Vietnamese Noodle Salad

Sweet, tangy, spicy, funky, salty, delicious.  

Walking the dogs the other night, I happened across my new favorite book store--the Book Mall on South Broadway. The owner gave Tato and Swaysway dog treats and had an encyclopedic knowledge of everything written, ever. So many used book stores are full of faded Joyce Carrol Oates and The ButterBusters Cookbook and other worthless crap. But the Book Mall is totally different--on every shelf, there is something you've been meaning to read.

And the cookbook section was phenomenal. There were half a dozen I really wanted, but I settled on The Gourmet cookbook: 

This cookbook contains the top 1000 or so recipes from the whole history of Gourmet magazine. The recipes come with the back stories about the context of American cooking in which they first appeared. It's super entertaining to read page by page, like a novel, and there are so many things I am dying to make. 

After reading it once through the first time, the recipe that stuck in my mind was the Lemongrass Beef and Noodle Salad. 

This recipe originally appeared in Gourmet in 1995, when people first started using formerly obscure Asian ingredients in mainstream cooking. 

This was the first time I've used Vietnamese fish sauce--I've used Thai fish sauce for years, but not Vietnamese. And it is DELICIOUS. The nuac cham dressing TO DIE FOR.

My new magic ingredient. 

I mean, you could sprinkle chopped basil and cilantro and mint and crushed peanuts on anything and it would be fabulous. But this salad is just wonderful. 
They didn't have beef at the Asian market, so I used pork. But would probably have been better with beef, so I included the original recipe. 
The lemongrass marinade is also fantastic. It would be perfect on any grilled meat--beef or chicken or pork or fish. 

This recipe would be great without meat, too. 

I served this for Bachelor Night, where it was an unmitigated hit. 

I also made some stir-fried shitakes with eggplant to go with it. 

This is delicious. Make it immediately!
Enjoy!

Grilled Lemongrass Beef and Noodle SaladGourmet | June 1995

Serves 4 as an entrée

ingredients

For marinade

• 2 stalks fresh lemongrass, outer leaves discarded and root end trimmed
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (preferably nuoc mam)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

• a 1- to-1 1/4 pound skirt steak or flank steak
• 1/2 pound dried rice-stick noodles (rice vermicelli)
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (preferably Thai basil), washed well and spun dry
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, washed well and spun dry
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves, washed well and spun dry
• about 1 cup Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese lime sauce) (see below)
• a 1-pound seedless (European) cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 2 to 4 small thin fresh red or green Asian chilies (1 to 2 inches long) or serrano chilies, seeded and sliced very thin (wear rubber gloves)

• Garnish: Thai basil, mint, or coriander sprigs

preparation

Make marinade:

Thinly slice lower 6 inches of lemongrass stalks, discarding remainder of stalks. In a food processor or blender finely grind together sliced lemongrass and garlic. Add remaining marinade ingredients and blend well.

In a large resealable plastic bag combine marinade and steak and seal bag, pressing out excess air. Marinate steak, chilled, turning bag once or twice, at least 4 hours or overnight.

In a large bowl soak noodles in hot water to cover 15 minutes, or until softened and pliable.

Prepare grill (or preheat broiler). Bring a kettle of salted water to a boil for noodles.

Discard marinade and grill steak on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals 3 to 5 minutes on each side for medium-rare. (Alternatively, steak may be broiled on rack of a broiler pan about 3 inches from heat about same amount of time.) Transfer steak to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes.

While steak is cooking, drain noodles in a colander and cook in boiling water 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until just tender. In a colander drain noodles and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain noodles well.

In a large bowl toss noodles with herbs and half of nuoc cham. Divide cucumber among 4 bowls or plates and top with noodles. Sprinkle each serving with 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons rice powder. Thinly slice steak on the diagonal and divide among noodles, mounding it. Sprinkle chilies over each serving and garnish with herb sprigs. Serve remaining nuoc cham on the side.

