Older Bolder Life

Stronger | Leaner | Sharper | Longer - From Older Bolder Fitness

peanuts

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Carrot and Peanut Salad

By

I’ve shared in a number of posts over the years that my family has fairly deep roots in the South, mostly Texas, and my wife and I have been profoundly influenced by the fascinating amalgam that is the ever-evolving Texas food scene these days.

That said, we still both have family recipes we remember from our childhoods, recipes passed down through several generations, and that have stood the test of time and continue to grace the table now and again.

One of those very recipes is this venerable Carrot and Peanut Salad, an almost absurdly simple combination of textures and flavors that just work together, and it’s simple enough a child can put this one together in under ten minutes without a recipe.

As always, the quality of your ingredients make the dish; you’ll want fresh, crispy, organic carrots for this dish, along with roasted peanuts (watch those roasting oils), and a fresh batch of avocado oil mayo. Now and then I’ll use half avocado oil mayo and half sour cream or Greek yogurt just to mix things up a bit (they both add a bit of tartness to the salad as you’d expect).

After washing and prepping the carrots all you need to do is grab your trusty box grater and grate away (high brow folks from the Northeast may call that shredding) until you have enough for your meal – I usually prep 4-5 large carrots for a recipe.

Start with a generous half cup of peanuts (you can always add more) and mix in your avocado oil mayo (or sour cream or yogurt) to your desired level and you’re ready to head to the table.

As with all recipes consider this the most basic framework to start from; this recipe is delicious (and visually interesting) with multicolored carrots, finely chopped jalapeños or other peppers, and with a variety of other nuts – our favorite “other nut” for this one is toasted pepitas…

Enjoy, and never let anyone argue otherwise – complex recipes aren’t always better.

Cheers.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Gochujang Curry Peanut Sauce (Dip)

By

I’ve shared before that we’re big fans of spicy peanut sauces, particularly when we’re grilling during the warmer months and have great leftover proteins in the fridge on most of these blisteringly hot summer days. To hammer that point home, and tempt your taste buds today, there’s an image below featuring this wonderful sauce over the Original Recipe Chicken from last Friday’s Feast.

Curry and peanut flavors tend to play really well together, and while you could certainly make your own curry sauce, given the number of ingredients and time required to make a really great curry sauce, we much more often than not reach for one of the tasty prepared curries available today (scan ingredients carefully).

Curry, peanut, and coconut flavors also play very well together, and on a whim a few months back, brand-spanking new tub of gochujang in hand, I stirred a couple of tablespoons of gochujang into the peanut sauce I was crafting to serve as a dip for crudite for a little party at the house.

Gochujang is, among other things, an umami flavor bomb, bringing all sorts of deep, almost at times fruity peppery notes to a dish, without being ferociously hot.

Oh you can certainly add more heat to this sauce, either with fresh peppers (try minced serranos or jalapeños), or using cayenne or other spicy ground red peppers, and you do want this sauce to be fairly spicy, given that the foods you’re pouring it over or dipping in it typically aren’t. We’ve even thrown a little chipotle powder in a batch or two, and love the smokey heat that chipotles bring to the table.

Finally, a friend who took this recipe home from the party above likes to add a teaspoon or more or cumin as well – it’s not a typical peanut sauce ingredient but is damned tasty too.

1 tbsp avocado or olive oil
1/3 cup prepared red curry paste (maybe more)
1-3 tbsp gochujang paste
1 can full-fat coconut milk (14.5 ounce)
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp good fish sauce
1 tbsp honey (optional)
1 tsp ground cumin (optional)
Kosher salt to taste

Heat your oil of choice over medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan, and the prepared curry paste and at least 1 tbsp of gochujang, and cook, stirring pretty much consistently, until the paste darkens a bit, is very fragrant, and just begins to stick to the pan.

Quickly add the entire can of coconut milk, stirring to combine well, and bring to a simmer. Continue to whisk occasionally until the mixture has reduced by 10-15%; it’ll darken a bit as it cooks as well.

Remove from the heat and immediately whisk in the peanut butter, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and if you’re using them – the cumin, honey, and other spicy flavors (see above).

Let it cool a bit, then taste, and adjust seasons; we almost always add a bit more gochujang and/or cumin, even a little cayenne or chipotle powder occasionally.

Keep this one chilled in the fridge.

Enjoy.

The Older Bolder Life Vegetable Wednesday: Chile Peanut Cauliflower Rice

By

Like many of you, we’ve been enjoying a variety of spiced-up, tasty and delicious cauliflower rice (or riced cauliflower if you prefer) dishes on our ancestral food journey.

I have to be brutally honest, I’ve been a big fan of rice of all shapes and sizes since a young child, perhaps related to my parents growing in rice country along the Texas coast, and missed rice dearly in the first months of transitioning away from grains.

We were in fact somewhat late to jump on the cauliflower rice bandwagon – it made me miss the “real thing” at first – though with the wonderful preps we’ve been cooking of late, honestly we find cauliflower rice dishes to be as good or better than actual rice these days. Right now our favorites include these recipes: Asian Fried Cauliflower Rice, Crispy Verde Cauliflower Rice, and this Ginger Pecan Cauliflower Rice.

That said, when this version of the traditional Indian recipe for this dish showed up in Bon Appetit’s feed, I set out to adapt it to a cauliflower rice version. Of note, we’ve done it with both the traditional curry leaves as well as substituting fresh basil and lime zest for the curry leaves and like the basil/lime zest version better. By the way, if you enjoy food and cooking videos, the video of Priya Krishna cooking the traditional version at the Bon Appetit link above is very well done, and she is simply a delight.

And like all recipes, sometimes you simply have to change things up to fit what’s in the fridge or pantry; you’ll note in the pictures there aren’t any serranos, but instead half ring slices of green jalapeños (they were delicious by the way), as that’s all I had in the fridge last week.

This one is easy-peasy with a great tasting, high-presentation value result.

1 pound bag frozen cauliflower rice (about 5 cups)
1 tbsp ghee, butter, or oil of choice

4 tbsp fresh lime juice (2 limes)
2 tsp good salt
1/2 cup ghee, divided
1 and 1/2 tbsp black mustard seeds
14 fresh curry leaves OR
Zest of one lime + 10-12 basil leaves, chopped
1 cup roasted peanuts
1 large onion, sliced into strips
3 serrano chiles, halved lengthwise
3-4 tbsp chopped cilantro (w/ tender stems)

Heat the frozen cauliflower rice until dried and it just begins to caramelize at the edges a little; remove to a bowl.

Heat 1/4 cup ghee, then sauté mustard seeds until they begin to pop, remove from heat and stir in curry leaves until they’re coated with ghee (leaves will pop and crisp); if using the basil and lime zest instead of the curry leaves, don’t add them yet.

Return pan to medium-low heat and add peanuts; cook until medium brown and fragrant, stirring frequently (6-8 minutes), then pour over the cauliflower rice in the bowl. Add the lime zest and basil to the bowl if using to replace the curry leaves. Add the lime juice.

In same pan heat the remaining ghee, add the sliced onions and chiles, and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring now and again, until the onions begin to caramelize. Stir onions and peppers into the cauliflower rice mixture, taste and adjust for for salt, lime, and basil (if using).

Top with chopped cilantro just before serving.

Enjoy.