Eating Green for Life Blog

Thai Cucumber Salad

This is one of the only redeeming items in my recent attempt to make a Thai dinner. This can appease even the spiciest food lovers (use 3 Thai Chilis) or those who want a less spicy dish (use red pepper flakes). The combination of cucumbers and vinegar actually helps keep you cool during one of the more recent 90 to 100-degree days. This salad has some major flavor, great for BBQ’s or just as a simple snack.

Ingredient Note: English cucumbers are longer than most cucumbers. They don’t have the waxy outside an they also don’t have many seeds. They are perfect for salad use because you don’t have to peel them or remove the seeds. You can use 3 normal cucumbers if you can’t find English cucumbers. Just make sure to peel them and remove the seeds by spooning out the insides.

Time: 30 minutes
Cost: $6
Servings: 8 or more

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 English cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped
• 2 Thai chilis, minced (or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes)

Directions

SAUCE:

Put water and sugar into a pot. Bring to a boil, constantly stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Once the sauce has reached a rolling boil, continue the boiling for 1 minute. Then turn off the heat, add the vinegar and salt, and put aside to cool down.

SALAD:

Mix together the English cucumbers and onions. Top with the sauce. Mix well. Add the cilantro, mint, and pepper. Stir to combine.

Enjoy!

**This will stay well for at least a day in the fridge. We have always eaten it before we got a chance to see if it lasted longer.

Summer Salad

• Summer Salad!

• Sometimes you don’t want to cook.

  Sometimes you really just want to eat something delicious and not slave over a hot stove… especially when there are “Extreme Heat Warnings.”
• I have felt that way for the majority of the summer, hence this recipe.
  This is It is not a heavy meal but put it on pita and you have great sandwiches or use it as a side salad.
• I’m obsessed.

Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4
Cost: $6

Ingredients

• 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 ear of corn, cut off all the corn
• 1/2 lb tiny mozzarella balls
• 1 cup of coarsely chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Mix all of the vegetables together.
• Add the basil
• Drizzle olive oil and red wine vinegar over the top. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• mmmmmm…. delicious!

Mushroom Ragu on Polenta

I made this recipe two days after a seriously failed attempt at Thai peas and noodles with peanut sauce. Thank goodness I did because it raised my cooking confidence.The mushrooms are so savory, cooked down with fresh herbs and tomatoes. Put it on top of freshly prepared polenta, crispy on the outside and smooth on the inside, and you have a wonderful dish.

The polenta takes a while to cook if you make it fresh. You have to stir it for 25 to 30 minutes constantly. However, the result is this wonderfully smooth polenta. This recipe does make more polenta than you need to use, so top it with some tomato sauce and enjoy the second half the next day. If you don’t have or want to take the time to make polenta, you can buy pre-made polenta. Take note that it will be a little denser and not quite as tasty.

You can make the polenta a day before or the morning of. Once you are done with that, the ragu takes about 20 minutes to prepare.

I mince the crimini mushroom stems after slicing off the end. Most people just throw the stems away but they add a huge amount of flavor to the ragu.

Delicious!

Time: Polenta: 30 minutes + chilling time, Ragu: 20 minutes
Servings: 2 to 3
Cost: $15

Ingredients

Polenta

• 5.5 cups of water
• 1.5 cups of polenta
• 3 roasted red peppers, chopped (I buy them in a jar)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Ragu

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound of  crimini mushrooms and shitake mushrooms, chopped
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons thyme, chopped
• 1 quart grape tomatoes, chopped
• 1/3 cup vegetable broth

Directions (Polenta)

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add salt and peppers.
3. Whisk in polenta and continue to whisk or stir for 25 to 30 minutes until polenta forms a very thick mixture.
4. Once you have taken it off the heat, immediately pour into an 8 x 8 inch glass pan.
5. Let cool, then cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or until ready to eat.
6. While the mushrooms are cooking, slice the polenta into 4 pieces. Heat a pan with a little olive oil and cook the polenta on both sides until slightly browned (about 4 to 5 minutes on each side). Remove from heat and put on plates.
   

   Crisping the Polenta

Directions (Ragu)

1. Heat oil over medium. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes until golden and fragment.
2. Add mushrooms, thyme, and parsley to the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes until mushrooms have browned and cooked through.
   

   Mushrooms

3. Add tomatoes and vegetable broth. Cook for 8 minutes until liquid has evaporated.
   

   Finishing the Mushroom Ragu

4. Top the cooked polenta with the ragu and enjoy!