You guys know that I’m passionate about my cookbooks, and after reading literally thousands, my standards have become pretty high for which ones I actually want to cook from. One of the newest to make that list is Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes. What immediately stood out to me about this cookbook is the fascinating background of its author, Linda Shiue. Dr. Shiue is a renowned chef and physician who creates recipes to fuel the body and mind to function at their highest potential.

Her focus with this book is to share the powerful anti-inflammatory effects of spices, as she crafts delicious recipes that leverage their vibrant flavors and healing, energizing qualities.

You know that famous phrase, “Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”? It means that nutrition can be used to achieve optimal health and prevent disease, and in this food journey, Dr. Shiue puts it to the test with her 175 vegetarian and pescatarian recipes. My favorite aspect of her approach is that she takes readers on a culinary adventure to places around the globe, and for today’s post, Dr. Shiue is sharing how to cook with healing ingredients from Asia, right from your own kitchen. Read on for her guide to making the most of these incredibly energizing ingredients, as well as one of her recipes for using them: the delicious Miso-Glazed Salmon from her book.

*images by Michelle K. Min for Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes

Excerpted from SPICEBOX KITCHEN: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes by Linda Shiue, MD. Copyright © 2021. Available from Hachette Go, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

If I close my eyes, I can imagine myself in Taipei. The humid air, the sounds of the market, the scent of food being cooked by street food vendors, and the taste of pungent and fermented flavors that were once unfamiliar, but I now crave. Asia is a large continent with many distinct countries, cultures, and cuisines, so this section cannot be comprehensive. But I hope to give you a good sampling of the flavors and recipes I most enjoy cooking and eating from the region. Some recipes, I learned from my mother or other family members in Taiwan; others, from time I have spent living, studying, and working in different Asian countries; and still others were inspired by restaurant meals.

My parents immigrated from Taiwan in the mid-1960s as graduate students, and their path as researchers led them to a national laboratory located in semirural eastern Long Island, New York, where I spent a carefree childhood playing in the woods, collecting rocks, and riding my bike. We were the only Asian family in town when I was in elementary school, and there weren’t any Asian groceries nearby. In fact, to get the flavors of my parents’ homeland, we had to drive two hours to New York City’s Chinatown, or fly more than sixteen hours to get to the source. What this meant for my early palate is that I was more familiar with Italian and Jewish food than with any kind of Asian food, and the kind of Chinese food I wanted was egg foo yung and fried chow mein noodles served with sweet duck sauce. What this meant for my mother, who hadn’t grown up cooking, was that she had to learn how to cook the foods she missed. And because of where we lived, she simultaneously had to get creative with substitutions, as all immigrants do, such as spaghetti instead of fresh egg noodles, and to learn how to DIY, such as making her own salted duck eggs and chili oil and sprouting her own bean sprouts. When we did make it to New York City, we would stock up on as many shelf-stable staples as we could—dried noodles, short-grain rice, Taiwanese-style pickles, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and dried shrimp.

When I went to college, I had the chance to learn about Asian American culture, as well as the cultures of many other countries from East and South Asia. I joined all the Asian American associations and, for the first time, had a chance to gain some familiarity with the food of countries other than Taiwan, including China, Korea, Japan, India, and Thailand. I studied abroad in Singapore, during which time I also had the chance to visit Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. After college, I worked in Sichuan province in China and was also able to visit other Chinese cities, including Xian and Beijing, and Hong Kong, pre–Chinese control. And while I did this all on a student budget, I ate well and began to understand that a culture’s foodways are a great portal to understanding. I learned to appreciate spice and spices, acidity, and the funk of fermentation. I began to love visiting local markets. I married a man from Trinidad whose DNA traces to India, China, and elsewhere and learned how to cook the Trinidadian Indian food he missed. All of these experiences helped me to develop my palate and appreciation for diverse Asian flavors.

I won’t claim that these recipes are “authentic” or “traditional”; they are a modern representation of the tastes that have all stayed with me long after I’ve returned back home. In many cases, I have made plant-based versions of dishes that might be more familiar to you with meat, making them lighter and healthier. As you cook through these recipes, I hope you will feel transported to the different countries and cultures that inspired them. As we say in Taiwan, chiàh-pn?g! (Literally, “eat rice”; conversationally, “let’s eat!”)

