Grilled Chicken Thighs with Chimichurri

Leave a comment

The weather is getting warmer by the day, which means that it is almost grill season in the Lavarnway and Cardillo houses. We love cooking on the grill as an easy way to get outside and add a little smoky char to whatever we are cooking. If you’ve been around for a while, you know that one of our signature dishes is our steak with chimichurri. In that recipe, we blended the ingredients of a traditional chimichurri into a smooth and delightfully zingy sauce. For today’s recipe, we have stuck to a more traditional variation. 

Chimichurri is a loose, herb based sauce that is held together by olive oil and red wine vinegar. It has a ton of flavor thanks to the additional of garlic, a pinch of chili flakes, and some shallot. For this recipe, we like to marinate the chicken thighs in the chimichurri for a few hours to help break down the meat – making it incredibly tender after cooking. To make sure that the chicken has the ultimate punch of flavor, we reserve 1/3 of the chimichurri before we marinate and drizzle it over top after cooking. 

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Chimichurri

  • Servings: 4
  • Print


Char grilled chicken thighs with a zesty chimichurri. We can’t imagine a more perfect and quick summer entrée.

Ingredients

  • 8 boneless chicken thighs
  • 1/2 cup packed parsley leaves
  • 1/3 cup packed cilantro
  • 1 tbs fresh oregano
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 shallot
  • 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
  • 1 small red chili, stem and seeds removed
  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Put the dry chimichurri ingredients (parsley through red chili) in a food processor. Pulse the food processor to break down the ingredients. The ingredients should be finely chopped but not pulverized. Remove the ingredients and place into a large bowl.
  2. Add the olive oil and red wine vinegar to the dry ingredients and whisk well to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour 2/3 of the chimichurri into a large ziplock bag and leave 1/3 of the chimichurri (about 1/2 cup) in the bowl. Cover the 1/3 with saran wrap and set aside.
  3. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper. Submerge the chicken into the chimichurri in the ziplock bag. Make sure that all of the chicken is coated in the sauce and that the air is removed from the bag before sealing it. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to overnight, before grilling.
  4. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 15-20 minutes before you want to cook it. Preheat the grill to 500 degrees. Cook the chicken for about 5 minutes per side, or until the juices of the chicken run clear and the internal temperature is 165 degrees. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. Drizzle with the remaining 1/3 chimichurri and serve immediately.

Lemon Dill Salmon

Leave a comment

We love making salmon and eat it pretty regularly but have found that we don’t typically vary the style of how we cook it. This is very un-Tuck&Tate of us, as we pretty much never cook the same recipe twice in order to constantly create new recipes for the blog. For whatever reason we have dug our heels in with salmon. In the fall and winter we make our favorite maple dijon salmon, and in the spring and summer we make this version with lemon and dill. We prepare the salmon itself similar to the maple dijon recipe with a nice layer of paprika and garlic powder, but what makes this recipe special is the lemon dill sauce. Ryan calls this a “shoe sauce” – it is so good he would eat it off a shoe. Our friends and family seem to agree; this recipe has shown up at baby showers, bridal showers, and a number of weekend barbecues. As the weather gets nice we like to cook the salmon and lemons on the grill for a little extra smoky flavor.

Lemon Dill Salmon

  • Servings: 4
  • Print


 Our favorite way to prepare salmon in the spring and summer! When the weather gets nice we love to cook this recipe out on the grill.

