Authentic Thai Cucumber Salad

You know the stuff.  You get it in teeny tiny bowls at your favorite Thai joint.  Then you order a huge plate of it for two bucks and some change because you can't get enough and your lunch date ate most of it anyway.  It's tangy, sour and sweet and now you want some.  This satisfying side dish is easy to throw together and it costs next to nothing.  Here is what you need:

Authentic Thai Cucumber Salad

1 Large Cucumber

1/2 Small Red Onion

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar

1/4 Bunch Fresh Cilantro

1 Serrano Chili Pepper

1 Jalapeno Pepper

Sea Salt

Roasted Peanuts (for garnish, optional)

Begin by peeling cucumber.  Slice lengthwise and remove seeds using a spoon.  Slice thinly and set in a collander.  Next slice onion thinly and add to collander.  Cut peppers in half and remove white ribs and seeds.  Dice these finely and add to collander.  Sprinkle mixture with a generous amount of sea salt, toss with a spoon and set aside for 30 minutes (put a plate underneath to catch the liquid the salt will draw out of the mixture).  

Now rinse mixture thoroughly with cold water and shake off excess liquid, squeezing or you could spin it in a salad spinner.  In a large glass bowl, add sugar and vinegar.  Allow sugar to dissolve and add cucumber mixture.  

Stir to combine and add finely chopped cilantro.  Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.  Sprinkle with chopped roasted peanuts, if desired.

Vegan Taco Bell Salad

Oh Taco Bell, how you tempt me so!  I have always loved you.  What I really love about you though?!  One word, SAUCE.  This  is why I always stock up on a lions share of your sauce packets, to stock my pantry of course.  I've tried the stuff in the bottle from the grocery store but it's not the same.

Fortunately for vegans, Taco Bell actually has some decent options.  Just avoid the meat and dairy and you are pretty safe.  That is, if you eat fast food.  Of course, I, like most folks, try to keep fast food intake to a minimum but when the craving strikes, Taco Bell gets my money.

This is not a promotional blog post about Taco Bell, although it does feel like that.  Let's proceed to my favorite fast lunch, homemade Vegan Taco Bell Salad.  If you know anything about me, you know I was Mexican in a former life.  Here goes:

Vegan Taco Bell Salad - serves 2

4 Cups Green Leaf Lettuce (hand torn)

1 Cup Cooked and Cooled Pinto Beans (homemade or canned is okay)

1 Cup Tortilla Chips (multicolored or flavored is fine)

1 Ripe Avocado

1 Tablespoon Vegenaise

1/4 Cup Salsa (homemade or jarred is okay)

2 teaspoons Nutritional Yeast

4-6 Taco Bell Sauce Packets (mild, hot and/or fire) optional

Tear up lettuce, chop Avocado, spoon on salsa, vegenaise and yeast, crush up tortilla chips, toss in a bowl and plate as desired.  Pictured prior to crushing chips and tossing altogether because it looked prettier.  This salad is also great with the addition of diced onion and chopped cilantro, I just didn't have any on hand.  Be sure to serve immediately or the chips will loose their CRUNCH.  Yum.  Eat.  Repeat.  Save your money and just grab some sauce packets.  Enjoy!

Thai Style Rice Salad

If you have never cooked Jasmine Rice in coconut milk, you are in for a real treat.  Once you taste the creamy Umami of each grain of this dish, you may never look at rice the same.  The delicate touch of coconut flavor does not overpower the salad itself but rather cradles each perfectly cooked grain in a bed of mouthwatering goodness.  Read on.

Thai Style Rice Salad

1 English Cucumber

1/2 Red Onion

2 inch knob of fresh Ginger

1/4 cup Fish Sauce or Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1/2 bunch Scallions (Green Onions)

1/2 bunch fresh Cilantro

2 cups long grain Jasmine Rice

3 cups unsweetened coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

Roasted Peanuts, for garnish

Sambal (Chili Garlic Sauce), for garnish

Begin by making the cucumber salad component so it can marinate while your rice cooks.  Grab a large mason jar and add fish sauce or soy sauce and sugar.  Next, thinly slice onions and ginger, add to jar.  I like to make 2 inch onion slices and go microscopic matchstick size on my ginger but suit yourself if you want to go bigger.  Just think bite-size.  Slice cucumber in half lengthwise and then longwise.  Remove seeds by gently scraping with a spoon and then cut halves longwise again, then slice into small chunks.  Add to jar.  Finely chop scallions and cilantro and add those too.  Now secure lid on jar and shake to your heart's content!  Set aside on counter.  Time to make perfect rice...

To a medium stainless steel sauce pan add 3 cups coconut milk and 2 cups rice.  Add a teaspoon of salt and stir while heating over high heat.  Keep stirring.  When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to lowest possible setting, cover with lid.  Set timer to 15 minutes.  Now walk away.

When timer goes off, remove pan from heat, turn off stove but DO NOT OPEN THAT LID!  I don't care how hungry you are!  Now set timer for 10 MORE minutes and walk away, again.  

Okay - time to EAT!  Open pot and fluff rice with a fork.  Scoop into bowl.  Top with cucumber mixture, roasted peanuts, Sambal and more cilantro.  Enjoy every last bite.  Okay, now REPEAT. :)

Autumn Harvest Veggie Medley

1 sixteen ounce can Kidney Beans

1/2 Red Onion

2 Carrots

2 Stocks Celery

1 cup fresh or frozen Sweet Corn

1 cup fresh or frozen Edamame Peas

Dressing

2 Tablespoons fresh Curly Parsley

2 Tablespoons fresh Cilantro

3 Garlic Cloves

1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tablespoons White Wine Vinegar

Juice of 1 Lemon

8 Cherry Tomatoes

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

Generous amount of Salt and Pepper

1 Tablespoon Sugar, Agave or Honey* (*if you eat honey, I do)

Begin by finely dicing onion, carrot and celery and add to a large glass bowl.  Drain and rinse kidney beans, add to bowl.  Now add corn and edamame to mixture (if using frozen, okay to add while still frozen).  Set aside.

To make dressing add all dressing ingredients to food processor, except the oil.  Blend in food processor until fully pureed.  Now, while food processor is running, slowly drizzle in vegetable oil and puree until emulsified.  It is okay is the dressing seems runny.

Finally pour all dressing onto vegetable mixture.  Stir gently so all veggies are coated thoroughly.  Now let medley sit on counter covered for at least one hour. Serve or refrigerate until ready to eat.

Quick Cucumber Salad

1 large cucumber

1/4 red onion

2 medium carrots

2/3 cup white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 bunch fresh cilantro and/or flat leaf parsely (optional)

Begin by peeling cucumber, slice lengthwise and remove seeds.   Slice lengthwise again and chop into 1/8 inch slices.  Add to 1 quart mason jar.  Peel and finely slice red onion (1/4 of one small red onion is plently).  Add to jar.  Peel carrots and chop into bite size pieces.  Add to jar.  Finely chop cilantro and/or parsely and add that in, if desired.  Lastly add vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.  Secured lid tighly on jar and give it a good shake.  Allow sealed jar to sit for 15-20 minutes and shake once more prior to serving.  Makes a great topping on lettuce of choice for a quick and flavorful salad or enjoy on it's own.  Bon Appetit!