Category Archives: By Ingredient

Spinach and basil salad with bacon, roasted tomatoes, and candied walnuts

This time we’re gonna fancy up the salad a bit.

Annie roasted some grape tomatoes after tossing them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. She pan fried some bacon pieces to make some bacon fat. We made a dressing from EVOO, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and bacon fat. Then we added the roasted tomatoes and tossed to coat them. We removed the tomatoes from the dressing and set aside.

Tossed together some fresh spinach leaves, whole fresh basil leaves, and a little bit of bacon with the dressing. Plated it up and sprinkled more bacon on top as well as the roasted tomatoes. Garnished with homemade candied walnuts.

This was a great tasting salad, definite do-over. I really liked the roasted tomatoes.

Aloha, Nate

Shrimp salad

Just a simple salad with romaine, red bell pepper, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and shrimp sauteed in butter. Dressed with cilantro-lime dressing.

I generally don’t like to eat tomatoes out of season, so these tomatoes come from somewhere down south. Can’t wait to have some home grown tomatoes!

Aloha, Nate

Nasi Lemak

The last and most important piece to the Malaysian feast is Nasi Lemak – coconut rice. We use basmati rice, and add coconut milk to the cooking liquid. We also threw in a few pandan leaves for added fragrance.

The center of the dish is the nasi lemak. On the right is the sambal ikan bilis. Then comes the dhal and finally the rendang chicken. Other condiments served on the side include sliced cucumber, pan-fried peanuts, and hard boiled egg.

You can eat it with fork and spoon but some say if you use your hands, it tastes better. You gather up a little of this and a little of that, making a small pile on the plate. Then you scoop it up with your hand and use your thumb to push it into your mouth. It takes some practice, but soon you’ll be eating nasi lemak like a native!

Aloha, Nate