Gluten Free Thai Peanut Noodles With Chicken

I love Thai food. It is probably one of my favourite cuisines, after Middle Eastern food...and maybe Italian. Since moving to the US, I have struggled to find Thai food that lives up to my picky Australian standards (Sydney has the best Thai food...according to Thai people, apparently). Not only that, it's pretty much full of things that I am allergic to and make me fat. Kind of worth it if it tastes ah-mah-zing, not worth it if it is sub-par. It also takes 90 minutes to arrive. 

Well, if you love Thai food and adore a sneaky lazy take-out, this might just be the meal for you! This noodle dish is around 400 calories for the whole shebang including bok choy, tastes pretty amazing and is entirely gluten free and is easy to make soy-free, to boot. It is also 3 times as fast as ordering in if you buy or have cooked chicken on hand. 

Ingredients: 

• 8oz brown rice noodles (I used Annie Chan's Gluten Free)
• 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons low sodium tamari sauce (Use coconut aminos if avoiding soy)
• 4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter 
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 drops stevia 
• 1/2 red chilli pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 cup cooked chicken, finely sliced (I recommend poaching chicken) 
• 1 small red bell pepper, finely julienned 
• 1/2 cup scallions, finely sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (Thai if you can get it), chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped peanuts for garnish 
• 4 heads baby bok choy, separated

Instructions: 

1. Cook brown rice noodles according to package directions. 
2. While noodles are cooking, whisk together peanut butter and lime juice. 
3. Keep aside 1/4 cup of the peanut sauce. 
4. When there is 2 minutes left of the noodle 'clock', put bok choy in a steamer basket above noodles and cook for 2 minutes. 
5. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients into sauce, including your fresh herbs. 
6. Toss noodles with chicken and sauce. 
7. Pour a tablespoon of spare sauce over bok choy. 
8. Garnish noodles with crushed peanuts, fresh cilantro and a drizzle of extra sauce and enjoy! 

This recipe was inspired by Kelly over at Eat Yourself Skinny

Peach & Jalapeno Glazed Chicken & Buttered Snap Peas

Grilled Peaches & Farmers' Cheese on Sourdough Toast

I love peaches. I am so enjoying all the stone fruit this season. With our big international move we skipped a Summer in Australia and I had been hanging out for some delicious stone fruit. Finally we're in the midst of the season and it is just amazing! We picked up a beautiful variety of peaches at the Campbell Farmers' Market over the weekend. I absolutely adore the farmers' markets in Summer, with their array of colours and textures and amazingness.

Afterwards, we went to a fabulous, hilarious and yet comforting Russian Deli and Cafe for matzo ball soup to soothe my husband's throat as he has a nasty flu. I will write about the deli soon (it's amazing!) but while we were there, buying all manner of food that evoked great memories for my husband of his beloved Bubba, I found farmers' cheese. This is a pretty traditional Russian food and one that I loved as a kid living in the US. When we moved back to Australia I never found any that tasted quite like the one from Schnuck's in St Louis. Well, I finally found some tucked away in the deli - I got so excited when I saw it, I can't even tell you. 

Now, it seems that the farmers' cheese I ate in St Louis was a seasonal, Pesach (Passover) item that was a blend with creamed cheese. No matter, this plain farmers' cheese is delicious and more like the creamed cottage cheese that you get easily at home in Australia but doesn't seem to exist in the US. To basically I have hit two culinary desires with one stone in finding this cheese!

I had great memories of eating is with raspberry and cherry preserves on Matzo during Pesach but I felt that for today, with its cottage cheese-y texture, it belonged on delicious sourdough from the Markets with a delicious grilled peach. Now, if you're wondering why I have a recipe for cheese and peaches on toast - be assured that marinating them in honey and white balsamic leads to deliciousness that cannot fully be articulated through words and images alone. The result was a super tasty flavour sensation that fulfilled my food nostalgia needs and kept me full from 11am to 6pm!

Grilled Peaches & Farmers' Cheese on Sourdough Toast

This recipe makes 6 slices and will serve 3-6 depending how hungry you are. It's so tasty I'd lean towards serving 3! 

Ingredients: 

• 6 Slices Sourdough 
• 3 Large Pieces (Ideally, these need to be only slightly soft to the touch) 
• 2 Tablespoons Grassfed Butter, Melted
• 2 Tablespoons Raw Honey 
• 1 Tablespoons White Balsamic Vinegar 
• 1/8 Teaspoon Sea Salt 
• Farmers Cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat grill pan to med-high. 
2. Whisk together 1/2 honey, 1/2 melted butter, white balsamic and sea salt. 
3. Slice peaches into 1/4 inch thick slices. I cut the round 'ends' off and eat them or keep them aside with lemon juice on them for snacking later. 
4. Coat the peach slices in the wet marinade and set aside. 
5. Lightly coat each side of bread with the remaining butter. 
6. Place bread on the grill and grill 1-2 minutes each side. Set aside.
7. Grill peaches 3-4 minutes each side. 
8. While peaches grill, spread farmers' cheese on the toast. 
9. Top with grilles peaches and drizzle with remaining raw honey. 
10. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes if desire and serve - this also tastes fantastic with some shredded basil on it, as well. 
11. Enjoy! 

In Season | White Nectarines

Summer is my favourite season for fruit. Between the stone fruits, the delicious berries and the variety of cherries I am in absolute heaven. I pretty much don't need to eat savoury foods for a few months! This week, I am addicted to white nectarines. There is something so light and delicate about their flavour - they're perfection!

I have some cool plans for the surplus of nectarines I seem to have in the house next week - something with gluten free puff pastry (yes, puff pastry) and a whole lot of vanilla. Mmmmm.