Cool cucumbers, hot chili flakes, and a generous amount of garlic are just a few of the ingredients that make this flavor-forward, Asian-style cucumber salad so good. It’s the perfect refreshing side dish, meal prep salad, or big-hit potluck contribution. Now that I’ve harvested the last of this year’s cucumber bounty, I have to answer…
Spicy, Crispy, Orange Beef
Spicy, Crispy Orange Beef is a Chinese takeout classic featuring thin slices of crisp sirloin steak that are tossed in a spicy, sweet, and savory orange sauce. You can make it at home in less time than it takes to get delivery. (And it’ll taste better, too!) My aunt and uncle are hosting a…
Mongolian Beef
You would think that a dish called “Mongolian Beef” would be, well, a Mongolian meal made of beef.  But we apparently have a tendency to just name things on a whim around here, and Mongolian Beef has absolutely nothing to do with Mongolian methods of cooking. Nada. Instead, it resembles the Americanized versions of Chinese food, which,…
Chicken and Broccoli in Garlic Sauce
As you might know already from last week’s Sweet and Sour Chicken and Loaded Vegetable Lo Mein, I’m on a takeout-at-home kick this month. When I first decided to do a series of quick, lightened-up versions of fast food and takeout meals, I wasn’t sure of all the dishes I’d wind up trying to replicate, but…
Loaded Vegetable Lo Mein
There are times, like after a night out, a particularly miserable day, or a rough break-up, that I welcome the absolute lack of restraint that most takeout restaurants exhibit when it comes to salt, sugar and oil. Oh yes, nothing soothes a broken heart quite like massive amounts of some seriously artery-clogging cuisine. But for every day…
Sweet and Sour Chicken
The feeling you get when you’re eating Chinese takeout is kind of strange, isn’t it? It’s part excitement and part self-hatred. Part, “I’m way too full to continue eating,” and part, “I’ll just eat that delicious egg roll they threw in and then I’m done. Oh, and a bit more rice.  And I can’t not eat…
Crock Pot Kung Pao Chicken
This time of year, the Crock Pot and One Pot recipes look more and more appealing.  I want as much flavor with as little effort as humanly possible when the holidays approach and the temperature plummets.  This time of year, I don’t have the time or the energy to do much that doesn’t revolve around Christmas…
Crock Pot General Tso’s Chicken
There are a lot of things that I’ve experienced over the years that I thought would be amazing but wound up being terrible ideas, like pregaming open bars, volunteering to do favors that I can’t possibly fit into my schedule, or watching Juan Pablo be this season’s Bachelor. (Seriously, by the end of the Finale…
Pork Potstickers with Spicy Dipping Sauce
(Part of the Chinese New Year Theme Thursday Series) My Grandma Sandy is Chinese, and I have grown up lucky enough to eat authentic Chinese food on many occasions. My family requests that we get a batch of her creations all the time… maybe too often. The most beloved of her treats are the…
