Author: cia

Pasta with Creamed Summer Corn Sauce

Why aren’t you puréeing that corn? Because I want to leave some of them whole for texture. You’ve thought of everything!

There’s a new man in my life and he’s been quite easy to impress, but I do have to admit that even I was pretty floored with this dish I whipped up after seeing Melissa Clark’s summer corn recipe. We started our meal with a simple caprese salad and then paired this dish with a very dry rosé.

I didn’t want to buy any new pasta so I ended up using the squid ink pasta I already had. The corn came from the farmer’s market at Columbia University over the weekend, and I shucked and sliced off the kernels from the cobs before sautéeing with garlic and butter. I then puréed it to make a sauce-like consistency.

The creaminess of the corn was enough to make it so; there is no need for dairy here except for the butter, but feel free to shred some Parmesan cheese over it to give it more of a heft.

Ingredients:
a package of squid ink pasta
oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced (keep the whites and greens separate)
salt, pepper
chile flakes
3 large ears corn, shucked and kernels sliced off the cobs, about 2 cups
a small know of butter
basil leaves, torn
mint leaves, finely chopped
fresh lemon juice, as needed

1. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente, drain, reserving some of pasta water, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large pan over medium heat. Sauté garlic until golden and add scallion whites. Cook until soft, about 3 minutes, and season with some salt, pepper, and chile flakes.
3. Add a splash of the pasta water and the corn kernels. Simmer until corn is heated through and almost tender, up to 5 minutes. Transfer all except a handful of corn to a food processor and purée until smooth, adding a little pasta water as needed to get a creamy but pourable texture.
4. Heat the same skillet with the corn that you didn’t purée over medium-high heat and add the puréed corn. Add butter and stir to melt. Toss in the scallion greens, basil, and mint, adding a splash of pasta water or two to keep it from getting dry. Turn off the heat and add pasta, gently tossing to coat. Serve with lemon slices.

Cold Poached Chicken with Sichuan Chile Sauce

A lot of people get weirded out by poached chicken because it looks so unfamiliar, namely not covered in batter and fried. I’m sure there are other cuisines that poach chicken but to me, it’s a very Chinese thing especially when served cold with a sauce. In this case, it’s a Sichuan chile sauce that gives the dish not only color but also body and a little bit of kick.

Lately I’ve been going through Fuschia Dunlop’s cookbooks because I missed deep Asian flavors during my trial Whole30 meal plan. I learned how to cook Sichuan food and how to appreciate the humble Sichuan peppercorn through her books. I went back to pages I’ve initially bookmarked and this recipe is one is them.

Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs
1 large knob of ginger, peeled, cut in smaller pieces
2 scallions, chopped
salt
sesame seeds, toasted

For the sauce:
2 tbsps light soy sauce
2 tbsps Chinkiang vinegar
1 tbsp of the chicken stock
Sichuan chile paste
a jigger of sesame oil

1. Place washed chicken thighs in a stock pot and fill with just enough water to cover. Add ginger and bring to a boil, uncovered.
2. Skim impurities and lower the heat to a medium simmer. Cover and poach for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the chicken to a shallow bowl using a spider. (Save the broth minus the solids for another recipe.) Rinse with cold water, drain, and break into bite-sized pieces. Toss with some salt and scallions.
4. Make the sauce to serve. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Add the Sichuan chile paste according to your heat preference. Pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Whole 30 Lunch: Roasted Chicken and Vegetables Bowl

I miss Asian flavors the most during this Whole30 mess but I’m learning to love salt, pepper, and red chile flakes as marinade and seasoning–as bare as they can get. A squeeze of lemon or lime juice brighten things up before serving and is a good substitute for my Sriracha cravings.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breast fillets, patted dry with a paper towel
1 head of cauliflower, chopped in small florets
1 bunch of asparagus
2 large tomatoes, quartered
olive oil
salt, pepper
red chile flakes
avocado, sliced
1 egg, fried
lime juice

1. Preheat oven at 350º while you prep the chicken and the vegetables. Line a small baking sheet with foil. Put chicken breasts and drizzle with oil and then season with salt, pepper, chile on both sides.
2. Then line a larger baking sheet with foil and arrange all the vegetables on it. Drizzle with oil and then season with salt, pepper, chile as well.
3. Roast at the same time: the vegetables for 30 minutes and the chicken for 45 minutes, turning the chicken once or twice while cooking. Slice the chicken in bite-size pieces and cut the asparagus in 3 parts.
4. Scoop, divide, and arrange everything in serving bowls. Feel free to drizzle more olive oil. Top with avocado and a fried egg. Squeeze a little bit of lime juice for some brightness.

Whole30 Dinner: Barbecue Ribs

These barbecue ribs will fall apart with just a gentle prod of your fork. The best thing is that it cooked while I was at yoga class; I simply reheated my oven while I was getting ready to work out, put the meat in the oven before I left the apartment, and by the time yoga was finished and I had walked back home, the meat was ready!

Ingredients:
half a rack of pork ribs
5 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
salt, pepper
paprika

1. Dry the ribs with a paper towel. Rubs the garlic cloves all over the meat. Keep the garlic to line your container. Brush the meat with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle and rub paprika all over.
2. Transfer to a sealable glass container that’s been lined with the garlic. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 days to marinate.
3. When ready to cook, let the ribs sit in room temperature while you preheat the oven at 275º. Transfer the marinated ribs to a sheet of aluminum foil, large enough to fold over, cover and seal. Put on a foil-lined baking sheet (the juices will leak) and bake for 2 hours.
4. When done, remove from oven and open the foil to release remaining heat and serve.

Whole30 Dinner: Chicken and Turkey Meatballs with Lacinato Kale Salad

Are you now getting a hang of Whole30 meals? When you plan a little ahead of time, you can make multiple meals out of the same batch of ingredients. This is now the third meal I’ve created out of the chicken and turkey ground meat I bought from the same trip to the market.

Ingredients:
scant olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 pound ground chicken meat
1/4 pound ground turkey meat
salt, pepper
red chile flakes
1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 sprigs of mint, finely chopped
1 scallion
lime juice
1/4 cup coconut flour
ghee
2 eggs, soft-boiled

1. Put all the ingredients together in a bowl except the coconut flour, ghee and eggs. Mix well and incorporate. Scoop a generous tablespoon and gently roll them like meatballs between in your hands.
2. Put the coconut flour in a separate plate and roll each meatball until slightly covered. It provides a nice thin cover unlike regular flour.
3. In a skillet, heat a tablespoon of ghee and fry the meatballs in medium-low heat, about 2 minutes per side, until most of the ball is golden brown to ensure that it’s cooked inside. Feel free to add more ghee if your pan is burning too fast. Serve with soft-boiled eggs.

Recommended:
The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom
I bought this tub of ghee from Organic Valley Purity Farms from Whole Foods
I picked the least expensive coconut flour because I know I won’t be using it as much