Archives for May 2013

Preserved Lemon and Mint Salsa

May 31, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

This salsa is a wonderful way to play on the flavors in both Moroccan and Tex-mex food. The salsa is moderately spicy with flavors that come from the sweet preserved lemons and chopped mint leaves. It’s so simple to put together if you already have a batch of preserved lemons pre-made in the fridge. The mint is wonderful in this recipe and creates a nice counterpoint to the heat that comes from the peppers. Since the preserved lemons are quite salty I wouldn’t recommend adding any more salt to the recipe. I used this salsa to go along with the Moroccan Chicken Tacos and it turned out really well!

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Tofu and Kimchi Noodle Soup

May 29, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

Anyone who has ever tried kimchi knows how addictive and delicious it is. I’m always finding new ways to incorporate it into recipes. Kimchi is a great addition to soups since the juice and flavor enhances the broth and turns it a pretty red color. This recipe is really easy to put together and doesn’t take long to prepare. For a few extra veggies I threw in mushrooms and bean sprouts, though i’m sure there are loads of other veggies you could add that would work great. I made the soup on the spicy side with added gochujang paste along with a healthy amount of sriracha as garnish.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

May 25, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

I had a few over-ripe bananas that were just begging to be turned into bread. Instead of banana bread I wanted to try something a little more portable and great for breakfast. I made a few muffins without chocolate chips on top and since the recipe is fairly low in sugar it was a nice option for the morning. I loved the combo of semi sweet chocolate, banana bread and spices. The texture of the muffin was fluffy and tender, spiced with nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cinnamon. You can make these substituting one cup all purpose flour with a cup whole wheat flour for a healthier alternative.

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Persian Chicken Noodle Soup

May 13, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

This recipe is so perfect for rainy Spring days! Chicken noodle soup is one of my favorites and I love trying different versions of the classic. This soup is filled with veggies, vermicelli noodles and herbs. The fresh ingredients give the recipe a lighter effect which is great for the current season. The broth is simple and clean, seasoned with cilantro, parsley and lime juice. While I’m used to the thicker egg noodles in chicken noodle soup I really liked the thin vermicelli noodles too. You can make the soup easily with just 4 drumsticks but I chose to make the stock and soup out of the whole chicken. I like the mixture of white and dark meat in the soup; plus the whole bird flavors the stock nicely. I can see this becoming a regular meal on colder days!

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Three Moroccan Dipping Sauces

May 7, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

To accompany the batch of Moroccan Chicken Skewers and flat bread I wanted to make a few sauces that would go along with the main courses as well as complement each other. The three I settled on was a refreshing Mint and Cilantro sauce, spicy Harissa, and a cooling Yogurt Lemon sauce. They complemented the chicken and flat bread and were perfectly balanced with each other. These different sauces allowed me to play “choose your own adventure” of sorts which made eating fun. Not only did the types of food and sauces matter in the experience, but the order played a key role in it too (not exactly a new idea in the historical record of food but a fun thing to experience at home by accident).

Since each sauce had a different “purpose” it stands to reason that each sauce affected the other ingredients differently as well. The easiest comparison to make would be dipping the chicken in the yogurt sauce vs. the harissa sauce. The yogurt enhanced the lemony flavor of the chicken and helped cool off its spiciness. The Harissa sauce is made of chilies and instead invigorated the chicken’s spicy seasoning. This seems obvious now, but I really wasn’t expecting how different the “experiences” would be. I came to notice that I enjoyed pairing the chicken more with the yogurt and mint sauces, and the flat bread with the harissa. Later I realized I probably did this to help balance things out a little bit in terms of spiciness. Although I also spooned generous portions of mint sauce and yogurt sauce on the bread as well so who knows really. This was one of those meals that I had a lot of fun making and eating. I loved all three sauces and I still can’t decide on a favorite!
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Grilled Moroccan Chicken Skewers

May 7, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

Flat breads and grilled meats are popular fare all over the world. I was so impressed with the Lebanese version I made a few months ago. I fell in love with the smorgasbord effect of the different condiments, seasoning, breads and meat. All of the different parts came together in a beautiful way. When there’s so many separate parts you can almost “choose your own adventure” (more about that in the sauces post). I decided to try out this idea with a version of Roasted Moroccan Chicken–one of my favorite recipes. This recipe takes the spice blend from the original recipe and uses it to season the chicken which is skewered and then grilled. It worked out great with the Moroccan Flat Bread and was a perfect accompaniment with the dipping sauces.

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15 Recipes for Cinco de Mayo

May 3, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

April has blown by and Cinco de Mayo is only a few days away! Here are some of my favorite recipes that would be perfect for any table on Cinco de Mayo.