Tag Archives: food

Chicken Fried Rice

August 21, 2012
Shannon
1 comment
Asian, chicken, food, ginger, peas, rice

I’ve mentioned before certain foods that I would want to have if I was stuck on a deserted island: s’mores and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are just a few. Yes, you know I have a sweet tooth. I could probably add deviled eggs to that list too. But another food that I never tire of and could eat every single day is fried rice. And I mean every. single. day. I normally eat vegetable fried rice (a habit going back to my vegetarian days) but as much as I love it, I don’t ever try to make it at home. After all, the Chinese food restaurant is right around the corner and can have my fried rice ready for me in 15 minutes, right? Well, the problem we all know is that fried rice isn’t exactly healthy and shouldn’t be eaten often, if ever. But I can’t give it up so why not give in and try to make it, when I can control the oil and the ingredients myself? This recipe for Chicken Fried Rice seems like a good place to start.

Chicken, scrambled egg, peas, and rice are combined with a mixture of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar and lime juice. Fresh garlic and grated ginger provide additional layers of flavor to this rich dish. The lime juice really provides an additional unexpected freshness and the chili sauce gives it a slight kick, which I love. I used precooked chicken strips since I had them on hand but thin-cut chicken would work well here too since it cooks quickly. Since I try to eat brown rice as much as possible, I also used ready-made whole grain brown rice in place of the boil-in-bag rice but any kind of rice will work here. While this isn’t restaurant-style fried rice, this was a tasty and satisfying fried rice dish that isn’t as oily and doesn’t leave you feeling guilty after eating it. What’s also great about this is you can add adapt it to your own taste by adding other vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, baby corn, grean beans or bean sprouts. I’ll definitely make this again, maybe even leaving out the chicken, to satisfy that vegetable fried rice craving I get oh-so often.

The ingredients:

Combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce, cornstarch, and chicken in a bowl; toss well. Combine remaining 4 teaspoons soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, lime juice and chili paste in a small bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture and stir-fry 4 minutes or until lightly browned. (If using pre-cooked chicken like I did, stir-fry just until heated through.)

Push chicken to one side of skillet and add eggs to open side of pan. Cook 45 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir eggs and chicken mixture together.

Remove chicken mixture from pan and keep warm. Return pan to medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add onion, ginger, and garlic and cook 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add rice and cook 1 minute.

Add peas and cook 1 minute.

Add chicken mixture and soy sauce mixture. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Stir in green onions.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions

Pre-cooked chicken strips
Ready-made brown rice

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Anadama Bread

Sorry it’s been a couple days since I’ve posted but I’ve been out of town for three days and despite having Internet access, I just didn’t feel like pulling out my computer. You know the feeling. Being disconnected. It kind of feels good. Although with my iPhone on my hip, I wasn’t truly disconnected. Oh well. It was an effort. Anyway, I’ve been on a real reading kick lately (I recently devoured The Age of Miracles, Wild, Gone Girl and Where We Belong – all of which I recommend) and since I’ve decided I need dial down my book collection rather than grow it, I decided to take advantage of my library card and checked out two more books to read yesterday, The Bungalow and The Hypnotist’s Love Story. Reading as much as I have been sometimes disrupts my pattern of cooking but it was in one of my reading fits last weekend that I spontaneously decided I wanted to bake some bread. Next thing I knew, I was up to my elbows in flour, twisting and kneading fresh dough until it was perfectly rounded and fragrant. This particular bread, Anadama Bread, is a bread my aunt often makes for holidays or just because. Of course I think hers tastes better. Just because.

Anadama Bread is a yeast bread made special with the addition of molasses and cornmeal. This bread has the slightest hint of sweetness, but not too much, and is good toasted with jam or just butter. It also freezes easily, just simply slice it ahead of time and seal in a freezer bag. Making bread can be both therapeutic and satisfying. Kneading dough is a good way to de-stress and after watching a mixture of ingredients come together and simply grow, you get a feeling of accomplishment when you pull out the warm, baked bread from the oven and your kitchen – your whole house – smells like a bakery. There is nothing better. When I make bread I kind of get that feeling that Tom Hanks has in Cast Away when he pounds on his chest and proudly proclaims to no one “Look what I have created! I have made fire!” When that bread comes out of the oven perfectly rounded and browned, it’s hard not to be proud and want to show it to someone. Next time, I just might pound on my chest too. Just because.

Read a good book lately? Let me know! 🙂

The ingredients:

Dissolve the yeast and molasses in warm water in a large bowl, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in melted butter.

Add 3 cups flour, cornmeal, and salt to yeast mixture and stir until blended.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes), adding enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch dough down; let rest 5 minutes.

Roll into a 14 x 7-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Roll up rectangle tightly, starting with a short edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam and ends to seal. Place roll, seam side down, in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Uncover dough and bake at in a 350°F oven for 45 minutes or until loaf is browned on bottom and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Penne with Vodka Sauce & Vegetables

August 8, 2012
Shannon
0 comments
food, pasta, peas, spinach, tomatoes, vegetarian, zucchini

I’ve noticed a pattern in the food I’ve been eating lately – vegetarian and with zucchini. For someone who didn’t touch zucchini as a kid and grew up eating deer meat and rabbit, this is an interesting revelation. Trust me when I tell you, I prefer my diet much more now. Although I wish I didn’t eat so many carbs, I’m happy that I don’t eat nearly as much as I did when I was a vegetarian and ate pasta constantly. As in every single night. Because things have changed, I look forward to a hearty pasta dish, especially one made with vodka sauce. Penne with Vodka Sauce and Vegetables is a lightened up version of regular pasta in vodka sauce which is hearty enough that you won’t even notice the fact that there is no meat in sight.

Whole-wheat penne is mixed with zucchini, peas, onion and spinach and tossed in a tomato sauce made with vodka and half-and-half. The sauce is creamy and light, given subtle touch of heat from red pepper flake. Add Canadian bacon for an additional flavor boost as per the recipe if you prefer. This recipe makes a ton, making it perfect for a family, guests or tons of leftovers. This will be my lunch and dinner for days but that’s ok. I’m used to eating a lot of pasta.

The ingredients:

Cook penne according to package directions, approximately 11 minutes. Add zucchini and peas during last 3 minutes and stir in spinach. Drain and place back into the pot.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally; add vodka and cook 1 minute.