Tarragon and Chives

chicken vegetable curry curry powder, coconut oil, yellow onion  garlic, jalapeño, ginger chicken, potatoes, green beans, carrots, red pepper, peas, coconut milk,  cilantro served with basmati rice Happiness is a warm comforting bowl of chicken vegetable curry for dinner.  I love cooking the curry powder, onions, garlic, jalapeño and ginger in melted hot organic virgin coconut oil. I've baked with coconut oil several times  but recently have starting using it more to replace cooking with butter or olive oil. I like rubbing coconut oil on my hands when I'm cooking, especially now in the time of covid when we're washing our hands all day long.  I bloomed my sweet curry powder, spice house blend, in the coconut oil and then added onions, garlic, jalapeño and ginger to give the curry a flavorful base before adding two bone-in trimmed chicken breasts plus broth to simmer in the pot of aromatics.  While the chicken cooks I prepared all the veggies, which are adde...

Peppers and prawns sounded so good together and then there was that leftover basmati rice from last night's poké dinner, begging for a chance to participate in tonight's dinner. If rice could speak, what would it say? Give me one more chance in a bowl guys.  I would never hold a good rice back, so come on in the water's fine. I added a cucumber relish made with cilantro, scallions, chives, rice vinegar, lime juice, sea salt and pepper, which added a pickled crunch to the dish.  All ingredients in for a successful dinner. Ingredients for stir fry rice with peppers and prawns  serves 2-3 3/4 pound prawns 1/2 red pepper, chopped 1/2 yellow pepper. chopped 1 small Jalapeño, deseeded and minced 1 medium shallot, diced Garlic clove smashed 2 teaspoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1&1/2 cups leftover rice at room temperature  Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil   For the cucu...

Dinner is served and tonight it's made with chunks of the freshest raw tuna  mixed with a shimmering glaze of soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, scallions and sea salt.  Don't forget the fried wonton wrappers and basmati rice on the side.   Oh yum, that works and if you want to make spicy poke, definitely add sriracha sauce. Now for the wonton crisps, I bought egg roll wraps, cut in half on diagonal and deep fried in peanut oil. I only had basmati rice on hand so I steamed a cup in my small size rice cooker.  My husband was so happy when he saw the pile of crispy wontons on the counter next to the stove.  I had to find something for him to use as a dip for the golden fried triangles before he lost his mind.  This was a good simple dinner just like this but a nice ripe avocado cut into chunks with be a fantastic accompaniment, just saying. 

  Thai chicken with basil is one of our favorite Summer dinners.  I use a small harvest of my garden grown patch of sweet basil; it's green and lush when the weather turns warm.  I like to grow an Italian variety of sweet basil but I've also grown Greek and Thai basil.  It's  basically whatever I find at the nursery or farmer's market and it's early in the season so I will most likely add a few more herbs into the garden.  I like to make this dish medium spicy so I use one jalapeño pepper for two people, which is what the following recipe serves.  I also use steamed Basmati rice because it's our favorite and I make it in a small rice cooker, which makes it easy to hold if my timing is off when preparing the Thai chicken with basil. Thai Chicken with Basil 2 cups fresh sweet basil leaves, plus a few extra sprigs for serving 1 Jalapeño pepper, stemmed and sliced 1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced thin  1 T Fish sauce 2 t Oyster sauce  2 t sugar ...

13.4 ounce box Garbanzo Beans, drained 1 Cup cooked Basmati Rice 2 T chopped Pistachios 2 T Sesame Tahini 2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 T Lemon Juice 1 T finely chopped Jalapeño 2 T minced Chives 2 T finely chopped red onion 2 sprigs chopped fresh Tarragon Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Optional, but good, slice avocado to serve on top