Recipe: Thai rice bowl

Healthy can be deliciously perfect when you combine the correct ingredients with the right balance. This bowl from Gourmet Warehouse founder Caren McSherry is just that. The base can be soba noodles, quinoa, brown rice or lettuce. The toppings and dressing are the flavour bomb. Go wild, this is a keeper.

“I am using this incredible new toy put out by the Zwilling company, called “Fresh & Save” I am not a big fan of every new toy on the market, but this one has truly impressed me,” McSherry says.

“When you put protein in a marinade is just coats the exterior, with “Fresh & Save” it sucks out the air, with the push of a button, creating an anaerobic (No oxygen) environment, the marinade easily penetrates the protein. Result….flavour to the middle, not just the exterior.”

To really enhance and wow, McSherry says she likes a new product called a “food Crayon.”

“A Canadian invention that is so easy. Just sharpen whatever flavour you like over top of your dish and magic happens,” she said.

Poultry and marinade

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• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil ( I prefer Kadoya brand)
• 1 tablespoon chilli paste, I prefer Côte d’Azur 2.0
• 1 tablespoon liquid honey
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• Juice of half fresh lime
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts — or — 1 turkey breast sliced into thin strips — or — 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, sliced

Bowl

• 2 cups cooked soba noodles, cooked quinoa, or cooked rice
• 2 mini cucumbers, julienned
• 5 radishes, sliced thin
• 1 Haas avocado, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup julienned carrot
• 1 cup drained and rinsed black turtle beans, (canned is OK)
• 2/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup each, fresh basil, mint and cilantro, chopped
• Shaved “Crayon” for garnish

Dressing

• 3 heaping tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon 2.0 chilli sauce
• 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise

Poultry and marinade

1. Mix all the ingredients together and place in the container.
2. Put the lid on, and using the vacuum pump, press to suck all the air out. Let this sit 2-3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
3. Drain the marinade, heat a non stick pan to high heat and quickly fry, until nicely browned and caramelized. Set aside while you prepare your bowl.

Dressing

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a mini food processor or blender. Purée. Drizzle over the salad.

Bowl

1. Place the noodles, rice or lettuce in the bottom of your bowl.
2. Then creatively add each ingredient in a circular pattern, leaving the centre open.
3. Place the chicken or turkey in the middle and drizzle the bowl with the dressing and top with the “Crayon”