My love affair with Giadaquickly falls by the wayside once the weather improves to sunny skies and warm temperatures in Chicago. Now, that’s not to say that I don’t cook pasta during the summer, nor is it to say that all Giada’s recipes involve pasta, either. I simply prefer the refreshing, light fare that Nancie McDermott offers in her Quick & Easy Vietnamese and Quick & Easy Thai cookbooks.
During the summer, we nurture an herb garden, so it behooves me to include recipes in my weekly planning that involve fresh herbs. Basil and cilantro are two of my favorite herbs that are widely consumed by Vietnamese; unfortunately, during my pregnancies, cilantro would make me gag. Anyway, I was feeling Asian-inspired this week, so, thus far, all my dishes have had either Vietnamese, Thai, or Chinese origin.
For the Vietnamese, it was McDermott’s Lemongrass Beef, grilled, since Cal was home for a portion of the week, Lemongrass Burgers, because I had a pound of hormone-free ground beef in the freezer from when my dad bought half a cow, and Big, Cool Noodle Bowl with Chicken, Cucumbers, and Fresh Mint. Two nights of red meat was about all I could take before I began to feel guilty about eating so much red meat since it’s so heavy.
McDermott’s recipes are quite simple, and all three recipes contained, essentially, identical ingredients: fish sauce, cilantro, lemongrass, sugar (white and brown), and soy sauce. Note about Fish Sauce: I’ve found that the pricier the brand, the less fishy it tastes. Still, I typically use half as much as the recipe calls for since it is quite pungent, and thus, an acquired taste. The Lemongrass Beef was delectable; I don’t know if it was the marinade or the cut of beef, the former, I suspect, but it was the perfect complement to the Cool Noodle Bowl which consisted of naked herbs, pickled carrots, another McDermott recipe, and angel hair noodles. If the beef is already prepared, the remaining ingredients can be prepared in the time it takes the water for the pasta to boil, but you’ll have to suffice for plain carrots. During the summer, the stove for the water is all you need to heat in the kitchen, unless you don’t know how to use a charcoal grill, which I don’t, which is why I have Cal cook all meat. The entire dish is light on the stomach, tangy, aromatic, sweet, and spicy on the palette, and quite electrifying to the eyes when on the plate as the finished product.