Nuac Cham Dressing

This recipe is used to prepared Grilled Lemongrass Beef and Noodle Salad.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

ingredients

• 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (preferably nuoc mam)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 garlic clove, forced through a garlic press
• 2 small thin fresh red or green Asian chilies (1 to 2 inches long) or serrano chilies, seeded and chopped fine (wear rubber gloves)

preparation

In a small bowl stir together all ingredients until sugar is dissolved.

Chinese Roast Duck (with Chinese pickled vegetables, sesame pancakes, and special duck sauce)

Chinese pickled veggies, sesame pancakes, special sauce, roast duck. Impossible to overstate the deliciousness of this meal. 

Homemade Roast Duck! 

Duck pancake, about to be rolled up and devoured. 

I've been making this dinner for a few years now, and it is absolutely fabulous. Totally one of the dinners in our "pantheon" of best things I make. I can't imagine a better dinner at home. It's not  a quick dinner to make--you might want to save this for a Sunday when you'd be kitchen-putzing anyway. But so incredibly worth the time. This is perfect special occasion eating--what I'd make if we were having Christmas or New Years just the two of us.
The first time I made this was a couple weeks after Adam and I moved in together. It was a weeknight in our Cap Hill apartment and we ate it at the kitchen counter. And it was insanely delicious. That's the whole story.
I LOVE duck, and have tried making it a million ways--confit, seared breasts, Euro-styled roasted (with a wine salt rub), etc--but no duck preparation has ever compared to this recipe. The only way to get better duck is to head to Federal for the real stuff.

This dinner has four recipes in one--the duck, the pancakes, the pickled veggies, and the sauce. So, bear with me! Here comes all the information you need for the best dinner you've ever made.

Start the day before, by marinating the duck.

Roasted Duck Ingredients
1 whole defrosted duck (make sure to take the liver, other organs, and neck out of the cavity. Sometimes there is a bag of "orange sauce" in there too--just get rid of it)

a 2 inch, chubby piece of ginger
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup soy sauce (I used extra-dark)
1/4 cup sherry or Chinese cooking wine
2 tablespoons of sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey or sugar
1.5 tablespoons Chinese 5 spice powder
2 tsp cayenne pepper (or 1 tablespoon chile oil)

What to do
Place all of the marinade ingredients in the blender and blitz them into a smooth puree. 
Place the duck into a roasting pan (Or a bowl, or a large bag if it will fit). Pour the marinade over the duck and rub it in. 
Place the duck in the fridge to marinate. Every so often, rotate the duck or scoop the marinade up and pour it back over the duck. Make sure to get some marinade into the cavity--you want every surface of the duck soaked. Marinate overnight or for at least five hours. 
Time to roast the duck!
Preheat the oven to 430 degrees. 
Brush off any chunky bits of marinade clinging to the outside of the duck. 
Poke the duck all over with a fork. Pierce the skin but not the meat. Pierce about 50 times overall, in the breast, legs, back--everywhere. 
Place a roasting rack in a roasting pan. 
Truss the duck (tie the legs together) and tuck the wings under the breast. 
Roast breast-side up for 40 minutes (at 430)
Roast breast-side down for 40 minutes( at 430) 
Crank the oven up to 525 and roast breast-side up for 25 more minutes. The skin should be crispy and have a deep brown color. 
Take the duck out and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving. 
Reserve the duck fat for future culinary perversions (and put some in the special sauce!) 
Serve with sesame pancakes, pickled vegetables, and special sauce. 

Hacked up

Sesame Pancakes 

Ingredients 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 to 1 cup boiling water, as needed
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil, or as needed

What to do 

In a large bowl, add the boiling water to the flour and begin stirring it in immediately. Knead the warm dough until you have a smooth dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Turn the rested dough out onto a floured surface. Cut the dough in half. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll each half out until it is 1/4-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or the bottom of a water glass to cut out 3-inch circles of dough.

Use a pastry brush to brush 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil over the top of 2 dough circles. Lay one pancake on top of each other, so that the oiled sides are together. (Don't worry if one of the edges hangs over the other). Roll out the pancakes to form a 6-inch circle. Continue with the remainder of the pancakes. Use a damp towel to cover the prepared pancakes and keep them from drying out while making the remainder.