Dr. Shiue’s List of Ingredients to Have on Hand for Asian Cooking:

Spices

• chile peppers
• cinnamon
• cloves
• furikake
• ginger
• gochugaru
• dried orange peel
• sesame seeds
• Sichuan peppercorns
• star anise

Sauces

• Fish sauce, such as Thai nam pla, Vietnamese nuoc mam, or Filipino patis
• chili sauce
• gochujang
• hoisin
• mirin

Herbs

• cilantro
• green onions
• Thai basil

Fats

• canola, grapeseed, or peanut oil
• coconut oil
• toasted sesame oil

Acids

• rice vinegar
• black vinegar
• lime

Get Dr. Shiue’s recipe for Miso-Glazed Salmon below…

The post This Miso-Glazed Salmon Uses Healing, Energizing Ingredients appeared first on Camille Styles.

I first fell in love with Thai food during the time I spent in New York City at the end of college. There was a little spot in Soho where my best friend and I would meet for papaya salad and pad thai. We’d grab a seat by the window and people watch, and I remember being totally enthralled by the bright flavors of this new-to-me cuisine: lemongrass, lime leaves, Thai basil, salty peanuts. There was nothing like it. When I moved to Austin soon after, I searched for these flavors in my new city – and I was so happy to find them the day I walked into Thai Fresh. It’s been one of my favorite spots in the city ever since, and they have one of the most devoted followings of any local restaurant (case in point: their chef/owner Jam Sanitchat’s new cookbook is 100% crowd-funded! But more on that in a bit.)

So, you can imagine my excitement to be cooking live with Jam on Instagram Live this Wednesday, March 3rd, at 6pm CST! We’ll be making the Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Kai) from the new cookbook.

Pickup the list of ingredients and cook right along with us (the full recipe is at the bottom of this post), or if you’re in Austin, you can purchase a kit with all of the Thai Fresh coconut soup ingredients ready to go. Tune in by going to my Instagram and clicking on the profile picture where we’ll be cooking live.

So, about this cookbook… it’s really special. The book is a collection of Jam’s 40 years of cooking and 16 years of teaching the art of Thai cuisine, from her popular farmers market stand, to establishing what’s become an iconic restaurant in Austin. I was so excited to get my hands on an advance copy, and I asked Jam if I could share this excerpt from the book about Balance — which perfectly illuminates one of the features that sets Thai cooking apart.

Read on for her words (warning – may induce extreme hunger), and be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post to grab the recipe for her famous Coconut Soup. Can’t wait to see you guys tomorrow!

From Thai Fresh: Beloved Recipes from a South Austin icon:

Balance

Thai cooking isn’t especially difficult to learn, but there is a core principle to understand before you start: Something that is always present—must be present—for food to be considered authentic Thai is a balance of sweet, sour, salty, spicy and bitter flavors. This “five-flavor combo” balance is ancient to our culture and how we understand food. It’s the only way we approach cooking. This doesn’t mean that each individual dish has to include all five flavors (though sometimes that’s the case). It means that the entire meal itself represents a balance of all five flavors. Each flavor comes from different sources—for example, spicy can come from chili peppers, garlic, cloves or spices; sour from lime and lemon juices, fruits, vinegar and tamarind; sweet from sugars and fruits; salty from fish sauce, soy sauce or salt; and bitter from herbs, spices and even vegetables. A balanced representation of the five flavors in a meal satisfies all of your senses and makes you crave more.

I remember my grandmother and mom tasting their food as it was cooking. Whenever the taste was “off,” they knew just what to add to find the balance. Sweet fixes sour and vice versa, they told me. Salt always tones down heat, and sugar will do the same. If you can break a dish down to its major flavor components, it will help you understand how to balance it with the other dishes on the table. While preparing food in my cooking classes, I invite students to taste the food after each ingredient is added—after the fish sauce or soy sauce, after the sugar, after the lime juice. This helps them grasp what’s happening as the flavors develop.

Scroll on for the recipe for the famous Thai Fresh Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Kai)…

The post Join Us LIVE to Cook Coconut Soup With Thai Fresh – And Grab the Recipe Right Here! appeared first on Camille Styles.

This curry is on dinnertime repeat at my house this month: it’s packed with nourishing herbs, spices and veggies, and bursting with my favorite fall flavors.

When this season rolls around, I start craving all the soups, curries, and chilis at the first drop in temperature. I’ve evolved this tasty coconut chicken curry recipe over time to fit whatever seasonal veggies are in my fridge at the moment. Plus, it’s beginner friendly if you’re new to making curry — aside from the protein, it all comes together in just one pot. Let’s dig in.

