bordersmash8-blog

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Easy Spinach Enchiladas

These cheesy, vegan Spinach Enchiladas are so simple to pull together for dinner - or even a make-ahead meal. Tender spinach is stuffed into tortillas and marinated in homemade enchilada sauce. You decide how cheesy of a mood you are in...

I have posted a lot of enchilada recipes here on the blog over the years, but this is probably the most simple one yet. One ingredient enchiladas have a blissful simplicity to them that is very appealing when you have a busy day or just want to plan ahead for dinner for the next few days.

Spinach is my favorite for a one-ingredient filling. but you could also try tofu or another veggie. And if you want to use a variety of fillings, go for it. But for super simple, here are my must-have ingredients for these simple enchiladas:

- enchilada sauce - homemade or store bought - vegan cheese - tortillas - flour or corn - filling: spinach or whatever you'd prefer - diced green chilies - sliced black olives

Another nice add: avocado or guacamole on the side to serve. Vegan sour cream is also a nice add. More Spinach, please! Spinach is a power veggie for a reason. It is rich in fiber, iron, magnesium, folate, potassium, vitamin A and also contains about 1g per cup. It is tender and easy to eat. And personally, I love the subtle flavor. Be sure to add a few pinches of salt to your wilted spinach to help tone up the flavor. You could even add some crushed garlic.

So I hope this recipe provides you a fast and flavorful meal! Have a good week everyone!

Spinach Enchiladas

By Kathy Patalsky

Published 04/09/2019

This easy vegan dinner is packed with iron-rich spinach and smoky tomato flavor. homemade sauce makes these even better!

Ingredients

16 oz baby spinach, organic

homemade enchilada sauce (this recipe, doubled if you like a lot of sauce like me)

2 packages corn tortillas

2.25 oz can sliced black olives

4oz can, diced green chilies

vegan shredded cheese to taste - Daiya Classic used

drizzle of olive oil + pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions

Prepare your homemade enchilada sauce. Double the recipe I have on my blog. Allow that to simmer as you prep everything else.

Warm a large skillet or soup pot over high heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the spinach - as much as you can add without it overflowing. Cover the spinach with a lid and cook until you can see the spinach start to wilt. Turn off the heat - add any remaining spinach and keep lid on until the spinach is nice and wilted - but not too mushy. Remove lid, add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and toss gently. Set aside.

Grab your casserole dish and place two corn tortillas on the bottom as a base layer. Then stuff a tortilla with spinach, curl under and place open side down in the dish. Repeat until all the space is used up in the dish. Optional: If you want to add other ingredients to the tortillas like black beans, refried beans, tofu or other veggies, go for it. But I went with classic spinach today.

Pour the sauce over top the stuffed tortillas. Press gently on the enchiladas to allow the sauce to fill each crevice and marinate the enchiladas. Add the cheese over top, then the chilies and black olives.

Cover the dish with foil and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another ten minutes with the top exposed. You want the enchiladas to be cheesy, bubbly and browned on the very edges.

Allow to cool at least twenty minutes before serving. These are even better served the next day in my opinion because ll the flavors really marinate and reduce! Enjoy.

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 40 mins.

Total time: 50 mins.

Tags: enchiladas, easy,dinner,entree,cheese,spinach,vegan,recipe,food,mexican,

Pin it for later..

Source: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2019/04/spinach-enchiladas.html

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Grazing At Paddock On Crown, Surry Hills

Looking for somewhere to eat over the Christmas break? This surprising cafe on busy Crown Street in Surry Hills has an front, indoor and outdoor courtyard section. On the back of rave reviews from friends we had to check it out one Sunday morning - with our four legged friend Mochi of course. And did we mention that it is dog friendly?

"Nobody eat until all the food arrives," says a girl at another large table. Another one tells her friends about her life as an influencer and how she works with brands. What I'm trying to say is that the food at Paddock on Crown attracts a visual crowd. That is, it's very photogenic.

APMG $8

We start our brunch with a smoothie for Mr NQN. The APMG has apple pineapple, ginger and mint smoothie which has a good level of natural sweetness.

Benny Blini Your Way $19.50

The food comes out quickly and service is also prompt and friendly. The blini is a large, thick, soft blini topped with wilted kale, hollandaise and folds of smoked salmon (there is a choice of mixed mushrooms, smoked salmon or ham hock). I like the slight sweetness of the blini with the smoked salmon and poached eggs.

Mae Bae $16.50

We are both big fans of the Mae Bae which is a bacon and egg roll with mac n cheese, chorizo slices, coleslaw, house made barbecue sauce on a very soft, toasted brioche bun. It's saucy and delicious with just the right ratio of filling to bun and the house barbecue sauce that pulls it all together is delicious.

Fluffy Pancakes $18

The fluffy pancakes is actually one thick, spongy pancake although you can order additional pancakes for $4 each. There's a choice between ube (purple sweet potato) or vanilla ice cream. On top of the pancake is vanilla mascarpone, raspberry coulis, whipped maple butter and a huge scoop of ube ice cream. They're very generous with the maple syrup which is nice and Mr NQN adores this pancakes for that and the amount of fruit on it too.

Acai Mango frappe $8 and chai latte $4.20

Because it's dog friendly as well as quite large and therefore quite easy to get a table if you come a bit before lunchtime, we return the following weekend to try a bit more. For Mr NQN it's the Acai Mango smoothie which has just the right amount of sugar in it. For me, it's a chai latte which is also good.

Vongole Angel Hair Pasta $23.50

The vongole pasta has a good amount of spicy passata with clams, cherry tomatoes, parsley and truffle cheese that is quite light on the truffle. Still it's a sizeable dish that is equal parts pretty and satisfying.

Dead Bird Burger $18.50

I had been eyeing off the dead bird burger before because I adore fried chicken. This is a super moist and tender buttermilk chicken fillet with tomato and lettuce. It is topped with onion rings, a sweet pickle, jalapeno aioli and chips on the side. The chicken fillet itself is so tender but I think I would have loved a bit more heat or chilli in the sauce.

There's no dessert this time but only because we know that we'll be back for more!

So tell me Dear Reader, are you working or on your Christmas break? Are you eating out much while you're on holidays?

These meals were independently paid for.

509 Crown St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Open 8am–4pm, 7 days a week Phone: (02) 8399 2827

Source: https://www.notquitenigella.com/2018/12/29/paddock-on-crown-surry-hills/

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Spiced Apple Challah with a Pretzel Crust

Hi! I'm Stef Pollack. Welcome to Cupcake Project, where everyone from novice bakers to professional pastry chefs can find sweet and savory recipes to inspire and treasure.