Heat a heavy frying pan over low heat. Add one of the pancake pairs and cook until browned on both sides (about 3 minutes altogether; the second side will cook more quickly than the first side). Remove the paired pancakes from the pan and place into tin foil to keep warm. Continue with the remainder of the pancakes. Serve with duck! (If you did a really good job making these you might be able to pull them apart into even thinner pancakes--works for me about half the time). 

Rolling out the dough. 

Painting Sesame Oil onto the circles of dough. 

A (somewhat misshapen) pancake cooking. 

Chinese Pickled Vegetables 

Slice 1 bunch scallions, half a red onion, and one carrot into thin strips. Place into a bowl or a tupperware. 

Add:

1 cup rice vinegar (or Chinese black vinegar--or any light-colored vinegar) 

3/4 cup water 

1/4 cup soy sauce 

2 tablespoons sugar 

2 tablespoons sesame oil 

Allow to sit in the pickling liquid at least 20 minutes before serving--several hours is also fine, and these will keep well for a few days in the fridge. 

Special Duck Sauce 
In a small bowl, blend: 
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce 
juice of 1 lime 
a dash of some spicy element (chile oil or sriracha or some cayenne pepper) 
2 or 3 tablespoons of the hot duck fat from the bottom on the roasting pan 

Dribble this over the duck before eating! 



Enjoy!!!

Chinese Chicken with Snow Peas and Broccoli

I adapted this recipe from an old copy of Everyday Food--the original recipe is for cashew chicken, but I couldn't find raw cashews at the grocery store, and I thought using the roasted salted ones would make it too salty. So, I just substituted veggies for the nuts and added a little more heat.
This was a great weeknight dinner: quick and easy to make, healthy, cheap. Three pounds of chicken thighs were only $6.50 and a head of broccoli was $1.I bought garlic, chicken broth and ginger but had more of the other ingredients on hand--soy sauce, sherry, hoisin sauce, cornstarch, and chili-garlic paste.
This was yummy. Next time I'll use zucchini, since the garden is producing an insane amount of it.
I made enough to last for a few dinners--halve the recipe if you only want a dinner for two out of it.

Ingredients
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes
1.5 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
5 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
a 2 inch chunk of ginger, minced or grated
2 tablespoons sherry or Chinese cooking wine
1 can on chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce (or more, according to taste)
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon chili-garlic paste or Sriraccha
2 cups of snow peas
2 cups of broccoli ( 1 crown) chopped or broken into florets

What to do

Grate the ginger and garlic and chop the chicken.

Chopped chicken, grated ginger and garlic. 

Heat up the sesame oil and olive oil in a deep saucepan. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the chopped chicken. When the oil is shimmering hot, add the chicken and brown thoroughly. You will need to mix it around every few minutes. This will take about 10-15 minutes.

Chicken being browned in sesame oil. 

Then, when the chicken in browned all over, toss the grated ginger and garlic in and mix it around, cooking it a bit in the oil. Cook the ginger and garlic for about two minutes.
Pour in the chicken broth, sherry, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and chili-garlic paste. Mix, scraping the bottom on the pan to get up any bits that stuck while you were browning the chicken. Bring to a simmer then cover the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes to get the sauce thick, "melded", and infusing the chicken.

At this point, you can finish the recipe, or you can wait. The previous steps can be prepared ahead of time if that suits your schedule. Just turn the heat off and leave the chicken soaking in the sauce until right before you're ready to eat.
Right before you're ready to serve, turn the heat back up to high. Toss in the snow peas and broccoli and cover the pot. Allow the veggies to cook in the steam from the sauce for about 3 minutes. You want them to stay fresh-tasting and crisp, so don't overcook.
Open the pot and mix everything together.
Serve over rice.

Messy and yummy. 

I of course drowned mine in extra Sriracha.

This was a great, budget-friendly week-night meal. I will be making it over and over.
Enjoy!