This dish is inspired by traditional Thai yellow curries, with a kick of Indian flavor. It’s loaded with aromatics that will leave your kitchen smelling divine, and uses yellow curry paste, which contains a combination of spices that have been used in Thai and Indian kitchens for centuries. The most well-known spice is turmeric, known for it’s anti-inflammatory properties and vibrant, golden color. Traditional curries often utilize real chilis for spice, but this recipe uses chili powder to bring the heat.

Lemongrass is another popular ingredient in Southeast-Asian cooking, and adds a zesty kick that perfectly balances the other flavors in the dish (to make it easier on yourself, you can buy pre-ground lemongrass from many groceries.) The coconut milk provides a welcome cooling touch to this dish; I opt for canned full-fat coconut milk for the richest, creamiest flavor. When it comes to spices, feel free to adjust to your liking. I would say this recipe is moderately spicy as-is.

By October, I’ve usually already made my fair share of sweet potato dishes, but they’re still one of my favorite ingredients no matter the season. When cooked in this curry, they take on a soft, satisfying texture, and their natural sweetness pairs perfectly with the spices in this dish. Plus, sweet potatoes are high in fiber (among boasting numerous other health benefits.)

As for the other veggies, feel free to riff on my version using what you’ve got. In addition to the sweet potato, I used a combo of carrots, broccoli and green peas. I’ve also used cauliflower and mushrooms, and am planning to test with squash next. For protein, I added two shredded chicken breasts, which were ideal for soaking up the bold, warming flavors of the curry sauce.

This dish is all about the finishing touches, so don’t skimp on the herbs! IMHO, they make this dish, and I love to use a generous mix of cilantro, mint and basil that brings freshness to every bite.

When it’s almost ready, I’ll squeeze a lime and add some additional herbs to garnish. As with most comfort foods, this curry is best enjoyed with some carbs. I used a combination of jasmine and cauliflower rice, but rice noodles are also a delicious option to soak up every bit of the sauce. This recipe serves around six people, so it’s usually enough for the whole family, or a great make-ahead meal to have throughout the week. I hope you enjoy this warm, comforting curry as much as my crew did!

The post Cozy Coconut Chicken Curry with Sweet Potato & Lemongrass appeared first on Camille Styles.

The Aloha Tuna Poké Bowl at Honest Mary’s in Austin is a summer staple that’s healthy, delicious, and surprisingly easy to make at home. Since many of us are at home now more than ever, we’ve all been a little more inclined to experiment with new recipes, and this poke bowl adds a little adventure to lunch or dinner if you find yourself running out of fresh ideas for recipes. 

In our recent interview with the restaurant’s founders Nelson and Mary, they shared the recipe and tips for whipping up this amazing bowl at home. Read on for their foolproof steps to recreate their ahi tuna, sesame vinaigrette, basmati rice, asian slaw, and pickled onions at home. This is one you won’t want to miss out on before summer ends – and it might satisfy some vacation cravings while you’re at it.

Tell us about the Ahi Tuna Poké Bowl – we’re obsessed.

This is the bowl that almost wasn’t. (But we’re so glad that it is!) When we constructed our original menu for the restaurant, poke wasn’t much of a consideration. We were focused on vegetable-heavy grain bowls with more traditional protein options (chicken, steak, tofu). But we couldn’t deny that the poke trend was on the rise (poke is a popular Hawaiian dish focused around raw Yellowfin (ahi) tuna). So we thought, what the heck, let’s create a recipe and see if we like it. Well, we loved it so much that poke just had to make the menu.

Since opening, the Aloha Poke has consistently proven to be one of our most popular bowls. And while it’s popularity isn’t necessarily seasonal, its cool and refreshing profile makes it especially shine in the summertime.

How to make the Honest Mary’s Ahi Poke Bowl at home:

1. Start with the Ahi tuna.

The focal ingredient in this bowl is of course the Yellowfin (Ahi) tuna. We source a top-shelf tuna with the following standards:

• Wild, hand-line caught using “one line / one fish” catching practices
• Sashimi grade tuna
• Hand Cut
• Part of FIP sustainable project

The bottom line here: use great tuna from a reputable fish market. We personally go to a quality seafood market and ask the fishmonger to cut a fresh hunk of Yellowfin tuna off the loin. You’ll want to aim for about 4 oz of tuna per person (up to 6 or 8 oz if you’re really hungry!).

