Spiced Cantaloupe Salad

(4 servings)

A week or so ago I came across this interesting recipe for a cantaloupe salad seasoned with a dressing containing fish sauce. I was pretty intrigued. A teaspoonful of fish sauce on its own can be unpleasant tasting, but add some to a dish and it can provide a wonderful complexity and depth of flavor that would be difficult to mimic otherwise.

I used cilantro for this Thai inspired salad because I only had regular basil on hand. Thai basil has an anise-like flavor which would have been really nice for this. The cilantro was better than using the regular basil, in my opinion. I also added a jalapeno pepper because those little red ones are just too darn hot for me. I suspect regardless of how you tweak this salad, it will still be really tasty. I've already made two batches of it!

adapted from morestomach
1 large cantaloupe, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 jalapeno pepper, dice (or use a hotter red pepper)
2 green onions, sliced
small handful cilantro or Thai basil, chopped or thinly sliced
freshly ground pepper, to taste
2-3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp honey


Place the cantaloupe, jalapeno pepper, onion and cilantro into a salad bowl. Add freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

Combine the lime juice, fish sauce and honey in a small bowl. Pour over the salad mixture and toss until everything is evenly combined.

Serve.

Thai Style Cucumber Salad

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(4 servings)

Who could pass up an 80 cent English cucumber? I couldn't. I grabbed two of them although they weren't on my shopping list. The label mentioned "pesticide-free" which I had to google when I returned home because I found that description rather confusing. Why pesticide-free and not organic?

Turns out pesticide-free is often a vague term indicating no pesticide residue was detected, although it might contain "natural" pesticides or pesticides "below" the "normal" detection limits.

Generally it indicates it has "more residues than organic food, but less than conventionally grown food."

Pad Thai; Thai Fried Noodles

(2 servings)

I have a lot of delicious tamarind paste on hand, and it's one of the ingredients in Pad Thai.

The four main flavours for the sauce are salty, sour,sweet and spicy hot. I like to start with about 3 tbsp of fish sauce to which I add both tamarind and sugar in small amounts until the salty, sour and sweet seem balanced to me. Then I adjust the heat by adding  red chili flakes to this mixture. Needless to say this can be very subjective and I imagine that might be why Pad Thai tastes so different from place to place.

Thai Style Beef Salad

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(3 servings)

The sirloin fajita steaks looked nice this week, so I decided to make this salad. There's still a heat wave here in Texas with temperatures in the triple digits.. this cool and tangy beef salad hit the spot.

Khao Pod Tod; Thai Corn Patties with Cucumber Sauce

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 (8-10 patties)

Whenever I go out for Thai food, I try to have these corn patties as an appetizer. Whole Foods had corn on sale this week; 6 ears for $2..   I couldn't resist.

cucumber sauce
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 english cucumber, chopped
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

Combine the vinegar, fish sauce and sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the cucumber, cilantro and mint.


corn patties
2 cups corn, about 3-4 ears fresh corn
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 green onion, chopped
a pinch or two of cayenne, or more to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 medium eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup rice flour, 1 tbsp more if needed

oil for frying

Combine all of the patty ingredients in a large bowl.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat and add a bit of oil to coat the pan evenly.

Drop a couple of tablespoons of batter per patty and fry until the bottoms are brown; about 2 minutes. Flip carefully and fry the other sides until browned.

Serve immediately with the cucumber sauce.

Green Papaya Salad

(4 servings)

I usually add long green beans to this, but forgot to get them; I even had them on my shopping list.

3 small Thai chilies or 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 small cloves of garlic, peeled
2 tbsp small dried shrimp
2-3 tbsp fish sauce
2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1-2 tbsp brown sugar, to taste

3 cups shredded green papaya
6 cherry tomatoes, cut up
1/2 green onion, chopped
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup  peanuts

Pound together the chilies and garlic. Add the shrimp, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Combine until the sugar is dissolved. I also pound in a few slices of tomato at this point.

Place the papaya into a bowl and pour the sauce over it. Mix and gently pound a bit to crush and distribute the juices. Mix in the remaining tomatoes, onion, and cilantro. Toss the peanuts over the top.

Serve.