a lesson in {yummy} restrictions: vegetarian lettuce rolls with oyster mushrooms, chinese eggplants, and shishito peppers
yes, i've been away for a little while now, but i have a perfectly good excuse-i've been challenging myself of late to {enjoy} a lighter, healthier diet, and have said goodbye to many of the fun stuff (for the moment)-the grains, sugar, and generally pesky carbohydrates i hate to admit i love so much. not quite sure how long this phase will last, but i'm determined to give it a good old try. can you imagine how hard this is for someone who likes to think about, talk about, and experiment with (as in EAT) food all the time? well, it was hard for the first few days, but i've fallen into a good rhythm of sorts (which means i'm beginning to like it AND the way it makes me feel)- i've learned to carry good snacks with me: bananas, almonds, awfully delicious (and somewhat sweet, although unsweetened) coconut flakes, berries in a bag (yes, they do get mushy sometimes), roasted seaweed. it also helps to keep the fridge packed with lots of fresh vegetables and greens, (the aforementioned) berries (although they are out of season and i feel slightly guilty), cooked quinoa (hopefully not really considered a grain-looked it up: quinoa is the seed of the chenopodium or goosefoot plant-interesting quinoa article), hardboiled eggs, and greek yogurt (latest obsession). keeping in line with thenew diet, i thought i'd treat the family to a fun (and surprisingly satisfying) dinner a few nights ago-it turned out to be one of the best dinners we've had in a long while: salad rolls made (rolled) with all sorts of delicious goodies courtesy of the lovely korean market. basically, i set up a {salad roll} "bar" with lots of fresh and wok fired veggies and one amazingpeanut sauce (recipe below). everyone then made their own delicious little bundles the way they liked them (slightly less work for me). after we had devoured several rolls a piece, my husband declared that this really was (is)the way to eat! i smiled wide knowing how easy and fun the well appreciated meal had been to prepare. one happy mina :)
for wok fired shishito peppers, eggplants, & oyster mushrooms:
quick fired shishito peppers
in a wok, heat 1-2 tsp of vegetable oil (i used virgin unfiltered coconut) and 1 tsp of toasted sesame oil. add the peppers (do each item separately, same method) to the hot wok and stir fry on high for just a few minutes (3-5), then add a splash of soy sauce (or a sprinkle of seasalt), and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
eggplants: cut them in evenly sized pieces and repeat the process above-eggplants may need slightly more oil, and time.
delicious spicy peanut sauce:
2-3 tbs organic peanut butter (use peanut butter that is peanuts only-no additives, and chunky works well)
about 1/4 cup (more or less) coconut milk
1-2 tsp sriracha sauce (or other favorite hot sauce or cayenne pepper will do)
1-2 tbs soy sauce, 2-3 tsp fish sauce (optional)
1-2 tsp fresh lime juice
1-2 tsp brown sugar or raw honey (or omit the sugar altogether)
**another good sauce option: spicy green cilantro sauce aka green sauce at our house.**
other ingredients you will need (give or take): sprouts (bean sprouts and radish sprouts here), organic lettuce, basil, mint, or cilantro leaves (i had none this time), and optionally rice paper wraps (see this other recipe).
wok fired chinese eggplants