2. Whisk up the sesame vinaigrette.

One of the great things about this bowl is that the sesame vinaigrette serves multiple purposes: it marinates the Poke, seasons the Asian Slaw, and serves as the finishing sauce. Although this is a slight variation of our signature vinaigrette recipe, it’s just as delicious and can be used on just about anything you need to add a little Asian kick to. 

3. Cook up your basmati rice base.

The base for our poke bowl will be warm, freshly cooked basmati rice. It’s the only warm item in the bowl, which provides a very nice contrast to the cold tuna and toppings. For home cooking, we’ll keep things really simple here. Any simple basmati rice recipe you find online should work, but the one we’ve included in the recipe card section below can work just fine. 

4. Finish with your asian slaw and pickled onions. 

The Asian slaw is super simple to make (since the Sesame Vinaigrette is already made!), and adds great texture and fullness to the bowl. The Pickled Onions are an X-factor. They’re sweet, salty and tangy all in one. And that beautiful pink color adds so much to the presentation. An additional plus: pickled onions are a great source of probiotics and great digestive qualities.

Scroll on for the recipe cards for each component of the bowl, and leave a comment and a rating if you give it a try! 

The post This Aloha Tuna Poké Bowl Is All We Want for Lunch appeared first on Camille Styles.

What I love most about cooking is the idea that food brings people together and forges connections. Few topics garner a more passionate response than when someone takes a stance on the best taco in town. And think about the excitement / nostalgia that happens when you bake a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies to share? And just try getting into a debate over whether a hot dog is a sandwich (trust me on that one, it’s a wild conversation.) Food brings us together, and that’s a fact.

When we think about all the different cultures in the world, it’s so easy to see the differences in our cuisines. But what’s even cooler to realize is how some foods are so universal, they transcend cultural lines and find a place in every part of the world. Enter, rice.

Rice plays a starring role in so many of the world’s cuisines, and for good reason. Think pilaf, fried rice, jambalaya, paella, bibimbap, risotto, sushi, the list goes on. It’s easy to make and the perfect blank canvas on which to build flavors.

I grew up in a house where making a pot of rice with dinner was a requirement. My dad was always in charge of making a cup of rice in the same mauve glass pot that my parents still use to make rice today. The pot would come to the table and we would each scoop out a big spoon rice to eat with our leftover dal and sabzi. And while a classic bowl of basmati rice will always have a special place in my heart, living on my own is not exactly conducive to regularly making a whole pot of rice. So when I start planning out my weekly lunches and coming up with meal ideas, I instead turn to one of my other favorite forms of rice – the rice noodle and rice paper roll!

Rice paper spring rolls are one of those meals I regularly come back to for several reasons. One, the options are literally endless when it comes to filling your rolls. Two, the assembly is equal parts as easy as it is fun! And of course, spring rolls are such an easy way to pack in a bunch of delicious veggies and fillings that make any work lunch feel so much more special than just another salad.

For these guys, I really leaned into the sweet and savory combo, using tempeh as my protein of choice. I marinated my sliced tempeh in a sriracha based sauce that gives these rolls a little more substance and flavor to pair with the rice noodles than just filling them with vegetables, and it’s a total game changed for all my vegetarian friends. Some cool cucumber and creamy avocado make these rolls great, but adding some sliced mango into these rolls was what really took these to the next level. Maybe it’s because I grew up eating all the mangos, but I love the sweetness of the fruit with the slight savory heat from the tempeh and the sriracha dipping sauce.

You could of course fill these with any and all fillings you love, just roll them up burrito style and you’re in for a treat. The options are endless!

The post Honey Sriracha Tempeh Spring Rolls Make Lunch the Best Part of Your Day appeared first on Camille Styles.

Y’all know that cooking is one of my greatest passions, but even I have my limits.

After 3 weeks of preparing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for our family of four nearly every day while we’re sheltering at home, I’ve got to admit that my creative ideas are starting to dry up. Especially when fresh ingredients are limited and last-minute grocery runs are nonexistent.

That said, this time at home has also been full of great meals, since much of what we have to look forward to each day consists of starting the day with pancakes, or pouring a glass of pinot noir, or gathering around the dinner table for something really nourishing. We’ve eaten a lot of tacos during this time, likely because we’ve always got beans, rice, and corn tortillas on hand — but also because there’s just something about a really good taco that hits the spot like nothing else.

