Yayy to my first blog post! After attempting to start my own blog for years, glad I'm finally making it! Working on the new year's resolution, 2 days before new year - kudos to myself :D
6 months ago I hadn't imagined myself cooking 'full-time'. Let alone stirring up good food regularly ;) But then 'the boy' entered my life and I made an exit from the comfort of mom's yummy home cooked food. I have always been a fan of making desserts, but main course - naah - its too much work and it gets shadowed under glossy desserts. That was my philosophy then.
Cut to the present. I now cook regularly, trying to keep it --> 1. Simple 2. The least time consuming 3. Healthy wherever possible.
And so, I decided to make my first blog post a dual purpose recipe. A vegetable stir fry that you can eat as it is or incorporate with rice to make a stir-fried rice recipe.
Note: wherever possible I will try to include *shortcuts* such as the ready frozen veggie pack..just an example - especially for folks who are pressed for time but want to switch to home cooked meals , bachelors tired of eating cafeteria meals etc. These tips would include doing a bit of prep work on weekends, using ketchup instead of tomato puree (yup Ive done that a couple of times :D) and so on.
An example of shortcuts you could use --->
Stir frying vegetables is very simple. Trust me. And it tastes great.
For this recipe I have used broccoli florets, onions, red bell peppers, yellow sweet peppers and mushrooms (These are all found in 1 section in Safeway or the local store, yes! 'the boy' is surprised to know this :P) Stir fried in lite olive oil (I prefer it lite for its lesser aroma), along with garlic, chopped basil and salt n pepper to taste. I am not a big fan of it, but you could try throwing in some thickly sliced zucchini which goes nicely with this combination of vegetables.
You can prep all these vegetables wash, pat dry, chop/dice a couple of days earlier, say on the prior weekend and freeze them in an air tight bag.
Incorporating this stir fry in rice is fairly easy. To prep the rice however is a bit time consuming if you go the traditional way. When making rice fresh for a stir fried rice recipe/pulav/pilaf/biryani, the trick is to cook the rice half way at first (If you use a pressure cooker, take it off heat after half the number of whistles you otherwise cook it for). Prep a tray/plates with very little oil the way you would coat a baking dish. Spread out the rice on the plates such that you do not form clumps of rice, use a fork to do so. Allow this to cool till the rice starts appearing dry ~half an hour under the fan :-/ (you can do this before you start with the vegetables). This rice when now incorporated will not form a sticky lump. Wet your hands when removing the rice or use a rubber spatula.
Shortcut! Cook rice the same way as above the night before. Take it off the pressure cooker, once cool cover it and store in the refrigerator. The next day, before adding rice, break it in bigger chunks first and then loosen up the rice grains with wet hands. Easy Breezy!!
I always pressure cook the rice with salt, when making such a recipe - Adding salt later makes it difficult to combine it evenly, and mashes the rice in process.
6 months ago I hadn't imagined myself cooking 'full-time'. Let alone stirring up good food regularly ;) But then 'the boy' entered my life and I made an exit from the comfort of mom's yummy home cooked food. I have always been a fan of making desserts, but main course - naah - its too much work and it gets shadowed under glossy desserts. That was my philosophy then.
Cut to the present. I now cook regularly, trying to keep it --> 1. Simple 2. The least time consuming 3. Healthy wherever possible.
And so, I decided to make my first blog post a dual purpose recipe. A vegetable stir fry that you can eat as it is or incorporate with rice to make a stir-fried rice recipe.
Note: wherever possible I will try to include *shortcuts* such as the ready frozen veggie pack..just an example - especially for folks who are pressed for time but want to switch to home cooked meals , bachelors tired of eating cafeteria meals etc. These tips would include doing a bit of prep work on weekends, using ketchup instead of tomato puree (yup Ive done that a couple of times :D) and so on.
An example of shortcuts you could use --->
Stir frying vegetables is very simple. Trust me. And it tastes great.
For this recipe I have used broccoli florets, onions, red bell peppers, yellow sweet peppers and mushrooms (These are all found in 1 section in Safeway or the local store, yes! 'the boy' is surprised to know this :P) Stir fried in lite olive oil (I prefer it lite for its lesser aroma), along with garlic, chopped basil and salt n pepper to taste. I am not a big fan of it, but you could try throwing in some thickly sliced zucchini which goes nicely with this combination of vegetables.
You can prep all these vegetables wash, pat dry, chop/dice a couple of days earlier, say on the prior weekend and freeze them in an air tight bag.
Incorporating this stir fry in rice is fairly easy. To prep the rice however is a bit time consuming if you go the traditional way. When making rice fresh for a stir fried rice recipe/pulav/pilaf/biryani, the trick is to cook the rice half way at first (If you use a pressure cooker, take it off heat after half the number of whistles you otherwise cook it for). Prep a tray/plates with very little oil the way you would coat a baking dish. Spread out the rice on the plates such that you do not form clumps of rice, use a fork to do so. Allow this to cool till the rice starts appearing dry ~half an hour under the fan :-/ (you can do this before you start with the vegetables). This rice when now incorporated will not form a sticky lump. Wet your hands when removing the rice or use a rubber spatula.
Shortcut! Cook rice the same way as above the night before. Take it off the pressure cooker, once cool cover it and store in the refrigerator. The next day, before adding rice, break it in bigger chunks first and then loosen up the rice grains with wet hands. Easy Breezy!!
I always pressure cook the rice with salt, when making such a recipe - Adding salt later makes it difficult to combine it evenly, and mashes the rice in process.
Once you have combined the rice and vegetables, you can drizzle a bit of olive oil or melted butter and cover. Let the combo cook on low heat for around 10 minutes. This not only allows the rice to cook completely, but also allows it time to absorb the juices from the vegetable stir fry. Once done, check for flavor and add salt/pepper as needed. Only make sure you do not mash the rice in the process of mixing.
Voila! there you have it!
(Pardon my camera phone photography)
I hope you enjoyed this post and hope it inspired you to try this out yourself. Please let me know whether you liked it or didn't. I will really appreciate your feedback and suggestions!
And a very happy new year to all!
Prep - 1/2 hour Cooking - 1/2 hour
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil + extra
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup each of broccoli florets, mushrooms halved, red bell peppers chopped length wise, sweet yellow peppers, onions
1/4 cup chopped basil
salt, pepper to taste
1 cup rice
2 1/2 cup water
Method
Heat oil in a large skillet or pan at medium high heat. Stir in onions and garlic for a minute. Reduce heat and add the other vegetables. Cook for around 5 minutes until vegetables are just tender. Stir often. Reduce heat and add the chopped basil, salt and pepper. Another minute. The vegetables should be just cooked through. Serve with chopped parsley or set aside if you wish to make stir fried rice.
Prepare the rice as described above and incorporate with the prepared vegetables. Add a dash of oil/melted butter, cover and cook for 7 to 10 minutes. Add more time if the rice seems uncooked.
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