Nam Sod

This, my dear friends, is Nam Sod.  Nam Sod is sort of like the Thai version of the popular Lettuce Wrap.  We've been ordering this dish at Thai restaurants for YEARS.  It serves as a great appetizer (with coconut soup to follow) or a great entree for 2.  It's this delicious tangy, totally savory dish that works so well against the crispy-ness of the cabbage.  With peanuts for an added crunch and mint for a little freshness?  Yes please.  These flavors, in my opinion, are one in a million.  The best part is, IT'S A CINCH TO MAKE!  This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light:

Ingredients:

• Canola Oil
• 1 pound ground turkey breast 
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup finely chopped green onions (I omitted because I didn't have them)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (I added more)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (like  'Thai Kitchen')
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon chile paste with garlic ('sambal oelek' is the name for this stuff.  Found in the international section of your grocery store or commissary)
• 1 package of mint leaves (my own addition- you definitely want either Mint or Cilantro to garnish)
• Dry Roasted peanuts (again, a must)

Directions:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add a couple tablespoons of canola oil. Add turkey to pan; cook 5 minutes or until done, breaking up with a wooden sppon to crumble. Remove turkey from pan; set aside to cool.
•  Combine onion slices and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir turkey into onion mixture.
•  Serve turkey mixture in cabbage leaves and top with peanuts, mint/cilantro, and more limes!

Enjoy!  This dish is a total keeper and seriously- it's so easy and quick to make on a busy weeknight!

 A closer look at the goodness that is Nam Sod

Morning Glory Muffins

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears.

Ok sometimes when I blog I think I'm all of a sudden a lot funnier than I really am.  Hence the above stupidity.  Here's where I was going with that thought: "friends, romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" to say: WE ARE SORRY FOR NOT BLOGGING FOR OVER TWO WEEKS!  Kate has always been fairly busy, but as of recent, homegirl is EXTREMELY busy, and I am nearing the end of my semester, so I maintain a busy schedule, as well.  BUT- the summertime is upon us- and more blogging should be coming from this computer after the semester is over!  Not that ya'll are waiting on pins and needles (whoever 'ya'll' may be), but for the followers we DO have, we wanted to say we are sorry!

So if you've been with us for a while you know that I have a thing for healthy muffins.  In the archives are a delicious recipe for some fairly healthy banana nut muffins from Cooking Light, but now I'd like to share with you a recipe I tried and it might just be the.best. healthy muffin recipe I have yet to taste (mind you this has been a three year long quest and I've made some DOOZIES).  Even my sweet husband- who has not particularly enjoyed this process of finding great, healthy muffins, said that this recipe was the best he'd had, and not like, "as far as healthy muffins go, it's good" but like, ACTUALLY ENJOYED THE MUFFIN!  So, thanks to Pinterest leading me to this blog, here is a fab recipe.  I'll share with you the changes I made:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raisins
 (I re-hydrate them by soaking them in VERY hot water for about 5 minutes)
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup brown sugar (I used part honey and part REAL sugar- like, unrefined, organic sugar.  Brown sugar is NOT better for you than white sugar- it's just white sugar with molasses added)

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups carrots, peeled and grated

1 large apple, peeled, cored, and grated (I left this out because I didn't have an apple)

1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
 (I omitted this, too)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup wheat germ
3 large eggs

2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
 (I'm fairly certain you could use yogurt instead)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup orange juice
demerara sugar, for topping (that's basically 'sugar in the raw')

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. 

In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and wheat germ, if using. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, applesauce, vanilla, and orange juice. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened. Drain the raisins and stir them in. Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan, filling almost to top. Sprinkle with demerara sugar.



Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, until 'domed' and a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling.


*compliments of www.honeyandjam.com