All Thai-ed up this week

JiT and I have been on vacation this week, staying with friends at their summer home in Michigan. Its a beautiful place and a wonderful chance for JiT and I to do some golfing, swimming, hiking and EATING (just not necessarily blogging). But just because we’re off enjoying a much-needed rest, that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about all my friends still checking their computers.

Since I’m all tied up on my vacation…I’m posting on my favorite Thai recipes: Cold Peanut Noodle Salad and Spicy Shrimp Satays.

For anyone unfamiliar with Thai food (I was until I moved to Chicago), the idea of peanut butter and noodles may seem like a preschool experiment gone wrong. Its not. Its delicous. Its refreshing. Its great for lunch the next day (bring chop sticks to the office…everything is better with chopsticks!). For this recipe, I adapted from a version featured a few months ago by Smitten Kitchen (great blog!) with a few very minor changes:

– Peeled and seeded my cucumber and slice it into long, thin strips (thats just how I like it)
– Didn’t include any tofu
– Substituted sugar instead of honey for the sweetener
– Added a healthy handful of fresh CILANTRO and a squeeze of lime juice — highly recommend these additions.

Otherwise, follow the recipe as stated and enjoy!

As for the Spicy Shrimp Satays, this is something I just made up on the fly, with a combination of lime juice and spices. Be sure to reserve some of the sauce from your peanut noodles to use as a dipping sauce — the spicy shrimp marries well with the creamy, sweet peanut sauce. Since I created the shrimp marinade from a little of this and a little of that, I didn’t have much of a recipe, but I’ll try to guesstimate the measurments as best I can:

Spicy Thai Chili-Lime Shrimp Satays
Serves 2-4

1 Tbs Thai red curry paste (available in the asian foods aisle at most supermarkets)
1 Tbs Sesame oil
1/2 tsp Tabasco or other hot sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
Juice from 1/2 of a lime
Pinch of Salt
3/4 lb shrimp, cooked, peeled and deveined (I bought medium large ones — 13-15 count size)
5 or 6 Bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Dipping sauce: Reserve some of the extra sauce from the peanut noodle recipe above

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a shallow bowl and add the shrimp. Toss to coat and place in the refridgerator to marinate. After 30 minutes, remove from refridgerator and thread shrimp on bamboo skewers; brush with additional marinade. Heat an indoor or outdoor grill to medium high heat, and grill the skewers a few minutes on each side (just to heat through and get good char marks).

To serve, top shrimp with another squeeze of fresh lime juice and use the peanut sauce recipe above as a dipping sauce.