Pad Thai Salad

I like Thai food because of its fresh flavours. I love the zesty lime, crisp carrots and bean sprouts, and the crunchy peanuts.

As I was making this pad Thai salad I realised that it's actually quite similar to the coleslaw with which I grew up in Canada - the base is just shredded vegetables. Then there's a sauce and some add-ins. (And almost all of my cooking has a formula not unlike this.)

As I was slicing the mint and basil for the pad Thai, my mind was constructing this table. Suddenly the superiority of pad Thai salad over coleslaw became obvious!

Thai Red Curry with Beef and Pumpkin

Cooking = Ingredients + Execution

In the case of this Thai red curry, the execution is very simple. Use only one big pot or pan and add things one at a time until it is all cooked.

As for ingredients, use a prepared red curry paste to make things both simple and authentic in taste. Add ingredients you have around the kitchen like beef (or another meat or protein) and vegetables (such as pumpkin or another root vegetable). Some sweet basil leaves and kaffir lime leaves (optional) add a nice little touch of differentiation from last night's easy dinner.

Weekend Links #34

Weekend Links is a way of sharing all the engrossing things I see around the internet. I publish Weekend Links approximately every two weeks. As usual, I welcome your ideas and feedback.

It's a drinks-themed set of links this time, with tea, coffee, and ginger-ade featured. I love me a mug of tasty stuff to sip.

food reading links:
--A good discussion on The Kitchn centred around meal planning and allowing inspiration to strike. One reader plans "improv night" on the day of grocery shopping so she can cook whatever sparked her interest at the shops. Also, I love that someone has a spreadsheet for recipes.
--Yippee, several huge studies show that coffee helps you live longer (from Authority Nutrition). But obviously, adding sugar would kind of defeat any idea of healthiness.
--The science and psychology of a diet cheat day (from Q by Equinox).

Sweet Potato and Chicken Thai Green Curry

This week's recipe pick for Wednesdays with Donna Hay is from a book that I don't own, Off the Shelf. But I found a blogger who had written about it and so I adapted the recipe I found.

How to Reduce the Sharpness of Raw Onions

I love raw onions but find they taste too strong. I feel as though their sharpness is just one notch too high for me. Thankfully there is an easy way to reduce the strong bite of raw onions slightly. And it only requires reordering your preparation steps.

Jackfruit and Durian Chips - Snacks from Thailand

I was in Thailand recently accompanying a school trip. One afternoon I tried these dried fruit chips from the hotel shop. I picked up two types: durian chips and jackfruit chips. Each packet cost me THB 40, which is about GBP 0.90 or USD 1.35. As I consumed my snack, I took tasting notes for you. Read on to find out more.