Looks like we're hanging on to summer for just a little bit longer, here in Toronto. One day it's fabulous and chilly, very much like autumn and the very next day it's ridiculously hot, humid and I've got the air conditioning on full blast. Um, time to make up your mind, Mother Nature!
Edited to add: It's not so sweltering hot anymore, it's actually really cold! Sweater and scarves kind of weather!
Edited to add: It's not so sweltering hot anymore, it's actually really cold! Sweater and scarves kind of weather!
Since it looks like the sweltering hot is going to stay for at least a few more days, here's a simple dish I prepared that will keep things cool. It's also great the next day, so you know, make more for left overs! No cooking means no cleaning and that's always good news- especially when you just want to lump around in the a/c.
The "recipe" is simple. You'll need...
- Rice noodles that have been prepared as per directions on the package and rinsed in cold water. Drained.
- Chicken breast or meat of choice, cooked via your preferred method. (I steamed mine, saved the stock for soup...in case M.N. decides to let the temperature drop to 10 degrees again!) Let cool, then slice.
- Your favourite lettuce, romaine has a crunch and body to it. Chopped into thin strips, aka. to julienne
- Condiments of your choice- such as roasted peanuts, tomatoes, shredded carrots, any vegetable raw or cooked, limes, hot peppers or sweet, bean sprouts, cucumbers, fried egg, basil...etc.
- Vietnamese dipping sauce aka. nuoc cham or your favourite Japanese or sesame based salad dressing. Our household favourite is Kraft's Asian Sesame.
Then you throw it all together in a bowl and chow down! I used whatever I had in the fridge and/or garden. I'd normally add in cucumbers, bean sprouts, carrots, and an egg, but it was hot outside and I wasn't about to leave my ice box of a house. You can if you want though!
My bowl of food might look decent in the photos, but rest assured right after I took that last photo I dumped everything in a gigantic salad bowl. I then proceeded to mimic a mini noodle salad tornado with my fork and by the time I was done it looked nothing like you see here. That's okay though, because the delicious tangy, sweet and garlic-y nouc cham sauce had now coated and soaked into everything around it, making it absolutely inhale-able!
The best part is it cost about six bucks to make four full servings. :D
To make it meat free, sub in beans, faux meat or protein of choice to replace chicken.
To make it vegan, sub the protein and omit fish sauce in the nouc cham recipe and replace with soy sauce to taste.