Banh Mi is right up there with Mexican food and sushi in my book, but with my attempt to eat more gluten free, I needed to figure out a new way to enjoy this amazing dish without the amazing, crusty baguette (weh.).   The fact this bowl was so much easier to eat (and equally flavorful), almost had me forgetting my favorite part of a Banh Mi sandwich was missing 🙂

Banh Mi Bowl 

recipe via Budget Bytes

Meatballs

• 1 lb ground pork (I used turkey for a healthier substitute although it won’t be a juicy)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce (or Tamari)
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Pickled Veggies 

• 2 medium carrots, julienned (I used my spiralizer)
• 1/2 large watermelon radish, julienned (I used my spiralizer)
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup water

Bowl

• Brown rice or Buckwheat noodles, cooked according to box’s directions  (I love this brown rice soaking/cooking write-up)
• Cucumber, sliced into rounds
• Jalapeño, thinly sliced
• Cilantro

1.  Make the pickled veggies by combining vinegar, sugar, salt and water in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved, then pour over carrots and radishes in an airtight container. Refrigerate.  I stored them separately and poured half of the liquid into each container.  * This is a great step to make the night before… but you can do it as late as 30 minutes before serving.
2. Make the meatballs by combining all ingredients listed above until thoroughly mixed. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with foil and a thin layer of non-stick spray.  The mixture will yield about 30 tablespoon sized meatballs. Place them on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
3. While the meatballs are cooking you can start assembling your Banh Mi Bowls.  First warm rice/noodles if you prepared them ahead.  Then top with pickled veggies, cucumber rounds, jalapeño and cilantro. Once meatballs are ready add them to the bowl and drizzle with soy sauce and spicy mayo (mayo with srirarcha).

Most of my friends are so surprised that despite my embarrassing long list of TV shows on my DVR, Top Chef (or any other cooking show) hasn’t made the cut.  I love watching cooking shows, but found that most of these competition shows are too cut throat – mean comments, sabotage, alliances – not my cup of tea… So when my little sister introduced me to the Kids Baking Championship, I had a change of heart.

Just imagine a bunch of 10 year olds running around a kitchen talking about ganache and polenta lemon cake, but being sure to share the paddle attachment for the KitchenAid mixer.  It honestly melts your heart and makes you feel pretty lame that a 10 year old would kick your butt in the kitchen… but I digress.

Anyway, on the first episode one of the contests whipped up some blondies (that didn’t turn out so well) – but gave me a hankering to whip some up (I never have…).  I found this amazing recipe and wasn’t planning on sharing it on the blog until my sister came over and ate half the sheet (sorry Kendall!) and demanded I share the recipe.  So despite the lack of photos… here we go:

Brown Butter Blondies with Pecans

Recipe via Bon Appetit

Brown Butter Mixture

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Blondie

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsley chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 cups (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Brown Butter Mixture

1. Cook butter in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring often until butter foams then browns (about 5-8 minutes).
2. Transfer brown butter to a KitchenAid bowl or medium bowl, and let cool slightly.
3. Add egg, brown sugar, vanilla and salt and beat until mixture is light and dissolved (about 3 minutes).
4. Fold in flour.

Blondie

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a 13 x 9 baking dish.
3. Toast pecans for 8-10 minutes or until fragrant. Let cool.
4. Whisk baking powder, salt and 2 1/4 cups flour in a medium bowl.
5. Using your KitchenAid (or electric mixer), cream brown sugar and 1 cup butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes) on medium-high speed.
6. Add eggs in one a time, stirring until mixture is pale and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
7. Mix in vanilla.
8. Reduce speed to low and mix in dry ingredients.
9. Fold in half of the toasted pecans.
10. Scoop 2/3 of the batter into your baking dish and smooth top (making sure to push batter to edges).
11. Scatter alternating scoops of brown butter mixture and blondie batter on top of the existing layer of blondie batter and swirl until smooth on top (did that make sense?).
12. Sprinkle remaining pecans on top.
13. Bake until blondie is golden brown and firm (about 30-35 minutes). Beware that a tester will not come out clean… so just go with your gut.
14. Let cool and enjoy! (I found these almost tasted better the next day, which I feel never happens with baked goods!)