I’ve been continuing to cook up a lot of plant-based dinners, and now even more so since all our fish and meat is basically coming from the freezer. These brussels sprouts tacos have been my most successful vegetarian experiment of our quarantine so far — even Adam said that he “didn’t miss the meat,” and the spicy peanut sauce and mashed avocado make these feel really substantial.

Even better, they leverage brussels sprouts, radishes, and onions: three veggies that can last literally weeks when stored properly (brussels and radishes in the produce drawer of the fridge, onions in a dark spot in the pantry.) As I’ve shared before, good pantry meals rely on veggies that are either frozen or hearty enough to last a long time — like these, or pretty much any root vegetables.

The secret to these tacos really is in the sauce: this peanut sauce is a stealth super hero that takes the rest of the ingredients and turns them into something addictive. The recipe makes about 1 1/4 cups of sauce so you’ll have some extra, but if you do decide to double it, you won’t be sorry. Use it to make a stir fry, drizzle on a spring roll bowl, or mix with a little rice vinegar or extra lime juice and make it your go-to salad dressing all week long.

Scroll on for the recipe, and I’d love to hear in the comments how y’all are getting creative with your pantry ingredients this week!

The post Spicy Peanut Brussels Sprouts Tacos is the Vegetarian Dinner We Want Right Now appeared first on Camille Styles.

ed. note: This post originally ran in September 2017, but we thought it felt particularly on-point for the coming weeks when we’re staying home and making the most of the ingredients we have on hand. Use this soup as a comforting, healthy meal that will help keep you and your family nourished during this difficult time. This recipe yields enough for leftovers to freeze, too! Or, double it to have it last you all week long.

Most of us have finally woken up to the fact that food is medicine — what we put into our bodies has an incredible effect on how well it operates, and over the last couple of years I’ve become fascinated with learning more about ingredients that possess super powers when it comes to boosting health. I first read about the idea of an Immunity Soup from Dr. Andrew Weil, whose recipe includes Chinese herbs and mushrooms that have immune-enhancing properties. So I decided to create one of my own, and this Turmeric Chicken Immunity Soup uses easy-to-find ingredients that most of us have floating around in our fridges at any given time.

I love a layered, flavor-packed soup… but I also love weeknight dinners that take less than 20 minutes to prepare, and often those two qualities do not go hand-in-hand. For this one, I used a few of my favorite shortcuts that I frequently employ to make soups taste way more complex than they actually are.

First, rotisserie chicken is your friend. Let’s be real: it tastes just as good as anything you’re going to roast at home, and picking one up on your way home from work and shredding it up (and having leftovers) is way faster and easier than roasting an entire chicken from scratch.

Also, I cook everything in one pot, including the noodles which just get thrown into the soup for the last few minutes of cooking time. They soak up all the spicy flavors and it’s much quicker than cooking the noodles on their own beforehand.

Now let’s talk about these super ingredients. Ginger is a natural anti-inflammatory agent, and garlic has powerful antibiotic properties that protect heart health. And of course, we’ve all heard about the incredible anti-inflammatory benefits of turmeric, which I just heard are more readily absorbed when combined with fat or pepper, both of which are present here. Try to find fresh turmeric root if you can: it’s so good grated into this soup, though powder works great too.

Most importantly, this recipe is insanely delicious and approachable event to non-adventurous eaters — the kids loved that it was basically chicken noodle soup, just a whole lot more delicious. Keep scrolling for the recipe, and can’t wait to hear if y’all give it a try!

The post This Turmeric Chicken Immunity Soup Has Magical Powers appeared first on Camille Styles.

I’ve had my fair share of burgers and dogs this summer, and I have to admit, the hot-off-the-grill, no-frills fare really never gets old. Moving into a new season, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to the summer staples, but I will be looking to make some healthier swaps to take my weekend poolside indulgence into more nutritious weeknights.

Exhibit A is today’s recipe, where a beef patty has been swapped for leaner ground chicken, a buttery bun has been replaced with bibb lettuce wraps, and Asian-inspired herbs and spices join the party for some added freshness.

Ready for a healthier version of your favorite burger? Keep reading to see how easy this recipe really is.

Firing up the grill can feel like a lot for a weeknight. Instead, we love having a simple cast iron grill pan on hand, which gets the same job done on top of the stove.

While this meal makes for a great weeknight dinner, it’s also the perfect dress-your-own main course for a casual dinner party. Just pair with a refreshing cocktail and dinner is served.

