One of my favorite go-to cuisines, other than sushi, is Thai food. I love the freshness of the ingredients and the nice, sometimes subtle spice. Thai food is known for its fresh herbs and spices as well as its use of chilis. Because of this, Thai food is a flavorful cuisine that is relatively very low in fat because it does not use oils when cooking. Other than the natural fat that comes from the meat, there is little to no added extra fat.
For the people that have some knowledge of Thai food, a big common dish is Pad Thai. Pad Thai is a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food and at casual local eateries in Thailand. It is made with soaked dried rice noodles, which are stir-fried with eggs and chopped firm tofu, and flavored with tamarind pulp, fish sauce, dried shrimp, garlic or shallots, red chili pepper and palm sugar, and served with lime wedges and often chopped roasted peanuts. While I do really love this dish, I wanted to introduce you all to one of my all time favorite Thai dishes that I generally always eat when I want to fill up on protein and not carbs. This dish is called Larb.
Larb is a traditionally northern Thai dish this can be described as a minced meat salad. Not only is it extremely easy to make, but it is super low in carbs and fat, making it the perfect meal for when you are trying to cut carbs or eat light. Below is the recipe.
Larb Chicken Salad
2/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup fish sauce (nam pla*)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons Thai roasted chili paste* in oil or chili-garlic sauce*
3/4 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
3/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
3 tablespoons minced fresh lemongrass*
1 tablespoon thinly sliced Thai chilies* or serrano chilies
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
2 small heads Boston lettuce, separated into leaves
*Available at Asian markets and some supermarkets nationwide.
Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl to blend; reserve sauce.
Bring broth to simmer in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken. Simmer until cooked through, breaking up meat with spoon, about 8 minutes. Add green onions and next 3 ingredients. Stir until vegetables are tender and most of liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in sauce, cilantro and mint. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon into lettuce leaves; serve.
Cook’s Notes: One of the best parts about this dish is the flexibility of ingredients. You are more than welcome to use ground turkey in place for the chicken and if you want to make it vegetarian/vegan you can just finely chop up some tofu in substitution for the meat!
Now get chopping and enjoy!
xoxo Sarah
MyFood MyWay 