Ingredients

  • 4 pieces of salmon, 6-8 oz each
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 6 oz whole milk Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbs mayonnaise
  • 2 lemons
  • 1/2 cup packed dill, minced
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the grill to 500 degrees.
  2. Season the pieces of salmon with the paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place the pieces of salmon on top of a piece of foil and drizzle with the 2 tbs of olive oil. Gently pat the seasonings into the salmon and make sure some of the oil goes to the bottom of the foil to prevent sticking. Set aside.
  3. Make the sauce by combining the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, zest of both lemons, dill, and garlic in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Side aside.
  4. Cook the salmon. Put the salmon and foil directly on the grill. Cut the lemons in half and put them face down on the grill as well. We prefer to grill our salmon on foil to avoid the mess, but you can grill directly on the grill skin side down for about 7 minutes. Keep the temperature of the grill between 450 and 500 during this time and close the lid once the salmon is on the grill. Flip the salmon and grill for an additional 2 minutes before removing the salmon and lemons.
  5. Squeeze one half of a grilled lemon into the lemon dill sauce. Mix to combine. If the sauce is still a little on the thick side, you can add a few teaspoons of water and thin it out. Squeeze the remaining lemon halves on top of the salmon pieces. Serve the salmon with a generous helping of the lemon dill sauce.

Corned Beef & Beer Cheese Loaded Fries

Leave a comment

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Colorado are going to look a little bit different this year since we are battling over 3 feet of snow from the weekend! For those of us who are planners, you may have purchased a corned beef knowing the big day was coming up and are now considering how to use it up. Instead of traditional corned beef and cabbage ( a Nana specialty), we have combined every ingredient we love eat to on this Irish holiday and put them together in these decadent and over-the-top loaded fries. We’ve combined beer- a St. Patrick’s Day essential- into a rich and creamy cheese sauce which sits on top of a mound of french fries (they are baked!) and corned beef. If you are stuck inside this week with snow, this is the perfect, indulgent meal to kick off your celebrations!

Corned Beef and Beer Cheese Loaded Fries

  • Servings: 4
  • Print

An indulgent take on our favorite St. Patrick’s Day foods and flavors.

Ingredients

  • 3 potatoes
  • 2 tbs canola oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 lbs precooked corned beef
  • 3.5 tbs butter
  • 3 tbs flour
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1.5 cups lager beer
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup shredded provolone cheese
  • 3 tbs Cholula
  • green onion, for garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Scrub the potatoes with the skin on to remove all of the dirt. Cut the potatoes into half inch french fries. Place the fries on a baking sheet and toss with the canola oil and salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the potatoes are crunchy and cooked all of the way through.
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the corned beef per package directions and set aside.
  4. Make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter over medium heat in a 2 inch deep sauté pan. Add the flour and continuously whisk until the flour and butter forms a roux. While whisking, add the milk and stir until the milk thickens. You want a thick, gravy-like consistency. Add the beer and continue to whisk until the texture thickens back to gravy consistency. Stir in the cheddar and provolone cheese and stir until all of the cheese is melted into the milk and beer mixture. Add the Cholula and remove the beer cheese from the heat.
  5. Put it all together. On a large serving dish, lay the fries out in a double layer. Chop the corned beef into bite sized pieces and layer over the fries. Top the fries and corned beef with the beer cheese sauce and sprinkle diced green onion on top. Serve hot!

Breakfast For Dinner Bowls

Leave a comment

“Breakfast For Dinner Bowls” used to be our fancy way of saying, holy crap we didn’t buy groceries and have absolutely no idea what’s for dinner. This is precisely what has happened on a number of occasions; so many, in fact, that Breakfast For Dinner Bowls have now become a request instead of an accident. What exactly goes into one of these bowls changes from time to time, but the general gist is bacon, soft boiled eggs, a grain like quinoa or farro, and lots of vegetables. The result is a hearty breakfast bowl that easily satisfies for dinner. No matter what combination of ingredients we use, it’s a crowd pleaser every time.

