Spicy Bok Choy and Broccoli Stir-Fry

More bok choy. It's really good with a spicy kick. I really liked the green onion taste in this dish. Makes a nice rice bowl.



Serves 2
30 minutes
- wok or large saucepan with deep sides
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 large head broccoli
1 large red bell pepper
5 cloves garlic
1 to 1.5 inch piece fresh ginger
3 green onions, white and green parts separated
4 heads baby bok choy
1 + 1 Tbsp high heat oil -- I use peanut oil
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (or adjust amount to suit your spiciness level)

about 2 cups cooked rice
[pan-fried firm tofu-- optional]

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash and cut the broccoli into large bite-sized pieces; leave some of the stem intact. Wash and slice the red bell pepper into long, thin strips. Peel and cut the ends off of the garlic (smash the cloves with a meat mallet for easy de-peeling/cutting). Cut the paper-y skin off of the fresh ginger root. Finely dice both the garlic and ginger. Separate the white and green parts of the green onion. Finely slice the white parts of the green onion, then dice. Collect the minced garlic, ginger and white green onion parts into a large pile. Leave the green leaves of the green onion as long 3 inch pieces. Wash and cut the tough ends off of the bok choy leaves; slice leaves into 1 inch long pieces. Likewise, separate the light green bok choy stalks from the dark green leaves.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. peanut oil over medium-high heat in the wok. Add in half of the garlic, ginger and diced white green onion pieces. Let the oil and spices saute for a minute.
3. When the oil is aromatic, add in the broccoli pieces. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add in the red bell pepper pieces. Stir-fry for another 2 minutes.
4. Add in the remaining 1 Tbsp. peanut oil, minced garlic, ginger and white green onion. Also throw in the light green parts of the bok choy. Shake in some cayenne pepper; this stuff is hot, so be sure to taste the dish and adjust amount to desired spiciness. Stir-fry for another 3 minutes. Make sure to stir often, or else things will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
5. Throw in the green leafy parts of the bok choy. Mix well. Stir-fry for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the green parts are wilted and the broccoli and light green bok choy stalks are crisp-tender.
6. At the very end, add in the long green green onion pieces. Stir to heat through. Serve alone, or tossed with spiced tofu or over cooked white rice (this will help reduce the dish's spiciness).

Sticky Rice with Bok Choy

A simple, refreshing dish to make on a busy day. Good as a light side dish, or as a veggie main dish for one. Really easy to make.



Serves 1-2
35 minutes
- large saucepan or pot
Quick & Simple

INGREDIENTS
5 cloves fresh garlic
1 inch piece fresh ginger
1 large carrot
1 large white onion
2 to 3 heads baby bok choy
3/4 c. dry rice-- use sushi rice or jasmine rice
[dash of GF soy sauce; optional, I liked the taste of the veggies and ginger]

DIRECTIONS
1. Peel ginger and finely dice. Remove flakey, outer skin from the ginger to reveal the yellow root. Finely dice the ginger. Peel the carrot and cut into oblique pieces (as if you were cutting circular pieces, but do it at an angle). Slice each carrot oval into thirds to create matchsticks. Peel and chop the onion. Separate the individual leaves from the bok choy 'stalk'. Keep both the green and white parts intact, but you can cut off the tough white part at the very bottom. Wash the leaves well.
2. Place rice into a large saucepan or pot cover with about 1/2 inch of water. Bring rice to a rolling boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and simmer for around 5 minutes.
3. Add in the diced garlic and giner. Stir well and simmer another 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add in the carrot matchsticks. Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes, adding more water in if necessary (like if the rice starts sticking to the bottom of the pan).
5. Add the whole bok choy leaves and the chopped onion to the pot. Cook until green part of bok choy leaves are wilted and white parts are crips-tender (shouldn't take longer than 5 minutes). Rice should be a little overcooked-- but nice and sticky. Add some salt, or a dash of soy sauce, if you so wish.

