Thursday is Thai night!

No it's not, but it's been ridiculously cold all week, so I'm going to heat things up a little in the kitchen tonight with a Thai-inspired dish. And while I'm at it, I'll share a few of my favourite recipes from an awesome Thai cookbook that a friend gave to me last year.

But first, here's what we're having for supper tonight. A few months ago, a friend sent me this recipe from her blog and I was missing a few ingredients, so I used what I had and came up with this instead:

CHICKEN SATAY STIRFRY
4 chicken breasts, pounded out and cut into small pieces
1/2 c. flour
sea salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 c. bell peppers, sliced
1 tbsp. Satay Seasoning
1 tsp. lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp. chili pepper flakes
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. peanut butter
1 green onion, diced

Put chicken in a ziploc bag with flour, salt & pepper. Shake until well coated. Heat oil in a pan and brown chicken on all sides, and cook through. Add bell peppers and sauté. Remove from pan and keep warm in a covered dish. Combine remaining ingredients and pour into the pan. Simmer until slightly thickened, then stir in cooked chicken and veggies. Cover and let it simmer until heated through. Serve over vermicelli rice noodles.I thought this tasted like ginger chicken that you'd get from a Chinese restaurant, but way better.

Now, here's one of my all-time favourite meals (from the Thai cookbook). It's so simple and quick to make, and it's delicious!

SCALLOPS & SHRIMP WITH LEMONGRASS & COCONUT MILK

3/4 c. coconut milk

3 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced (white part only)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 red chili, diced

2 tbsp. fish sauce

2 tsp. sugar

Combine ingredients and bring to a gentle boil for 4 minutes. Add 1 c. raw shrimp + 1 c. raw scallops and cook for 4-5 minutes. Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lime and sprinkle in 1 tbsp. shredded cilantro leaves.

And here's a nice salad recipe (although I think I'd leave out some of the shallots next time, it was a little potent.)

CRISPY CUCUMBER SALAD (from Thai cookbook)

3 tbsp. lime juice

2 tbsp. water

1 tbsp. fish sauce

2 tsp. sugar

1 english cucumber, thinly sliced

1 tomato, sliced

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 red chili, diced

chopped cashews, mint leaves, and cilantro to garnish

If you like Thai food, seriously, you should get the cookbook I mentioned. It's so easy to follow, and there are tons of great recipes. Get yourself some lemongrass, coconut milk, chilies, lime, and ginger, and you can pretty much make half the cookbook. You can throw a little Thai-themed dinner party, and pretend it's not -35 C outside anymore!