Breakfast For Dinner Bowls

  • Servings: 4
  • Print


A healthy version of breakfast for dinner, complete with all of our favorite breakfast essentials.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups quinoa, farro, or your favorite grain
  • 4 slices thick cut bacon
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced and divided
  • 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbs honey
  • 2-3 springs fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 6 cups lightly packed kale, large stems removed and roughly chopped
  • 8 oz cremini mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup parmesan, feta, or goat cheese (optional)
  • your favorite hot sauce (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat a medium pot with 3 cups of water to a boil. Add your grain of choice and cook according to package directions, adding more water if your grain requires it. Cook until done and set aside in a separate bowl, covered.
  2. While the grain is cooking, heat a second large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until it starts to get crispy, about 8 minutes, flipping once half way through. Remove the bacon, leave about 2 tbs of the fat in the pan, and discard the rest. Keeping the heat on medium, add half of the garlic (2 cloves) and cherry tomatoes to the pan. Cook until the tomatoes start to burst. Add the balsamic vinegar, honey, and thyme to the tomatoes. Chop the bacon and add it back into the pan. Reduce the heat and cook another 5 minutes or so, until the tomato mixture has a jam like consistency. Season with salt and pepper, remove from the pan, and keep covered and warm until you are ready to serve.
  3. It is time to cook the eggs. Gently put the eggs into the boiling pot of water from Step 1. Depending on how you like your egg, cook the egg for 6 minutes for a thick runny yolk or 7 minutes for more of a jammy yolk consistency. Keep the water at a gentle boil while the eggs are cooking. Immediately transfer the eggs from the boiling water to a bowl of ice water. Peel the eggs when they are cool enough to handle, trying to do this process quickly so that they don’t over cool, and set the eggs aside until you are ready to serve.
  4. While the eggs are boiling, begin cooking the mushrooms. Using the same pan that the tomatoes were cooking, add the olive oil, remaining garlic, and mushrooms. Let the mushrooms and garlic cook for about 5 minutes before adding the kale to the pan. Give everything a good toss, season with salt and pepper, and cover. Cook the mushrooms and kale for another 3-5 more minutes, or until the kale is nice and wilted.
  5. Now you are ready to combine all of the elements to serve. Divide the quinoa or bulgur evenly amongst the four shallow pasta bowls. Add the kale and mushrooms to the plates, making a little nest in the center. Put a large spoonful of the tomato bacon jam into the nest and top with the soft boiled egg. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired, and serve. We like our bowls with a little bit of hot sauce, as pictured.

Semi-Homemade Fish Tacos

1 Comment

Last week we shared one of our favorite recipes for Spicy Slaw. We love this recipe because it can easily be paired with burgers, tacos, and even eaten plain as a salad. Today we are sharing one of our favorite uses of the slaw with this recipe for semi-homemade fish tacos. We use frozen fish filets in this recipe so that we can prepare the rest of the ingredients while the fish is cooking. This saves us a ton of time and cleanup in the kitchen and allows us to focus on preparing and incorporating fresh ingredients. Our taco toppings are fairly simple in this recipe, as this is a recipe we often use for weekday lunches. If you have more time in the kitchen, the sky is the limit with where you can take these. If you have some extra time, this recipe would pair perfectly with our avocado crema, red onion, and cotija cheese. We’d love to hear how you make it your own!

Semi-Homemade Fish Tacos

  • Servings: 6 tacos
  • Print

Our quick and easy recipe for semi-homemade fish tacos.

Ingredients

  • 2 frozen breaded fish filets (we used Trader Joe’s panko crusted tilapia)
  • 6 taco shells
  • 1 can black beans
  • Spicy Slaw
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • Shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • Salsa

Directions

  1. Prepare the fish according to package directions.
  2. While the fish is cooking, prepare the spicy slaw and set aside.
  3. Drain and rinse the black beans and heat in a pot over medium heat.
  4. When the fish is finished cooking, slice the fish into 1/2 inch pieces.
  5. Assemble the tacos. Place a generous portion of slaw in the taco shell. Top with black beans, fish, tomatoes, shredded cheddar and salsa. Serve immediately.

Tempeh Buddha Bowls with Peanut Sauce

Leave a comment

We love a good weekend of splurge eating but after a few days of decadence we like to reign it back a bit and get our health on track to start the week. Monday’s tend to be the day for clean eating in our houses, which means incorporating a lot of veggies to our menu. We make these “buddha bowls” in about a dozen variations, but we love this one for winter because of the hearty vegetable selection and creamy coconut peanut dressing. Getting in vegetables during the winter can feel like a challenge, but recipes like this- with heartier ingredients- make the challenge easier to achieve. As with all of our recipes, we encourage you to use what you have on hand and substitute ingredients in the bowl as necessary.

