[donotprint]Inspiration is a curious thing. Dinner last night was inspired by a head of organic, iceberg lettuce from the farmers' market.
This huge head of crispy, sweet lettuce made me long for Bún Nướng, a Vietnamese salad with noodles and grilled pork.
Never mind that I didn't have the right rice noodles, pork or spring roll. I was inspired and wanted to use the grill that came with my new range!
Along with the lettuce I did have asparagus, a red pepper, a red onion, a jalapeno pepper, garlic, ginger, and limes in the frig; shrimp in the freezer; and, fish sauce, rice noodles and peanuts in the pantry.
Here's how I did it:[/donotprint]
Bún - My Way
I thawed and brined eight large shrimp for about an hour in a bowl of cold water mixed with two tablespoons of sugar and one tablespoon of salt.
To prepare the vegetables, I peeled the bottoms of the asparagus, sliced the onion in quarter inch slices and the red pepper in one inch squares, rinsed the jalapeno but left it whole, grated a tablespoon of ginger and a large clove of garlic with a micro plane<
To soften the rice noodles, I put them in a pot of boiling water, turned of the heat, covered the pot, after ten minutes, I rinsed the noodles in cold water and drained them. A handful of noodles about an inch and a half in diameter was the perfect amount for two, so sweet Rosie was disappointed when there were no noodles in her bowl at dinner.
While the vegetables cooked on the grill pan, I made a simple sauce of equal parts of lime juice, sugar and fish sauce.
I put the vegetables onto a platter as they finished cooking and grilled the shelled and deveined shrimp. In a wok, I quickly sauteed the garlic and ginger in a tablespoon of oil, added the noodles and sauce, gave a quick stir and turned off the heat.
Time to build individual salads in large bowls. Begin with shredded, lettuce, noodles next, then vegetables and shrimp, top with chopped peanuts and any of the sauce still in the wok and the minced grilled
Amazing that it began with a simple head of organic, Vermont, iceberg lettuce from Fat Rooster Farm.
Note: ingredients and measurements are casual - grilled chicken, pork, beef or tofu would work as well as shrimp; fine rice noodles or soba noodles can stand in for broad rice noodles; cabbage, broccoli, carrots, and green beans are also possible players; try lemon juice instead of lime, soy sauce instead of fish sauce, etc.
Let inspiration lead the way.
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Bún - My Way
- 8 large shrimp
- 2 T sugar
- 1 T kosher salt
- asparagus
- 1 red onion
- 1 red pepper
- 1 jalapeno pepper
- 1 T grated ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- rice noodles
- 1 lime
- 1 1/2 T sugar
- 1 1/2 T fish sauce.
- lettuce
- 2 T peanuts
No doubt it looks delicious and i will surely try it. Also it seems to be healthy. And noodles are my favourites.
Let me know how you change it. Enjoy it.
The shrimp and asparagus dish looks great. I'll have to try that one!!
Thank you! I want every page to be pretty, fun and inspiring.
I love your page
Let me know what changes you make. I hope you enjoy it!
Ohhhh this sounds yummy – I think I'll try it – thanks!