soy sauce – The Kitchen Illiterate

Soba Noodles with Bok Choy and Tahini

When I got my first bundle of bok choy from my CSA, I started searching around for new ways to prepare this Asian green. I must admit, I’ve been getting a wee bit tired of garlic-sauteed greens and rice, so I wanted something unique. Unfortunately, the Great Google turned up many, many of the same recipe: bok choy sauteed or steamed, and seasoned with toasted sesame oil and soy sauce, with some ginger thrown in for extra flavor. Of course, that sounds delicious, and I made it once or twice, but when I wanted to branch out, it took me awhile to find something different.

I’m glad I searched so diligently, because this Tahini sauce has become one of my new favorites. It’s reminiscent of a peanut sauce, but a little more bitter. It’s easy as heck, but could probably be fancied up, too. And it is filling and delicious.
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Soy-glazed Red Snapper with Spring Vegetables and Roasted Potatoes

It’s finally spring in New England, though we are still about a month away from farmer’s market produce. I’m only four days away from finishing grad school, and miraculously, am actually finished with all my finals—I had to finish early because we had a trip to take: I’m in Los Angeles for my good friend Kim’s wedding! It’s already been a great party, and the wedding itself is this evening, at a ranch in Malibu.

I kind of forgot that eating in Southern California tends to take place in chain restaurants more often than not. We went to the San Fernando Valley’s “restaurant row” last night, which consisted of The Cheesecake Factory, El Torito, Fuddrucker’s, Quizno’s, and P.F. Chang’s. That’s about all there is in walking distance of our hotel. We did get room service for breakfast this morning, which is certainly never the best food, but I love having someone bring a tray of covered plates to my room and being able to eat breakfast on a fluffy, white King-sized bed.
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Mahogany Glazed Chicken

I have a tendency to go through my printed recipe folder, pull out things I want to try, stick them on the refrigerator, and completely forget about them. Our refrigerator is pretty much covered in random stuff that none of us ever looks at, so I suppose it’s easy to see how recipes could be so easily forgotten. And every now and then one of us will go on a kitchen cleaning spree, and my tacked up recipes will be taken down and put on the counter, which is a nice reminder to cook them (and also not to clutter up our common areas with my random stuff).

This one had been stuck to the refrigerator for I don’t even know how many months before it was brought to my attention again, and I finally decided to make it. I originally saw something similar on one of those random cooking competition shows on the Food Network. I think it was a chicken competition, or something equally boring, but the winning recipe, Mahogany Broiled Chicken with Smoky Lime Sweet Potatoes and Cilantro Chimichurri, was very intriguing. Of course, true to form, I didn’t end up cooking the winning version but rather this Eating Well version, which is completely different, so, um, yeah, that’s pretty much how things operate around here.
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