The post These Chicken Burger Lettuce Wraps Are My New Weeknight Go-To appeared first on Camille Styles.

Thanks to my love of cooking and trying out new dishes, I have the unofficial distinction among our friends as designated “recipe tester.” My friends love it when I occasionally invite them to a girls nights where we all get to make something new and adventurous together. And then of course the “eating it” part.

While watching Crazy Rich Asians, I was particularly struck by the scene where the family came together to make dumplings. It was beautiful to watch how meaningful the art of dumpling making was to the family and how it brought everyone together. So, I took a deep dive.

After reading what felt like 100 blog posts and watching many technique videos, I decided to make pork and veggie potstickers. These pork potstickers, commonly called gyoza (the Japanese version of Chinese jiaozi), are pan fried and then steamed. I made them and, of course, posted photos of my culinary adventure on Instagram. Cue the flood of DM’s from my gals requesting a cooking night.

These potstickers are exactly what a girls night needs. The prep is easy enough to give everyone a task, folding the dumpling is simple enough that you can chat at the same time, and – best of all – they’re quick to cook!

Have your gals bring a bottle of wine, throw together an Asian salad to enjoy on the side, and you’re all set.

The filling for these potstickers includes pork, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, chives, garlic, ginger, and some yummy asian sauces. Give your friends a cutting board and sharp knife because everything needs to be finely chopped!

All of the ingredients for the the filling will go into one bowl, so clean up is a breeze. Once everything is in the bowl, someone gets to go hands first into the bowl and mix it all up.

After the filling is mixed together, add water to a small bowl, open up the defrosted dumpling wrappers, and get comfy: now comes the fun part!

Step One 

Dip a finger into the bowl of water and wet the edges of the dumpling wrapper. The water ensures that the dough sticks together when it’s pinched closed, so it only needs to be along the edge of the wrapper and only on the side that is facing you.

Step Two

Add the filling to the center of the wrapper. I recommend using a small spoon or a tablespoon to scoop the meat mixture to help control the portions. Overstuffing the dumpling won’t allow it to cook all the way through and the last thing anyone wants is raw pork!

Step Three

Hold the freshly filled dumpling between the thumb and middle finger of your dominant hand. Use your pointer finger to press the filling down so that it forms a more cylindrical shape.

Step Four

Last up is the most complicated step. Using your free hand, pinch the corner where the dumpling fold is. Then, using the pointer finger and thumb of the hand holding the dumpling, pleat a section of the front side of the dumpling wrapper and press it against the back side. And repeat until you’ve made it to the other side of the dumpling.

Remind everyone to just have fun with it! It’s a technique that takes a little while to perfect, so keep practicing. No matter how they look, they will cook up perfectly as long as the dumplings are sealed.

When the filling has been all used up, it’s time to cook those bad boys. The crispy, caramelized bottom that pan-frying gives the dumplings is one of my favorite things about them. Once they’re brown on the bottom, toss in some water and cover with a lid so that they finish cooking.

The smile on everyone’s face after their first bite is pure joy. And the best thing about this recipe? It makes about 50 potstickers, so there’s plenty to go around!

The post How to Host a Potsticker-Making Dinner Party appeared first on Camille Styles.

I found myself back in Austin a few weekends ago for a quick 24 hour visit, and as always, my must-have meal was an Elizabeth Street Cafe  Lemongrass Tofu and Mushroom Banh Mí. Y’all, I could wax poetic about this sandwich. With it’s crusty-on-the-outside but pillowy-inside baguette, pickled veggies, and perfectly spicy tofu, their Banh Mí is one of my all time favorites.

The onset of summer inspires me to escape the routine by trying out new dishes inspired by exotic destinations.

And while I don’t have any epic plans to travel around Vietnam (yet!), this bowl is my current go-to in recreating my favorite sandwich for a quick weeknight dinner that takes me across the world, flavor-wise.

So let’s talk about the components of this bowl. First, the tofu, which IMHO gets a bad rap. Sure we’ve all had our fair share of flavorless and spongy tofu, but when prepared correctly, it’s an incredible blank canvas for carrying flavor and texture. I took a nod from Elizabeth Street Café and sautéed my tofu cubes with lemongrass, giving a subtle floral and ginger flavor.

Letting your tofu get a little golden color while sautéing is key to building the perfect texture!

