I am finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to our yard. Prior to us purchasing our home it had been empty for a year, so needless to say, the garden was and has been in complete disarray. Where does one begin!? I have an exceptionally limited knowledge of gardening and have found the whole task of landscaping daunting. No, let me rephrase that, I found it mind numbingly overwhelming.

Fortunately for me and Barnaby, my mother and step-father are master gardeners. This last weekend they loaded their Euro Van with shrubs and plants, left their Sunset-magazine-perfect home and headed north to Seattle to improve the state of our garden. We arrived home from work on Friday greeted by the two of them wielding all sorts of garden tools and implements. I knew what I was in for and I knew I had to keep up – Mom and Greg are serious forces to be reckoned with in the garden.

Saturday morning I  donned the grubby jeans and the protective eye wear, and trimmed hedges like a burly man. Barnaby, on the other hand, steered clear of the gardening whirlwind and whipped up meal after meal for us. That evening, fresh and clean from our showers, we sat in our beautiful backyard and sipped chilled Rosé while Barnaby barbecued.

Along with his famous Caesar Salad he grilled up yogurt-marinated vegetable and shrimp skewers and served them with a Moroccan-style cumin yogurt sauce. That – and a handful of Tylenol for the sore muscles – fixed me right up for another days worth of gardening!

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What kind of food lover am I?! I completely missed Chinese New Year this year!  Next year I swear I’ll do better (and it’s on Valentine’s Day, so I know I won’t miss it). I had these wonderfully grandiose plans to create an exotic multi-course meal, each dish symbolic and auspicious and all that good stuff. But alas, we’d just returned from the Sundance Film Festival with nasty colds and, unable to taste nary a thing, we wanted nothing but chicken soup for days.

So in order to pay homage to any deities that I may have scorned during the celebrations I thought I would whip up some semblance of a respectful noodle dish. Let me preface by saying I know nothing-nada-niente about Chinese cooking. I am, as the expression goes, whiter than white on rice. I will unabashedly admit that for a layman I am somewhat brilliant when it comes to Japanese fare, but Chinese – nope, not at all. So if you’re Chinese please keep that in mind and forgive my feeble attempts at your lovely cuisine. Let’s call it Fusion Chinese or something to save face.

Jaden from Steamy Kitchen (one of my most fave blogs) inspired me to make noodles, a symbol of long life, with her Garlic Scallion Noodles dish. I grabbed what I had on hand in my fridge and threw together this tasty dish.  I sauteed a bunch of crushed garlic and ginger, then tossed in the vegetable noodles. I added a bit of oyster and hoisin sauce and a splash of toasted sesame oil. In a separate skillet I sauteed the snow peas, then the prawns. I made a little nest of the noodles, lined it with the snow peas and laid the prawns on top. I garnished the dish with a bit of black sesame seeds and we were ready to eat!

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I call these Coconut Shrimp Salad Rolls, but those are only two of the tasty ingredients wrapped up in thin rice paper. Frankly, Coconut Shrimp Ginger Carrot Lime Cilantro And More Rolls was just too long. I could have also called these Mieng Kum Rolls, but I think my title is more “user-friendly.”

But, in fact, that’s just about what these rolls are, mieng kum, all wrapped up in rice paper instead of a leaf. Mieng kum is a delicious Thai dish that packs nearly every flavor in one punch. These wonderful, healthy salad rolls were inspired by that dish.

Coconut Shrimp Salad Rolls

Just wing it with the amounts of each ingredient. Balance the flavors to adjust to you liking. If you want more ginger, add more ginger. Spicier? Toss in a few more chilies.

Shrimp, cooked and cut into pieces
Toasted coconut
Grated carrot
Ginger, finely chopped
Lime, sliced into tiny pieces with the rind on
Cilantro, chopped
Shallots or red onion (adds nice color), finely diced
1-2 Thai chili peppers (or any spicy pepper will do), finely chopped
Rice paper sheets

Toss the ingredients in a bowl. Fill a deep, flat dish with about 1/2″ of water. Place one sheet of rice paper in the water until it softens, then gently remove the sheet and place on a paper towel. Pat off excess water. Like you’re making a burrito, place the mixture in row on the sheet, fold in the sides, and roll.

Sprinkle some crushed peanuts and whole cilantro leaves on top and serve with peanut dipping sauce.

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We still have not restocked our refrigerator after returning from Mexico, so I rummaged around and pulled a few things out that were still hanging in there. Ingredients perfect for fried rice. Scallops, shrimp and baby peas from the freezer; green onions, mushrooms, fresh ginger and eggs from the fridge.

Fried rice is such an easy dish to make and to me it’s Asian comfort food.

Heat oil in a wok or large sauté pan over high heat.
Sauté ginger (and garlic if you have it), green onion and mushrooms for about one minute, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to medium and add vegetables and shellfish.
Add cooked rice, mix, then make a well with your spoon in the center. Pour the eggs into the well and let them cook for about one minute.
Slowly start to incorporate the eggs into the rice mixture.
Add soy sauce, a little sesame oil, a splash of fish sauce to taste and toss. Fish sauce isn’t traditional, but we like the flavor it adds.

Obviously there are many varieties of fish, meat and vegetables that you can add to create a delicious fried rice. I love to add snow peas, broccoli and carrots for color.

Check out Steamy Kitchen’s delicious (and hilarious!) recipe for Vegetable Fried Rice.

I’d love to know what you think. Click the Comments link below and share your thoughts.

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Usually salad rolls are eaten as appetizers, but I love to make them with various fillings and serve them as the main entrée with different dipping sauces. The delicate rice paper wrappers can be filled with just about anything: shrimp, basil, mint, lettuce, rice noodles, veggies. In the past I’ve also made more avant garde versions: mango and shrimp, Peking duck, pork and jicama.

Tonight it is simply julienned red and yellow peppers, baby lettuce, basil, mint and grilled shrimp. For the dipping sauce I mixed peanut butter with a splash of fish sauce, some hoisin sauce and water to thin it out. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts and voila!

Dip and enjoy!

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During the holiday season when our bellies are consistently being pushed to maximum capacity with baked goods, carb-laden sides, hefty meats and poultries, it’s nice to have a break and eat something light and healthy.

It’s a cold, crisp night here in San Mateo, California. Perfect for nabe (nabemono). Nabe, or hot pot, is a typical Japanese soup eaten in the colder months, and usually cooked in a pot at the table. These popular nabe dishes may ring a bell here in the States: Sukiyaki, Shabu Shabu, Oden. While typical nabes include vegetables and fish, seafood or meat, there really is no hard fast rule as to what you can throw in.

Tonight our nabe includes the following: Copper River salmon (one small fillet for the two of us), a few large shrimp, oyster and enoki mushrooms, mizuna (Japanese mustard greens), tofu and shirataki (konyaku) noodles. The broth is as follows:

2/3 C. mirin

2/3 C. sake

2/3 C. soy sauce

1, 1/3 C. dashi

2 T. sugar

Cook until sugar dissolves and alcohol reduces.

Serve with hot sake to make the meal complete.

Itadakimasu (let’s eat)!

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