The Slaw that Changed my Life

I'm on a roll, and my latest Rebar recipe is Vegetable Slaw with Jalepeno-Lime dressing (p. 29). I bought a cabbage last week at the market for spring rolls, and used a tiny bit, so there was plenty to get used in something else. I first made soup, and used 7 cups, but still had an awful lot of cabbage left, so I cracked open Rebar, remembering that Sim'n'Nic blogged a 'slaw a few months ago. Well, across the page from the one that they made last spring, I found a winner. There are two options for dressing - creamy or oil-based. I like oil-based coleslaw better, so that's the one I made, but I bet the creamy would be tasty too, if that's your thing. I made it with all red cabbage, because that's what we had. We also, after some discussion, left out the jalapeños. I think that a tiny amount of bite in the dressing would enhance the experience, but the 2 peppers called for in the recipe would probably be too much - I'll have to consider whether I want to try some pepper in the next batch. And there will be a next batch, because this coleslaw is really good. Seriously. I think it's the lime, but whatever it is, wow. I made it mid-afternoon Saturday and was distracted by the yummy smell for several hours before we ate it for dinner, and the tasts was a good as the smell. As long as you have a food processor for cutting the cabbage, this is easy, so I would give it 1 bar and 4 stars.

Cranberry Hazelnut Granola

Many months after identifying the recipe (the pesky showing of the house/move got in my way), I finally made Rebar granola. Once I had the ingredients and got around to making it, it was not at all hard. As I always do with granola, I made it in the roasting pan, instead of on 2 cookie sheets, so it was easy to stir while it was baking without spilling over the edges. It's good granola, the dried cranberries and blueberries and hazelnuts definitely make it tasty, but I don't think it's generally better than my usual recipe, passed down from mom. I think I would save this recipe for special breakfast occassions, when I want something a bit more decadent (and would use all maple syrup next time - I did half and half maple and honey), but it has not convinved me to forsake the granola of my youth. This is 1 bar, and 2 stars.

Pad Thai for the Parental Units

Now that I am living in Chinatown, I figure I better get up to date on my Asian cooking – so I made the Rebar Pad Thai for the folks and aunt and uncle on Saturday. I substitutes chicken and shrimp for the tofu, left out the sambal, in deference to the non-spicy palates of my guests, and left out the cilantro in deference to my own non-soap-loving palate... It was relatively easy to make – there are a few steps, so you kind of have to do all your prep and make sure you’ve read the whole recipe before you proceed, but there’s nothing “hard”. I appreciated the instruction that said “the noodles will all clump together. That’s ok. This is where most people give up, but keep going.” I don’t think it’s the best pad Thai I’ve ever tasted, but it was quite satisfying, and probably the best I’ve ever made (not that I’ve made a whole bunch). When I was making it, the molasses in the sauce seemed overpowering, but it blended nicely with the other ingredients in the final product. I might dabble in other pad thai recipes, if another was recommended to me, but I would definitely make this one again. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the camera out, so no pics, but there was barely any left, so it seemed to go over well (as did the rice paper spring rolls that I served along with it – despite the fact that we all need practice rolling, people like to make their own food!). Probably 3 stars and 3 bars for finickyness.

Back on the Bandwagon with Three Sister Burritos

I am not sure if anyone has blogged the three sister burritos. I know Sim and Nic have made them before, but I think pre-2010, and they’re new to ME, so I figure they count…. They were the first proper dish I made in the new place, so this post is long overdue, and I am trying to cast my mind back to what I thought. I made the filling a few days in advance of when I actually made the burritos, and then threw them together when I actually wanted to serve them, and that seemed to work well. This is one of those “trust rebar” recipes – you wouldn’t think that squash in burritos would necessarily be good, but they were quite tasty with the lime and chile and maple syrup combo, and the squash gave a good texture contrast to the beans and corn. I had a lot of leftover filling that I ended up throwing in the freezer, so we’ll see how it comes out. If it defrosts weird, it might end up in soup …. I would give them 3 stars and 2 bars.