s work. Let the food guide you and let yourself be whimsical and just have FUN!
Here are 6 tips to help you…based on my dinner tonight
1) sometimes combining is better than served separately. This definitely worked with the lentils and quinoa for flavor, texture and color.
2) if it looks awkward, change it up!
Initially, I sliced the avocado but they were huge on the plate, so I chopped them up.
3) add flavor
my homemade vinaigrette did the trick, the avocado wasn’t quite ripe enough but the dressing really helped.
Spice rubs are so handy to sprinkle on any kind of protein for grilling. Instant flavor for organic chicken thighs.
4) add texture
scallions were crispy
goat cheese and avocado were soft and creamy
tomatoes were softish and moist
quinoa and lentils were crunchy
chicken was tender and succulent
5) add color
Tomatoes always brighten up any dish and make a nice pop of color! Also opposite colors are good so they stand out like dark green lentils and beige quinoa.
6) presentation
The important thing is when it looks nice, you’ll want to eat it.
It’s always 3 essentials: flavor, texture, color in that order and lastly presentation!
I hope this gives you an idea of my thought process when putting together a dish, give it a try and share what worked for you?
tips
Why Grill and Stir Fry in one dinner?
Even though I teach easy, healthy, one-dish wok meals, here’s a simple weeknight dinner idea that will make you a rock star and that’s to grill and stir fry in one dinner! Grilling a batch of protein is a very efficient way to produce many meals. While the grill is going, fry up some veggies. Grilling and stir frying in one dinner is one of my favorite weeknight ways to keep it simple and stress free and don’t we all want some of that?
I wish I could bottle the smell of lamb being grilled, because it makes you feel warm and fuzzy and hungry! Grilling a whole leg of lamb is super practical since I make lunch for my hubby to take to work and for myself. It’s so easy to stir fry whatever vegetables I find in my fridge. Stir frying isn’t just for an Asian dinner, you can fry veggies for western style grilled meats, it’s nice to mix and match east and west! There are no boundaries when it comes to cooking and you’ll be surprised at how well this works, try it!
Disadvantage of grilling:
Grilling (i.e. broiling in the oven) tends to heat up the kitchen unlike wok cooking which doesn’t generate outward heat and is so fast anyway.
Advantages of grilling:
1. you’ve got a load of meat to last many meals and saves you cooking everyday!
2: you can grill all sorts of protein like salmon, pork shoulder (one of my favs), leg of lamb, organic chicken thighs, skirt steak, tofu, whatever you want basically.
3: you can cut the grilled protein in different ways e.g. chunks for lunch, strips if I use in a stir fry with veggies and slices for dinner.
BBQ Spice Rub from Stubbs (I found at Fresh Market)
Everything Seasoning Spicy from flavorgod.com (this is really addictive)
– curry powder from Myspicesage.com (very fresh and intensive flavor)
– Jerk seasoning from Ocho Rios (available in most supermarkets incl. Publix, Winn Dixie, I am not an affiliate but should be, right?)
– Moroccan Spice Rub from Earthy.com
Most rubs already have salt in them, so all you need is to:
1) switch broiler on
2) rinse meat under cold water, pat very dry with paper towels
3) sprinkle spice rub to cover meat completely on both sides
4) zing under broiler on top rack close to the heat
5) Use your eyes and nose to judge when it’s done. Here’s a simple rule, first, you’re going to smell the incredible aromas from meat grilling, usually in about 10 minutes. Go check and see! When the first side gets nice and toasty with crispy edges, flip it over. Second side won’t take as long and also depends how thick the cut is. When golden and slightly crispy round edges, stick a fork or steel skewer in the thickest part to test if done. If there’s blood running, it’s still a bit rare so I switch the heat off and let it sit under the broiler. If you cook till there’s no blood, it’s overdone, cause meat continues cooking.
6) stir fry your veggies while meat is grilling. See below for veggie combinations and how to do it!
7) let the meat rest about 5 minutes before carving and digging in.
In a future post, I’ll show how to do it the other way round: Grilling veggies while stir frying meat!
Looking for more ideas…
4th of July, Spicy BBQ Hoisin Spare Ribs
Grilled Hoisin Pork Chop with 3 different veggie sides
Grilled salmon and stir fry bok choy
Grilled Swordfish with stir fry zucchini
Even more ideas…
3 Ingredient Broccolini
Blanching in a wok is the fastest, easiest method to cook vegetables that have hard stems and when you have a lot of them! A wok is a perfect vessel, it has a wide opening and deep reservoir to hold the water and quantity of vegetables. Alternatively, use a wide deep pot if you don’t have a wok.
I learned this wonderful technique from my mom when she had to cook for seven of us in the family. Even though there’s just my husband and I, I use leftovers for lunch or for the following night’s dinner! So, when my virtual Let’s Lunch theme challenge called for a three ingredient post, blanching came to mind immediately!
Vegetables that work really well are broccolini, broccolette, broccoli incl. Chinese variety, brussel sprouts, bok choy, mustard greens, asparagus, swiss chard. Actually, leafy greens like curly kale, spinach do well too, you just have to remember blanching cooks triple fast and leafy greens shrink a lot, so you need to do them in batches to get the quantity you need.
Ingredients:
2 large handfuls of broccolini
few squirts of olive oil
salad dressing of your choice (I used store bought French vinaigrette but usually my own homemade vinaigrette)
How to do it…
1) Boil water in wok till rolling boiling, put a wok lid on.
2) Add few squirts of olive oil. Best trick to keep vegetables from turning grey.
3) Use fork to test stem for doneness how you like them, I like mine pretty crunchy
4) Empty wok of broccolini into colander, either run under cold water or put in an ice bath to stop from cooking
5) Squirt dressing all over, serve with whatever dinner.
My Broccolini got featured in Tasting Table’s newsletter for a Spring stir fry last week, another take on blanching with a stir fry thrown in, that’s how Wok Stars roll.
Let’s Lunch is a virtual themed lunch from food bloggers all over the world! Join by posting a comment below or on Twitter using #LetsLunch. There’s also a private Facebook group where we hang out. Check #LetsLunch posts below for other easy 3 ingredient yummies…
Gluten Free Almond Cookies at The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook
Mango Coconut Chia Pudding at HapaMama
Trinidadian Mango Chow at Spicebox Travels
Filipino Sticky Rice Logs at Asian in America
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies at Hot Curries and Cold Beer
Chicken and Dumplings at A Cook and Her Books (use Pamela’s Artisan Blend in place of AP flour for gluten free)
Turkish Sesame Sweet at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Roasted Asparagus at Glass of Fancy
Mac and Cheese and Peanut Butter Cookies at Tea and Scones (use Bionaturae pasta for gluten free)
3 Ingredient Broccolini at Be a Wok Star