Tempeh Buddha Bowls With Peanut Sauce

  • Servings: 2
  • Print


One of our favorite winter vegetarian dishes, the peanut sauce cannot be beat!

Ingredients For The Bowls

  • 1 package tempeh
  • 1 tbs sesame oil
  • 1 tbs soy sauce
  • 1 tbs Sriracha or chili sauce
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked farro or your favorite grain
  • 1 large carrot, grated
  • 3 cups cabbage coleslaw mix
  • 1/2 avocado, sliced
  • 1/2 cup frozen edamame, thawed

Ingredients For The Peanut Dressing

  • 1 cup coconut milk + the thick coconut cream on the top of the can
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tbs fresh ginger, minced
  • 2 tbs peanut butter
  • 1 tbs Sriracha or chili sauce
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • salt to taste

Directions

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, and chili paste to the pan. Cut the tempeh into segments and add them to the pan. Sear the tempeh for about 5 minutes per side, or until it is heated through. Set aside and wipe the pan clean.
  2. Make the peanut dressing. In the same pan that you just cooked the tempeh, add the coconut cream from the top of the can of coconut milk. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté them for about 4 minutes, or until they are fragrant and starting to caramelize. Add the peanut butter, sriracha, and soy sauce to the pan. Stir to melt the peanut butter and then add the remaining cup of coconut milk. Whisk to combine all ingredients and let the sauce cook until it has thickened, about 5 minutes.
  3. Assemble the bowls. Layer the ingredients for the buddha bowls into two large serving bowls. Drizzle generously with peanut sauce and serve immediately.

Honey Sriracha Shrimp

1 Comment

A lot of times when people think of food bloggers, they imagine that every meal a blogger cooks is a multi-coursed spectacle with fancy ingredients. Our husbands would be the first ones to tell you that that couldn’t be further from the truth. Many days, between balancing our blog and our schedules, our goal is to just to get food on the table. Once we have the general game plan figured out, we try and see where we can make the meal a little more special. One of the rules that we always preach at Tuck & Tate is that sometimes the only difference between a meal and a great meal is the addition of a few ingredients.

We like to make shrimp on a weekly basis. Most of the time we sauté the shrimp and throw it onto a salad or we like toss it with lots of garlic into pasta. These meals certainly get the job done but don’t always feel particularly special. To take things up a notch, we wanted to bring our “A-Game” with this recipe for Honey Sriracha Shrimp. The recipe is just a few, simple ingredients, but damn does it turn out good. This shrimp is great served with cheesy grits for something hearty, tossed with a salad mix for a glammed up lunch, and is also fantastic on its own as an appetizer.

Honey Sriracha Shrimp

  • Servings: 4
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 24 shrimp, peeled and deveined and patted dry with a paper towel
  • 1 tbs salted butter
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 cup sriracha
  • 1/4 cup honey, or more to taste if you prefer the shrimp less spicy
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt the butter in the skillet and add the garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, or until the garlic starts to get fragrant. Add the sriracha and honey to the pan, stirring to melt the honey and mix it into the other ingredients.
  2. When the sauce starts to bubble, add the shrimp to the pan. Cook the shrimp for 3 minutes per side, making sure that they are soaking up the sauce as they cook. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Braised Short Rib Stew With Cheesy Grits

Leave a comment

We love braised short ribs in the winter; they are rich and hearty and the ultimate cold weather treat. They are not on our weekly menu very often because they take a long time to cook to get the meat fall off the bone tender. This really is a recipe for a cold weekend day when everyone is hanging around the house and you have the time to give this recipe some love. Each time we make short ribs we experiment with a variety of ingredients, but our favorite base recipe is a red wine braised short rib with lots of herbs like rosemary and thyme. We have braised the short ribs for four hours so that they are fall off the bone tender. We then like to shred them into bite sized pieces and add them back into the sauce that they were braised in. The result is a savory beef stew that is pretty much to die for. To make the final dish really over the top, we have served the stew over cheesy cheddar grits.

