Recipe: Mom’s Sweet & Sour Cucumber Salad
Few ingredients makes technique important
2-3 fresh in season cucumbers, peeled and sliced at a 1.3mm thickness on a mandoline (or very sharp knife if you have the knife skills 😉
1 onion, halved and sliced paper thin at 0.5mm thickness on a mandoline
1 cup of apple cider vinegar
1 cup of natural sugar
1 cup of water
1-3 teaspoons of freshly cracked black peppercorns (this really flavors the dish)
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt, to taste
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, water and vinegar and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Add your mandolined cucumbers and onions and stir with a spoon to cover all with the juice. Season with the salt and cracked black pepper. Let sit for at least 3 hours in the fridge to infuse the flavors, this salad is best served the next day and only gets better as it sits.
Notes: Because the cucumbers and onion are sliced so thin, the sweet & sour dressing easily flavors them and vise versa, the dressing is flavored by the onions and cucumber. If your onion is particularly strong, feel free to add less than the recipe calls for.
I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use this fresh ginger and garlic in this weeks bag! You can make a simple, yet flavorful and delicious restaurant quality stirfry.
Recipe: Honey Sriracha Chicken Stirfry
Marinate:
1-2 lbs chicken breast, cut into cubes
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
olive oil
splash of rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Sauce:
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons of dry sherry (or other wine)
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sriracha (or to taste)
1-2 teaspoon of sea salt
chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons corn starch
Stirfry:
1 small head of cabbage, chiffonade or chopped
1 white onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
oil
spring onions, sliced
Directions
Marinate: Combine chicken breast, garlic, ginger, olive oil, sesame oil, vinegar, and salt in a ziplock bag and marinate for at least 2-3 hours, overnight is better.
Sauce: in a bowl, whisk together honey, wine, vinegar, sriracha, salt, and cilantro. This is our yummy sauce for everything. In a separate bowl, mix together broth and cornstarch, this is our thickening agent.
Stirfry: Add to a hot wok or preheated large pan some oil and the diced chicken (reserve leftover marinade) and toss chicken to sear and cook for 3-6 minutes. Remove chicken from pan, add more oil to coat bottom of pan and add cabbage, onion, garlic, and reserved marinade. Toss to combine and cook until cabbage is tender. Add the honey sauce and toss to coat, then add the thickening broth and heat stirfry till sauce is bubbling. Its done! plate and garnish with spring onions