My favorite ingredient in this Banh Mí bowl is the mushroom. Like tofu, I’ve had a long complicated relationship with mushrooms. As the token vegetarian at a lot of events and gatherings growing up, one of the dinner alternatives I was routinely served was a plate of grilled veggies and a giant portobello mushroom that was nothing short of lackluster. In recent years though, I’ve discovered how amazing mushrooms can be in adding an amazing umami flavor to dishes, and sautéing them with a little soy sauce is all I need to do when preparing them for bowls like this one or for recipes like a spring roll or a breakfast scramble. Plus, I’m sure we’ve all heard of the health benefits of adding mushrooms to our diets.

Next the pickled veggies. I’m not a pickling pro, though have learned a bit more about the process after reading Joshua McFadden’s cookbook. These veggies are so simple to make with a little quick-pickle – the process involves making a quick brine, pouring it over your veggies of choice (I used carrots and daikon), and then letting it brine. I let mine pickle overnight and it really is the perfect tangy bite to add to this bowl.

The rest is really up to you! I always have rice on hand, so I used that as the base for these bowls, but could also serve everything up over some greens, quinoa, or even just toss everything in a bowl with some broth for a warm soup. Top with some jalapeños for some spice, chop up some cilantro, squeeze over some fresh lime, dollop on some sriracha mayo, the options are all calling your name!

And while nothing will ever replace my ESC Banh Mí, this bowl definitely makes for a great second place.

The post This Spicy Tofu Banh Mí Bowl Is the Weeknight Meal You’ve Been Searching For appeared first on Camille Styles.

A couple weeks ago, my sister, mom, and I went to Uchi for my mom’s birthday. It was one of those nights where we savored every incredible dish that hit the table and the conversation (and laughter) flowed so effortlessly that I was in total disbelief when I checked the time and saw we’d been there for 3 hours.

The magic of really good sushi lies in the way that simple, super fresh ingredients are brought together to become so much more than the sum of their parts. I never leave without feeling completely inspired by the pairings of raw fish with citrus, coconut, fresh herbs, or chili.

Sushi is one of the few foods I really crave that I never try to recreate at home, for obvious reasons. Do any of y’all make sushi at home? If so, I want to hear about it ’cause it sounds hard. But those bright citrusy flavors along with the nourishing combo of fish with rice, fresh veggies, and herbs? That is for sure something that I’ll put together in a bowl to keep me satisfied until my next sushi feast. This sushi roll salmon bowl is my new favorite way to enjoy them all together in a totally quick and throw together-able weeknight meal.

I made these on a semi-frantic Tuesday night recently, post-work, post-ballet, post-soccer – and I was extremely thankful that I’d pre-chopped my fresh veggies on Sunday and had some leftover rice in the fridge from Monday. All that was left to do was roast my salmon while I chopped herbs and avocado and assembled the other ingredients into the bowl.

And as the name of this post suggests, it’s the perfect packable lunch with a protein-fat-fiber mix that’ll keep you powered up all afternoon. I layer all the ingredients in a big mason jar and add avocado right at the end for a desk lunch I could literally eat every day. Scroll on for the recipe…

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When our team spent a week in Oahu, you can bet we checked all the ‘must eat, see, & do’ boxes… and then some. Of course, being first time Hawaii explorers meant we had to hit up the main tourist attractions, but it was the off the beaten path activities and local friends we met along the way that wove our favorite memories of the trip together.

Take this moment of serendipity as an example: Meleana, the owner of our Airbnb, owned Waihuena Farm, that happened to be across the street, and just so happened to have a couple of chefs living on the property. A couple of text messages later, and those chefs were in our kitchen prepping the most delicious Hawaiian dinner – all with locally harvested veggies and fruits from the farm (more on that epic dinner party to come later this month.)

Chef Billy taught us how to whip up a vegan poke bowl that had all the fresh, colorful elements of the traditional, but without the fish.

I know, we were skeptical too, but it was surprisingly delish and so easy and fun to make. Scroll on for Billy’s take on how to make your own version of tofu poke, and get ready to bring major tropical vibes to your mainland get-togethers this spring.

From Billy: Starting off, I want to say that this is not actually poke because traditionally poke has tuna it, so that’s why we’re calling it tofu mock poke. I loved tuna poke soooo much when I first moved to Hawaii 3 years ago, but soon after I came to the realization of the plight we have put on our fish supply, and the impact over-fishing has on the environment world wide.  So, to keep my tastebuds happy and the fish where they belong, I came up with this recipe. Enjoy!

