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About, Vegetarian

“Steak” Fried Rice

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Just after Christmas I cleaned out my refrigerator freezer; lots of odds and sods in there! Multiple bread bags containing heels of bread waiting to be made into breadcrumbs, a couple containers of leftover rice, a few little containers of leftover mashed potatoes, container of chopped green pepper…What to do with all this stuff? Well, I crumbed the heels of bread and condensed to one container; I will remember to use the mashed ‘taters the next time I make a soup or stew. Same goes for chopped peppers…spaghetti sauce, stew or Hot Pepper Pot Soup. Ah, the rice…??

I just so happened to have had some “beef” strips in the crisper so I used them to make this Steak Fried Rice that came through my Canadian Living Facebook feed. Please do make the real beef version that I have linked for you but I recommend that you also try the meatless version!

I did have to make a few substitutions to make it Vegetarian…used faux beef, obviously; I was out of mushrooms so left them out but will definitely use the next time I make this; not so obvious: I left out the oyster sauce with no subs in. I cannot eat that stuff unless I want to have a major allergic reaction…food intolerance…reaction? ! Is there such a thing?  My children are forever saying that they are going to MAKE me eat meat and I won’t even know the difference…my body WILL know and I will react simply because my system no longer knows what meat is! I have been without for 30+ years and I don’t think there is any going back after this long. The thought never crosses my mind…espeically now that I cook meat for my husband…reinforces all the reasons I DON’T eat meat! Thanks for making it so much easier for me to stick to my convictions, dear 😉

steak fried rice
“Steak” Fried Rice

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 Onion, diced
3 Green Onions, chopped, separated- greens and whites
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh Ginger, minced
4 Mushrooms, sliced
1 Carrot, peeled, julienned
1 rib Celery, finely diced
1/2 Sweet Red Pepper, diced
5 cups cooked Rice
1 pkg Beefless 
1/2 cup frozen Peas
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil

In large, deep skillet (28cm) heat oil over high heat.
Stir fry onion, whites of green onion, garlic and ginger for about a minute.
Add mushrooms, carrot, celery, red pepper; stir-fry until the veggies are tender-crisp, about 4 minutes.
Stir in rice, “beef”, peas, soy sauce; stir-fry for about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Stir in green bits of green onion and sesame oil.
Serve with a sprinkle of Sesame Seeds.

Serves 4 – 6

Vegetarian

Slow Cooker Garden Vegetable Spaghetti Sauce

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When living in Australia we had a garden that produced an abundance of fresh produce! Garden Vegetable Spaghetti Sauce was a perfect way to use up some of the bounty of the garden.

Gather up all the ingredients
Gather up all the ingredients
Slice, dice, chop, grate...
Slice, dice, chop, grate…

Ingredients:

1 Onion, diced
4 cloves of Garlic, crushed
4 stalks Celery, some leaves included, sliced
1 large Carrot, grated
1 Zuchinni, grated
1 Green Pepper, diced
1 Red Pepper, diced,
6 – 8 Mushrooms, sliced or chopped
1 (800g) can Diced Tomatoes
1 (410g) can Tomato Sauce
1 (800g) can of water
* If you happen to have heaps of Tomatoes ripe in  your garden, you can use a kilo of fresh, peeled, chopped tomatoes instead of canned ones
2 – 4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 Tablespoon each dried: Basil, Oregano, Parsley
1/2 teaspoon Chili Flakes
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine all your ingredients in the Slow Cooker
Combine all your ingredients in the Slow Cooker
Cover and cook on High
Cover and cook on High
If needed, add tomato paste to thicken. You may add more spices, to taste. Stir in any additions and heat through (15 minutes, while you boil your pasta)
Top with Fresh Basil, a side of Garlic Toast
Top with Fresh Basil, a side of Garlic Toast

 

 

 

Indian Cuisine

Bombay Rice

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I used to make this quite often when I lived in Australia. Not sure where the recipe came from? If memory serves me correctly, it was a recipe card from Woolworth’s Grocery store. Very yummy rice dish!
Bombay Rice
Bombay Rice
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
1 Zuchinni, chopped
1 Carrot, chopped
1 Red Pepper, chopped
1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
1 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 cup Chopped Dried Apricots
1/4 cup Raisins
1 can (540ml) Chick Peas, drained and well rinsed
1 1/2 cups Long Grain Rice, uncooked
3 cups Vegetable Broth
Directions:
 
Heat oil in large saucepan.
Add onion and saute for 3 mins, stirring often.
Add zuchinni, carrot, red pepper, curry powder and cumin; stir.
Add uncooked rice, stir to coat.
Add vegetable broth, chick peas, dried apricots and raisins, stir, bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 25 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Bombay Rice, Falafel, Sauteed Spinach
Bombay Rice, Falafel, Sauteed Spinach
I served these with Falafel, Sauteed Spinach, Tomato Chutney and Tomato Raita.
Cookies

Peanut Butter and Banana Cookies

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I recently cleaned out my fridge freezer; waaaay too many gooopy bananas in there! I usually make Banana Bread but well, I had enough for Banana Bread AND something else. My Cookie Jar has been empty since the Christmas Bake Off so I thought this might be a good time to fill it up again. Google to the rescue…again.
I found this recipe for Peanut Butter and Banana Cookies over at AllRecipes, clicked on it, was NOT phased by all the ingredients listed by metric weights, owing to the fact that I have a lovely lil digital kitchen scale that I ALWAYS use to measure butter and shortening and anything I don’t like scraping out of a measuring cup!
Did I mention that I had oodles of gooey banana muck in the freezer? Enough to double this recipe and still have a bit leftover for a lunchtime smoothie; I really must remember to use up my frozen bananas more often! This particular recipe might just be the answer! The cookies are crunchy and yummy like a peanut butter cookie while also being chewy like a perfectly baked chocolate chip cookie….oh yea, I added extra Chocolate Chips and a handful of Butterscotch Chips to the recipe…Yum!

Peanut Butter and Banana with Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter and Banana with Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Cookies

250 g (1 cup) mashed Banana
260 g (1 cup) Peanut Butter
140 g (1/2cup)Brown Sugar
200 g (1 cup)Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
330 g (1 1/4 cup) Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
80 g (1/2 cup) Chocolate Chips
50 g (1/3 cup) Butterscotch Chips
* My conversions to standard cup measures are APPROXIMATE – for best results, please do use the metric measures on a kitchen scale.

Line 4 baking trays with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 375F. (190C)

In small mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
In standard mixing bowl, on low speed, mix together banana and peanut butter until well blended.
Add brown sugar, sugar and vanilla; beat for 2 minutes.
Stir in dry ingredients until no flour remains.
Fold in chocolate and butterscotch chips.
Using a #3 scoop, drop cookie dough onto prepared baking trays.
Bake in 375F oven for 12 – 15 minutes, rotating trays half way through baking time.
Allow cookies to cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 3 dozen large cookies

I used Weekend Bakery’s conversion chart to estimate the standard measurements.