Thai Basil Meatballs with Stir Fried Snow Peas and Mushrooms

I realized today that I really LOVE LOVE LOVE Thai food. I'd have to say it's my 2nd favorite ethnic food, second only to Guatemalan food. I have been eating lots of Thai food lately - both when eating out and at home.  About a month ago , I was introduced to one of the best Thai restaurants in SF....Suriya Thai.  It was so good I ate there twice that week.  I was inspired to cook more Thai food shortly after...see my Thai Dressing posts.  Then a few weeks later, I ate out again in the Polk Street Gulch at Modern Thai which I have always loved. 

Modern Thai Shrimp Satay

One of my friends ordered a dish with crispy basil, which I tried (of course).  Despite all my Thai eating, I didn't realize the basil used in Thai food was different than the basil used in Italian food.  I've always loved cooking but I'm still new to all the fancy cooking herbs.  Luckily for me, I am blessed to live in the Bay Area where I can easily get my hands on different ethnic foods including "Thai" basil.  Without even looking for it, I spotted $1 bags of this wonderful herb at the UN Plaza Farmer's Market I now frequent on Sundays.  I deep fried half of the bag and enjoyed it crispy with some fresh salmon and sweet potatoe fries last week.

This week, I found a great recipe from Health Bent to try....Thai Basil Beef Balls is what they call it.  I prefer to call it Thai Basil "Meatballs".  It was super easy and  tasted even better than I imagined! This recipe is a keeper and I can't wait to take it to a potluck or serve it at home to my guests! For dinner, I paired the meatballs with a simple stir-fry of snow peas and mushrooms. Recipe to follow.

ขอให้เจริญอาหาร! (kŏr hâi jà-rern aa-hăan!) (Bon Appetite! in Thai) The Ingredients   More Ingredients   The finished product   ขอให้เจริญอาหาร! 

Guatemalan Enchiladas (The "Paleo" Version)

I bought some beets last week from the Farmer's market and decided to try making one of my favorite Guatemalan recipes passed down to me from my lovely Guatemalan mamacita...the number one "Chapina".    However, my mom's recipe usually uses canned vegetables. I have altered her recipe and used all fresh vegetables and a few frozen veggies I already had.    The non-Paleo version consists of a deep fried corn tortilla that is layered with lettuce, meat, the beet salad, a homemade tomatoe salsa, and white Spanish cheese.  Being the good Paleo girl that I'm trying to be...I have left the non-Paleo ingredients out and made a few substitutions either because I didn't have mom's ingredients or because they weren't Paleo.  Hope my Chapina mother approves. Buen
Provecho!

Ingredients for Curtido Rojo:
4 fresh beets (boiled and peeled)
2 carrots (peeled, boiled, and chopped into squares)
1/2 head cabbage (shred, then boil in water for 2 minutes)
1/2 bag frozen green beans (thawed out and cooked for a few minutes)
1/4 bag frozen peas (thawed out and cooked for a few minutes)
1/2 onion (finely chopped - leave raw)
1/2 cup Apple Cider vinegar
sea salt & black pepper
handful fresh cilantro (chopped)
dried oregano

other ingredients:
hard boiled eggs
lettuce leaves
ground beef (prepare as you would for tacos) I used Penzeys taco seasoning and a capful of cumin
handful raw cashews (grated using cheese grater) - this is my cheese substitute

For salad: allow all vegetables to cool off (store in fridge for few minutes).  Then, combine all veggies in a large bowl, and mix together well. Add vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper to taste.

To prepare: layer a lettuce leaf first on plate, Then add scoopful of taco meat, beet salad, sprinkle with cashew cheese, and top with sliced boiled eggs.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Frittata Muffins

I made these yummy muffins during my Whole 30. They are so good.  I shared them with my non-paleo coworkers who raved about them for days and wanted the recipe.  Here it is on : nomnompaleo's site My spin had zuchinni and TJ's kiebalsa sausage.

Quick Bacon Avocado Tossed Salad

Quick Bacon Avocado Tossed Salad
I've been running low on groceries the last few days which means my food creativity is alive!  I've been creating interesting recipes until I can get to Sunday's farmer's market.
Today....I ran out of lettuce...but I remembered the arugula and butter leaf lettuce I recently planted in my garden...(Thank God for a backyard garden and good weather)... I picked a whole bowlful, tossed it with some plum tomatoes, julienned carrots, threw in some avocado chunks, cilantro, sliced mushrooms, a few raisins, some slivered almonds, and a little (actually 5 slices) oh so yummy baked bacon, and coated it well with basalmic vinegarette my coworker made for me and... Voila!...one of the best salads ever! I ate the whole bowl...that's a lot of bacon...so friggin good!

Thai Cucumber Salad
goes really well with the crab cakes from previous post.
I modifed two different Thai salad dressings (both are really good)...substitute tamari for soy sauce (gluten free) and honey for sugar and added almond butter to the rice vinegar recipe for a little "Paleo almond sauce"

Recipes are at :
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/cucumber-salad-with-rice-vinegar-dressing-10000001622532/
and
http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaisnacks/r/cashewsalad.htm

Crab Cakes

Crab Cakes
I modified this recipe at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crab-Cakes-with-Red-Pepper-Sauce/Detail.aspx
to make Paleo:
substitute almond meal for breadcrumbs and I added zuchinni noodles to my patties just because...these turned out really delicious!

Chicken Taco Salad and Penzeys

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Penzeys Spices! Today I went on a little field trip with my friend Joyce to the Menlo Park store.  One of my coworkers gave me a small bottle of Vietnamese Cassia (cinnamon) as a gift a few years ago for Christmas and I have been in love with this brand ever since.  Now that I've gone Paleo, I notice that lots of blogs mention Penzeys so I looked them up online and to my surprise there was a store in the Bay Area.  I was so excited and started filling up my basket like a little kid at a candy store.  I imagined myself to be "Tilo" from the novel, The Mistress of Spices.  The fragrant aromas were intoxicating and took me away to faraway lands.  I felt high on all the scents although I did have to sneeze several times. I left with a bagful of spices, a bumper sticker and their motto "LOVE PEOPLE. COOK THEM TASTY FOOD" engrained upon my heart!