Thai Fried Rice

I feel cheeky for posting another fried rice recipe, since I already have one here. I've been trying to capture more of an Asian taste with my fried rice and I think I've found the missing ingredient: fish sauce. A few drops of Thai Kitchen's Fish Sauce (GF) and a squeeze of fresh lime juice really makes this fried rice tasty. I'll also describe a better way to soften the white rice so you can cook it all on the same day. Plus, this is cooked over HIGH heat, so the veggies and rice are 'crispier'.
So.. new and improved Fried Rice:




Serves 2
20 + 15 minutes
-large pot (without lid) for rice
-large saucepan or wok-- needs to be non-stick/well seasoned for HIGH heat
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
Rice:
3/4 c. uncooked white long grain rice
water

1 + 2 tbsp. peanut oil (-or- sesame oil).. HIGH heat oil

8 baby carrots, pre-peeled (-or 2- 'regular' carrots)
1/2 of a medium zucchini
1/2 of a medium yellow zucchini
1 medium white onion
1 cup sugar snap peas (-or- snow peas)
1 egg
1 tbsp. garlic powder
juice of one small lime
1 tsp. Thai Kitchen Fish sauce
2 tsp. soy sauce*
*LaChoy soy sauce is GF; I used Eden Organic Tamari Soy Sauce

DIRECTIONS
Rice:
1. Pour uncooked rice into a large pot. Add enough water into the pot such that it rises about 1/2 inch above the rice. Begin cooking rice over high heat. Once it comes to a rolling boil, turn heat down to medium-low, but continue to simmer-- lid off (we want this rice to be dry and undercooked). Sir occasionally, watching the water level.
2. When water completely boils off (should take around 10 to 15 minutes, once you turn the heat down), quickly remove pot from heat and stir well. Rice should be slightly tender, but not at all mushy. Add in 1 tbsp. of peanut oil.. this keeps the grains from clumping (important!). Mix well and place rice aside to cool.
Rest:
3. Wash carrots (peel if need be) and carefully cut into 2 inch long matchsticks. Place carrots aside. Cut zucchini and yellow zucchini into 1/2 inch slices; half each slice. Coarsely chop up white onion. Bunch zucchini and onion together besides range (but not with the carrots). Wash snap peas and remove ends of the pods. Place peas alone beside the range.
-Also make sure the lime, fish sauce and soy sauce are right next to the range.-
4. Heat 2 tbsp. oil up into large saucepan or wok over HIGH heat-- must make sure veggies are cut and dried, or else things will burn!! Wait a minute for the oil to heat up (almost to the point of smoking), then throw in the carrot-- be careful, oil might splatter/spit. Stir carrot around in wok for a 1 minute.
5. Add in both zucchini and yellow zucchini. Keep stirring veggies around constantly for another minute. Add in the onion. Cook for an additional 1 minute, then add in the snap peas. Stir the entire combination for an additional 2-3 minutes... carefully taste a snap pea and zucchini to make sure they are crisp-tender.
6. Push veggies aside, making room, and break egg over the wok. Quickly scramble the egg and cook for a 1 minute. Stir cooked egg around till well mixed with the veggies.
7. Turn heat down to medium-high. Season all generously with garlic powder. Add in the oiled rice-- keep stirring! Squeeze lime over rice and veggies. Dash with fish sauce and sprinkle with soy sauce. Stir-fry rice until it's tan and tender (no more than 2-3 minutes). Remove from heat; serve warm.

Mandarin Orange Chicken

Slightly sweet, but good. The lemon and Cayenne pepper flakes add a mild tang to this dish. Mild and delicate fruit flavor tinged with lemon.




Serves 2
30 minutes
-large saucepan
-small pot for rice
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 cup cooked white long-grain rice

1 tsp. diced ginger

3 garlic cloves

1 to 2 chicken breasts

¼ c. sorghum flour
1 tbsp. sesame -or- peanut oil
¾ c. mandarin orange light syrup (buy a ~12 oz. can of mandarin oranges and reserve liquid)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. honey
Juice of 1 medium lemon
Dash of red pepper flakes
1 medium head of broccoli
1 medium white onion
½ c. mandarin oranges

