Burmese Salad

Aloha!

I just returned from another incredible trip to Kauai!

We spent almost three weeks taking beach walks, surfing, free diving, beachcombing, ceramic hunting, muumuu shopping, and drinking a ton of green juice. It was amazing!

On this trip to Kauai, we finally opted for accommodations with a kitchen. We love eating out on vacation but over the years we have found that we are more comfortable making the majority of our meals at home. Especially on longer trips. Not only is it more affordable but we generally feel so much better when we do this. Plus, Kauai has some pretty amazing farmer’s markets so it makes it even more enjoyable to make meals at home.

However, we did make a few exceptions…

My favorite place to eat on Kauai’s Northshore is an upscale ramen restaurant named Ama. Not only is the food absolutely delicious but the airy building and general esthetics are so on point! Beautiful dark wood interior, open-air with garden seating, an incredible view of the waterfall abundant mountains of Hanalei, beautiful Balinese teak furniture, bamboo lanterns, and a generous amount of orchids. Seriously, EVERYTHING I LOVE! Check out their website HERE.

I think we went to Ama maybe five times on this three-week-long trip? I basically ordered the same exact thing every time…Fried Brussel sprouts ( minus the fish sauce ), ramen with a vegan spicy miso broth, and a Burmese salad with a ginger vinaigrette that I’m completely obsessed with!

As soon as I returned to Maui, I did my best to recreate the Brussel sprout dish and the Burmese salad and honestly, I think I nailed them both! Or at least made a very passable version of them.

So here’s my attempt at Ama’s incredible Burmese salad. I’ll post my version of the Brussel sprout dish in another post. If you make it to Kauai, make sure to make a reservation ahead of time at Ama so you can try the real deal!

Burmese Salad - two entree size salads or 4 small

Roasted Lentils - Pre-heat oven to 350F

• 1, 14 oz can of brown lentils. Drained, rinsed, and patted dry on a paper towel

• garlic powder and salt

• avocado oil spray

  Spread drained, rinsed, and dried lentils on an oiled parchment-lined cookie sheet making one layer. It’s important to use pre-cooked lentils when making this recipe. I used canned lentils for convenience but you can easily cook your own. After spreading the lentils on a cookie sheet, spray lightly with avocado oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, shake, add a sprinkle of garlic powder and bake for another 10 minutes until slightly crispy. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. I use about half the cooked lentils for this recipe and save the rest to snack on or to add to other salads for veggie bowls.

Ginger Dressing - you will have leftovers

• 1/4 cup avocado oil

• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

• 1.5 Tbs cane sugar or coconut sugar

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 Tb grated fresh ginger

  Mix/shake all the ingredients until the sugar is dissolved.

Salad Base

• Romaine lettuce ( 1 medium head ) finely chopped

• Napa Cabbage ( 1 medium head, tender green part of leaf only ) finely chopped. If you can’t find Napa cabbage you can just add extra chopped romaine.

• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

• 1/3 cup sliced sushi-style ginger ( I used the Ginger People brand )

• 1 Tb sesame seeds

• 1/3 cup chopped peanuts ( or almonds if avoiding peanuts, cashews would work too )

• 2 Tbs sunflower seeds ( optional )

• 1 red Fresno thinly sliced or Thai chili thinly sliced ( optional ) These chilies are HOT so be careful.

  Place all the salad-base ingredients in a large bowl. Add about 1/2 of the prepared roasted lentils and 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of the ginger dressing. Toss everything together and enjoy!

  ***Cubed and baked teriyaki tofu make a fabulous addition to this dish. Add a side of sticky rice and you got a great filling meal.

Late Season Spicy Gazpacho

For those of you that aren’t quite ready for “fall-themed” foods ( meaning, pumpkin spice on everything LOL ) This is a great way to use up those ripe, late summer tomatoes and make a delicious light lunch. I feel like this gazpacho is best when it has a few hours to sit and “marinate” in the fridge. If you aren’t into spicy foods, you can easily skip the sambal or sriracha that I’m obsessed with. No strict rules here so enjoy!

