A few nights ago, my sister offered up one of her world-famous recipes for The Midnight Cook: Thai Chicken Summer Salad.  Well, maybe not world-famous (yet), but definitely a popular recipe among my family and others who have tried it.  My sister is a serious Asian food lover - her pantry filled with every type of sauce you’d find in Chinatown: hoisin, fish, and even wok vinegar.  Not to mention, she even owns a Le Creuset wok. That being said,  I quickly jumped at the opportunity to join her in the kitchen, and witness her Asian culinary magic.

Her Thai Chicken Summer Salad was the perfect meal for a hot summer evening.  This salad is best served as a dinner salad, and the recipe below is enough for two large servings.  One of the best qualities of this recipe is the short amount of time needed to put the salad together.  The step which takes the most time is marinating the chicken.  She recommends marinating it for 2 hours for maximum flavor.  If you do this step first, that gives you plenty of time to cook the noodles, prep the vegetables, and make the Sweet & Spicy sauce.  As with most Asian recipes, there is a fair amount of chopping and slicing so you can do this while your chicken is marinating.  

Each element in this recipe is simple enough to be used with other Asian recipes you may have.  For example, the Sweet & Spicy sauce would be delicious as a dipping sauce for potstickers.  The sauce is actually more of a syrup, but can be thinned out with some lime juice and fish sauce, as the recipe calls for below.  Also, the coconut-marinated chicken could be served sliced over noodles or brown rice.  I’m sure my sister would agree that Asian cooking is far from boring, given the many variations you can create.  Enjoy!

Thai Chicken Summer Salad
Makes 2 large dinner salads
 
Coconut chicken:
2 chicken breasts
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon peanut oil or sesame oil
 
Sweet & Spicy Sauce:
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
6 garlic cloves, minced
 
Salad:
1/4 cup Sweet & Spicy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup finely grated carrot
2 cups mixed greens
1/4 cup thinly sliced cucumber
1/4 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
4 ounces thin rice noodles (vermicelli)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves
2 tablespoons unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

 
1. Place the chicken breasts in a large, shallow bowl.  In another bowl, combine sliced garlic, shallots, coconut milk, fish sauce, rice wine, soy sauce, and peanut oil.  Pour over the chicken and coat evenly.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to marinate. 
 
2. Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil.  Place rice noodles in a large bowl, and pour boiling water over the noodles.  Cover bowl with a plate, and let stand for 15 minutes. 

3. While noodles are cooking, prepare the Sweet & Spicy Sauce.  In a small saucepan, toast red pepper flakes over medium-high heat until fragrant (about 1 to 2 minutes).  Watch closely to make sure they don’t burn.  Add salt, sugar, and rice vinegar.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved.  Add garlic.  Remove the saucepan f rom the heat, and let cool completely.
 
4. To cook the chicken, preheat a grill to 450.  Remove the chicken from the marinade, and discard the marinade.  Place chicken breasts on the grill over direct heat.  Turn once; total grilling time is about 10-12 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow the chicken to rest for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, drain the rice noodles and rinse with cold water.  Let drain. 
 
5. In a mixing bowl, combine the Sweet & Spicy Sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, and grated carrot.  Arrange mixed greens on the bottom of a bowl or plate.  Add cucumber and onion slices.  Top with rice noodles.  Slice the chicken and arrange over the salad.  Sprinkle cilantro, mint and peanuts over the top.  Drizzle with the dressing and serve immediately.

I’m a big fan of the 4th of July.  It’s a holiday with few expectations: good food, great company, and of course, fireworks.  The 4th of July might very well be the only day when I prefer to eat a polish dog over a filet mignon, and a handful of potato chips over a homemade gratin. 

To recover from a not-so-healthy weekend of eating, I was determined to find the perfect 4th of July “detox” recipe.  Last night, I wanted to cook a dinner that was light, citrusy, but still filling.  I had just picked up a bag of avocados from Trader Joe’s a few days ago.  I also had a large grapefruit lying around, and recalled seeing a salad recipe that included both of these ingredients.  I hit up the Google recipe gods, and found that searching for “avocado and grapefruit” was the first step to a very delicious dinner salad.

The recipe below is a quick and simple  Shrimp & Avocado Citrus Salad that you can serve either as a starter or a full dinner salad.  I opted to poach my shrimp versus sauteeing it, just to try something different.  The poaching liquid is boiled with lemon, pepper, and bay leaf; the combination gives the shrimp a fragrantful and soft flavor.  Also, sectioning the grapefruit can seem like a tedious task at first, but the key is to make sure you cut all the way around the inside of the membrane before trying to pop out the section.  Don’t worry if they aren’t in picture perfect whole sections - just try to salvage as many large pieces as you can. 

And I can’t forget to mention that this salad is simply wonderful to present.  The light green avocado slices beautifully complement the bright pink grapefruit sections.  With a great combination of texture, color, and flavor, this salad was my perfect recovery from a weekend of hot dogs and star-spangled cupcakes.

Shrimp Salad with Avocado & Grapefruit

Serves 4

1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lemon, juiced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 avocados, cut into 1/4-inch slices (lengthwise)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lime, juiced
1 shallot, thinly sliced 
1 large grapefruit
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 head of Boston lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
 

Poaching the Shrimp
1. Pour 3 cups water into a medium saucepan. Add juice of 1 lemon, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring water to a boil, and let boil for 3 minutes.

2. Remove saucepan from heat, then add the shrimp. Cover and let stand for 6-8 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque.

3. Transfer the shrimp to a colander, and drain the liquid. Discard the lemon, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Quickly bring the shirimp into a large bowl of ice water for 3 minutes (this stops the cooking). Drain and refrigerate until needed.

Preparing the Vinaigrette
1. In a large bowl, combine olive oil, lime juice, shallot, cilantro, salt, and pepper.

2. Section the grapefruit by cutting it in half (crosswise), and use a sharp paring knife to cut around the interior of the membranes. After you cut around each section, use the knife to pop out the section of the grapefruit. Add grapefruit sections to the large bowl, as well as any juice from the membranes prior to discarding them.

3. Carefully fold in the avocado slices, until well-coated with the vinaigrette.

Putting it Together
(You can serve this on individual plates or one large platter)

1. Arrange the lettuce leaves on the plate. Add the grapefruit and avocado sections from the vinagrette to the lettuce (use a slotted spoon if that helps)

2. Add the poached shrimp to the vinaigrette and toss to coat. Arrange the shrimp on the salad, and drizzle the vinaigrette on top.