DIRECTIONS
-Start cooking white rice as indicated on the package in a small pot.-
1. Wash, peel and finely dice up the fresh ginger and garlic. Place small pieces into the large saucepan.
2. Rinse off chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place into saucepan with garlic and ginger. Shake sorghum (or other GF flour) over cut chicken chunks. Toss pieces in pan until the moist meat is fully coated with flour. Drizzle preferred Asian oil over the battered chicken. Gently mix.
3. Cook chicken and garlic-ginger over medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes, or until chicken coating starts to toast and garlic-ginger sizzles in the oil.
4. Turn the heat down to medium. Open up can of mandarin oranges.. a 12 oz can will do... and collect about 3/4 c. mandarin orange juice. Pour juice into saucepan with chicken. Add soy sauce, honey and the juice of 1 fresh lemon. Shake red pepper flakes over the chicken. Mix well. 5. Cut up broccoli into bit-sized chunks. Coarsely chop up white onion. Add both veggies to the simmering saucepan.
6. Cook chicken, sauce and veggies for 10 minutes, uncovered. When the sauce thickens, taste to see if you want more pepper, then remove from the heat.
7. Once the sauce is no longer boiling, gently stir in the mandarin oranges; be careful not to break up the fruit too badly. Serve warm over freshly steamed white rice.

Mongolian Beef

I had a request to attempt something Asian, and this is the result. Tangy, sweet and spicy... wonderful over long grain white rice. I used fresh ginger and real sesame oil to really make this taste authentic. Serve this with Vegetable Fried Rice.




Serves 2
50 minutes
-large wok
-large saucepan with deep sides
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Sauce:
2 tbsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. fresh minced ginger (actually easy to get a small ginger root)
3-5 large garlic cloves
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. Swanson beef broth (about 1/2 of a can-- freeze the rest in a plastic container for another day)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Meat and Veggies:
1 medium red pepper
1/2 cup fresh snow peas
5 green onions
1 lb. steak, your choice of cut
cornstarch, to cover meat ~1/8 c.
2 tbsp. sesame oil

3/4 c. uncooked white long grain rice

DIRECTIONS
Sauce:
1. Pour sesame oil into saucepan. Peel both the ginger and the garlic; remove ginger's outer 'paper-ish' covering with your knife. Mince the ginger and garlic and place pieces into the sesame oil.
2. Heat sesame oil over medium heat, letting the garlic and ginger flavors infuse into the oil. Remove the saucepan from heat just when the garlic starts turning tan-- about 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Carefully pour in the soy sauce, it may spit a little. Stir in the brown sugar until it dissolves. Add in the beef broth; hold on to the remaining broth, since you may need to add more liquid later.
4. Place the saucepan back over the medium heat. Add in a dash of red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy). Continue cooking the sauce, while it boils, for another 10 minutes. At this time it won't be very thick. Set sauce aside while you focus on the meat/veggies.
--At this time, you might want to start cooking up the white rice--
Meat and Veggies:
5. Coarsely cut up the red bell pepper, into slices, then 1.5 inch pieces. Remove ends from the snow peas and set aside with the red bell pepper. Chop up the green onions, using both the green stems and the white bulb. Leave the green onion pieces large, too. Set all veggies aside.
6. Wash meat off and cut into 1 to 2 inch slices (bite-sized pieces). Place dry pieces of meat into the large wok (NOT the sauce, yet). Sprinkle meat with cornstarch and toss/stir to coat. Pour 2 tbsp. of oil over the coated beef. Mix again.
7. Cook beef over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, until browned. Add in the red bell pepper pieces and the snow peas (NO green onions, yet). Stir-fry the beef and veggies for another 5 minutes (10 minutes total for the beef), adding more oil if needed.
Combine:
8. Remove the beef and veggies and place into the large saucepan, with the sauce. Stir well. Heat up the entire dish (saucepan) over high heat. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring well, while the sauce boils and thickens. Add in the green onions at the last minute, heating through.
9. Spoon hot beef + sauce over cooked white rice. Serve hot, with another Asian side-dish.

Teriyaki Green Beans

Crispy green beans and carrots cooked in a fragrant, spicy Teriyaki sauce. Could be served over white rice for a main dish or eaten without rice as a side dish. Make this vegetarian by replacing the ham with some diced red bell pepper.



Serves 2 or 3
45 minutes
-large saucepan or wok
-peeler
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
3-4 cold cut ham slices* (or 4 strips of thick-cut bacon); I used lunch meat cause I am in college
1 tbsp. peanut oil
1 medium yellow or white onion
2 large carrots, peeled, then diced fine or coarsely grated
1-2 c. fresh green beans, washed with ends removed
1 tsp. garlic powder*
pepper to taste
Teriyaki Sauce:**
3/4 c. to 1 c. water
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce*
1 tbsp. brown sugar
drop of honey
splash of soy sauce*
dash of dried ginger* (powdered)
*Oscar Mayer ham lunch meat is GF, McCormick spices are GF, Lea and Perrins Worcsh. sauce is GF, LaChoy soy sauce is GF