Late Season Spicy Gazpacho - makes approximately 6 servings

• 32 oz tomato organic juice

• 5 large tomatoes - scored, blanched, peeled, and diced

• 1 large seeded cucumber, diced ( I left the skin on )

• 1/2 large green bell pepper, diced

• 3 cloves of garlic minced

• 1/2 of a large red onion, diced

• 1/2 cup of Italian basil, chopped

• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped ( cilantro haters can omit )

• 2 Tbs aged balsamic vinegar

• 2 Tbs olive oil

• 2 Tbs sambal or sriracha for heat ( a finely diced jalapeno could work in space of this )

• juice of 1/2 of a large lemon

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

To Make

*Bring water to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan. Score ( cut an X ) on the bottom of each tomato and place in boiling water for 30 seconds. Quickly drain tomatoes and place in an ice bath until cool. Peel skin off of the blanched tomatoes and finely dice and place in a large bowl

*Finely dice a seeded cucumber, 1/2 of green bell pepper, and 1/2 of red onion and add to the large bowl with the tomatoes. Pour in the tomato juice and add the remaining ingredients. Stir and taste. Adjust spice, salt, and pepper if needed.

***Optional - I like to take an emulsion blender to this recipe at the very end. I just submerge it in the finished soup and pulse it a few times to break down the veggies just a little bit more. This step is completely optional. You can get the same effect by pulsing just half of the finished gazpacho in a medium speed blender and then combining it with the unblended half.

To serve

*ladle gazpacho into a shallow soup bowl. Top with chopped basil and/or chives and drizzle a little olive oil on top. Cubed or sliced avocado is a nice addition as well.

Heirloom Tomato and Asparagus Salad

Hi!

How you all doing?

It’s probably no surprise but let me tell you, it’s hot AF out here in the Mid-Pacific. I swear, the older I get, the more and more I crave the cooler months between November and March out here in Hawaii.

Almost there. I seriously CANNOT wait!

So, I’m assuming that most of you are pretty over meal prepping these days and even worse, having to heat up an oven? Am I right?

So guess what?! I have a perfect dish for you!

This deconstructed salad is quick, nutritious, full of fiber, has strong crave-worthy flavors and it even looks, kinda fancy. I’ll be making this several times a week now for sure. I mean, you really gotta take advantage of those amazing late summer tomatoes right now right?

Heirloom Tomato and Asparagus Salad

*This can make an individual plate for yourself ( like pictured ) or supersize it for a group.

• 1 large thickly sliced Heirloom tomato ( regular tomatoes are fine but make sure they are perfectly ripe )

• 1/4 large sweet onion ( Like a Maui Onion ), shaved

• 1 large handful of arugula

• 1/2 cup jarred or canned heart of palm, drained and sliced

• 1/4 cup mixed olives. I love the olives with the pits still intact at the olive bar at Wholefoods.

• 1/3 of a bundle of fresh asparagus ( don’t forget to snap off the tough ends )

Aioli

• 2 Tbs Veganaise + 2 Tbs Dijon mustard mixed with 2 tsp fresh lemon juice.

To Prep Salad

*For the asparagus - bring salted water to a boil and blanch trimmed asparagus for 30 seconds. Drain and then immediately dunk in a dish of icy water to stop the cooking.

*Slice tomato and heart of palm then arrange on a plate with the blanched asparagus and the olives. Add a handful of arugula, top tomatoes with shaved sweet onion, then sprinkle on flaky salt ( like Maldon’s ) and cracked pepper. Sometimes I add a little ( aged) balsamic vinegar to the thick tomato slices, but this is definitely optional.

*Serve with aioli for dipping!

Asian Noodle Bowl with Sweet Citrus Dressing

With the exception of some chopping, this salad is super easy to throw together and it makes a very satisfying lunch or dinner. I love making these on hot muggy days when I can’t bring myself to heat up the kitchen with a hot oven.

