Pearl Couscous with Sautéed Veggies and Asian Dressing

How does one describe a nearly two-month absence?
A.) A cross-town move.
B.) A broken camera lens.
C.) A two week trip to Italy.

Well, it just so happens that it’s D, all of the above.

But no excuses. I’ll interject a few of my upcoming posts with stories and recipes from my marvelous trip to Italia, etc. The last two months have been hectic, but with fall approaching, I feel the desire to get back into the swing of things. I find that when the summer heat finally breaks that there is a need to go back-to-school shopping, pick up a new trapper keeper and set the expectation for a productive year ahead. So here, in this first post after being away for too long, I am vowing to be more attentive to KT and to making more adventures in the kitchen.

To start off,

Stir Fried Bok Choy in Szechuan Sauce

E. and I recently escaped to New York City for the weekend. E. went up for work and with the opportunity to join him, couldn’t turn down the opportunity.

We had a wonderful, whirlwind weekend. E. went to grad school in New York and wanted to show me the places he used to call home. The first day, started at about 4:00 with a lunch at Republic, drinks at Park Bar, and on to dinner with friends at Aqua Dulce.

At dinner, the topic of this blog came up in conversation. When I tell people about it, they sometimes ask me to make something with an ingredient they love. Here it was bok choy. I haven’t really worked much with bok choy and decided to step up to the challenge- food for thought.

Asian Cold Noodles with Chicken and Peanut Butter Sauce

Summer has come early to DC. I’ve been trying to think outside of the box, and find a recipe that doesn’t require an oven. Here is a different and delicious spin on the typical noodle salad. Presented here are crunchy vegetables, creamy dressing, succulent chicken and whole wheat pasta.

The brilliant aspect about this recipe is that there are a multitude of variations. Here, I have used an English cucumber, a red bell pepper and fresh broccoli. There are, however, a variety of vegetables that would work well that I have not used (e.g., yellow or orange bell peppers, sweet onions). In the past, I’ve used snow peas, purple cabbage, bean sprouts and carrots that have offered a richness all their own.

When using broccoli or snow peas, make sure that they are cooked prior to adding them to the main dish. In the boiling water that will be used to cook your pasta, blanch your vegetables. Blanching requires dropping the vegetables into boiling water for a set amount of time — snow peas blanch for about 2 to 3 minutes. The same can be done with the broccoli for about 5 minutes. After blanching, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. If time is an issue for you, slightly over cook your pasta, strain it, and rinse it in cold water. The pasta ceases cooking, is cooler, and the refrigeration time is cut down.