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Cut ham lunch meat into 1/2 inch squares and place in large saucepan or wok. Add 1 tbsp of peanut oil to meat. (If using bacon, you don't need to add oil!) Let sit.
2. Coarsely chop up onion and finely dice carrots into pieces.
3. Wash and remove ends from beans. Don't break in half, leave them long.
4. Finally, heat oil up in wok over medium heat and saute ham till it's slightly crispy (about 4-5 minutes). Add in chopped onions and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle ham and onions with garlic powder. (For bacon, cook till crispy, crumble up into bits, and remove excess oil.)
5. Dump carrots and green beans into wok. Stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes.
6. Time for the sauce: pour water into wok till it half-way covers veggies (around 1 c.). Move veggies to one side, clearing a small pool of water.
7. Add Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Season further with a touch of honey, soy sauce and dried ginger (to suit your tastes). I didn't use too much ginger.
8. Move veggies around in sauce till they are half-submerged and turn heat up to high.
9. Cook, sauce boiling, for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, uncovered. Add a touch more water if necessary, especially if you want more sauce in the final product.
10. The dish is done when the green beans are no longer tough, but not soggy, either.
11. Serve over fluffy white rice.
** This sauce would probably work well as an overnight marinade; add some fresh, crushed garlic instead of powder.

Fried Rice

Fried rice is truly versatile.. use any meat and your favorite vegetables.
The secret to restaurant-style fried rice is keeping 'old' white rice and using an asian oil, such as sesame seed or peanut. Like for any stir-fry, cut up all vegetables before the wok is even hot.
*EDIT*: I improved my fried rice recipe and posted it. Use Thai Fried Rice if you have Fish sauce, high-heat oil, and a well-seasoned (non-stick) wok.



Serves 2
45 minutes
-large saucepan or wok
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1.5 c. pre-cooked (around 3/4 c. uncooked), chilled long-grain white rice (I used basmati)
Meat of choice (around 1/2 lb.): steak, chicken breast, pork chop, shrimp, tofu...
3 tbsp. peanut or sesame oil

Mirage of veggies (choose 3 to 6 of them), in order of cooking time:
water chestnuts? (never actually used these)
3 carrots, julienned
1 zucchini or yellow zucchini, sliced then chopped into quarters
1 head of broccoli
1/2 c. sno peas, ends removed
1 medium white onion, coarsely chopped, or several green onions
1/2 c. bean sprouts
1/4 c. frozen peas (NOT canned, I made that mistake before)
1/4 c. shredded cabbage or lettuce

1 tsp. garlic powder*
ground black pepper
1 large egg
1 tbsp. soy sauce*
*laChoy soy sauce is GF; all McCormick spices are GF

DIRECTIONS
Night before:
1. Cook up 1/2 c. uncooked white rice according to directions on package, EXCEPT add a little less water than originally needed. Also cut the cooking time short by around 5 minutes. This keeps the rice undercooked and not mushy. Stir cooked rice, then place in refrigerator to chill overnight.
Day of:
1. Wash and cut up all veggies into bite-sizes pieces, but not too small. Set aside near range.
2. Place meat into wok, add 1 tbsp oil and spread around sides. Cook meat fully over medium heat; shouldn't take longer than 8 minutes. Cut up into bite-sized pieces.
3. Place longest cooking vegetables into wok (chestnuts, carrots, zucchini) and stir-fry over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add in next couple of veggies (broccoli, sno peas, onion), along with 1 tbsp. more oil. Stir fry another 2-3 minutes.
5. Add in remaining veggies (sprouts, frozen peas, cabbage) and stir-fry another 2-3 minutes. Season veggies with garlic powder and ground pepper.
6. Pull 'old' rice out of fridge and pour remaining 1 tbsp. oil into rice. Stir till well coated.
7. Pour oiled rice into hot veggie/meat filled wok. Stir well.
8. Stir-fry entire mixture for 1-2 more minutes, stirring constantly.
9. Push the rice mixture over to the side to make room for the egg. Break egg, and place onto cleared section of wok. Scramble egg by stirring in wok, until cooked.. it won't take longer than 1 minute.
10. Stir scrambled egg in with rest of rice and add soy sauce to mixture. Stir well and remove from heat. Serve hot. Good as a side dish to chicken or as a main dish.