Hoisin-Glazed Duck Confit

Confit duck legs with soy-ginger noodles 

I have been on a serious Asian-food kick lately, thanks to my strong drive to return to the Pacific Ocean Market on Alameda as often as possible. But: our camera is having issues so much of these cooking projects will live on only in our memories.
But: I started this duck confit before the camera got sick, so I wanted to include it.
To "confit" something means to slow cook it in it's own fat, thereby preserving it. Once cooked, it can remain bathing in cold fat in the fridge for months, growing duckier and more delicious with each passing day. I aged mine for about a week, then took the legs out of the fat, brushed them with a mix of hoisin, lime, and chili oil, baked them then broiled them.
The result was incredibly soft, incredibly ducky meat with crispy skin. I made a big batch of noodles with veggies to go with and we ate on the porch. A lovely night.

How can you walk past duck legs and not purchase? You cannot. 

I marinated them in soy, sesame oil, salt and sugar. 

Luckily, I had some duck fat on hand, reserved in the fridge from previous roast ducks. This tub of grease moved between houses with us.
Ultimately, I didn't have enough duc fat to cover the legs entirely, so I added canola oil as well. 

I cooked them overnight at 185. 

Then put them in a container and poured the fat over them. Left in the fridge for a week. 

Hoisin-Glazed Duck Confit

Ingredients: 
Confit
4 duck legs, or more if you have a large enough pot 
Duck fat. (This is a very hard ingredient to buy. What I do is save the fat every time I roast a duck and use that. If you don't have duck fat, you can use oil.) 
1 cup soy sauce 
dash sesame oil 
1 tsp Chinese 5-spice 
1/2 cup sugar 
4 TB kosher salt 
1 head of garlic

Glaze
3 TB hoisin sauce
juice of 2 limes 
1 tsp chili oil

What to do: 
Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, 5 spice, sugar, and salt in a ziplock bag or a large bowl. Add the duck legs and let the sit in the marinade overnight or for at least a few hours.
Take the duck legs out and shake the marinade off (but don't rinse). Place them in the bottom of a pot or braising dish, and cover them entirely with duck fat or oil. Slice the top off the head of garlic and add it to the pot whole.
Turn the oven on to 185 and put the pot of legs in. Go to bed. 
Wake up and jump out of bed, excited about confit. Run downstairs and remove the pot from the oven. Allow to cool for about an hour, then remove the duck legs to a storage container (I used tupperware) and cover with fat. Seal and refrigerate. 
Leave in the fridge for days or weeks. 
When you're ready to eat them, remove the legs from the fat. Shake off as much of the fat as you can and place them skin-sde up on a cookie sheet. Turn the oven on to 400. Mix the hoisin, lime juice, and chili oil together and brush onto the leg legs on both sides. Roast at 400 for about 25 minutes. Then, take the legs out and brush again with glaze. Turn the the over to high broil and put the legs back in for 3-5 minutes--you want the skin crispy--a little char is ok. 
Allow to rest for 5 minutes, then serve. 

I served this with a noodle dish heavy on acid, herbs and spice--the freshness was a great counterpoint to the rich duck.
It was DELICIOUS, and really not particularly hard. Will be making this over and over!

Shrimp Dumplings with Ginger-Scallion-Garlic Sauce

These were not intended to be fried--but turned out fabulously nonetheless.

So I set out to find something to do with a two bags of frozen shrimp. We had about half a bag in our freezer, left over from when I made gumbo to celebrate the season finale of The Bachelor. Then this weekend, we went up to the ski house for the last time, and I discovered a bag of frozen shrimp from November, when I thought I was going to make etoufee at the ski house--which I never did.
Also, lurking in the fridge: wan ton wrappers. Wantonly languishing, wanton wrappers. So then I was like: what can you make with shrimp and wanton wrappers? Think, think: SHRIMP DUMPLINGS!!!!

Shrimp dumpling ingredients!

