Chicken Banh Mi Sandwiches

I'll let you all know before I get in over my head here that I have never actually had a banh mi sandwich.  I have spent plenty of time admiring them on in the internet, but I have never even been to a place that would serve a banh mi.  So when I tell you this is the most delicious banh mi ever, you have to background as to my expertise on the subject.

Chicken Banh Mi Sandwiches
From Cook's Country Magazine

Ingredients
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 cucumber, peeled, halved, sliced thin
1 tsp lime zest, 5 tbsp lime juice (3 limes)
1/4 fish sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
4 sub rolls
1/2 cup cilantro, I left this out
1/2 cup mayo, I left this out
5 teaspoons sriracha sauce

1. Combine cucumber, carrots, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp fish sauce in a bowl and let sit for 15 minutes.  Combine sugar, 3 tbsp lime juice, 3 tbsp fish sauce in a large bowl.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Add chicken and toss to coat.
2. To make the sriracha mayo: whisk mayo, sriracha, and lime zest in a bowl.  Spread on rolls.
3. Divide chicken mixture among rolls and top with pickled vegetables and cilantro.

If you use rotisserie chicken this recipe comes together ridiculously quickly.  

These sandwiches are really delicious, just as delicious as that photograph looks.

Best banh mi I've ever had.

Chipotle Chicken Pizza

Remember when I made those kickass Cinco de Mayo burritos with chipotle chicken?  In case you forgot you should go refresh your memory here.

We had some of the burrito fix-ins leftover and I decided they would be the perfect topping for a pizza.

I used a combination of cheddar and mozzarella cheese, chipotle chicken, corn, and my lovely co-pilot made a beautiful siracha swirl on top.

It definitely sounds weird, but I promise you it was fantastic.

Pork and Snap Pea Stir-Fry

Surprise! Another gem from Cook's Country Magazine.  This is a fantastic stir-fry, perfect for a quick weeknight meal.

Pork and Snap Pea Stir-Fry
Adapted from Cook's Country Magazine

Ingredients
1 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
5 tsp corn starch
1 tbsp siracha
12-16 oz pork loin, cut crosswise and into 1/2 inch strips
3 tbsp oil
16 oz snap peas
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped
cooked white rice for serving

1. Whisk 1/2 cup broth, soy sauce, 2 tsp corn starch, and siracha in a small bowl and set aside. Toss pork with 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp corn starch.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Brown pork, 3-5 minutes and remove to a plate.

2. Add oil and snap peas to empty skillet, cook until slightly browned.  Add remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth, cover, and cook 2 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

3.  Whisk sauce mixture from step 1 and add to skillet along with pork.  Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens, 1-2 minutes.   Stir in peanuts and serve with white rice.

Just a heads up, you will most likely not have many leftovers.  This was crazy delicious.

Mother's Day Dinner

For our mother's day dinner I wanted to have some spring influences present.  I made a creamy leek spaghetti and a slow cooker lemon chicken.

Both of these dishes are pretty low maintenance, especially the pasta because it all gets cooked in one pot with no draining!

The creamy leek pasta recipe can be found here at Food and Wine magazine.  I left out the anchovy and only used scallions instead of scallions and chives.  Did this recipe really need 4 different kinds of onions?  I didn't think so.

I absolutely loved this dish and highly recommend you try it.

The slow cooker lemon chicken recipe can be found here, although I barely followed the directions.  If you read the comment section neither did anyone else.

I didn't love this recipe and if I made it again I would take the time to reduce the liquid to make a sauce.  Despite the fact that the chicken was cooked in plenty of liquid I found it to be dry still.

For dessert I'll give props to my sister for this incredibly beautiful carrot cake.

Happy mother's day to all the mothers out there.  I hope your loved ones served up something tasty for you today.

Chipotle Chicken Burritos

Happy Cinco de Mayo amigos!  For this year's fiesta I tested out a new product.  Old el Paso is now making cooking sauces for all your taco filling needs.  They have 3 kinds: chipotle, roasted tomato, and chile roasted garlic.

We chose the chipotle flavor which had a slew of odd ingredients. What odd ingredients, you might be asking, well here are a few: sour cream, 2 kinds of bacon fat, and of course almond butter.

Regardless of its strange mix of ingredients, I was very satisfied with the flavor of the sauce.  It was only slightly spicy which I definitely appreciated.

I purchased some shredded chicken breast at Stop and Shop to cook in the sauce.  This shredded chicken is a new product for me, it was on sale so we gave it a whirl.  Have you guys ever seen it?  I highly recommend it for a recipe like this where you are going to shred up the chicken anyway. This way the shredding is done for you and it cooks up quickly.

I hope you all had a tasty cinco celebration!