28

Jul

Not-so-fried Rice

No arteries need to meet greasy, limp Chinese take out. But this *healthier* version is easy, tasty, and has endless possibilities. For this adventure, I used a food I’ve never cooked with before:  


napa cabbage.

It gave a bit of crunch, some filler (besides rice), and color to this dish. After making a batch, I put the leftovers into 2-cup containers and have been grabbing it for an easy lunch at work or a no-thought dinner after a long day. (PS: Napa cabbage has 28 calories per cup, according to this awesome USDA Food-a-pedia.)

Not-so-fried Rice
4-6 servings

Ingredients:::
4 cups water + 1/3 cup water
2 cups wheat rice
1 1/2 cup carrots
1 zucchini
3 stalks celery
1/2 cup peas or snow peas
1 egg + 1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Dash of ground ginger 
3 cups Napa cabbage
1/2 TB sesame oil (optional) 
Garnish: sesame seeds, 1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

pot for water with lid, large wok or skillet with lid, wooden spoon 
Directions:::   
step one: Heat a pot of water with rice and cover. When it boils, remove lid, stir, and recover, reducing heat to a simmer. Let cook 15 or so minutes.

step two: While waiting for the rice, chop up the carrots, zucchini, and celery and put into the heated wok with 1/3 cup of water. Cover and let cook on medium-high for 5 minutes. Add the egg and peas and let egg cook for a few minutes. (Some people like to scramble and cook egg first, before adding to veggies.) Next, add the garlic powder, ginger, sesame oil, and cabbage. Gently stir with spoon and recover for a few minutes.
step three: Check on the rice. If all of the water has been absorbed and a taste test of the rice shows it’s cooked, remove rice from heat and gently add to wok. Combine with spoon and add soy sauce. Toss thoroughly. Let cook in wok for a few more minutes and serve in a bowl with garnish.
I mentioned the USDA’s new My Food-a-pedia 
This is super helpful. You can look up nutrition values of various foods, get personalized meal plans, etc, and it’s also great for kids to use, too. Try this: Click on “Look up a food.” Put in anything…I did popcorn. Not only does it give you the nutrition facts for popcorn (and which category it goes in on your plate), it gives you the facts of buttered, low fat, natural popped with butter, air popped, and other varieties. So simple! I hope this helps keep you and your family healthy and happy. 
Happy eating! 
~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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07

Jul

Green Omelette

 
Tonight was an “on your own” dinner, which means Matt has something normal (like pasta or chicken) and I have breakfast (or something weirder like oatmeal and ginger tofu). An omelette sounded good, but I wanted to sneak in some veggies also, so here’s how it went.

Green Omelette
*serves 1, but easily doubles, triples, etc.*
2 eggs
2 small mushrooms
handful of spinach
3 TB cilantro
1 slice of bacon, chopped
Dash of salt and pepper

Preheat pan/skillet. FINALLY I remembered to spray with non-stick cooking spray after pan is already heated (right before you put food on). In a small bowl, whisk eggs with a fork or whisk, heh. 
Chop mushrooms and cilantro and add to small bowl. Add in spinach, bacon, salt and pepper. Stir a bit (if the bowl’s not too full).
Pour egg mixture into pan and cook on medium heat for 4 minutes. When eggs are 75% cooked (just a little runny in the middle), flip half of omelette over. Let cook for a few more minutes, until no runnyness. Serve with your favorite bread and a fruit. A balanced meal, yes.

Have you seen these little gadgets?
They’re by Zespri, the kiwifruit company out of New Zealand. Matt got some from work a while back, and I love them. Fruit knife on one side, spoon on the other. Great for melon. I know there are lots of melon spoons out there, but I’m digging these.




Happy Wednesday, happy evening, happy life.

 

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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30

Jun

Rosemarried Hashbrowns


This is a basic way to make breakfast hashbrowns, and you can add many other spices to change the flavors. We’ll start with fresh rosemary.

4 red/new potatoes
2 TB fresh rosemary
2 TB flour
2 TB olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper


Rinse and scrub potatoes. If you like, peel the potatoes (I prefer skin on). Using a box grater, grate all four potatoes on a cutting board. 


Once potatoes are all peeled (it’ll be messy), take a clean kitchen towel and pat the pile of potatoes. You are removing as much of the excess moisture as possible to crisp the potatoes. In a large bowl, add the potatoes, rosemary, flour, salt, and pepper. Stir until flour is soaked in. 

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium high. Once it bubbles, add the potato mixture. There are two ways to cook it: 
1) Crispy: like a giant pancake that you flip after several minutes and 
2) Fluffy: a mix of potatoes that you are constantly stirring and turning. 

Do how you like but-either way-it’ll take 10 minutes to cook. Serve as a side or as the main entree by adding cheese, bacon, or sausage, and fill in tortillas (breakfast tacos). Ole!

Lazy eggs over easy

 Some other herbs/spices to add to hashbrowns:
Fresh basil
Fresh dill
Crushed red pepper
Smoked paprika
Fresh garlic
Cayenne pepper
Be creative!
 

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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