fried rice, Friday night

Best thing to do with leftover rice:

Garlic, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, red bell pepper, green onion, shelled edamame, baby corn, water chestnuts, egg, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil all ended up in the wok tonight, along with plenty of short-grain brown rice.

Fried rice on a Friday night is a delicious way to start the weekend, if you ask me! :)

disasters in gluten-free baking (plus a dinner and shoes!)

We have treats during our break at church choir rehearsal every week -- usually some kind of baked good (muffin, cookie, etc.,) plus fruit or veggies. The whole "treats" thing started when folks found out that a lot of people were coming to rehearsal straight from work and not eating dinner, so people started taking turns providing a substantial snack during our 8:30 break.

It was my turn to bring treats this week, so I decided to try my hand at some gluten-free baking. (One of the folks in the choir is gluten-intolerant.) Originally, I had planned on making two different kinds of mini-muffins -- a gluten-free banana, and the vegan spiced chocolate muffins I made a couple of weeks ago. THEN, I forgot to borrow Courtney's mini-muffin pan! Egads. So, I decided to just make loaves of quick bread.

Tuesday night rolled around, and I was in a time crunch -- tired, ready to sit down and eat dinner and watch a movie with Dan, I decided to just make a larger batch of gluten-free banana bread. I threw the breads together, stuck them in the oven, and sat down to dinner. Later, I smelled something . . . opened my oven and found that the breads had overflowed all over the oven floor! Crud. (The lady I talked to at the co-op said I could use the gluten-free mix she recommended in place of flour in a regular recipe . . . then I read the back of the package and learned that the mix recommended that I do that, but cut down the fat and leavening. Sheesh!)

At that point, I was ready to give up and go to the store the next day and just BUY something for choir treats. However, later Tuesday night, I decided to try one more time, and make a nice, safe, simple treat -- chocolate chip cookie bars.

Full of wheat (and not vegan -- I used an egg, although they were dairy-free,) I threw in the towel in regards to gluten-free baking . . . at least this time. I have a half-package of mix to use up yet -- we'll see what I end up doing with it.

(The bars were a hit, by the way -- only about six made it home at the end of the night!)

Ok. Enough ranting.

Dinner Tuesday night: Chinese Hot Pot!

I have to admit, I was a little worried about this recipe at first, because, honestly, it smelled a little funny. However, it was delicious, and very easy! I highly recommend this simple crock pot soup -- you start the broth in the morning, add the tofu, mushrooms, snow peas, and green onions when you get home, make some rice, and dinner is ready! Nice and spicy without being over the top, this soup is flavorful, healthy, and fantastic!

AND . . . new shoes!

So, I learned a couple of weeks ago that it's not recommended we wear sandals in Haiti -- the streets are pretty dirty, and I guess it's quite easy to pick up some kind of bug just walking around. I have plenty of closed-toe shoes, but most of them are suited to fall/winter/spring in Minnesota -- not a hot, humid, tropical climate. I do have a pair of Vans, which I will bring along, but I wanted a second pair of shoes in case we get caught in a rainstorm and/or I step in something totally gross and need to rotate out a pair of shoes. Here come the Sanuks! I had never heard of these shoes before, but found them on shoes.com when I searched "vegetarian." They are a flip-flop bottom with a light, canvas upper, cute as heck, (the color of my shoes was called "scribble,") and surprisingly comfortable. I hope they will be just the thing for my trip!

Until later . . . gotta go to work!

retro Chinese restaurant food!

Holy yum. The story behind tonight's dinner is hilarious, with a fantastic ending!

Back on New Year's Day, my friend Chelsea invited Dan and I over to her apartment to visit one last time, before she and her family moved down to Arkansas for her husband's job. As we were leaving, she welcomed us to anything out of her fridge or freezer that we were interested in. One of the items we snagged was a box of frozen cream cheese wontons . . . not healthy, certainly, but mighty tasty!

Several weeks ago, I went to prepare the wontons, and horror of horrors, realized I had no sweet-and-sour sauce in the house! I figured I had the ingredients on hand to make some, it was just a matter of finding a recipe. I scoured every single cookbook I had on my shelves, with little luck . . . until I found a recipe in my Betty Crocker Cookbook! The recipe suggested stirring in bell pepper, pineapple, and tomato, and serving over chicken or pork (double ew?) I made half a sauce recipe without the added fruits and veggies, and it hit the spot with the wontons.

THEN, I had sweet-and-sour tofu on the brain. For weeks. Until I finally picked up the ingredients at the Wedgie and got cooking. Results:

Sweet-and-Sour Tofu and steamed broccoli!!

Wowza. This has been the easiest, most satisfying meal I have made in a LONG time. (I think the entire meal was ready in 40 minutes, and that's only because brown rice takes a while.) Seriously, I could lick my plate clean . . . but I won't, I promise. This reminds me so much of the sweet-and-sour chicken I'd get at Chinese restaurants as a kid . . . retro fabulous!

RECIPE: (Adapted from Betty Crocker)
Makes 4 servings
1. Prepare 1 cup brown rice according to package directions. (This should yield about 3 cups cooked rice, or enough for four 3/4-cup portions.)
2. Brown one package of water-packed firm or extra-firm tofu, diced, in a small amount of oil in a large skillet.
3. Drain 1 8-ounce can diced pineapple (drink the juice, because you don't need it for this recipe!) Core and slice one small tomato. Seed and chunk one small green pepper.
4. Combine 1/2 cup water, 1/3 cup white vinegar, 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari, 1/4 teaspoon salt, chili flakes to taste, and 1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed up, in a large glass measuring cup. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar.
5. Combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl, and reserve.
6. Once the tofu is reasonably browned, stir in the vinegar-sugar mixture. Stir the sauce, until the sugar dissolves and the sauce begins to boil.
7. Add the cornstarch slurry to the pan, and stir until the sauce returns to a boil, thickens, and clears.
8. Stir in the pineapple, pepper, and tomato, and allow to heat through for one minute.
9. Serve over rice! Accompany with steamed broccoli!

Now -- go make some. Enjoy!

ARE YOU READY TO . . .

. . . STIR-FRY?!?!?

(I am, can't you tell? I think the frilly apron and military-style baseball hat make a lovely cooking ensemble, don't you? I don't usually cook in a baseball hat, except when I'm stir-frying . . . keeps all that floating grease off my glasses, ya know.)

I forgot to take a picture of my "mise en place," which I don't usually do, except when stir-frying, again. Why? Because stir-frys happen so fast, you just have to be ready. :) I don't tend to use an individual bowl for each ingredient, however -- I just mound everything that goes in at the same time in bowls. (Sort of, "step 1," "step 2," etc. bowls.) Anyhow, finished product:

Again, from Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian." This one's called "Bean Curd with Tomatoes and Cilantro." Very good -- salty, slightly sweet, slightly spicy . . . yum. Technically hailing from China, this is not what I'd typically associate with Chinese food -- not really a stir-fry at all. A little closer to a very thick stew, with all the liquid from the spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Just goes to show what I know about Chinese food, eh?

It appears as though Oliver is completely disinterested in all the stir-frying action.


Coming up this weekend . . . visits to TWO local vegetarian restaurants! (Let's hope I remember the camera!)