When I’m traveling, I usually pack my own food to eat on the plane. My default is the artichoke salad from Snack here in New York City or a banh mi sandwich from one of the Vietnamese shops in Chinatown, but sometimes when I’m heading back home, I forget to buy something to-go or I would have eaten my one packed meal by the time they’ve rescheduled my return flight for the third time that day.

If I must eat at the airport when I’m traveling and there are no Starbucks shops to be found so I can at least buy a decent cold sandwich–I really can’t tell you why I trust Starbucks’ sandwiches over any other deli’s at airports–I opt for the dirty Chinese food rather than the fast food burger. A, because if I’m going to indulge a guilty pleasure, it better involve rice to make me feel less guilty about eating it after, and B, I’ve tried the airport burger route before and I wasn’t a happy camper when I finally got on the plane.

But when I do buy bad Chinese food, I’m always thinking that I can do a better and a much cleaner version. I already have the ingredients in my pantry; all you really need are a strong arm and a really hot skillet or wok to flash-fry everything.

Ingredients:
4 pieces chicken breasts, sliced in smaller pieces
oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
rice wine vinegar
2 tbsps black bean sauce
1/4 tsp cornstarch
1 package of broccoli florets
1/4 cup cashews, roughly chopped

1. In a deep skillet, heat some oil. Add the chicken pieces and flash-fry. When some parts are starting to turn white, add the onion and garlic. Sauté to continue cooking the chicken and to soften the onions.
2. Add a splash or two of the rice wine vinegar and spoon in the black bean sauce. Stir. Add a little bit of the cornstarch at a time to thicken the sauce. Use some water or broth to get the consistency that you want.
3. Lower the heat and add the broccoli and cashews. Keep sautéeing to finish cooking the chicken and to cook the broccoli until tender.

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The Dr. tuned me into the new Cooking Channel when he came in from Boston to visit. I’ve stopped watching the Food Network a long time ago after I’ve noticed that most of their shows were targeting eaters that are not too adventurous. It seems that the Cooking Channel is their way to separate that content from the ones that involve personalities and cuisines of different origins. In a few hours alone, I saw segments shot in Vietnam, India and Italy which did not involve any screaming or bleached blonde hair.

My favorite so far is Luke Nguyen mainly because he’s traveling all over Vietnam with that ridiculously curious Vietnamese-Australian accent. He was in a green peppercorn farm that reminded me so much of the Philippines countryside. I actually remembered seeing the peppercorns the last time I was in Kalustyan’s but had no idea what to use them for, so after watching his show, I made a return trip to buy a packet.

The recipe also called for chicken. I had ordered a whole chicken from Holton Farms in Vermont who’s currently running an ingenious idea on how Community-Supported Agriculture could change the way we buy produce. My neighborhood in Harlem became one of their test spots after I convinced them to deliver in my neighborhood in exchange for getting them new customers who also live in my building. When I saw this recipe on TV, I thought it’d be a relief not to make another roasted chicken.

You can buy green peppercorns from Kalustyan’s, the heavenly spice store on Lexington Avenue in Curry Hill here in New York City. While there, pick up a sachet of annatto powder as well, but really, I didn’t think it added any thing special to the dish except for some more reddish-orange color. The original recipe called for oil, but the powder was less expensive so I opted for that instead. I also forgot to pick up tomatoes, so I ended up using half of the small can of tomato paste I had in my pantry.

I imagined this to be richer in taste, but it was subtle in flavor. Perhaps it was the coconut juice that made it a tad sweet and differentiated it from other tomato-based stews I’ve made before.

Ingredients:
green peppercorns
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 whole fresh chicken, washed, patted dry with a paper towel
oil
4 tbsps tomato paste
2 small carrots, chopped in bite-sized pieces
1 tsp annatto powder
4 shallots, sliced
3 cans of coconut juice
a splash of fish sauce

1. Lightly bruise 4 tbsps of peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. Remove and transfer to a small bowl. Add half of the minced garlic, a dash of salt and sugar and mix. Use this as a rub for the chicken and massage all over. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. In a large Dutch oven, heat some oil and sauté the remaining garlic and 2 tbsps peppercorns until fragrant. Set aside in the pot and add the whole chicken. Brown chicken on all sides for some nice color and then carefully remove to a plate.
3. In the same pot, add the tomato paste, carrots and annatto powder. Stir to combine and then add shallots, coconut juice and fish sauce.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil and skim off any impurities that rise to the top. Return the whole chicken and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes. Turn the chicken after about 20 just to make sure the other side is also submerged into the coconut broth.

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I stole this tomato salsa recipe from the Dr.’s mother after she left a jar of it in his fridge during her visit from California. I’ve never had salsa with apple before but I thought the tartiness lent to the blandness of the tomatoes and the kick of the cilantro.

But because there’s never tortilla chips at home, I prepared it as a side salad for a main dish. I made it to our neighborhood grocery store after its Sunday shopping peak when most of the produce shelves have already been ravaged. No oxtails, no short ribs, no pork chops; I was forced to buy some chicken thighs instead. I stuffed them with cilantro so that there’s an element of surprise when you bite into them–also to use the cilantro leftover from the salsa. Whether or not you have avocados, you’ll have a complete meal especially if you serve it with rice.

Ingredients:
8 boneless chicken thighs
half a bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
1 tbsp cumin, grounded
2 ripe avocados
oil, salt, pepper

For the salsa:
4 beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
the other half of the cilantro, finely chopped
1 gala apple, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
salt

1. Prepare the salsa. Combine and mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Season with salt. Transfer to a pickling jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Preheat the oven 350º. Prepare the chicken. Combine and mix the cilantro and cumin in a small bowl. Drizzle with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay out the chicken pieces and stuff with cilantro-cumin mix. Each chicken only needs a tbsp or so of stuffing.
3. Using a large skillet, heat some oil. Brown both side of the chicken pieces. Use an iron press if you have one to keep the stuffing inside the chicken while frying. Gently turn over to brown the other side using tongs. Transfer to a baking dish and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes.
4. To serve, arrange the baked chicken over a bed of rice. Scoop some of the avocado meat on the side and top with tomato salsa.

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You can also stuff Cornish hens
If you’re vegetarian, how about some stuffed red pepper?