Just about all of the photography and videography is done by my husband, Jonathan, and baking assistance and taste testing are provided by our son, Myles. It's a family affair!

This blog has been around since 2007 and my readers have always felt like family. Thanks for being a part of my online home!

Learn more »

Source: https://www.cupcakeproject.com/apple-challah/

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Pomme Rösti

Growing up in Kentucky, I’ve always been crazy about hashbrowns, specifically Waffle House hashbrowns. They are the kind made with shredded potatoes, fried in a thin layer so that they have a very high ratio of crispy crust to creamy interior. Now, I prefer them scattered, smothered, and covered, which means tossed on the grill with onions and covered with a slice of cheese. The great, upscale, Swiss version of that style of hashbrowns is pomme rösti. Below is a recipe for the best I’ve ever had, from Grant Crilly at ChefSteps.

Pomme Rösti

Get amazing deals and offers from Bydiscountcodes while grocery shopping.

Source: https://herbivoracious.com/2015/04/pomme-rosti.html

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Uber eats expects to deliver $10 billion worth of food this year

Uber was created 10 years ago to make ridesharing and cab hailing a breeze for people in major cities. Now you can catch a lift practically anywhere and even have a driver (or drone) deliver you something to eat from a five-star restaurant — or McDonald’s and Starbucks. Food delivery may have been an afterthought at the time of the transit company’s conception, but now Uber Eats is one of the most successful services in the business.

10 Ways to Get Same-Day Groceries Delivered

The San Francisco-based company now projects it will deliver $10 billion worth of food around the world this year, which is over $6 billion more than last year. Uber Eats — which debuted in Toronto in 2015 — ranks second to market leader Grubhub (the same company as Seamless) and above Postmates, DoorDash and Caviar, according to Forbes.

“When I first joined Uber, I think Uber was much more associated with ride-hailing and Eats was this interesting part-time endeavor,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told the outlet. “It has since exploded, in a good way, into a truly significant business.”

Uber Eats wasn't always Uber Eats, though. In 2014, the platform launched in Santa Monica, California, under the name UberFresh, which delivered lunch and dinner from select restaurants in just 10 minutes. Year later, executives realized people would be willing to wait longer if they could order food from a wider selection of restaurants. So in 2015, Uber Eats was officially born.

The success of Uber Eats and other food delivery services is due to the fact that Americans are spending ever increasing amounts on takeout. Large swaths of the population just don't have the time or energy to make home-cooked meals, and some even claim that millennials have killed the kitchen. According to data from investment bank UBS, that age group is three times as likely to order in than their parents. The organization even stated that “there could be a scenario where by 2030 most meals currently cooked at home are instead ordered online and delivered from either restaurants or central kitchens.”

As a whole, Americans spend about $70,000 each on takeout and delivery per lifetime. Of 1,000 participants surveyed in research from late 2017, 82 percent admitted to ordering out at least once every two weeks. That’s an estimated $100 cost every month, or $1,175 per year. We don’t even want to know what our individual delivery debt looks like, because it’s probably a lot more than that.

But we’re no Post Malone. The 23-year-old Syracuse-born rapper is one of Postmates’ most loyal customers, having spent $40,000 on nearly 3,000 items in 52 different cities across the U.S. Some of his favorite purchases are from fast food giants like Burger King, Chick-fil-Aand Popeyes, where he orders six biscuits, two five-piece tenders dinners, and a quarter-pound popcorn shrimp dinner. When he orders from Chick-fil-A, he asks for the “largest nugget tray they have.” Mood. Some other munchies Post likes to have delivered are a small chocolate and vanilla ice cream sheet cake from Carvel, chicken tenders, fries, and mozzarella sticks from a restaurant called Big Daddy’s, melatonin and garlic bread. Now that's living.

But for real, many of us don't have enough time in a day to spend an hour cooking dinner after work when all you want to do is chow down and relax. Plus, when that sushi or taco craving hits, it’s nearly impossible to not give in. If you are a superhero with the willpower to avoid the temptations of takeout, try these 20-minute recipes that will change your life. 

Source: https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/uber-eats-billions/021119

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My absolute favorite snack right now.

Sep 06

My absolute favorite snack right now.

posted by Kylie in Snack \\

12 comments »

A few weeks ago at the grocery store I walked down an aisle and saw some jerky and decided to throw it into the cart. I’m not a jerky person, but lately I’ve been craving more savory snacks and meat, so I decided to give Krave’s Black Cherry Barbecue Jerky a try (<–affiliate link). I feel the need to say that this post it not sponsored!

Once home I had a bag for a snack and found it so satisfying. It’s tender, instead of being stringy or tough. Later that week I ordered a pack of 8 off Amazon and have been enjoying them so much. They’re kinda pricey so I’m not sure how often I’ll be ordering a stash, but they are super tasty!

Are you a jerky person?

posted under Snack

12 comments

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Source: http://immaeatthat.com/2018/09/06/my-absolute-favorite-snack-right-now/

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let this be the cooldown

Recipe: huckleberry daiquiri

The weather took a turn this weekend, bringing cooler temperatures, clouds, and even some rain. The smoke is still present and we find that the intensity of the smoky odor doesn’t always correlate with the opacity of the air. But I’ll take a cooldown any way I can get it right now. We get out when we can, although being confined indoors means we are getting more work done.

We celebrated my mom’s birthday last week. At first my Dad had grand plans of going out for dinner at one of Boulder’s many fine dining establishments, but more and more my parents prefer eating with us at home. I think we all enjoy dining out, but when you are a good cook you understand the value of what you are getting at a restaurant versus what you are getting at home. There are plenty of times when dining in wins. Dad executed a fabulous feast including the traditional noodles for long life. I contributed a Colorado Palisade peach (the best peaches!) pie because my mom loves peaches and she doesn’t bake.

