Now that you've pounded down more fruitcake, egg nog, and sugar cookies than you care to remember, try eating something good for you, like Icebox Café's gado gado. Robert Siegmann and Andrea Landini--whom we interviewed last week, remember?--discovered this dish while traveling through Indonesia, and they altered it slightly to make it more healthful.
Gado Gado
Serves 1-2
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
½ tsp. garlic, minced
2 cups kale, washed and broken
1/8 eggplant, sliced longways
1 cup brown rice, cooked with cilantro and garlic
pinch bean sprouts, raw
cilantro
cucumber wedges
tomato wedges
Salt, to taste
Peanut Butter Sauce
1 Tbs. shallots
½ tsp. garlic, minced
1 dried chili pepper
½ tsp. ginger, diced
1 ½ cups heavy cream
2 Tbs. peanut butter
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. fish sauce
Directions: Put oil in skillet and add garlic, then kale. Add a little water to steam the leaves. In a separate pan, mix together all ingredients for the peanut butter sauce and heat. In another skillet, fry the eggplant wedge and salt it accordingly.
To plate, first put down the cup of hot rice, then pour peanut butter sauce over that and garnish with kale, bean sprouts, cilantro, cucumber and tomato wedges. Top with fried eggplant. Optional: Add a balsamic glaze and chicken or tofu.
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