Bun Rieu Cua Recipe (Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup)

This soup, called bún riêu, is typical Vietnamese comfort food. It's paired with the usual Vietnamese aromatic herbs and topped with other vegetables and fried tofu for a complete meal.

Just thinking about this seafood dish makes my mouth water! Tomorrow, my cousin Tri and his wife Tran are coming over to greet us for the Lunar New Year. So I spent today making a delicious, though a tad time-consuming (but oh-so worth it) soup dish for them. Bún riêu cua is a briny crab rice noodle soup garnished with feathery-like crab cakes in tomato and fermented shrimp (called mắm tôm) broth. Once you're ready to serve, shredded lettuce and mint finish the dish for added crunch along with lime and a drizzle of nuoc mam. 



If you love crab, this dish is ideal for you. If not, you could always try the veggie version (bún riêu chay) I make for the rest of my family members who are vegetarian. Either way, what a great way to start the year!

Quinoa with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Quinoa is a great side dish. By itself it can be pretty bland, so I seasoned it using vegetable stock and added asparagus spears and beech mushrooms. The dish pairs wonderfully with chicken or tofu. I could eat several plates of it without worrying about calories!



It's a great, healthy alternative to pasta or rice. Quinoa is incredibly versatile, and you can pair it with pretty much any combination of protein and vegetables. Plus, it's gluten free!

Warm Vegetable Salad Recipe

I'm still on the quest to follow Joy Bauer's 90 |10 food philosophy. By that, she means eating healthy foods 90% of the time and splurge on treats the remaining 10% of the time. Today I paired a very healthy portion of seasonal vegetable salad with a much more reasonable serving of succulent roasted a leg of lamb, which I admit is probably not the healthiest dish (look out for that recipe soon - probably when I feel less guilty!). The salad consists of zucchini, white asparagus and carrots cut into long, thin linguine shape strips. The trio is quickly sautéed with coriander and ginger and finished with lemon juice. The result is a crunchy, naturally sweet, warm salad with a little fresh zing from the lemon.

What I like most about this dish is how vibrant the colors are. Over-cooking veggies depletes their nutrients and can result in less attractive hues, so make sure you give the veggies just enough time to soften and you'll have a beautiful dish.

White Asparagus Salad Recipe (Goi Mang)

Traditional Vietnamese cooking is widely known for its healthy properties and for the freshness of the ingredients. The food is simply prepared with very easy cooking techniques, which is great if you’re in a rush.

Gơi măng tây (which literally translates to "French bamboo shoots" in Vietnamese) is a typical Vietnamese salad that embodies these qualities. What are French bamboo shoots you ask? Asparagus! Fresh white asparagus are available at my local market, so I decided to use them in this dish. They provide a different texture for this type of raw salad. It's a bit more work than cooking green ones, as white asparagus have to be carefully peeled for optimum tenderness. 

Cold Asparagus Soup with Grilled Watermelon

Quick reminder to enter the California Olive Ranch Giveaway. It takes less than a few seconds and you can win a bottle of EVOO! If you like California Olive Ranch, join their fan page on Facebook to get daily updates, special offers and deals.

I live for asparagus. I’ve grilled it, made risottos, meat dishes and more in the past. I’ve made soups before as well, but given that it’s still summer, I figured a cold asparagus soup would fit the bill.

I chose to cook with baby green asparagus spears because they're ultra tender and the color looks attractive. I kept the tips for a simple side dish of pan-fried fish fillets in butter and capers. The asparagus were grilled with olive oil so they were fragrant, then softened in vegetable broth until tender. I finished the soup by blending the asparagus with a little crème fraîche. The cold summer soup is refreshing, tasty, simple, yet very festive.

For a complete vegetarian presentation, I paired the soup with white balsamic grilled watermelon, which is in season. You could also add quail egg Niçoise salad or crab salad.

California Olive Ranch Giveaway Entry Form:

And for those of you who can't wait to try California Olive Ranch olive oil, head over to their online store, enter coupon code BLOGFRIENDS, and enjoy a 10% discount (for Pham Fatale readers)!

Pham Fatale Giveaway Terms and Conditions: No purchase necessary. All prizes are generously donated by the company featured. Pham Fatale does not accept money or gifts in exchange for these items. The companies featured in Pham Fatale Giveaways did not pay to participate in the Giveaways. Winners will be chosen at random, and odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Pham Fatale is not responsible for late, lost, stolen, illegible or incomplete entries which will be disqualified. Pham Fatale will not give your  information to the prize-giving company for future marketing. US Residents only please. Only one entry per person per giveaway. Prizes are not refundable or returnable. Giveaway terms subject to change.