birthday girl and lots of special dishes

chinese beef and beef tendon noodle soup in 3-day broth

I’ll be honest with you, this has been a shitty summer as mountain summers go. Our monsoonal rains fizzled before they even got started, the smoke from the fires has kept us from exploring much of the high country (I’m allergic to smoke and suffer from allergy-induced asthma), and it appears that the mushroom season to date has been a mere token at best. We are skipping straight ahead to roasting green chiles, picking apples from friends’ trees, and mentally engaging ourselves with what we hope is the arrival of autumn in the mountains. We spy many random aspen branches flaring their gold colors around the neighborhood and on the trails. Most are still green, but I feel ready for fall, and then… precious winter. the understory of our local woods is turning

there aren’t many out there, but we find them

time to roast and restock the freezer

apple picking with this sweet little girl and her pup, kumba

Considering our poor snowpack and meager summer rains, Erin and I were astonished that this year’s huckleberry crop was 1) early by a month and 2) phenomenal. This was not the case everywhere, because my secret huckleberry patches outside of Crested Butte had so few berries that I left them all for the local wildlife to eat. Back on the Front Range, I have a huge stash cleaned, sorted, and frozen. There were so many berries that we hardly put a dent in them. I saved a few fresh ones to make some recipes, including a huckleberry daiquiri cocktail. ice, huckleberries, limes, sugar, water, rum

I had never had an actual daiquiri before. My knowledge of daiquiris came from the daiquiri ice sherbet at Baskin Robbins, which you could argue is no knowledge at all. But whenever I want to try a cocktail recipe, Jeremy always volunteers as tribute. To make it huckleberry, I merely steeped crushed berries in the simple syrup. And while I typically use organic cane sugar that has a brown tint to it, I opted for white granulated sugar to avoid any adulteration of the true huckleberry color. After you strain the berries out, don’t throw them away! These are great on pancakes, waffles, French toast, or ice cream. Huckleberries should never be wasted. make a simple syrup with water and sugar

mash the huckleberries

add the berries and let steep for 30 minutes

strain the syrup

Once the syrup is cooled, you can store it sealed in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. The making of the cocktail is easy. Fill a shaker with ice. Add the lime juice, rum, and huckleberry simple syrup. Shake until the liquids are chilled. Strain into your glass. I did a double batch here because our coupes are 10-ounce glasses. You don’t have to use a shaker with ice, but I like that it slightly dilutes the alcohol (I have zero alcohol tolerance) and it breaks off little shards of ice during the shaking which comes out as a little raft of delicate ice bits floating on the surface of your drink. lime juice, huckleberry simple syrup, white rum

pour everything into the ice-filled shaker

strain into the glass

We played around with different ratios and settled on a good balance. If you add too much simple syrup, the cocktail starts to taste like cough syrup. If you don’t have enough lime juice, it comes off flat. Adjust the ingredients to your liking. And as always, if you don’t have huckleberries, you can always use blueberries. It’s a vibrant and pleasing twist on a classic cocktail. garnish with a lime twist and a sprig of huckleberry

i love the frothy raft of ice shards

Huckleberry Daiquiri [print recipe] based on this recipe at Imbibe

ice 2 oz. white rum 1 oz. lime juice, freshly squeezed 3/4 to 1 oz. huckleberry simple syrup lime twist

huckleberry simple syrup 4 oz. huckleberries, fresh or frozen 1/4 cup white granulated sugar 1/4 cup water

Make the huckleberry simple syrup: Mash the huckleberries with the bottom of a glass to release some juices. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir over medium high heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil for one minute. Turn off the heat and stir the huckleberries into the syrup. Cover and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain the huckleberries from the syrup (compost, discard, or eat the huckleberries). Let cool.

Make the cocktail: Fill a cocktail shake with ice. Pour in the rum, lime juice, and huckleberry simple syrup. Shake vigorously to chill the cocktail, then strain into a glass. Garnish with a lime twist. Serves 1.

more goodness from the use real butter archives

huckleberry vodka infusion & huckleberry moscow mule huckleberry shrub and gin fizz cocktail huckleberry lemonade fig vodka infusion and fig blossom cocktail

August 19th, 2018: 9:32 pm filed under beverage, booze, entertaining, foraging, fruit, gluten-free, recipes, sweet

Source: http://userealbutter.com/2018/08/19/huckleberry-daiquiri-recipe/

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Rustic White Bean & Thyme Pot Pies (Two Ways!)

December 13, 2018

by Kare Christmas, Comfort Food, Dinner, Fall, Holidays, Kid Friendly, One Dish Two Ways, Protein Powered, Recipes, Vegan Dinners, Vegan+Carnivore, Vegetarian+Carnivore, Winter 1 Comment / Leave a Comment »

School is just about out for winter break, and I, for one, am so excited to have my little buddy back at my side for a couple of weeks! I have visions of homemade cookies and salt dough ornaments and gingerbread house making, though I fully admit that by the end of break most of my plans will have likely devolved into Sofia the First and Wild Kratts marathons. I’m planning to keep work at a minimum for the remainder of the month to help support the former and hopefully (mostly) prevent the latter. Thus, I’ve photographed, written, and scheduled a handful of recipes to share between now and then … and let winter break begin!

Oh wait! I guess I’ve gotten ahead of myself. I have a recipe to share right now! Okay guys, I have been trying to come up with the perfect pot pie recipe for awhile now. Something hearty with a good amount of protein for the vegetarians yet it won’t be weird if you add meat to the mix. At the risk of tooting my own horn, I really think I’ve finally nailed it with these Rustic White Bean & Thyme Pot Pies.

Individual pot pies are another perfect way to feed meat-eaters and vegetarians at the same table. Simply start with a veggie base, add some cooked chicken (or turkey, hi leftovers!) to the meat-eaters’ portions, and away you go!

Oh, and if you like, you can totally make use of cute little alphabet cookie cutters to differentiate pot pies. 

These Rustic White Bean & Thyme Pot Pies make the perfect winter dinner situation. They’re surprisingly easy to make – especially when you resort to store-bought pie crust as I often do. If you prefer a homemade situation that has no dairy, look no further than Minimalist Baker’s coconut oil pie crust. It’s terrific!

Okay, so we’ve got hearty cannellini beans along with hunks of carrots and buttery Yukon Gold potatoes, all in a savory, creamy, thyme-spiked sauce. Simple, rustic, yet somehow special. Even though this pot pie doesn’t contain traditionally wintery veggies, I think it just screams comfort and winter. Not literally, because that would be frightening. 

Speaking of winter, I’m off for winter break! Happy Holidays, friends, and see you on the other side!

