Before I get to what this post is really about I wanna show you one more way to use the Thai red curry coconut peanut butter I showed you the other day. So many times I’ll read about a cool recipe and think, “That sounds so good but what would I actually use it for beyond just licking it off the spoon?”

Last night I used the peanut butter to make some absolutely amazing Thai turkey burgers with sweet potato fries.

I mixed together:

• 1/2 pound of ground turkey
• 1/2 cup That red curry coconut peanut butter
• 1 tbsp. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. each of soy sauce and fish sauce (optional)
• sprinkle of garlic powder and salt

This made exactly two patties that I cooked in a pan for about 5 minutes on each side. The chia seeds really helped to soak up some of the moisture without drying them out, so they held together really well. For the sauce on top, I just squirted some sriracha into the last dregs of sour cream we had and stirred it up. Killer.

I thought they were easily the most delicious burgers I’ve ever tasted, and I’m not just saying that.

Ok, on to the real business at hand…..

I have hinted around the blog world for a few months now that I would have some exciting news coming up. The time has finally come to make a big reveal on a project that I’m really proud of.

On Monday, I’ll be making an announcement about something that I think many people will find as exciting as I do. If you read or write healthy living blogs, or both, I’m positive that this debut will be of interest to you.

<—- See this little guy right here? That’s all I can show you for now. 😉

Check me out Monday for the big reveal!

Have a great weekend!

April 2, 2011 Alayna Discussion 4 comments

Forgive me for not posting over St. Patrick’s Day. We had enough of our own shenanigans to deal with without even stepping foot in an Irish pub full o’ hooligans.

We still needed a drink or ten after this mess though…

Jeff got rear-ended on his way home from work and the offender drove off! He’s in a rental for now as the repairs will probably run for 3 to 4 weeks.

We were pretty stressed after that and weren’t exactly in the mood for a crowded pub, even though The Marlay had a bunch of fun festivities planned and had extended their patio for the growing crowds.

We opted for Thai instead, at Garlic again because it’s awesome and because we could walk there (rather than try to drive while nervous and end up with two wrecked cars.)

I started with a cocktail called The Mission. It was essentially a Thai-inspired Manhattan made with Thai whiskey. Good and strong!

Jeff had a Tokyo Black porter beer. I love the little half-naked sumo dude on it!

We split this basket of calamari. Each piece was lightly fried in tempura batter and wasn’t the least bit greasy. It was coated in a spicy-sweet chili sauce that we were mopping up.

I decided I was gonna order something way outside my usual, so I went with pineapple fried rice. Woah! It was amazing! It was like every single grain of rice was bathed in a delicious coating of caramelized pineapple juices. It had a wonderful oniony note running through it and was packed full of juicy chicken and bouncy shrimp.

The plan was to then either hit up The Marlay to grab a pint or head over to Thinking Man’s Tavern and crash at the bar. Both of us were just too tired though. The adrenaline from Jeff’s car wreck had worn off and by that time we just wanted to go home and curl up with warm cats and Netflix, which is exactly what we did.

Honestly though, aside from the mauled car that we nearly had paid off, we spent St. Patrick’s Day doing exactly what we wanted.

Also, I didn’t wear green all day and never got pinched! I must be lucky, right?

March 19, 2011 Alayna Discussion 7 comments

I need to hit up the market today if I’m gonna have anything to make for dinner tonight.

Such was the case last night too. What started as just a quick swing up to Sushi Avenue to fill our growling tummies turned into a rather eye-opening experience. We had been meaning to go there and order hot dishes rather than sushi for a while now. Last night was the night.

Started off innocently enough with the standard miso soup and gingery salad.

Next, takoyaki time! I love the takoyaki at Sushi Avenue. The pieces are huge and cooked through a bit more than other places, so it doesn’t turn into goo as soon as you pick it up. They use really cheap bonito flake though, it’s pretty flavorless and looks more like that stuff you find in the bottom of an Easter basket than shaved dried fish flakes. No prob, just swirl it around in the delicious sauce and squiggles of Kewpie mayo, all that floss will melt right in.

This is supposedly just a wintertime special though, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to have it again any time I’m craving it. Jeff thinks it might be time for us to buy a takoyaki griddle for the house. I don’t know about that. Takoyaki is an unhealthy treat food, I don’t know if I want instant access to it and all it’s delicious sauces.

It might be fun to experiment with using the takoyaki griddle to make something different though. Maybe I could make some kind of little vegetable puffs or even a sweet donut-hole type thing.

Ok, moving beyond takoyaki. Jeff ordered the katsudon, which is a bowl of rice topped with a breaded and fried pork cutlet with caramelized onions and egg.

You think Japanese food is all sushi and clean healthy veggie fare? No way man, dishes like the one above are pretty standard, however, the portion of the one above is somewhat larger than average.

I used to make katsu at home pretty often, maybe it’s time to bring it back.

I got another Japanese staple dish that many people aren’t aware of. Curry. Yep, the Japanese eat curry too. Theirs is a very rich, stew-like curry with subtle but not overpowering Indian spice flavors. It’s pretty common to crack a raw room-temperature egg over this and mix it in to make a super-creamy sauce.

The curry roux for this is often sold in solid bars perforated into little squares, much like a chocolate bar. You just mix the roux with liquid, add steamed vegetables and the thinly sliced meat of your choice and serve over rice. It’s a pretty common meal to have at home because it’s so easy to prepare and so comforting.

This one was served with an assortment of pickles. Pickles are another very common Japanese staple. They are so much more than just salty brined cucumbers though. These pickles are an art form.

The yellow ones in the front are sweet pickled daikon slices, it’s pretty common to add sugar or mirin to pickling liquids to make a very sweet flavor. The purple, I’m pretty sure they were cucumbers and that they were pickled in ume plum juice and/or ume vinegar. The little green ones are very much like cornichons, they are small, crunchy, and very salty.

I miss all the colorful and various-flavored pickles we had on top of rice in Japan. I think I’m going to start learning how to make some myself at home.

I’m so glad we opted out of ordering sushi last night. With the girly J-pop music playing over the speakers, lemony smell of raw fish in the air, and two hot bowls of Japanese classics in front of us, it really felt for a moment like we were back on Dotonbori street in Osaka cramming our faces full of one amazing dish after another.

February 17, 2011 Alayna Discussion 3 comments