Feel free to add as many fresh veggies and herbs as you desire. I really love using red cabbage for some extra crunch and vitamin K, cucumbers are crisp and hydrating, carrots add some extra sweetness and vitamin A, bell peppers are colorful and add a great source of vitamin C. Experiment with what you like and have on hand. The more veggies and herbs the better.

For today’s salad, I used about 1/2 cup of each of the following:

• Shredded red cabbage

• shredded carrots

• sliced Persian cucumbers

• shredded romaine lettuce

Toppings

• about a handful of chopped cilantro, sliced green onions and fresh mint

• chopped peanuts

To make the rice noodles:

Cook according to the brand’s instructions and rinse with cold water to cool. My absolute favorite vermicelli rice noodles are by Dongguan Rice Vermicelli. Lotus Foods make a good one as well. I like the Millet and Brown Rice Ramen Noodles. Both brands come in perfect, one serving size dried bundles. They make about 1 cup of noodles once cooked.

To make the dressing: Makes about 1 cup of dressing. Keeps about 7-10 days in the fridge. Really good on rice or a tofu marinade as well!

• 1/3 cup coconut aminos

• 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 1 Tbs toasted sesame oil

To assemble:

Arrange the shredded veggies, cooled rice noodles, chopped fresh herbs and peanuts in a large deep bowl. Add about 3 Tbs of the dressing and toss. Sometimes I like to throw in a little sambal for some heat. Enjoy!

Sushi Burritos

Ya I know, it’s basically a massive sushi roll but that’s the whole point ( LOL ) The awesome thing about sushi burritos is that they are super easy to eat on the go ( no chopsticks needed! ) and super filling ( always very important! )

On this day, I made these rolls with basically all the leftover veggies I had in the fridge. However, feel free to add whatever types of fillings you like. I’ve added everything from steamed sweet potatoes, to beetroot hummus, to sriracha aioli, to Korean Gochujang paste. There’s really no rules except for the large size of the roll. The whole idea is that it’s very BIG so you can eat it like a burrito.

The trick is the extra sheet of nori in the rolling process. I included a picture below so you can see what I mean. The instructions are below.

How to Prepare Rice ( makes about 2 large sushi burritos or 3 medium sushi burritos )

• 1.5 cups short grain rice ( white or brown )

• 1/4 cup seasoned sushi vinegar

• prepping sushi rice - I made my rice in a rice cooker using 1.5 cups of short grain white rice. To flavor the rice, I used about 1/4 cup of Marukan’s Organic Seasoned Rice Vinegar Dressing. You don’t have to flavor your rice but it gives it that authentic sushi rice flavor we all know and love. If you can’t find a seasoned vinegar you can make your own using a mixture of rice wine vinegar, salt and sugar. If you need help, there are a ton of videos on how to make seasoned sushi rice on YouTube.

*To prepare, cook rice according to the instructions. When finished, spoon hot rice into a large shallow bowl and mix in flavored vinegar. Let rice cool to the touch before making your rolls. Next, Take about 3/4 cup to one cup of the cooked rice and spread evening over one sheet of nori. Add second sheet of nori to the very end of first sheet and seal with water.

*Next, add your fillings and roll up sushi roll.

*I like using a bamboo rolling mat because it helps in making a nice“tight” roll. Seal roll with a little bit of water at the end and then wrap finished roll in either parchment or wax paper. Slice in half for easy eating.

Here’s a list of the fillings I used today

• shredded purple cabbage

• shredded carrots

• avocado

• sliced cucumbers

• bell pepper

• cilantro

• Yuzu Furikake another good Furikake option HERE

Other awesome fillings you could use

• steamed and sliced sweet potatoes ( I love the purple variety here )

• sliced mango

• grilled tofu or tempeh

• grilled mushrooms

• sliced sushi ginger

• guacamole

• sunflower sprouts

• green onions or chives

ENJOY!