Yield: 4 (10-ounce) pot pies

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 35 minutes

Total: 50 minutes

Hearty white beans, carrots, and potatoes in a creamy thyme-flavored sauce. Just add cooked chicken or turkey for the meat-eaters!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter, vegan butter (like Earth Balance), or olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)

2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1 cup)

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt + more to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper + more to taste

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

1 pound (2 cups) diced Yukon Gold potatoes

2 sprigs fresh thyme

Your favorite store-bought pie crust or homemade pie crust (for a homemade vegan option, I really like this coconut oil pie crust)**

Optional meat:

1/4 cup cooked shredded chicken or turkey per pot pie

Equipment:

Directions:

To a medium saucepan, add the olive oil or vegan butter. Warm over low heat. Add the onion and carrots and saute just until the onions are beginning to become translucent, 5-6 minutes.

Add flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir constantly for three minutes, adding the garlic during the last minute.

Slowly pour in the vegetable broth, stirring constantly. Add the potatoes and thyme sprigs. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are just about fork tender, about 5 minutes. Remove thyme stems. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired, to taste.

If adding chicken or turkey to any of the pot pies, add 1/4 cup to each ramekin.

Divide bean filling between the four or five ramekins, carefully stirring those that have meat with a small spoon to evenly distribute.

Cut circles of crust about 1″ larger than the circumference of the ramekins. To keep track of the meat pot pies vs. the veggie pot pies, I like to use letter cookie cutters – “VEG” for veggie and, in the case of the batch I made for the blog, “CHX” for chicken. A simple V or C will work or any old shape to help you tell them apart will do! Just be sure you at least slit the top to allow for steam to escape.

Bake 375 degrees for about 35 minutes, until the pie crust is golden brown and the filling is nice and bubbly.

Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

* Filling should be just enough for four 10-ounce ramekins if not adding meat. If adding meat to some, you should be able to stretch to five.

Vegan option:

Use Earth Balance vegan butter or olive oil and a vegan pie crust (some store-bought pie crusts are vegan – check the ingredients)

Meat option:

Self-explanatory! 🙂

All images and text ©Kare for Kitchen Treaty.

Kare

Kare is a vegetarian home cook living among carnivores. She loves creating irresistible and flexible recipes that help multi-vore families like hers keep the peace - deliciously.

Don’t Peace out yet!

Subscribe and get my Top 10 Easy Weeknight Dinners eBook for FREE!

Source: https://www.kitchentreaty.com/rustic-white-bean-thyme-pot-pies/

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Gluten Free Menu Plan

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Here is this week’s gluten free menu plan. I made notes next to the ingredients that need to be gluten free, but as always read labels to be sure the ingredients are safe for your family.

Breakfast

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes

Gluten Free Raspberry Muffins and eggs

Dinner

Mexican Scrambled Eggs

Taco Bowls

Eggs and Soy Sauce Over Rice– Use gluten free soy sauce

Chicken Bacon Salad

Slow Cooked Chicken Legs

Not Soggy Nachos 

Gluten Free Dessert of the Week

Chocolate Covered Dried Fruit

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Get additional gluten-free information from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures delivered to your inbox for free!

Source: https://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2018/09/gluten-free-menu-plan-25.html

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These 5 Apple Desserts Will Sweeten Rosh Hashanah

This apple crisp from Pinch of Yum is made sweet with a touch of honey. Photo credit: Pinch of Yum

In the Jewish tradition, apples are paired with honey, and the two are served together in early autumn to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the new year. There’s a underlying meaning—honey and apples symbolizes life’s sweetness—but the two also make for a wildly delicious and seasonally appropriate flavor pairing. Whether you’re honoring the holiday or simply celebrating the season, here are five honey-apple creations from around the web that are sure to brighten up your day when they come out of the oven.

Sunken Apple and Honey Cake

Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen put her own twist on the German apple cake known as versunkener apfelkuchen by swapping out some of the traditional sugar for honey, and brushing the cake with a unique salted honey glaze.

Honeyed Apple Crisp

This baked crisp by Pinch of Yum is filled with the goodness of apples, cinnamon, pecans and honey. Incidentally, it also happens to be wheat-free and devoid of any refined sugars.

Honey-Roasted Apples with Calvados and Sesame

Basic honey-roasted apples get kicked up a notch with the unusual addition of sesame seeds and a splash of Calvados (French apple brandy) in this easy weeknight dessert recipe from Saveur magazine.

Honey-Apple Bundt Cake

Tired of dry, sickly-sweet, overly-spiced cakes, recipe developer and blogger Tori Avey created one of her own. The result is a moist honey-apple bundt cake that’s garnished with a vanilla drizzle.

Source: https://blog.williams-sonoma.com/rosh-hashanah-honey-apple-desserts/

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Why Ingredients in Beer Matter – And What Beer Companies Aren’t Telling You

I was having a blast watching the Super Bowl last weekend… and it had NOTHING to do with the game! Bud Light started advertising that they have No Corn Syrup in their beer, and texts like this kept rolling in…

You see, we launched the petition that started the conversation about beer ingredients and why they matter. And now, Bud Light is spending millions of dollars on a marketing campaign to tell us that corn syrup isn’t in their beer – but there is SO MUCH MORE to this story. 

Here’s how it all started…

A little over 4 years ago I was sitting at Anheuser-Busch headquarters trying to convince their executives to develop an organic beer. At the time they told me they had tried one in the past, but it didn’t sell. Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale was the first one they produced many years ago, but they took it off the market… 

The original organic beer as seen at the Anheuser-Busch headquarters

Well, so much has changed since then, and not only did they end up coming out with an organic Michelob Ultra Pure Gold beer, but they advertised it during the Super Bowl! I couldn’t have been more happy to see that. I remember sitting in their board room, wondering if my arguments for an organic beer were convincing enough or just falling on deaf ears. 

Meeting with executives at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, MO

I’ve been investigating the ingredients in alcohol for the last 6 years and dedicated an entire chapter (chapter 7!) to it in my first book. The ingredients in beer are not required by law to be listed anywhere on the label and manufacturers have no legal obligation to disclose the ingredients. The beer industry is regulated by the U.S. Treasury Department (the people who collect taxes) instead of the FDA like most other food and beverages. This is why we know more about what’s in a can of Coke than what’s in our beer.

Since beer companies aren’t required to tell us their ingredients, I knew I needed to investigate this for myself and what I found shocked me. I grew concerned after discovering there is a long list of additives the government has approved for use that beer companies don’t need to tell you about… corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, stabilizers linked to intestinal inflammation, artificial colors, caramel coloring, and genetically modified ingredients, to name a few.