Braised Short Rib Stew

  • Servings: 4
  • Print

Winter comfort food at it’s finest. We love this stew on a cold day served over cheesy cheddar grits for a ‘stick to your ribs’ kind of dinner.

Ingredients

  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 5 lbs bone in short ribs, patted dry and seasoned well on all sides with salt and pepper
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 4 whole carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
  • 4 stalks celery, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 stem fresh rosemary (approx 4 inches)
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 tbs tomato paste
  • 14. 5 oz diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 2-3 cups chicken stock
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 3 tbs butter
  • 3 tbs flour
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Heat a large Dutch oven pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tbs of the olive oil and let it get nice and hot before adding the short ribs to the pot. Sear the short ribs for about 3 minutes per side on all sides, so that the short ribs are nice and brown. Remove the short ribs from the pot and set aside.
  2. Add the remaining 1 tbs of olive oil and the onions, celery, and carrots to the pot. Caramelize for about 4 minutes before adding the garlic. Saute another 2-3 minutes, or until everything is starting to soften and is fragrant.
  3. Add the rosemary, thyme, and tomato paste to the pot. Cook everything for another 3-4 minutes- this helps concentrate the flavor of the tomato paste and give it a nice savory sweetness. Add the diced tomatoes, red wine, and 2 cups of chicken stock to the pot. Season with the salt and pepper and give everything a good stir. Add the short ribs back into the pot, thick side down, and make sure that they are mostly submerged in the liquid. If there isn’t enough liquid to cover them, add additional stock until they are covered. Bring the liquid to a slow simmer, cover the pot, and cook the short ribs for 4 hours. You will be tempted to uncover the lid and peek at the short ribs but keep them covered!
  4. After the 4 hours has passed, remove the short ribs from the pot along with the rosemary and thyme sprigs. Tent the short ribs with foil to keep them warm. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter and flour to form a roux – an equal mixture of butter and flour that will form a paste. Cook until the roux is a medium brown color. Add a big ladle of the short rib liquid to the roux and continuously stir to thicken the liquid and make sure that the roux is completely blended. Add the mixture to the rest of the short rib liquid and stir well to combine. Bring the liquid to a boil so that the flour cooks through. While the liquid is coming to a boil, shred the meat of the short ribs off their bones. Add the short rib meat back to the pot, stir to combine, and season with any additional salt and pepper if necessary. Serve hot over mashed potatoes or grits.

Cauliflower & Chickpea Enchiladas

2 Comments

We have seen a lot of New Year’s resolution posts on our social media accounts, and one of the most common food goals people are talking about is the desire to eat more plant based. Eating plant based has a number of benefits for our bodies and the environment; including a reduced carbon footprint and greenhouse emissions. Our mom eats mostly plant based and we will never forget when she ordered the surprise vegetarian dinner at a steak house only to have a bowl of pasta served to her. We view cooking plant based meals as a fun challenge; we like to experiment with new ingredients and flavors and not just replace meat with pasta or other empty carbs. When we have a successful dish like these enchiladas, we don’t even miss the meat.

Cauliflower & Chickpea Enchiladas

  • Servings: 4
  • Print

A plant based recipe that everyone will love. These enchiladas are so delicious we promise you won’t be distracted they are vegetarian.