There were two labor-intensive parts: peeling the shrimp and forming the dumplings. Other than that, it was pretty easy.
These tasted awesome, just like dim sum. But the real winner was the ginger-scallion sauce: it was great. It would be the perfect sauce for noodles, stir-fry or any kind of meat or veggies. 

Shrimp Dumplings: 

Ingredients: 
2 pounds peeled, de-veined shrimp: chop finely 
1 can of water chestnuts (small can), finely chopped
2 bunches of scallions, finely chopped
1 TB sesame oil
1 TB chili paste or Sriracha
2 inch fat piece of ginger, chopped
1 TB soy sauce
1 egg white
1 TB brown sugar
12-15 wanton wrappers. 

What to do: 
1. Mix the shrimp, chopped water chestnuts, scallions, soy sauce, sugar, egg white, ginger and sesame oil in a bowl. 

Half-chopped shrimp

Half-chopped scallions on a still-shrimpy cutting board. 

All the ingredients, prior to mixing.

2. Mix all the ingredients up (except for the wanton wrappers)!

Raw shrimpy filling goodness

3.  Here is how you fill them: get a wonton wrapper and lay it flat. Scoop a few tablespoons on the filling into the middle. Brush the sides of the wanton wrapper with water, then pinch the sides together, forming a dealed package. Set each completed dumpling aside.

My dumpling factory

Edges brushed with water. !

Pinch all the sides firmly together

Pinch the edges into ruffles

4. Either steam or fry.

Originally, I had been planning to steam these. But we didn't end up cooking these until the day after I made them--as they sat raw in the fridge, the wet filling got the wrappers all soggy, and little tears formed in the wantons as I took them off the tray. I figured frying them would be better in this situation--filling wouldn't spill out and they wouldn't get soggy.


Ginger-Scallion-Garlic Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
1 3-inch piece of ginger, minced or grated 
2 fat garlic cloves, minced or grated 
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup neutral oil, like canola or a light olive oil
3 TB sesame oil 
2 TB cold water
2 TB brown sugar
1 bunch scallions, sliced thin
Spicy element to taste (I used about a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Sriracha or cayenne pepper would work well here too, or some minced jalapenos) 

What to do: 
Put all the ingredients into a container with a tight lid. Shake till emulsified! 
Pour onto dumplings or serve on the side as a dip.

Looking at this recipe, it seems like a lot of ingredients--but really it's pretty easy, Other than the scallions and ginger, I had all of these ingredients on hand before I went shopping.
Again, this sauce is GREAT. It would be amazing dripped over steamed green beans, plain chicken, anything. You must make it!

Saucy dumpling goodness

 Enjoy!

Chile-soy grilled chicken with PEANUT SAUCE!

Grilled chicken on rice, covered in peanut sauce. Pepper and pea stir fry.

I would eat peanut sauce on anything--veggies, meat, a spoon, my fingers. I LOVE it. It's one of those things I'm very judge-y about in restaurants--whenever I order satay I think the peanut sauce is too sweet, or not spicy enough, or needs lime. Mine is better. Then I eat it anyway. Less than ideal peanut sauce is still fabulous. 

Speaking of peanut sauce, the first time I saw someone make it at home was right after I moved to Denver. I was living in a shitty apartment on Colorado Blvd and was about to start my new job at DSST. My sister and Michelle came over to make a dinner party at my house, even though I had no furniture and only a couple of pots (and one knife I got from the Goodwill--we had to share). 

Me  in 2008, recently arrived from Nicaragua. Dinner party in world's worst apartment!

We are eating salad out of coffee mugs because I had zero kitchen supplies back then.

At this party, Michelle made peanut sauce and little fried tofu triangles, Bridget made Asian crunch salad (it includes smashed ramen and is the shit), and I made curry. The peanut sauce was the best part. We all ended up putting it on all the other parts of the meal.

So after that, I experimented with making peanut sauce from scratch and now, I must say, it comes out fabulous every time. 

I made a batch of peanut sauce to go with some grilled chicken and stir-fried veggies. It was Sunday night, and I wanted to make something that would do well as lunches all week. 