I knew people wanted to know more about what was in their beer (especially since my husband loves beer), so I launched a petition in 2014 asking the two biggest beer manufacturers in the world (Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors) to publish their ingredients online (1). The response was HUGE. Within the first 24 hours the petition received 43,000 signatures and Anheuser-Busch publicly agreed to publish the list of ingredients online (2). MillerCoors quickly followed.

The petition we started in 2014

Thanks to the work of the Food Babe Army, we made history that day. And that’s when Anheuser-Busch invited me to St. Louis to see how their beer was made. 

Behind the scenes at Anheuser-Busch

If you watched the Super Bowl, you likely saw Bud Light’s ads about how they don’t use corn syrup in their beer. They also threw Miller Light and Coors Light under the bus for using corn syrup in their beer…Which is completely true. 

I LOVE how they played the part of “Food Babe Army” in listing out the ingredients for everyone to see in these flyers. But as I wrote about in my first book, Bud Light actually never used corn syrup in their beer, so I found that misleading. 

Anheuser-Busch (the parent company for Bud Light) is insinuating that just because one product is “clean”, all of their other products are a better choice, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. They are using the same ingredients as Miller Light and Coors Light in some of their other beers.

Anheuser-Busch is still using corn syrup in other beers, which is likely made with GMO corn.

Bud Light spent millions of dollars on a marketing campaign to tell us that corn syrup isn’t in their beer, but other beers by Anheuser-Busch still use it. And this didn’t go unnoticed by their competition. During the SuperBowl, MillerCoors called them out online for putting high fructose corn syrup in some of their beers…

The battle is brewing between Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors. And while it’s great to see them open up the conversation around beer ingredients and transparency, it would have been better to see Anheuser-Busch remove all corn syrup from their beers before making a such a spectacle.

You’ll find corn syrup in several of their most popular beers like Rolling Rock, Kokanee, and Busch beer…

MillerCoors uses corn syrup in their beers too, but hasn’t always disclosed this… 

When MillerCoors first published their ingredients online following our 2014 petition, they did not list “corn syrup” as an ingredient (3). While the media was eating up the story, they simply reported the ingredients in Coors Light and Miller Light as “water, barley malt, corn, yeast, and hops” (4). More recent updates to their website shows the ingredients as this…

Coors Light: Water, Barley Malt, Corn Syrup (Dextrose), Yeast, Hop Extract Miller Light: Water, Barley Malt, Corn Syrup (Dextrose), Yeast, Hops and Hop Extract

Was MillerCoors not telling the whole truth about their ingredients 4 years ago or did they recently add corn syrup and hop extracts?

Should you care if there is corn syrup in your beer?

Corn syrup isn’t typically used as a sweetener in beer, rather it’s used as a cheap sugar which ferments. The reason why you wouldn’t want to drink beer made with corn or corn syrup is because almost all corn is genetically modified (GMO)(5) and if you don’t want to support GMOs, Monsanto/Bayer, and the chemical companies who are poisoning our food and environment with Roundup herbicides linked to cancer (6) – you don’t want beer produced with GMOs. Beer is traditionally brewed with malted barley, a non-GMO grain (7), and not corn. 

It’s not just the corn syrup. Beer companies are guilty of using other ingredients that don’t belong in beer. These two are the most common in mass produced beer… 

Hop Extract: Rather than using whole hops or hop pellets, beer companies use a chemically altered hop extract to add bitterness while reducing the amount of actual hops in the beer. This is a cheaper way to produce beer.

Caramel Color: This brown coloring is used to make some beers appear darker. It’s manufactured by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure, which creates carcinogenic compounds. Newcastle removed this from their beers in 2015 (8) after we called them out for this. It appears Stella Artois (by Anheuser Busch) also no longer contains caramel coloring, as we had reported finding it listed as an ingredient on an overseas website in 2014 (3). 

This is another big industry lie that we’ve seen companies do many times. They advertise how one product doesn’t contain something, but their other products still do. So you think that you can trust a brand, but you can’t.

It is CRAZY that Anheuser-Busch would base an entire multi-million dollar campaign on ONE product that doesn’t have corn syrup or hop extract – while their other products still use these ingredients.

Bud Light VP Andy Goeler was quoted as saying “While ingredient labels are not required, consumers deserve to know more about their beer. We brew Bud Light with the finest ingredients and we’re happy to proudly display them on our packaging. When people walk through a store, they are used to seeing ingredient labels on products in every aisle, except for the beer, wine and spirits aisle. As the lead brand in the category, we believe increasing on-pack transparency will benefit the entire beer category and provide our consumers with the information they expect to see.” (9)

I hope they live up to that statement when it comes to ALL of the beers at Anheuser-Busch – and not just Bud Light.

It’s just common sense. Don’t bash other products that use corn syrup and hop extract when you are doing the exact same thing. Either clean up your beers or don’t. I hope Anheuser-Busch learns from this and realizes this is not the way to win customers. We are smarter than that. 

In just two short weeks my new book hits shelves and I’m so excited for you to read it. It is very eye opening. In Feeding You Lies, I delve deep into the lies that food and beverage companies tell us to get us to keep buying their products. My hope is that it will change the food industry again, by encouraging them to use more transparent practices and improve their products.

We need all hands on deck, Food Babe Army! Pre-order a copy below to be one of the first to read it and be part of our movement pushing the industry to do better.

<![CDATA[ .ctfont font-family: 'Crimson Text', serif; .pre-order-now color: #e81f31; font-weight: bold; .claim-your-bonus-link text-decoration: underline; color: red !important; .preorder-button max-height:44px; .preorder-button:hover, .submit-button:hover -webkit-filter: drop-shadow(2px 2px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.5)); -ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')"; filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')"; .preorder-button.dark-bg:hover -webkit-filter: drop-shadow(2px 2px 2px rgba(255,255,255,0.2)); -ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')"; filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')"; .block-font font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; ]]>

ORDER NOW

Feeding You Lies

Available in stores everywhere

I can’t wait to see ingredient labels on every beer at the store, can you? I know it will happen when you share posts like this to keep the beer companies on their toes! 

It’s amazing how the seeds we planted to change the terrible lack of transparency in the beer industry are now bearing fruit. You are an amazing force Food Babe Army! Thank you for continuing to spread the word and demand the truth about what we are eating and drinking.

If you know anyone who loves to drink beer (I’m sure you do!) PLEASE SHARE this post with them! 