Ingredients

  • 1 head of cauliflower, stem removed and florets chopped into bite sized pieces
  • 4 tbs olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 chipotles in adobo, minced
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 cup frozen corn, thawed (we love Trader Joe’s frozen roasted corn)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 large burrito-sized torillas
  • enchilada sauce (anywhere from 10 – 16 oz)
  • 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
  • chopped green onions, for garnish (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Drizzle the cauliflower with 2 tbs olive and season well with salt and pepper. Lay the cauliflower in an even layer and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is roasted and fork tender. Leave the oven on and reduce the head to 350 degrees, as you will need to bake the enchiladas after they are assembled.
  3. While the cauliflower is cooking, heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the remaining olive oil and onion to the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes, or until the onion starts to caramelize. Add the chipotles in adobo, cumin, coriander to the pan; mix to combine and let the spices toast on the bottom of the pan.
  4. Add the chickpeas, sour cream, and water to the pan. Stir to combine and cover. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes to soften the chickpeas. Remove the lid and mash half the chickpeas with a potato masher or a large fork. Add the corn and gently fold in the with a spatula to combine. If the cauliflower has not finished cooking by this point, remove the pan from the heat until the cauliflower is cooked. When the cauliflower is roasted and tender, to the pan and mix everything well to combine.
  5. Lay the four tortillas onto your counter top or cooking space. Divide the cauliflower mix amongst the four tortillas. Do the best you can to roll them into burritos.
  6. Spray a pyrex baking dish with cooking spray. Use a spoon to layer about 1/3 cup of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the baking dish. Add the four burritos to the pan in an even layer. Top the burritos with the remaining enchilada sauce and sprinkle with the shredded cheese. Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and cover the baking dish. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, the first 15 minutes covered in foil and the last 5 minutes uncovered to let the cheese get melty and bubbly. Top with green onions, cilantro, or avocado if you wish and serve immediately.

Larb Lettuce Wraps & Bowls

2 Comments

Larb is a traditional meat salad found in Laos and Thailand. It is one of our favorite dishes to order on a Thai menu when we are trying to eat healthy because it’s light and really refreshing. What makes this dish bright are the many herbs and spices mixed into the meat mixture. It is usually served with sliced cucumber and sliced jalapenos for some kick. With everyone having different goals this time of the year in regards to their eating habits, we’ve made this recipe a little bit of a choose your own adventure story. Watching the calories? Serve the larb in lettuce wraps with lots of added vegetables. Needing a bit more? Serve the larb over a bed of white rice. This is a great weeknight dinner and made extra fun when everyone gets to make their own version!

Larb Lettuce Wraps

  • Servings: 8 lettuce wraps
  • Print

Our quick and easy variation of larb – a delicious, healthy and herby salad found in Laos and Thailand.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 inch ginger
  • 1 shallot
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 tbs fish sauce
  • 3 tbs soy sauce
  • 1 tbs sambal oelek or your favorite chili paste
  • 1 cup cilantro, finely chopped
  • juice of one lime
  • bib lettuce – divided into 8 cups
  • 1 english cucumber, sliced
  • 2 cups cooked white rice
  • jalapeno, sliced for garnish (optional)
  • cooked white rice, if you plan to make rice bowls

Directions

  1. Prepare the vegetables. Mince the garlic, ginger and shallot and set aside. Thinly slice the red onion and set aside in the same bowl as the garlic mix.
  2. In a large sauté pan, sauté the pork over medium heat. You do not need to add any oil to the pan, the fat from the pork will start to render as it is heated. Use a spatula to break up the ground pork into bite sized pieces.
  3. Sauté for five minutes and add the garlic, ginger, shallot and onion to the pan and continue to stir and sauté for another 5 minutes. The onion should start to soften and the pork will be completely cooked through.
  4. Add the fish sauce, soy sauce and sambal oelek. Stir completely so that all of the ingredients are combined. Sauté for 5 minutes or until the sauce is mostly soaked up by the pork. Remove the larb from the heat, set aside, and add the lime juice.
  5. Lettuce Cup Preparation: Place a 1/4 – 1/2 cup serving of larb into each lettuce cup. Top with sliced cucumbers, cilantro, and jalapeno.
  6. Rice Bowl Preparation: Place 1/2 – 1 cup cooked rice on the bottom of a bowl. Layer with a 1/2 cup of larb and top with sliced cucumbers, cilantro, and jalepeno.