Sweet Asian Coleslaw

Hello all–  I know it’s long past now, but did you have a festive 4th?  We met up with a group of old friends for our annual potluck at the Keys (thanks Jeff & Betty!).  Everyone comes in the door with an armful of food to contribute and there is just a whole lot of lazing around the backyard and long conversations with friends.

The yard is situated on a hill above the high school where the city fireworks are lunched so at 9:00, Jeff cranks up the blaring patriotic music and we watch the show in the sky.  It’s all good old fashioned fun.

And our contribution to the meal– this colorful coleslaw.  I hope you like it.

SWEET ASIAN COLESLAW

Dressing:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 to 2 tsp. soy sauce

Slaw:
1 small green cabbage, cut to shreds (about 8 cups)
1 cup red cabbage, cut to shreds
1/3 cup red bell pepper, cut to small bits
1/3 cup yellow bell pepper, cut to small pieces
1 carrot, peeled and grated
4 green onions, cut in small slices
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 cup toasted almonds
2 tab. sesame seeds

Whisk together the oil, rice wine vinegar, sugar and soy sauce, beating until it’s emulsified, all blended.

Mix together the 2 cabbages, red & yellow pepper, carrot, green onion and cilantro.  Pour in the dressing and toss it to coat all the ingredients.

Just before you’re ready to set it on the table, mix in the almonds and sesame seeds.  Happy eating!!

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Soy Glazed Chicken

Hello all– Dinnertime has changed around our house.  Used to be Larry and I would sit over our two little pieces of chicken and quietly exchange tid bits about our days at work or what we’d read online.  Companionable, but perhaps a times we were a little dull.

Now dinner with Micah, Jodi and the grand-girls is more of a contact sport.  The platter is heaped with chicken.  The butter is passing, the spoons of rice are heaped onto plates and there is definitely a low roar of conversation.  It’s a lot more jolly.

So here’s a dish that was passed around the other night, enough for all 7 of us–

SOY GLAZED CHICKEN
2 tsp. sesame seeds
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
8 chicken thighs

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until they are golden (just a minute or two)

In a large baking dish, mix the lime juice, soy sauce, honey and garlic.

Remove the skin from the chicken thighs* and turn the chicken in the lime-soy-honey mixture to coat all sides.  Then put them top side down in the marinade and let them sit for 30 minutes.

Put the chicken in a 425 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes (depending on the size of your pieces of chicken) — Then turn them and back in the oven 15-20 minutes more.

When they are done, arrange them on pretty plate and stir the sesame seeds into the glaze left in the pan– scrape the sauce from the pan over the chicken.

*The recipe I worked from left the skin on.  I’m sure it’s good either way.

Apple Cider Glazed Meatballs

Hey there–  It’s been a bit tricky, figuring out just what the grand-girls like to eat for dinner, now that they’re here from Shanghai with us.  Larry and I have been eating grown up food for so long.  I’d forgotten all about “fun food!”

Frozen yogurt, of course is up there, as well as pink cupcakes.  They like things served on noodles and have met up with tacos and like them just fine.   I’ve discovered meat in little balls is the preferred meat form for small girls.  So here is a grand-girl approved recipe–and I’m pretty sure most adults would find this dish yummy as well…

APPLE CIDER GLAZED MEATBALLS

MEATBALLS:
1 pound ground beef (85%)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. salt

GLAZE:
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tab. brown sugar
1 tab. cornstarch
1 tsp. ground ginger
1tsp. butter

3 green onions for garnish

Mix together all the meatball ingredients in a mixing bowl.  You can be tidy and use a spoon, but I think mushing with you hands works best to get it all well combined.  Make 30 smallish meatballs by scooping out a spoonful and rolling it into a ball.

Set them on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

To make the glaze, put the cider, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch and ginger in a container with a tight lid.  Shake it and shake it again until it’s thoroughly combined.  Melt a tsp. of butter in a skillet, then pour in the cider mixture and stir until it thickens.

When the meatballs are browned, drop them into the pan of sauce and simmer just a couple minutes.  Then serve them over a bed of rice, topped with the green onions.

Here’s the grand-girls after a run threw the hose water with Grandpa Larry in the back yard.