Xo,

Vani 

P.S. Want to know more about how the food and beverage industry swindles us? MUST READ: <![CDATA[ .ctfont font-family: 'Crimson Text', serif; .pre-order-now color: #e81f31; font-weight: bold; .claim-your-bonus-link text-decoration: underline; color: red !important; .preorder-button max-height:44px; .preorder-button:hover, .submit-button:hover -webkit-filter: drop-shadow(2px 2px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.5)); -ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')"; filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')"; .preorder-button.dark-bg:hover -webkit-filter: drop-shadow(2px 2px 2px rgba(255,255,255,0.2)); -ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')"; filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Dropshadow(OffX=2, OffY=2, Color='#444')"; .block-font font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; ]]>

ORDER NOW

Feeding You Lies

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Source: https://foodbabe.com/why-ingredients-in-beer-matter-and-what-beer-companies-arent-telling-you/

[bordersmash8-blog]

18 Favorite Fall Chicken Recipes (Weeknight-ish)

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onFormSubmit: function(e) e.preventDefault();

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Source: https://alexandracooks.com/2018/11/09/18-favorite-fall-chicken-recipes-weeknight-ish/

[bordersmash8-blog]

Panera’s Utopic Pay-What-You-Want Restaurant Dream Is Dead

Nine years after introducing pay-what-you-can restaurants to several U.S. cities, Panera Bread is admitting defeat and closing down its last remaining non-profit Panera Cares location. The Massachusetts restaurant will shutter on February 15, according to Eater Boston.

The chain opened its first donation-based community cafe in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2010. Under the model championed by the company’s founder Ron Shaich, the restaurant operated like a typical Panera, but offered meals at a suggested donation price, with the goal of raising awareness about food insecurity. “In many ways, this whole experiment is ultimately a test of humanity,” Shaich said in a TEDx talk later that year. “Would people pay for it? Would people come in and value it?” It appears the answer is a resounding no.

At its peak, Panera Cares operated five locations, including ones in Dearborn, Michigan; Portland, Oregon; Boston, and Chicago. Each restaurant was designed to sustain itself, but the restaurants weren’t financially viable. The Portland-based Panera Cares was reportedly only recouping between 60 and 70 percent of its total costs. The losses were attributed students who “mobbed” the restaurant and ate without paying, as well as homeless patrons who visited the restaurant for every meal of the week. The location eventually limited the homeless to “a few meals a week.”

“We had to help them understand that this is a café of shared responsibility and not a handout,” Shaich said in a 2011 interview about the Portland location. “It can’t serve as a shelter and we can’t have community organizations sending everybody down.” Some visitors noted in online reviews that the restaurant began to feel unwelcoming to the very people it aimed to serve, suggesting that Panera maybe didn’t care about community-building as much as its original goal suggested. Patrons reported security guards roaming the entrance and “glaring at customers.” People working with at-risk residents described incidents during which they were rudely told off by managers for “abusing the system.” Others described situations in which visitors trying to participate in the pay-as-you-can system feeling shamed for not being able to afford the suggested donation amount.

By 2016, the Panera Cares experiment appeared to be winding down. The Dearborn restaurant shuttered in 2016, followed by the Chicago and Portland locations. Panera was sold to a private equity firm, JAB Holding Company in 2017. Shaich stepped down as CEO of the fast-casual chain in January 2018, around the same time that the pilot Panera Cares in St. Louis closed down. Shaich told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at that time that all the Panera Cares restaurants together served roughly 2 million meals during their operation, but “the nature of the economics did not make sense.” With only one location left in Boston, Fast Company rang the death knell of the pay-as-you-go experiment last June, with official confirmation of the final closure coming earlier this week.

“Despite our commitment to this mission, it’s become clear that continued operation of the Boston Panera Cares is no longer viable,” JAB Holdings wrote in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. “We’re working with the current bakery-cafe associates affected by the closure to identify alternate employment opportunities within Panera and Au Bon Pain.”

Where Panera Cares may have failed, the pay-what-you-can restaurant model has proven itself viable in some cases. Denver-based restaurant SAME, which helped inspire Panera Cares, opened in 2006 with the goal of allowing every customer to dine with dignity regardless of their ability to pay full price. The restaurant is continuing to fulfill that mandate today, proving that there is occasionally such a thing as a free lunch.

• Panera Will End Its Pay-What-You-Want Test, Closing Boston Store [Bloomberg] • Panera Is Closing Its Last Pay-What-You-Can Location [EBOS] • How Do Pay-What-You-Want Restaurants Work? [E]

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Source: https://www.eater.com/2019/2/5/18212499/panera-cares-closing-pay-what-you-can-restaurant

[bordersmash8-blog]

Azuki Beans in a Fragrant Spicy Tomato Gravy

The colorful little red bean spelled variously as azuki, aduki or adzuki is also known sometimes as the red mung bean, with which it shares not only a visual appeal but also a delicate sweetness. But while mung beans are widely used in savory preparations, it's much more difficult to find savory dishes featuring azuki beans which are far more often simply boiled with sugar to make a sweet red bean paste. This is a strange scarcity because both beans are an excellent foundation for savory cooking.

In fact, these jewel-like beans may be used in any recipe calling for mung beans, but there are differences — the azuki bean has a richer and nuttier flavor than the green mung bean which has a somewhat more earthier taste and texture, so the two beans really do add a distinct character to the dish they are added to.

These azuki beans cooked in tomatoes and spices are easy to prepare and go well with a side grain such as rice. Frying the spices in oil before adding the beans adds a pleasing smokiness in addition to the heat that makes fresh mixed vegetables dressed with a basic vinaigrette a refreshing complement to this meal.

Azuki Beans in a Fragrant Spicy Tomato GravyRecipe by Lisa Turner Cuisine: Indian Published on March 18, 2019

Plump and tender sweet red azuki beans simmered in a fragrant spiced tomato gravy

Print this recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup dried azuki beans

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (optional)

1 to 2 dried whole red chlies

1 clove garlic, minced or crushed

1-inch fresh ginger, minced or grated

1 fresh red chili, seeded and minced

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon amchoor (dried mango) powder (optional)

1/4 teaspoon asafetida (optional)

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

juice from 1 lime (2 tablespoons)

Instructions:

Rinse the beans and soak in enough water to cover for 6 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, toss in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds if using and dried red chilies. Cook until the mustard seeds turn grey and begin to splutter and pop — about 60 seconds. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the garlic, ginger and fresh chili. Stir for a minute or two and then toss in the spices and amchoor powder and asafetida if using. Stir for another minute until the spices are fragrant, and then stir in the tomato. Cook, stirring often, for 5 to 7 minutes until the tomato thickens.

