Foodie Friday

Today I am participating in Foodie Friday over at The Cook's Next Door.
Go over and check out their inspirational cooking blog, along with other reader food/cooking entries.

Earlier in the week I decided to surprise Jeremy with an Asian meal. When it comes to food, he's a huge fan of Asian food, but as he has Celiac disease, we cannot eat at most Asian restaurants. And, of course, homemade Asian food just isn't quite the same. However, I still make an effort to periodically try my hand at different recipes. This week: P.F. Chang's-style Lettuce Wraps and Thai Vegetable Soup.

I found the Lettuce Wraps recipe here, but had to make several modifications because I didn't have all the ingredients. Therefore, they weren't true P.F. Chang's-style. I used diced cauliflower in place of the water chestnuts and in place of the rice wine vinegar (which I really need to buy!) I used a combo of balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, sesame oil, and some spices. The verdict, pretty good, but still needs tweaking! Maybe part of that was because I didn't make any of the special sauce to go on top. I'd definitely make them again.

The Thai Vegetable Soup came from Elana's Pantry. I followed the recipe, with the exception of substituting chicken broth for the vegetable broth, baby bella mushrooms for the shitake, and adding dried cilantro, because I didn't have any fresh. I took a sip and tasted a heavy lime juice flavor. Jeremy said, "Interesting," (which isn't good coming from him) "it tastes kind of like soap." Well, I didn't think it tasted quite like that, but I felt the flavors didn't meld like they needed to. However, I did eat leftovers for lunch the next day and found it tastier.

Unfortunately Jeremy finished up this intended special meal with a plate of Fritos. :( He was still hungry after the lettuce wraps and the soup just wouldn't cut it.

But, I won't count this a failure, just another experiment in the kitchen that still needs a little work!

Do you have any spectacular Asian recipes? Because I'm always looking for new ones.