You know how sometimes the stars align and you order a restaurant meal that somehow works out just right? My hubby and I had that experience today when we had lunch at the Red Door at Granville and 14th.

We ordered off the tasting menu which gives each diner two selections plus rice for $14 a person. This is a great idea as often in Chinese restaurants two people can only order a few dishes as each portion is so large.
We had a Vietnamese green papaya salad with prawns and grape tomatoes - not as fiery as the Thai version thank goodness, so we could still taste the rest of our meal. A delightful combination of fresh, crisp, salty, spicy and crunchy. Check back for a recipe.
We also had a prawn, water chestnut and sugar snap pea stirfry with tangy slivers of orange peel. I’ve been combing through my cookbooks for a recipe for this one but I may have to makeup my own version from memory. A hint of sweetness, a lot of tangy orange rind and crunchy sugar snap peas. Yummy.

Another delicious, yet more familiar dish was the Thai curry with tofu and veggies. Not too hot with the richness of coconut milk and a nice assortment of seasonal veggies.

The last dish was a deep-fried boneless chicken breast dish that was spicy and sweet. This is one of my favourite combinations of flavours - I’ll have to work on a lower carb version of it. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

I passed on the Jasmine rice and my blood sugars were just fine before dinner (not always the case when ordering Asian restaurant food with lots of hidden sugar and starch).

I’m motivated to do some cooking now so I’ll do my best to post some recipes soon …