Veggie Fried Rice

I had a bunch of rice leftover from earlier in the week so I decided to try my hand a fried rice since I had read that using leftover rice was better for the dish. I omitted the scrambled egg because I was not feeling it and used a fun bag of frozen veggies instead of fresh because I had zero energy (yay pregnancy on both accounts!). Once you get use to the idea that this fried rice is not going to compare to restaurant fried rice it's amazing. It definitely has a lighter, healthier taste which is probably due to the copious amounts of msg that are missing from it. I'll be keeping this recipe around for any leftover rice! It was the perfect snack for this cold spell we've been having....lies. It wasn't a snack. I straight up ate just fried rice for dinner two nights in a row.

Veggie Fried Rice

(Pinterest find!)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter, divided
2 eggs, whisked (I omitted the eggs because...pregnancy aversion)

Half a bag of frozen primavera blend veggies from Birds Eye (carrots, peas, asparagus, red pepper) or fresh veggie equivalent. 

1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups cooked and chilled rice
4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Directions:
1. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until melted. Add egg, and cook until scrambled, stirring occasionally. Remove egg, and transfer to a separate plate.
2. Add an additional 1 tablespoon butter to the pan and heat until melted. Add frozen veggies, onion, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper if you wish. Saute for about 5 minutes or until the onion are soft. 

3. Increase heat to high, add in the remaining 1.5 tablespoons of butter, and stir until melted. Immediately add the rice, soy sauce, and stir until combined. Continue stirring for an additional 

3-5 minutes to fry the rice. Then add in the eggs and stir to combine. Add the sesame oil, stir to combine, and remove from heat.

Turkey and Rice Soup

I think I'm getting the hang of this leftover refrigerator soup thing. Grandpa Norm would be proud. I actually wanted to try this fancy looking turkey and squash soup recipe but Mr. Lawyer wanted something more traditional. Enter the leftover turkey, leftover brown rice I had frozen, some random baby carrots, and an onion that I didn't use from last week. The only thing I had to run out and purchase was celery. The leftover celery was put to use on our hummus platter and a couple of sticks found the peanut butter. I managed to create a delicious (and basic) turkey and rice soup.

Turkey and Rice Soup

(from my kitchen!)

Ingredients:
2 cups leftover turkey, cut into small pieces
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced (or in my case, baby carrots)
4 cups chicken broth (low sodium!)
1 cup cooked rice (I used brown rice)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions:
1. Heat up olive oil in a large pot. Add celery, onion, and carrot. Saute for 5 minutes or until the veggies start to soften.
2. Add broth, rice, and turkey. Mix together and simmer until hot (and your house smells delicious!). Season to taste...my taste involved a good squirt of Sriracha sauce!

Chinese Leftovers

I'm back with a recipe! Well, sort of. It's more like reinvented leftovers. When you order chinese food do you always have leftover rice or sauce? We do. We don't have any real food in the apartment either but I did have some leftover chinese and frozen veggies. I sauteed up the peppers and onions, threw in the rice, and added the leftover dumpling sauce. It was a fine dish to start some holiday detoxing.

I think I should start a guess the fiesta color competition!

On the docket for tomorrow: turkey soup!

Comfort Food Monday

Man oh man. Nothing like some nice warm and spicy mexican food on a chilly day.

I used a sweet corn salsa (from the Fly Creek Cider Mill), cheddar cheese and black beans for the quesadilla. I popped them in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. They were served up with some spicy guacamole, cool sour cream, refried beans and brown rice. Plus some chips and salsa on the side. All washed down with some Ommegang Witte in the proper glass because that's how I roll. 

There was something very comforting about this meal.

Crock Pot Soup

It's been a soup week and I'm loving it! Wednesday I made a crock pot full of Savory Bean and Spinach Soup (the leftovers have been good too). It's a perfectly fine soup, it just tastes healthy (the site said it had 150 calories per serving!). As you can see from the ingredient list there is not any one ingredient to give it that pop of flavor so I added a good shot of Sriracha sauce to mine. I would also add another can of beans to it because there weren't enough in each spoonful for me. So it could be a keeper with a couple of additions.

Savory Bean and Spinach Soup

(Pinterest find! From fitnessmagazine.com)

Ingredients:
3 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
1 15-ounce can tomato puree
1 15-ounce can small white beans or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
8 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach or kale leaves
Finely shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions :
1. In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, combine vegetable broth, tomato puree, beans, rice, onion, basil, salt, pepper, and garlic.
2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting 5 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.
3. Just before serving, stir in spinach or kale and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.