Lychee

Lychee is one of my friend's favourite fruit.  It is also very trendy these days! 

Longan ("dragon eye") fruit are pretty similar, but I don't have either often enough to be able to tell you the differences in taste.  Picture from Wikipedia.

Also, rambutan I believe are closely related to longan.  They look pretty nifty!  I think I have only had them once, and can't seem to remember how they taste.  Picture from Wikipedia. 

Yikes - this isn't a very good blog.  I will post it anyways.

Edamame

Edamame is trendy these days.  (Although spell check is suggesting the word "damaged" instead).  You can buy them frozen and boil them quickly right from frozen, for a quick and healthy snack.  It is nice to make a little dip to go along with it, consisting of minced garlic, soya sauce, and sesame oil (dip recipe stolen from Liz).  Easy peasy!

Butter Chicken!

Yum!  This is a very good recipe.  It may not be authentic, but it is still very tasty and quite easy to make (but you do have to have a lot of spices on hand).  First, chop up 2 chicken breasts or legs into small pieces and coat with a bit of flour.  Then fry with 1 chopped onion until both are cooked.  Remove from stove and set aside.  Mix 1 can tomato paste, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 1/2 tbsp minced ginger, 1 1/2 tbsp crushed garlic, 1 tsp garam masala or curry powder, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, and 1 bay leaf, in a saucepan on low heat for 7 minutes.  Add cooked chicken and onion into the sauce and simmer for a couple of minutes.  Serve with rice or naan.  This recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com.

I had leftovers the next day and used it as filling in a tortilla, along with the leftover rice, and tomato, lettuce, and plain yogurt (in place of sour cream).  It was most excellent!

Thai Yamunsen

Whew, last catch-up post!  I haven't blogged in a while besides yesterday (increased work productivity = decreased blogging) and had collected 8 food photos to post, but this is the last of them.  Aki made this for me as a surprise (<3) and it was so delicious!  It is a cold vermicelli salad.  I am not sure what recipe he used, but I would guess it is this one:
http://www.latortuga.com/cuisine/Entremetier/PH-ThaiStirredBeanThread.html

A Healthy Salad

This salad was made the day after I made the sandwiches in order to use up all of the leftovers.  I also added a can of mixed beans for protein and to make it more filling.  Also, I am trying to use up all of my canned goods because I just learned that canned goods actually do expire.  Who knew?  Not me!  A nice touch was the bruschetta topping leftover from the sandwiches - no dressing required!

Curry Zucchini Soup

I wasn't originally going to post this, but it turned out really well.  Wow, it was so delicious which surprised me because it doesn't actually look that appetizing, and it was made of such few and simple ingredients.  It was good both hot or cold, which is great given the hot days we have been having!  The recipe is from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• sea salt to taste
• 4 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch slices
• 1 quart chicken stock

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Stir in the onion, and season with curry powder and salt. Cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in zucchini, and cook until tender. Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes.
2. Remove soup from heat. Use a hand blender, or transfer in batches to a blender, and blend until almost smooth.

Stir Fry

I made this stir fry to use up the red pepper and snap peas, and it ended up being delicious!  It made me wonder why I don't make them more often.  I added in some chicken because I am trying to eat more protein and use up all of the items in the freezer - so that accomplished both of those things.  :)  The shitaki mushrooms are just from a can, but if you have a chance, eat the fresh ones because they are soooooo good (especially with a bit of butter...MMM!).  The sauce is just soya sauce, fish sauce, garlic....I think that's it.