Healthy fried rice

I am not one of those people who can walk in the door and instantly get back to work. Rather than pretending, I've started relaxing for a few minutes when I get home instead of opening my laptop. Lying down, reading my book--or tonight, chopping vegetables. Since receiving a second lesson from my friend Xin, I decided to try fried rice again. I noticed that last time I started by frying the rice first, which I don't think makes sense.

This version of fried rice is heavy on the vegetables, with stir-fry "stuff" dominating over the rice. Plenty of brown rice though, still, to lend a heartiness to this dish on a cold day like today. This is also a good dish for when you're raiding the pantry, in those busy weeks just before an exam (I usually have carrots, celery, and onions in the fridge).

Brown rice vegetable fried rice (~2 servings):

• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
• 1 celery stalk, sliced crosswise on a diagonal
• 1 onion, sliced
• 4-6 mushrooms, sliced
• handful of spinach
• 1" piece of ginger, washed with the skin on, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 egg
• tofu, in 1-cm cubes
• 1 cup brown rice, cooked
• canola oil
• soy sauce
• rice wine vinegar
• white pepper

In a wok or large frying pan, scramble the egg in about 1 tsp of oil. Set aside. Add more oil to the pan and then the garlic, ginger, and onion; after a minute or two (when fragrant and just gaining color), add the tofu and rest of the vegetables (add the vegetables in the order in which you want them to cook, saving those barely-cooked vegetables for last). After another few minutes, when the vegetables are just softer but not mushy (add spoonfuls of water as needed to keep from burning), add your rice and the scrambled egg. Continue frying until parts of the rice and tofu crisp up a bit, seasoning with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and white pepper to your taste. Garnish with scallion before serving.

I feel better. 

White girl makes fried rice

There are certain foods that I know how to make quite well, because I have made them a hundred times (tomato sauce) or because I grew up around them (turkey meatballs). Then there are foods that I see the people around me making, and it's fun to try them too (noodle soup).

My housemate makes a healthy version of fried rice for breakfast/lunch all the time. On Monday, another friend, Xin, brought a delicious homemade pork-and-veggie fried rice over for dinner. I like watching people cook dishes that are familiar to them because you can observe their comfort with the ingredients and process.

If you make it right, it seems healthy enough, so I figured I'd try my hand at it.

Zucchini fried rice (for one):

• (1/2 cup dry) cooked brown rice
• 1/2 cup zucchini, in 1-cm pieces
• 1/4 cup hard tofu, in 1-cm pieces
• 2 medium garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
• 4 scallions, white and light green parts, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon each canola oil and soy sauce

Heat canola oil in a frying pan on high heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook for a minute. Add rice, stirring, then white parts of scallion. After a minute, add the zucchini, tofu, and green parts of scallion. Clear a portion of your frying pan (or use a separate pan) and scramble the egg directly into the pan; once cooked, stir it into the rest of your rice.* Add soy sauce to taste, stir, then cook for a minute longer until crispy to your liking.

Did I get it right? It certainly tastes pretty good.

*Thanks to Xin for this correction to my procedure! She pointed out that the egg should be scrambled separately and then added, not mixed in wet with the rice.

Summer non-cooking

In the summer, even I don't feel like cooking. I'd rather be outside. I'd rather eat raw, fresh food. My appetite is diminished. Etc.

However, too much of this attitude and I wind up eating yogurt, berries, granola bars, and grilled cheese for meal after meal. Enough is enough!

Fortunately, summer dishes can be mostly raw and therefore take less time to cook. Simply toss a few things together, or pour one thing over another thing.

For instance:

• 10-minute pickles that will last a week (I halved the recipe for 1 large cucumber and 1 small head of celery from this week's farm share)
• cold soba noodles and stir-fried Chinese greens with garlic
• tossed summer grain-and-corn salad

Cold soba noodles: boil the noodles as directed, then drain and immediately run under cold water until cool. Toss with a little bit of soy sauce, ponzu, and scallions. Enjoy with tofu or greens or as is.

Stir-fried Chinese greens with garlic: wash and chop greens into large pieces. Peel a few garlic cloves and leave whole. In a large frying pan or wok, heat about a tablespoon of canola oil until very hot (test with a drop of water or a piece of garlic), then add garlic. Cook for a minute, then turn off the heat and add the greens (if you don't turn off the heat, sometimes the whole thing will catch fire). Turn the heat back on and cook for a minute on high. Season with salt if you're feeling indulgent (or just went running!).

Summer salad: toss together the following ingredients.

• any grain, cooked al dente (I used some cool-looking black forbidden rice)
• 1 ear of corn, steamed and de-kerneled
• handful of chopped cilantro and scallion
• half an avocado, cut into small pieces
• handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• lemon juice
• red pepper flakes

Vegetarian two-pot supper

Sometimes you want to eat locally, but you don't really want to eat locally -- know what I mean? I don't really like rice and beans and tortillas unless they're well seasoned or served with a lot of cheese. But I want to be in touch with my surroundings and the people around me. Besides which, I'm limited by what's available in the grocery stores.

Tonight I decided to make rice and beans (both of which I happen to like in general) part of the meal, rather than the center of the meal. I cooked up two vegetables, separately: first chayote with red onion, garlic, and ginger; then large green beans with garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Next I reheated my black beans, unseasoned, allowing them to soak up the flavors in the pan. In a separate pot I steamed some rice. I served it all in a bowl with cilantro, mimicking an "Asian rice bowl." Variety of flavors and textures, and pretty healthy!

Weekend hiatus

The results of the healthy food contest are in, and I won Best Meal! A strong endorsement of my chicken and chickpea curry. I insist that my dish was also the healthiest, but as it did not taste particularly healthy, that went to ants-on-a-log instead (you see what I was up against. The ants-on-a-log were delicious though. Classics are classics for a reason).

Friday afternoon I was exhausted (post-exam) and hungry, so I made a vegetarian stew that I will claim is the healthiest, easiest, and cheapest delicious stew out there, though not particularly refined. Once you have a well-stocked cupboard, it doesn't even require a trip to the grocery store.

Vegetarian stew from the cupboard (inspired by this Persian stew from Serious Eats):

• 6 kale leaves, washed and chopped (or other vegetable, such as tomatoes or peppers)
• 1 tbsp ground cumin (or other spice, such as curry or chili powder)
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup lentils, cooked
• 1 cup chickpeas, cooked
• 1 cup brown rice, cooked
• juice of 1 lemon
• handful of chopped parsley (or cilantro or scallions, etc.)
• hot sauce and/or sour cream for seasoning -- this stew is an extremely flexible base and could be seasoned with a variety of things
• 1 tbsp canola or olive oil
• salt & pepper

I cooked the rice, lentils, and chickpeas the night before.

On medium-high heat, heat canola oil in a large soup pot, then add garlic, ginger, and onion. Saute until translucent, then add cumin and stir a few minutes until fragrant (you may need to add some water to keep everything from burning). Add the kale; once it has cooked down a bit, add the rice and beans. Cover with water and simmer on low-medium heat for 15-30 minutes. Add lemon juice and chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with hot sauce and/or sour cream.

                                                   Before:                                   After:

My excuse for not blogging this weekend: