Toss curly kale leaves in sesame oil and sea salt, and bake at a low temperature for crispy, melt-in-your-mouth chips that kids (and adults) will love!
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My kids love eating roasted seaweed but they came home from school the other day asking for kale chips. I’m not kidding! It sounds like a strange request coming from a bunch of candy-crazed pre-teens, but someone’s mom made kale chips and all the kids were going crazy for them??
…These tasty, juicy little potstickers are easy and fun to make as a family. Filled with ground pork or chicken, ginger, sesame oil and cabbage, they are so delicious, everyone will approve of these dumplings 🙂
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Today, most people are familiar with potstickers. You can’t walk into a Costco without sampling these delicious appetizers and then buying a huge bag. On a busy week night, one of our easy go-to-dinners is potstickers with a side of boiled and salted edamame (soybeans). I never imagined making them on my own. Why would I, when those little frozen guys are so delicious?
…My family LOVES Thai food. Most people do when they finally give it a try! Thai cuisine can be spicy and complicated to replicate. I’ve taken one of my all-time favorites dishes, Larb Gai (Thai Chicken Lettuce Cups) and made it SUPER easy. Trust me, anyone can make this healthy, flavorful recipe at home as either a light meal or an appetizer! You have loads flexibility with the ingredients, so you can keep the spice level in check for your kiddos. This recipe also happens to be a naturally gluten free dish.
Fresh Spring rolls are famous in Vietnam and are a excellent alternative to fried spring rolls. You can get creative with any mix of ingredients and simply roll the wrapper like a burrito.
When we moved to Vietnam, our house came with a cook. Can you imagine?? The whole idea seemed completely ridiculous because 1) I love to cook, and 2) never in my wildest dreams did I imagine having someone else cook for me! We were encouraged to keep local staff employed, so we embraced the idea and were thrilled to have Lu, our cook, as part of our overseas family.
Lu owned a flower shop across the street, but her passion was cooking. She loved sharing her recipes with our very appreciative family. I was an enthusiastic student and she taught me how to make some of our favorite dishes, including fresh spring rolls. Since we didn’t have access to supermarkets, Lu would go first thing each morning to the market. She would purchase fresh fruit, vegetables and meat needed for the day’s meals. In America, I only made a trip to the grocery store once a week, unless I had forgotten something!  This is unheard of in Vietnam and if you ever visit, you’ll find the food is very fresh. It was not uncommon to come into our kitchen and find prawns jumping out of our sink.
…A go-to dish for my kids and many travelers, satay is chicken or beef that’s marinated, skewered, grilled and served with a peanut sauce.
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You can find satay all over Southeast Asia. It’s a go-to dish for kids and many travelers since it’s basically chicken or beef that’s marinated, skewered, grilled and served with a peanut sauce. It has loads of flavor but it’s not ‘spicy,’ making it a perfect dish to try. Satay has been influenced by Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai cuisine, but I’ll share the Malaysian version. Lemongrass, garlic, cumin, oil, brown sugar, and most importantly turmeric give it a distinct flavor. This dish is made complete with cucumber, sliced red onion and pressed rice. These ingredients aren’t totally necessary, but do make the satay even more enjoyable!
