Asian-inspired Cucumber Cups

This healthy and refreshing appetizer is perfect because it won't fill your guests up before a meal. Plus they're pretty to look at! And it's a perfect way to use up some of the to die for spicy peanut sauce from my Chicken Nood Wraps recipe! 

Yield: 10 cucumber cups (+/- depending on length of cucumber)

• spicy peanut sauce: 

• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-inch section of fresh ginger, minced
• 2 small chilis, minced, with seeds 
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (1-2 limes) 
• 2/3 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• note: this yields more peanut sauce than you will need, but it lasts a few days in the fridge, and can easily be used up for stir-fry, thai curry, veggie dip, etc. 
• 1 cucumber
• 1 small carrot
• 30 lo-mein  noodles (approx) 
• 10 peanuts, crushed

Prepare peanut sauce. Start by mincing the garlic, ginger and chilis. Heat a small amount of olive oil to a small frying pan over med-high. Add garlic, ginger and chilis. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, til fragrant and the edges of the garlic turn golden brown. Remove pan from heat and set aside. 

Juice lime(s) and pour into small sauce pan with lid. Combine all other peanut sauce ingredients, including the cooked garlic, ginger and chili peppers with lime juice in sauce pan. Cook over low heat til peanut butter melts. Stir frequently to mix and prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom. Remove from heat, cover with lid and set aside. 

Set a small pot of water to boil and cook noodles per package instructions. Rinse with cold water and strain. 

Peel carrot. Cut carrot into thin strips using peeler and set strips aside (note: you'll likely only need half of a small carrot). 

Wash cucumber. Using a peeler, strip the length of the cucumber four times, creating a stripe pattern (optional step, just to make it look pretty). Slice cucumber into 1 1/2 inch "cups". Using a small spoon, scoop out the center. Be sure to leave 1/8-1/4 inch at the bottom to hold cup contents. 

Scoop a small dollop of peanut sauce to coat the bottom of the cucumber cup. 

* Make sure your hands are washed and clean for this part! *

Gather 1-2 noodles with 1-2 strips of carrot, holding them at one end between your finger and thumb. Use your other hand to twirl the length of the noodles and carrot around your finger. Carefully slide the coiled noodles and carrot off your finger and into the cucumber cup. Press the coil gently into the cup to ensure the ends don't spring loose. Repeat until all cucumber cups are stuffed. 

Top each coil with another small dollop of peanut sauce. Sprinkle crushed peanuts over top. 

Kung Pao Chicken Chow

One of Brian's favorite meals to order at Earls is the Chicken Hunan Kung Pao. I've only had a few nibbles off his plate, but quickly concluded it's silly to be paying $17.75 for one serving of Asian food made in a non-Asian restaurant, so I set out to make my own version! The greasiness of the restaurant dish is what disturbed me most. Nobody likes to go home feeling like there's slimy cooking oil sloshing around in your belly. My recipe uses barely any oil at all - in fact, the only oil used is for cooking the ginger, garlic and chili peppers. The vegetables are steam-fried, a method I learned from watching my mom (no wonder she's such a skinny mini!), and the chow mein noodles are not fried in oil, but heated up in an oil-free sauce. Hope you enjoy the non-greasy version as much as I do! 


At the restaurant, they allow you to customize spice by adding 1-6 hunan peppers. My first attempt at this dish was so spicy, Brian raised the white flag after about 4 mouthfuls. Despite having a solid laugh over his spice-induced sweaty looks of panic, I felt terrible he went hungry that night, and it took some time before we were ready for me to give it another go. A few trials later, I've settled on 3.5 to be our magic number - 3.5 dried red chili peppers is what goes into this recipe, but feel free to adjust up or down to your taste! 

Serves 4 
You will need two frying pans - one with a lid, and one without. 

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Chicken Marinade: 
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp vinegar
• 1 tsp dried red chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 pkg (450gr) of soft chow mein egg noodles (you can use fresh noodles, or dried noodles - if dried, use 7-8 bundles)
• 1 carrot
• 1 small red bell pepper
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 large handful of snow peas (approx 25-30)
• 4 green onions
• 6 cloves garlic 
• 2 inch section fresh ginger
• 3.5 small dried chili peppers (more or less to taste)
• 1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
• Sauce (make 2 sets - one for noodles, one for chicken & veg - of the following): 
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sriracha
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tsp hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• garnish: fresh cilantro or sesame seeds

Trim any fat off chicken breasts and slice into bite-size strips. Add marinade ingredients to chicken, mix and set aside in fridge. Can be marinated hours or a day in advance. 

Bring water to a boil in a large pot (enough to cook noodles). Start on the vegetables while the water is heating up. 


Wash and prepare all vegetables (carrot, red pepper, zucchini, zucchini, snow peas & green onion), peeling, trimming ends, removing stems and seeds where necessary. We want the vegetables to be julienned or sliced matchstick-style. Start by slicing the whole vegetable into quarters, so you have four approx 2-inch sections to work with, then slice into even strips, resembling matchsticks.  Set aside. 


Once pot of water has reached boiling, cook noodles according to package instructions. Strain and set aside. 


Keep a large bowl or plate near the stove as you will be cooking ingredients separately, then setting them aside in this bowl until everything is ready to be combined.


Mince together the garlic, ginger and dried chili peppers. Heat a small amount of oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add minced garlic, ginger and chilis. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, til fragrant and edges of garlic turn golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside in the bowl as mentioned. 


Using the same large frying pan, toast peanuts for a few minutes over medium heat. Do not add oil to pan when toasting. Once toasted, remove from pan and set aside in bowl. 

Again, using the same frying pan, and without adding oil, add marinated chicken over high heat. The moisture from the marinade will keep the chicken from sticking to the pan. Stir for a few minutes until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside in bowl. 

In separate bowls or containers, make 2 sets of the sauce by combining all sauce ingredients and mixing well. Set both sets of sauce aside. 

Now it's time to cook the matchstick veggies. Heat the frying pan with a lid over med-high heat (do not add oil). Starting with the carrots as they take the longest to cook, add them to the pan along with half a cup of water, cover with lid and let steam-fry for 1min. Add all remaining matchstick veggies, add more water if the pan is dry, and cover with lid and let steam-fry for another minute. Remove from heat and using the lid to hold veggies in place, strain any excess water. 

Stir up one set of sauce to mix pour into pan with cooked veggies. Add the garlic, ginger, peanuts, and chicken reserved and set aside in bowl to the veggies. Cook over medium heat for a 3-4min, stirring so that all ingredients are coated in sauce. Remove from heat, cover with lid and set aside until noodles are ready. 

Stir up the second set of sauce, then heat up in a second pan over med-high. Add noodles and stir until coated (I find it is easiest to separate the noodles and coat evenly by using wooden chopsticks at this point). Add more water and/or soy sauce if the noodles look dry. Keep noodles over heat for 4-5 min or until hot. 

Serve Kung Pao chicken and veg over noodles. 

Option: garnish with fresh chopped cilantro or sesame seeds. And keep a bottle of sriracha handy for those who don't find this hot enough!