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Last week we caught up with food and travel writer Deana Saukam while she was visiting friends in Austin. It was so much fun hanging with this fun group of girls and watching them work together to make Deana’s DIY dumplings. When I say these scallop and garlic chive blossom wontons were good, I mean that both the photographer and myself independently went to Whole Foods to buy dumplings the next day for lunch. (NOT the same.)

“I’m obsessed with garlic chives and their blossoms,” gushes Deana. “These Scallop and Garlic Chive Blossom Chili Wontons are inspired by two memories that are very special to me:

Growing up, I got really excited when my mother purchased garlic chive blossoms from the Asian market. She incorporated these delicate and aromatic blossoms into a number of simple dishes at home, making stir fries and omelets extremely bright and flavorful.

In Cambodian cuisine, we also have a traditional pan-fried rice cake stuffed with garlic chives called Nom Kachay, which I really love eating inside the bustling markets and on the streets of Phnom Penh. I decided to combine garlic chives/blossoms with scallops to create a fun Scallop and Garlic Chive Blossom Wontons in Chili Sauce, which goes well on its own or with Kuy Teav (Cambodian Seafood and Pork Noodle Soup).”

Read on to discover how to make Deana’s delicious dumplings, and get the girls together for wine and wontons!

photographed by wynn myers

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“Growing up, my mother would make this dish every weekend for us at home,” says food and travel writer Deana Saukam. “This is a traditional Cambodian noodle soup and different variations are eaten throughout the country. My recipe is derived from a version that I learned in the countryside of Cambodia, outside Siem Reap. I made the hour-long journey to this little Kuy Teav shop on the back of a scooter, along a bumpy, winding, pot-hole marked dirt road lined by rice fields, water buffalo and palm trees, for the sole purpose of learning how to make a delicious bowl of light and intricately layered pork, seafood and vegetable broth rice noodle soup.” See how Deana served this soup while entertaining friends in Austin here. 

photographed by wynn myers

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“This traditional dish is a family recipe from our colleague in india, Nisha, who is from the haryana region. we gave it our own twist by using almond milk.”

Click here to see more of Katie and Erin’s entertaining style.

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photos by Ashleigh Amoroso

On our first date, Adam picked me up and whisked me away to… the diviest Chinese restaurant I’d ever seen. In hindsight, it was totally out of character for a guy who loves his high-end dining, but since we worked together at the time, we were kind of keeping things on the down low, and Sichuan Parlor seemed like a safe bet. Anyway, I found out something interesting on that first dinner together: the guy loves peking duck, that classic, crispy-skinned dish served with little pancakes, hoisin sauce, cucumber and scallions. Having never eaten it before, I was a little taken aback when the chef came out with an entire lacquered duck that he meticulously carved table side, but the garlicky, sticky sweet flavors quickly won me over.

During the first year we were married, I experimented to come up with a pretty good version of the dish, and even staked out the same thin little Chinese pancakes to serve with the fillings. However, through the years as we’ve adopted a healthier, more plant-based diet, my old recipe feels a little heavy for our current palettes (and requires way more time in the kitchen than I typically care to spend.)

I thought it would be fun to come up with a lightened up and truly healthy version that incorporated the same flavor combination that we loved so much, and these hoisin chicken cabbage tacos were born! I’d never used cabbage as the “wrapper” for tacos before, and it worked out even better than I’d imagined. Savoy cabbage leaves hold together way better than iceberg or other lettuce wraps, so you can actually stuff it full of filling and not worry about it falling apart on you. I blanch the leaves before serving to make them easier to chew and eliminate any bitterness.

I can’t wait to serve these at dinner parties all summer! They’re the perfect build-your-own entrée since guests can choose their favorite fillings and customize their “tacos” however they like. Plus, they’re gluten-free and can easily be made vegan (just nix the chicken and use more avo), so they really adapt to any dietary restrictions. When guests arrive, just arrange all the toppings on a pretty tray with the cabbage leaves, then let everyone fill, roll and eat!

An extra drizzle of hoisin sauce, plus a sprinkle of sesame seeds and cilantro makes these look gorgeous (and taste even better.)

The fillings can be completely prepped a few hours in advance and kept in the fridge — and last time I made them, I even used a store-bought rotisserie chicken to make my life really easy.

Even Adam says that these remind him of his beloved peking duck — and we can both agree that we feel a lot better after eating these than the MSG-fueled version from the Chinese restaurant. Though I admit, my presentation’s got nothing on that tableside duck carving…

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