Thai Chicken and Spicy Asparagus Stir Fry

After Cinco de Mayo tamales (recipe coming soon) and other fun eating with Chip and Siobhan last weekend, once again, Jamie and I found ourselves craving healthy, fresh food on Monday night. I picked one recipe from the Times and one from Food & Wine, partially from the mouthwatering pictures printed alongside them - Thai Chicken with Hot-Sour-Salty-Sweet Sauce (also, can you resist that name?) and Stir-Fried Spicy Asparagus because asparagus is fresh, healthy, and so delicious this time of year. It's also nice that the asparagus takes less than 2 minutes to cook. It's delicious! The asparagus is extremely fresh and light, and the chicken is juicy. The real star is the dipping sauce. I want to make a gallon of it and pour it on everything. It's pretty much a winning combination of all of the tastes. Yum!

Thai Chicken, serves 4
Ingredients:
Marinated Chicken:
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp Asian fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 whole chicken legs
Dipping Sauce:
1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate dissolved in 1 tsp water (or 1 tsp tamarind paste)
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 small  Thai chili (or jalapeno) seeded and minced
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp water
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro


Directions:
In a mini food processor, process the cilantro, fish sauce, and pepper to a coarse puree. Coat the chicken and let it stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the tamarind with fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, chile, sugar, and water. Preheat the oven to 400. Heat up a grill pan (or a grill if you have one). Tub the chicken with the oil and rub the grill pan/grill with an oiled paper towel. Grill the chicken over moderately high heat, turning, until charred - about 12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, until cooked.

Let it sit a couple of minutes. (And start the asparagus!) Stir the cilantro into the dipping sauce and serve with the chicken.

Asparagus Stir Fry, 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus (pencil thin or small/medium split lengthwise)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano or other fresh chile, finely chopped
A large handful of basil, mint, and cilantro leaves


Directions:
Snap off and discard tough ends of each asparagus (it breaks naturally at the right spot when you bend it gently). Cut the spears into 2 inch pieces. Heat oil in a skillet until very hot. Add asparagus and season generously with salt and pepper, stirring well to make sure it's coated and glistening with oil.

Continue to stir-fry over high heat for about 1 minute, until asparagus is bright green and barely cooked. Add the garlic, ginger, and chile and stir-fry for 30 seconds more. Transfer to serving platter or plates, sprinkle with herbs, and serve immediately.