Teriyaki Sauce

This recipe makes about 1 1/4 c of teriyaki sauce. You really don't have to be so stringent about mixing everything - it comes out fine when you mix it all together to begin with, as we found out last night.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c sweet wine or rice wine
• 3/4 c coconut aminos
• 1 Tbsp + 1/4 tsp coconut vinegar
• 3/4 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 c honey (optional)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 1/4 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• dash red pepper flakes
• black pepper to taste

Directions
Bring wine to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 min. Pour in coconut aminos, vinegar, sesame oil and honey. Season with garlic, ginger, pepper flakes and black pepper; simmer an additional 5 min.

Beef Satay with Cashew Butter Sauce

We re-worked this recipe to our liking from a Williams-Sonoma recipe. It's especially delicious with fresh green peppers, or at least it was last night :) We also make our own teriyaki sauce, but that's something everyone should make to their liking.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs flank steak
• 2/3 c teriyaki sauce
• 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
• 2 green or red sweet peppers
• 6 Tbsp cashew butter
• 6 Tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
• 4 Tbsp teriyaki sauce

Directions
Cut steak diagonally across the grain in thin slices. For marinade, combine 2/3 c teriyaki sauce and 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 min. Drain steak, reserving marinade. If grilling on skewers, alternate steak strips and peppers. Brush skewers with remaining marinade. For peanut sauce, combine 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce, cashew butter, water and 4 Tbsp teriyaki sauce in a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through; keep warm.

Grill, saute with marinade, or broil steak and pepper mix until steak is cooked to your liking.

Back From a Cruise, Time for Better Eating

So... Last week, we shouldn't even discuss. When all food is free and buffet-style or room service, and you're on vacation, it's really hard to be good. In fact, we didn't even try. So this week, we're being fairly strict and really good, and so far, it has paid off.

For Father's Day Sunday night, we had absolutely amazing balsamic glazed pork chops, with the inch-thick pork chops from the farmer's market, and a spinach and bacon salad that I nicked from Paladar.

Then Monday night, we gave two new recipes a shot: Coconut chicken nuggets and Egg Drop Soup. The nuggets actually kept the breading and stayed crispy, and the egg drop soup looked like anything you might order from your favorite guilty pleasure Chinese place. And, incidentally, both were delicious. For guilt-free soup, we did lard instead of butter, coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, and arrowroot instead of cornstarch.

Tuesday night, we re-worked an old recipe from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook: Beef Satay with Cashew Butter Sauce. I love it even more than the original recipe, I think the cashew butter comes out much better than peanut butter. Also, the fresh green peppers from the farmers market were so soft and sweet!

A few gym-night standards for the nights to come:
Chicken pesto - yay for frozen pesto cubes! We made a double batch last time, so no blending tonight!
Beef curry
Chicken thighs w/ creamy tomato sauce

Pad See Eaw

Ingredients

• 2 T honey
• 2 lbs of flank steak, cut into strips (we've also used venison, and the original recipe used pork)
• 6 T coconut aminos
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 pack of kelp noodles
• 2 eggs
• Head of broccoli, chopped or bag of florets

Directions
Heat skillet or wok to high and add some oil. Add in chopped or minced garlic and stir. Add the sliced meat. Stir to cook the meat. Add coconut aminos and honey. Mix in any desired seasonings. Open a spot in the middle of the pan and drop the eggs in. Scramble until almost all cooked. Add in broccoli and noodles, and stir until broccoli is cooked.