One Pan, Two Plates (35 page)

Authors: Carla Snyder

BOOK: One Pan, Two Plates

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2.
Whisk together 1 tbsp soy sauce and ½ tsp chili garlic sauce, the chicken broth, sesame oil, and honey in a small bowl. Set aside.

3.
Heat a 12-in/30.5-cm skillet over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. When the oil shimmers, add the remaining ginger and garlic, the snap peas, green onions, and bell pepper and sauté, stirring, until the veggies are almost cooked through, about 4 minutes. Add the shrimp with their marinade, the broth mixture, and corn and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring to cook the shrimp. Stir in the cilantro. Taste for seasoning and add the remaining soy sauce if it needs it. If you’d like more heat, stir in more chili garlic sauce in very small increments, tasting as you go.

4.
Mound the cooked rice on two warmed plates and top it with the stir-fry and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Serve hot.

it’s that easy:
Stir-fries are among the speediest of meals to prepare. They’re a great excuse to use up your best local farmers’ market finds because there are so many different veggies you can swap in. Be inventive. That’s how the best dishes happen. To de-string the peas, just pinch the ends and pull. The strings will come right off.

extra hungry?
How about a cup of ramen on the side?

in the glass:
A Chardonnay would work here. Look for food-friendly bottlings from Joel Gott for value, fruit, and a little less oak than usual.

Scallops

and
ASIAN NOODLE SALAD
with
SPICY LIME SAUCE

The more I work with rice-stick noodles, the more I love them. They’re just so darn versatile. But, really, in this recipe the noodles are merely a vehicle for the limy sauce, crunchy vegetables, and chopped herbs. Did I mention the peanuts? Oh, and how about the scallops . . . cooked to a perfect crispy brown on the outside, but tender and silky on the inside. Oh, yeah, there’s a lot more going on here than just noodles.

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START TO FINISH
25 minutes

...

HANDS-ON TIME
25 minutes

...

serves 2

........

4 oz/115 g rice-stick noodles

4 oz/115 g snow peas, thinly sliced on the diagonal

½ cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced into matchsticks

1 green onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup/28 g shredded carrot

¼ cup/32 g chopped peanuts

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

2 tbsp chopped basil

2 tbsp chopped mint

3 tbsp water

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp lime juice, plus more if necessary, plus ½ lime, quartered

½ tsp red chili flakes, plus more if necessary

½ tsp chili garlic sauce

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt

14 oz/400 g day-boat scallops (also called dry or dry-packed), patted dry on paper towels

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1.
In a heatproof bowl, soak the noodles in boiling water until they are softened, about 15 minutes. Drain the noodles.

2.
Combine the noodles with the snow peas, cucumber, green onion, carrot, peanuts, cilantro, basil, and mint in a medium bowl.

3.
Combine the water, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, red chili flakes, chili garlic sauce, and garlic in a small bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar.

4.
Reserve 1 tbsp of the sauce and add the rest to the noodles, tossing to blend. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, chili flakes, or lime juice.

5.
Sprinkle the scallops with salt and pepper on both sides.

6.
Heat a 12-in/30.5-cm skillet over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. When the oil shimmers, add the scallops. Cook until browned on the first side, about 2 minutes (don’t try to move them sooner or they will stick and tear). Using tongs or a spatula, carefully turn them over and sear the second side for another 2 minutes. They should be browned and slightly firm to the touch when pressed with a finger. Remove the pan from the heat.

7.
Arrange the noodle salad on individual plates and top with the browned scallops. Drizzle the reserved sauce over the scallops and garnish with the lime quarters. Serve right away.

it’s that easy:
One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is a ¼-cup/60-ml spouted measuring cup with incremental markings. It comes in really handy when measuring out the ingredients for an Asian sauce by the tablespoon. No more awkward measuring spoons. Look for them in cookware shops or online and buy a few. You’ll use them every day.

extra hungry?
Add ½ cup/85 g halved grape tomatoes or thinly sliced bell pepper to the noodle salad.

in the glass:
There’s a lot going on in the flavor department here. I’d go with a German Spatlese—style Reisling since its medium body and acidity go well with most Asian-inspired dishes. The labels on German wines are notoriously confusing so do yourself a favor and just ask the wine guy for a not too dry, not too sweet, refreshing, food-friendly bottle. Try a different label each time. Be an explorer. You’ll be sure to discover something great.

Salade Niçoise

Salade niçoise,
as its many passionate fans know, is much more than a salad. It’s one of those dishes that’s been filling up hungry laborers for centuries—the potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and wedges of hard-boiled egg absorb the herb-infused vinaigrette, while the roasted peppers, anchovies, and tuna create a kind of chunky sauce. For the physically or mentally exhausted, it’s just the thing to fill you up after a hard day, and for lovers of salad as a meal, it’s the perfect dish for a picnicky summer Sunday.

........

START TO FINISH
35 minutes

...

HANDS-ON TIME
30 minutes

...

serves 2

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1½ tbsp white wine vinegar

½ tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp minced mixed fresh herbs, such as thyme, basil, parsley, and chives

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup/60 ml extra-virgin olive oil

4 red-skinned new potatoes, scrubbed and each cut into 6 wedges

4 oz/115 g green beans, trimmed and snapped in two

3 handfuls mixed salad greens (I buy them already washed)

One 5-oz/140-g can olive oil—packed tuna, preferably imported, drained

1½ cups/255 g halved grape or cherry tomatoes

¼ cup/55 g jarred roasted red peppers, drained and cut into strips

¼ cup/40 g Niçoise or Kalamata olives

1 hard-boiled egg (I use store-bought to save time), peeled and quartered

8 anchovy fillets (see “It’s that easy”), rinsed and patted dry if salt-packed

1.
Fill a 12-in/30.5-cm skillet with water up to about 1 in/2.5 cm from the top and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

2.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, herbs, ¼ tsp salt, a few grinds of pepper, and the olive oil. Taste and add more salt and pepper if it needs it. Set the dressing aside.

3.
When the water boils, add ½ tsp salt and the potatoes. Return to a boil and cook the potatoes for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the
green beans, and cook until the beans are crisp-tender and the potatoes are easily pierced with the tip of a knife, another 5 minutes or so. Drain the potatoes and beans in a colander set in the sink and run cold water over them to cool them down slightly.

4.
Add the cooked potatoes and beans to the bowl with the dressing and toss gently to coat. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

5.
Arrange the greens on two plates or one big platter and top them with the dressed potatoes and green beans, reserving the dressing. Scatter the tuna, tomatoes, roasted peppers, olives, egg quarters, and anchovies attractively over the greens. Sprinkle salt and a few grinds of pepper over all. Drizzle the remaining dressing liberally over the salad and serve right away.

it’s that easy:
Ahhh, anchovies. Cartoon cats aren’t the only ones who dream of them. But love them or leave them, they do add a certain something-something to dishes. If you are in the leave-them camp, please try the salt-packed variety at least once. They’re firmer and less, ahem, fragrant. Just rinse off the salt and toss them in the salad. You might be surprised at the flavor they add.

extra hungry?
Extra-easy: Just add bread and extra-virgin olive oil sprinkled with gray sea salt for dipping.

in the glass:
In the spirit of alfresco dining in the south of France, what could be better than a rosé. Of course a bottle of Bandol would be ideal, but you won’t go wrong with Domaine du Roquefort Rose de Provence Corail. It has lots of strawberry and orange but a dry finish that works especially well with the blast of flavor in this dish.

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