This turned out GREAT. I've had mixed results in the past with grilling chicken, but this chicken turned out fantastic--juicy and flavorful. The peanut sauce was perfect, and I made some quick stir-fried veggies to go with. Delightful. 

Peanut Sauce 

Ingredients: 

1 can of coconut milk 

3/4 cup peanut butter (any kind is fine) 

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, lightly salted (don't use dry-roasted) 

Juice of 4 limes 

1 TB chili-garlic sauce (or Sriracha) 

1 TB Thai fish sauce 

2-inch piece of ginger

1 TB brown sugar 

2 TB soy sauce 

What to do: 

1. Put all of the ingredients into the blender and blitz them smooth. 

2. Pour the contents into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring regularly, then simmer for 8 or 10 minutes. Taste: does it need salt? Sugar? Lime? Add a pinch of this or that till it tastes perfect.

3. Pour on whatever!!! 

Sauce in the blender

Simmering

Chili-soy Grilled Chicken 

Ingredients

3-4 pounds (or however much you want) boneless, skinless chicken fillets--either breast or thigh (thigh will taste better) 

2/3 cup soy sauce 

3 TB chili-garlic sauce or Sriracha 

3 TB brown sugar 

What to do: 

1. Mix the soy sauce, chili sauce and sugar in a bowl. 

2. Place chicken in the bowl of marinate. Allow to sit for at least an hour

3. Grill the chicken! I used a charcoal grill, very hot, about 10 min per side. Brush chicken with leftover marinate as it grills. 

4. Allow to rest about 10 minutes, then dribble with peanut sauce. Serve over rice. 

Marinating chicken. I used both thighs and breasts.

Chicken grilling on our teeny hibachi.

Gorgeous spring night in the backyard.

To go with the chicken, sauce and rice, I made a stir-fry of carrots, red bell peppers, and sugar-snap peas. 

Delicious.

I think this same marinade would work great for pork chops or flank steak. 

Enjoy!

Pork "Bulgogi"

This is "bulgogi" because, while this pork turned out delicious and tender--was it bulgogi? I would imagine any Korean would say no. It was good, but it came out different than the fabulous, thin-sliced, spicy BBQ pork you get at Korean restaurants with table grills. By the way, if you love Korean food and live in Denver, go to Q Table in Northglenn. It's good enough to make a drive to Northglenn totally worth it.
So I would change the name of this dish to "vaguely Asian pork cutlets." Even if I originally set out to make bulgogi.

Ingredients:
Boneless, thin sliced pork chops. I used two packages, but any amount that fits in a freezer bag is fine.
1 head garlic
1 3 inch piece of ginger
1 peeled kiwi
3 TB soy sauce
3 TB sesame oil
3 TB brown sugar
2 TB chili garlic paste or sriracha
1 shallot
2 bunches green onions, bottoms cut off and left whol
1 red onion, cut into large slices

What to do:
1. Put the garlic, ginger, shallot, kiwi, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, and chili paste in a blender or food processor. Blitz it up into a paste.

This smells really, really good.

2. Put the pork and onions in a big freezer bag. Then, put the marinade paste in and mush it around.

3. Let it marinate. I left it overnight, but a few hours would be fine.

4. Cook!This would have been WAY better on a barbeque, but it was snowing, so I couldn't be bothered. I cooked them in a hot cast iron pan. Get a pan very hot, then cook about 4 min per side.

5. Then, cook the marinated onions, also in a hot pan. Or a grill, if you're grilling. Again, a grill would have been even better.

6. Put the leftover marinade into a small saucepan, add half a cup of hot water, and boil with the lid on to make a sauce. I tasted mine, then added a few teaspoons each of rice vinegar, chili paste, soy sauce, and brown sugar to make it into a stronger-tasting, more delicious sauce.Boil for about 10 min or until saucy.
7. Serve the pork over rice. Dribble with sauce. Serve with cooked marinated onions.YUM!
I also made some quick stir-fried shitake mushrooms and sugar-snap peas.

Yummy! Invite someone you like over, and make a great weeknight of it.
The dogs will be super jealous: