Tripe Stew

I went to Taste of Little Italy a while back (which should really be called Taste of College Street since there were all types of food there), and had some delicious tripe stew.  I decided to venture into the scary meat section in a grocery store in Chinatown and purchase some honeycomb tripe to make the stew.  It turned out pretty well, but I would definitely recommend cooking the tripe a lot less than the instructions told me to (i.e., cook it less than 2 hours), so that it retains its nice chewy texture.

http://www.suite101.com/content/beef-honeycomb-tripe-stew-recipe-a174651

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese dish, and is basically a cabbage pancake.  You make it similarly to how to you make latkes, by chopping up the cabbage thinly, and adding flour and egg so that it sticks together.  Aki also added a grated Japanese potato as well.  You then fry them up, and top with Okonomiyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, seaweed flakes, Bonito (fish) flakes, and pickled ginger. 

Kale Chips

I bought this kale from Kensington Market because it was purple.  I removed the stocks, and washed and dried the kale, then tossed it with a bit of olive oil and salt. 

 
I then baked them for 7 minutes until crispy.  Please be warned that you need to eat these all on the same day, or else they turn into kale chews and are not very good at all.

Fresh Veggies

I went to the Farmers' Market again yesterday as a break and got some delicious goods!  I bought corn on the cob, tomatoes (orange and red), red potatoes, okra, romaine lettuce, and lots of cucumber.  So I made a nice fresh, simple, summery lunch today.

Latkes!!!!

Latkes are one of my favourite foods.  Especially when we have all the delicious toppings on hand.  This latkes has some chopped onion in it, and is topped with smoked salmon, sour cream, green onions, pepper, and salt.  I am pretty proud of my photography job as well!

An Amazing Sandwich

I stopped eating sandwiches a long time ago because they are boring.  But then I realized it's just because I used to eat boring sandwiches.  In elementary school and part of high school I would eat sandwiches with 2 slices of whole wheat bread and 2 slices of deli meat, with some mustard if I was lucky.  Then I met Aki and when we were in our courting stage, he would share his lunch with me, and had the best sandwiches!  Prosciutto, aged cheddar, lettuce, and a few other things on a croissant.  Mmmmm, I had forgotten about those.  Here is the sandwich I made today - herb & garlic cream cheese, smoked salmon, spinach (actually I think I forgot to put the spinach on), bruschetta with olives, avocado, and alfalfa spouts, on a oatmeal/pumpkin seed bun!  Wowsers!

Thai Night!

Pad Thai
 
This is a really great recipe for Pad Thai that is originally from allrecipes.com, but has been adapted quite a bit over the years to perfection!  It may not seem as authentic because it is one of those peanut butter recipes and does not use tamarind paste, but sometimes that can be hard to find anyways!

Mix these all together for the sauce:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp hot red chili flakes
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp fish sauce

Cook half a pkg of rice noodles & drain.  Set to side.
In a large frying pan, fry up whatever diced veggies/meat/tofu you want (carrots, onion, snowpeas, chicken, etc).  Over high heat, mix in the noodles and crack in 2 eggs, and stir quickly and vigorously (best to do the eggs one at a time).  Add in sauce and cook until the sauce is less liquidy.  Transfer into a large glass dish and let cool.  Sprinkle with crushed peanuts and fresh corriander. 

Mango Salad

Julienne 2 unripe mangoes, and add in thinly sliced red onion and a handful of fresh coriander.  For the dressing, use the juice of 2 limes, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste.  Allow the dish to sit in the refrigerator for about 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!