Caramelized Pear and Feta Salad with Balsamic Glaze

Caramelized Pear and Feta Salad with Balsamic Glaze

Total time: 15 minutes
Makes 2 medium salads

Ingredients
1 Anjou Pear
4 cups Mixed Greens
2 tablespoons crumbled feta
2 teaspoons balsamic glaze
Drizzle of olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons white wine

1) Melt butter in small pan on medium heat. Once melted and frothy add sliced pear and white wine, cover with lid and cook for 10 minutes or until pears are mostly soft.

2.) While it cooks toss some greens in a salad bowl and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a touch of salt. Mix this up as it will serve as part of the dressing. Top the salad with feta crumbles.
3.) Add brown sugar to the pan of pears and cook open stirring frequently for 4 minutes or until the sugar has caramelized and take off the heat. Let stand for 1 minute.
4.) Place the pears on top of the salad and drizzle balsamic glaze over the entire salad.
5.) Enjoy this half desert salad!

Hoisin Glazed Asian Turkey Meatballs

30 minutes total

Makes 28 meatballs

Ingredients 

1 pound ground turkey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons ginger (finely grated or paste)

1 teaspoon garlic (finely grated or paste)

1 teaspoon hot sauce of choice

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons spoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons corn starch

2 diced scallions

3 oz finely chopped water chestnuts

4 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon Sarayo (or mayo with chili paste)

sesame seeds to garnish

1.) Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and hot sauce, curry powder, and add the cornstarch. Mix until smooth. Toss in water chestnuts, chopped cilantro, and 1/2 of scallions and then the turkey. Mix everything together until evenly distributed. 

2.) Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place spoonfuls of meatball mix slightly spaced apart on sheet. Reshape them if necessary. Bake for 17 minutes or until browning.

3.) While meatballs are baking mix hoisin sauce, a splash of sesame oil, and Sarayo (or mayo with chili paste substitute) in a wide bowl. Remove meatballs when ready and place on paper towel to soak up any grease. 

4.) When meatballs are done toss them in the sauce until well coated and place back on the baking sheet. Broil for 3 minutes or until glaze is thick. Watch carefully it could overcook quickly.

5.) Place on serving plate and sprinkle the rest of scallions and sesame seeds on top.

6.) Enjoy!!!

Wanton Cup Shrimp Tacos 
~ 15 minutes
Makes 4 cups

Ingredients:
8 wanton wrappers
4 cooked shrimp
1/2 avocado
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon paprika
a pinch of chili powder
a pinch of coriander
1 lime
1 roma tomato
1/8 cup of diced red onion
15 pieces cilantro
pinch of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 leaf of lettuce or cabbage (by choice)

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 F. Thaw cooked shrimp slowly in cool water if bought frozen and remove tails.
2.) Lightly coat each wanton square with olive oil. Place one sheet into a cupcake pan and press down to make the bottom flat, place a second sheet on top of the first in an opposite orientation to get as much coverage as possible. Repeat with the remaining 6 sheets to get 4 cups total.

3.) Combine finely chopped garlic, paprika, chili powder, coriander, salt, and pepper and coat each shrimp with mixture. Place 1 shrimp into each cup and sprinkle with 1/2 of the chopped cilantro and squeeze a small amount of lime juice onto each shrimp. Bake in the oven for 7 minutes.
4.) While wontons are baking, chop the roma tomato and red onion and mix with a pinch of salt, remaining cilantro, and some lime juice. This will be a pico de galo you can serve on top or on the side. (Great for chips too!) Dice the avocado into chunks. Chop lettuce or cabbage into strips.
5.) Once wantons are ready, remove from cupcake pan and put in lettuce, avoado, and pico de gallo.
6.) Serve immediately!

If you have a mini-cupcake pan, you can use only one sheet per cup and half of the filling per cup. With the same amount of ingredients would come out with 8 really mini tacos. Substituting fish like tilapia is also a good alternative. Thanks to Very Culinary for the idea of the wanton cups!

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps

First post and it's going to be food!
Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps  - est. cooking time : 30 min
Recipe makes ~ 6 servings

2 tablespoons canola oil

1.5 lbs ground turkey

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 carrots - finely chopped

5 green onions - chopped

4oz water chestnuts - finely chopped

3 crimini mushrooms - chopped

1/2 cup bean sprouts - chopped

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1/3 cup sake

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon hot sauce

1-2 tablespoons peanut sauce (to taste)

Head of lettuce

1.) Chop either by hand or in a food processer: garlic, ginger, carrots, green onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and sprouts. Once finely chopped set aside for later
2.) Place ground turkey into a large pan with canola oil. Cook on med-high heat mixing and breaking up chunks until all pink disappears.

3.) Lower heat to medium. Add all chopped food into pan with the turkey and continue cooking with occasional stirring for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through.
4.) Add all liquids and sauces - seasame oil, peanut sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sake, and hot sauce. Stir occasionally and allow to cook for another 5 minutes.
5.) Remove from heat and let sit while picking a selection of leaves from the head of lettuce. SERVE!

These were easy to make and soooo tasty, I had so much left over that I just put it in bags to refrigerate and even freeze for a later date. The recipe is based off of what I remember of the Thai Lettuce Wraps from Silk Thai in Tacoma, WA; although I substituted turkey for the chicken used in the original and added a few other things I thought it needed :)