Pour in 2 1/2 cups of water and the drained beans. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender — about 50 to 60 minutes. Add a bit more water to the pan if necessary and enough to reach your desired consistency.

When the beans are tender, turn off the heat and stir in the salt and lime juice. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings

Other azuki bean recipes from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen: Spicy Adzuki Beans with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Mushrooms Roasted Carrot and Azuki Bean Salad Spicy Azuki Bean Risotto Yunnan Stir-Fried Azuki Beans and Green Pepper

This is my contribution to My Legume Love Affair, a monthly event celebrating the goodness all things legumes, started by lovely Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook, administered by me since 2013, and kept going by those who so kindly guest host each month. Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen is hosting for March 2019, so please see her post for details and to contribute a vegetarian legume creation this time around.

Source: https://foodandspice.blogspot.com/2019/03/azuki-beans-in-fragrant-spicy-tomato.html

[bordersmash8-blog]

Taco Bell fire-sauce packet cookie cutters will spice up your baking

Want to spice up your cookie baking? Taco Bell is selling two cookie cutters that let bakers bring the chain’s Mexican food favorites home. One is shaped like a crispy-shelled taco, and the other is shaped like Taco Bell’s classic fire-sauce packet.

Taste Test: The Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookies, Ranked Slideshow

The cookie cutters are sold in a set including both the taco and the fire-sauce shape. Each cutter comes with a stamp to press details into the cookie. The stamp for the sauce packet cutter presses  the FIRE! wording and packet design details into the cookie, and the taco stamp presses an edge on the taco shell that helps show off the veggies and other taco filling. Hope you've got a steady hand with an icing bag!

The set sells for $15 at the online Taco Bell Taco Shop. Taco Bell didn’t respond to a request for comment as to when the cookie cutters were released, but they seem to be new.

If fire sauce and tacos are among your favorite things, the store offers plenty of other non-edible accessories. You might want to pick up a pair of fire-sauce socks ($15), a hot-sauce pillow ($30), a set of three hot-sauce packet balloons ($20), a fire-sauce packet notebook ($15) and hot-sauce packet iPhone cases ($10 each).

Some of these items would be great for a Taco Bell wedding – hint, hint. And cookie tacos are adorable, but maybe you’re craving a regular taco. Here are America’s 75 best tacos.

Source: https://www.thedailymeal.com/taco-bell-fire-sauce-packet-cookie-cutters/021619

[bordersmash8-blog]

Pad Thai

Even though some think it’s a cop-out ordering Pad Thai in a Thai restaurant, marking you as a newbie, I like it quite a bit. I do tend to go for Pad See Ew, wide pan-fried rice noodles, although I’m a little picky about them because I like the dish when the chewy ribbons of noodles have stuck to the wok and start sticking together, getting charred in the process, and the dish isn’t overly saucy. Chow fun can be made like that, if you order it dry-fried, which I do.

At a book event in Paris, Danette St. Onge stopped by and gave me a copy of her book, The Better-Than-Takeout Thai Cookbook, knowing that I liked to make foods from other countries. Being from California, foods from Asia are part of our DNA, regardless of our individual ancestry. I’m happy to be part of that mix, and in Paris, Asian restaurants are thriving (and usually packed) outside of the traditional quartiers asiatiques, most notably Belleville and the 13ème. Thai cuisine isn’t as well-represented as, say, Vietnamese (perhaps due to the seasonings), so I often take matters into my own hands, or wok, or skillet, and make it myself.

When I posted a nod to a Vietnamese cookbook I liked recently, some inquired, “Are the recipes authentic?” and I didn’t know how to answer. Would that mean the recipes are made exactly the same way they were first made, which might have been hundreds (or thousands) of years ago? Or were the recipes modified and adapted over the years, as new ingredients were available, or as immigrants searched for items similar to their home countries when they moved elsewhere? I don’t know too many recipes that have stayed exactly the same since their inception, and I’m not the only one who questions whether it matters, or not.

Incoming San Francisco Chronicle food writer and critic, Soleil Ho, described authenticity as “a shackle,” when vowing never to use that word. Others are distancing themselves from the term “cheap food” as it gets applied to foods from certain parts of the world, but not others. (For some reason, we seek out an eight-buck bowl of Pho or ramen, but don’t expect to find Cacio e pepe pasta at the same price point.) Admittedly, a lot of Asian food is “street food” meant to be made, and served, quickly (and inexpensively, I guess I should add…) – without a lot of fanfare, like Pad Thai.

Speaking of controversy, I’ve seen recipes for Pad Thai that use…wait for it… ketchup, in place of the tamarind paste. I’m not a big ketchup fan (I don’t even like it on fries) but it is America’s “umami,” just like mustard is the umami of France, and fish sauce is the umami of Vietnam. But ketchup‘s origin was in China (via Vietnam), and originally made differently than what we think of ketchup today; the other version is called kĕchap or ke-chiap and used in Malaysian and Singaporean cooking, hence the connection.

The great thing about being an adult, however, if that you can make – and eat – whatever you want. Well, as long as you don’t write about it on the internet ; ) But going shopping these days can be a loaded experience, whether you write about it or not, which I kept in my mind as I headed to Belleville to gather the ingredients to make Pad Thai.

Fortunately, all the ingredients are pretty readily available, even in Paris. The only one you might need to track down is tamarind paste, which you can buy already made, or make it yourself. (I did see a version of Pad Thai that uses distilled white vinegar, in lieu of tamarind paste, which I haven’t tried. But I did actually try the ketchup version when that book came out in 1997, but it’s pretty controversial.)

Danette’s recipe didn’t have dried shrimp in it, which I like in Pad Thai, which Andy Ricker uses, as it gives Pad Thai an underlying savory flavor. But in Paris, they cost €21,99 ($25) for a frozen 400g (nearly one-pound) bag, and I knew it would take me a long, long time to finish those off, if I used them by the tablespoon. So I passed.

Danette grew up in Thailand and California, where her parents operated a Thai restaurant. She also writes for food magazines and I have to say, the recipes in her book are remarkably well-written. You know, the kind of recipes where you feel like you can actually follow what she’s saying, and she gives you a heads-up about things to look for, what might go wrong (and how to avoid them), as well as do-ahead tips. I often read cookbooks and think, hmm, was there a better way to explain something? But The Better-Than-Takeout Thai Cookbook hit all the right notes for me. And all the flavors, too.

