Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Falling behind...



Well, it happened again.  I got busy, and stopped updating the blog.  I'm going to try to update it with more recipes though.  I'll probably start adding some tonight that I already posted on facebook.  This whole cooking without dairy, soy, or wheat has been an adventure (and one I'm ready to end), but it's taught me a lot about food.  And we're eating really healthily now, so maybe when I can eat "normal" food again, we will continue making a lot of our own meals instead of convenience foods.

I'll start with one of our new favorite meals: Fried Rice (This, as is everything else, is dairy, soy, and gluten free)
Attempt 1: Made with olive oil, carrots, onions, peas, and sprouted lentils

Attempt 2: Made with olive oil,
a carrot/corn/green bean frozen veggie mix,
onions, and sprouted lentils
1-2 onions, depending on size (I prefer sweet onion), diced
2-3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 bag of frozen peas
1 cup of uncooked brown rice (and appropriate water - follow packaging directions)
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Powdered ginger
Salt
Pepper
Butter Substitute (Earth Balance Soy Free)
A few Tbsp of Sesame oil or olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup of lentils or dehydrated sprouted lentils (and appropriate cooking water)
Attempt 3: Actually made with sesame oil - really good that way - and the same veggies as the first.

Start the water for the brown rice and the lentils.  Add the rice and lentils (to separate pots) once the water is boiling.  Saute the onions in olive oil or sesame oil, then then the finely chopped carrots. Season with ginger, salt and pepper, and let those cook while the brown rice is cooking. When the rice is almost done, add the frozen peas which have been "defrosting" on the counter, and the chopped garlic and let those cook. Push the veggies to the side of the skillet (or remove if it's a smaller skillet), add some more oil, and then the rice. 

Season the rice with more ginger, salt, and pepper, and a spoonful of the Earth Balance soy free butter substitute. Let the rice fry for a bit.  Then add the eggs and scramble them with the rice and veggies. Then add the lentils.  One last round of seasoning with ginger, salt, and pepper to taste and it's done!  


It's a bit time intensive, the rice and lentils alone take about an hour too cook, but, your veggies will be nicely cooked by the time you're ready to add the rice.  You can chop everything ahead of time if you want to save time. 


We do variations on this meal a lot, including different veggies that we have.  This is the bare bones because we almost always have these ingredients in our pantry/fridge/freezer, so we can make it whenever we want.  

Serves 2 hungry adults with maybe enough for one lunch as a main course.  Serves 4 as a side dish. 


Enjoy!