I especially appreciated her tips on buying the flat rice noodles used for Pad Thai. The store I went to had several shelves of dried rice noodles, but no flat ones. (I joke that the farther I go to buy something in Paris, the more chance there is that they will be out of it.) Facing an empty space where the flat noodles, theoretically, should have been – which Danette said are often labeled Chataboon or Jantaboon – I found them one aisle away, in their own special place, as if they were placed there just to prove my theory right.

Romain and I were lucky I found them and we were rewarded with a speedy, definitely better-than-takeout lunch. Once you have the ingredients gathered, and prepared, this Pad Thai can be made in minutes. You are welcome to cook the noodles in advance, prepare the sauce, trim the shrimp (if you’re a vegetarian or don’t eat shellfish, you can leave them out), slice the scallions, and chop the garlic. Then, when you’re ready to go, before you know it, you’ll be at the table, enjoying this better-than-takeout Pad Thai.

Adapted from The Better-Than-Takeout Thai Cookbook by Danette St. OngeI like to add minced or crushed dried shrimp to my Pad Thai, but the ones I found in Paris were packed in 400g (about one pound) frozen bags, and were €22. I didn't think I'd use that amount very quickly, so I passed, but if you do, you add them in step 4, right after you saute the garlic. (Most Asian food shops in the U.S. sell dried shrimp in small bags.) Danette says you can use 1/3 cup of finely chopped dried shrimp in place of the fresh shrimp, "for a more traditional version," although I'd probably dial that down to one or two tablespoons.Some versions of Pad Thai have crushed dried Thai chiles added right after cooking, about 1/4 teaspoons, at the end of step 5, when adding the peanuts and other ingredients. A bit more can be sprinkled over the top, too.Pressed tofu, as shown in the post, often comes flavored with 5-spice powder, which was all I could find. Most stores that specialize in Asian ingredients carry it. If you can't find it, firm tofu is a decent substitute. Or you can make crispy tofu and cut the cubes into strips or smaller pieces for this recipe.This recipe cooks remarkably fast. It's best to prepare all the ingredients, so they're all ready to go when you heat up the skillet. The total cooking time is less than 5 minutes, so you'll want to be prepared.

4 ounces (115g) dried thin, flat rice noodles

1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce

3 tablespoons (32g) granulated palm sugar or light brown sugar

2 tablespoons (40g) tamarind paste

3 tablespoons vegetable oil (total)

12 medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, with tails on (preferably)

2 tablespoons (20g) minced shallots

1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced

2 eggs, beaten together in a small bowl

1 1/2 cups (75g) bean sprouts (total)

3 ounces (80g) pressed tofu (see headnote)

3 scallions (just the green parts), cut into 1 1/2-inch (5cm) pieces

1/4 cup (35g) roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped, plus an additional 2-3 tablespoons (chopped) for garnish

fresh lime wedges, for garnish

1. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the noodles. Let the noodles sit in the water for 5 minutes, stirring them a few times as they sit. Drain the noodles and rinse well under cold running water, separating the noodles with your fingers, and set aside.

2. Mix the fish sauce, palm sugar, and tamarind paste in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until they're just about cooked through, about 2 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the wok or skillet and set aside. (If you can only find pre-cooked shrimp, skip this step and have them ready to add later.)

4. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok or skillet and add the shallots and garlic. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute, then add the cooked noodles and fish sauce mixture. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring, until everything is well combined.

5. Push the noodles to the side of the wok or skillet and add the eggs to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until they start to set, about 30 seconds, then add the cooked shrimp, 1 cup (50g) bean sprouts, the tofu, scallions, and 1/4 cup peanuts. Continue to cook, stirring, until everything is well combined and heated through, about 30 seconds. If the mixture looks a little dry (the noodles should be slicked with sauce with some extra floating around), add a tablespoon or so of water or chicken stock.

6. Transfer the Pad Thai to a serving plate. Serve sprinkled with the remaining bean sprouts, peanuts, and wedges of fresh lime alongside.

Related Recipes

Pim’s Pad Thai (Use Real Butter)

Pad Thai (in 5 parts) (She Simmers)

Andy Ricker talks about Thai Ingredients (Munchies)

David Thompson’s Pad Thai (Gourmet Traveler)

Tofu Press, for making your own pressed tofu (Amazon)

How to make tamarind paste (The Splendid Table)

Source: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/recipe-pad-thai-recipe-thailand-noodles/

[bordersmash8-blog]

Hillshire® Snacking Social Platters make the Holidays a Breeze

The NEW Hillshire® Snacking Social Platters are the perfect solution to a holiday problem.

Which holiday problem? The problem of too much to do and too many parties to host! If you have to choose between wrapping gifts and slicing cheese, which are you going to choose?

Hillshire Snacking Social Platters solve your conundrum because they have done all the work for you. The platters have everything you need for pre-dinner snacking. All you have to do is buy it and remember to serve it (or bring it with you to a holiday party).

First of all, it comes in two varieties:

First, the Genoa Salame & Prosciutto tray which includes (you guessed it) genoa salame, proscuitto, white cheddar cheese, dark chocolate and herb toasted rounds.

They also have the Calabrese Salame & Genoa Salame variety which includes calabrese alame, genoa salame, white cheddar cheese, sea salt toasted rounds, dried cranberries and dried cherries. Calabrese salame has paprika and a bit more kick than Genoa Salame.

They are both delicious and have five ingredients that come on their own easy-to-serve platter..

This of course, should be obvious but I have been known to use my own plate with these types of products. Now, you don’t have to remember to bring home your favorite plate from Aunt Sue’s holiday celebration because you didn’t bring it! Talk about less stress. As you can see, the platter is part of the packaging.

This is a snacking platter that you “flip and serve”. You remove the platter from the package, peel off the film seal, replace the black platter (holding tight), then flip it over. Next, you remove the lid and serve it. I served mine with a little rosemary garnish and a fork to pick up the Prosciutto. You could also serve it with toothpicks.

I found these platters at my local Stop & Shop in the refrigerated deli section of the store next to the party platters.

These are much more unique than other trays that just come with square cheese and grapes. The flavor combinations (both sweet and savory) are chef curated and the ingredients are high quality.

The key to a great holiday party is food and a relaxed crowd. You don’t need to sweat all the details to create a warm atmosphere.

Of course, you still probably need to supply some sparkling apple cider or wine to go with your platter. I drink a lot of prosecco during the holidays because it goes so well with cheese and salty meats.

Source: https://snack-girl.com/snack/hillshire-snacking-social-platter/