Sheet Pan Fried Rice

What if I told you that I had a recipe for a dinner that fits this description:  It’s super easy.  It’s cheap to make.  You can make vast quantities at once.  You can put in whatever veggies and proteins you like.  It can be vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian,  no red meat, only red meat, whatever you want.  It’s good at room temperature and it’ll reheat like a dream.  It can sit out without spoiling so it’s perfect for a potluck.  Would you not make it every week?  I just might.

I haven’t had a ton of luck with sheet pan dinners.  I always end up with some parts cooked well and others not so much.  Not so with this fried rice!  And this is the perfect dinner for nights when you come in a little late and need a 30 minutes meal with very little cleanup.

This is where you should make it easy on yourself.  I made two packages of minute rice yesterday and put the rice in the fridge overnight.  Make it even easier by picking up some steamed rice at a local Chinese restaurant.  Just do it the day before.  You want this rice to be cold and dry when you start.  And this is the time to buy pre-chopped vegetables too.  You want these vegetables to be chopped pretty small and you don’t want to spend all night doing it.  I found this “super 8” mix at Lidl for cheap.  Use garlic and ginger pastes if you have them.   I also bought the shrimp that are quick peel.  They’re de-veined, but not peeled.  Get the peeled ones if you want, just make sure they’re raw.  Then all you have left is to beat a couple of eggs, which is optional anyway.

Here’s what you need (ish):  to feed 3-4

• 2 C cooked rice, cooled and dry (leftover is best)
• 2 C finely chopped vegetables
• 1 T grated ginger
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/8 C canola oil
• 1/8 C soy sauce
• 1 1/2 T rice vinegar
• 1 T sesame oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined

Here’s what you do:

• Preheat the oven to 475.  (This is the most important step)
• Combine rice, vegetables, ginger, garlic, canola, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil in a large bowl.

• Mix until the rice is well coated
• Spread onto a sheet pan

• Bake 15 minutes
• Use a metal spatula to stir the rice and spread it out again
• Pour the eggs over the rice
• Place the shrimp on top

• Cook another 7-10 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp

• Use your spatula to break up the rice where the egg has stuck it together
• Top with soy sauce or sriracha or green onions, etc.

Sheet Pan Fried Rice

I’m not sure what my deal is with rice these days, but I’m eating a ton of it.  I had a carton of leftover rice from takeout the other night, and sheet pan fried race calls for exactly that.  Rice that’s leftover so it’s dry.  I had a bunch of stuff that’s been in the vegetable drawer just this side of too long.  And I almost always have eggs.  Dinner!

This is super easy.  You mix your rice and veggies with some sesame oil and soy sauce.  Pour it on a sheet pan and bake.  That can be the end if you want.  I decided to add some eggs to mine because all the other protein I have in the house is frozen.  One tip. Put a teaspoon or two of canola oil on your sheet pan and spread it around.  Put the  pan in the oven as it heats.  That way the oil and pan are hot when you add the rice and it starts to fry immediately.

If you’re going to use a protein like chicken or beef, partially cook it in the sheet pan before you add the rice.  Then it will finish cooking with everything else.  If you’re using shrimp, add it about halfway through the rice cooking so it doesn’t get rubbery.

Here’s what you need: for 2-3 main dish servings

• 2 t vegetable oil
• 1 pint leftover cooked rice
• chopped vegetables
  • mushrooms, peppers, onions
• 2 T sesame oil
• 3 T soy sauce
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 2 green onions, chopped

Here’s what you do:

• Spread the vegetable oil on a sheet pan
• Heat the pan in the oven to 375 degrees
• While the oven heats, mix the rice, vegetables, sesame oil and soy sauce in a bowl

• Spread the rice mixture on the sheet pan in a single layer

• Bake 10 minutes
• Create 3-4 wells in the rice, pour in the egg

• Bake 5 minutes
• Stir the partially cooked eggs into the rice and spread it back into a single layer

• Cook another 4-5 minutes
• Add green onions
• Season with more soy sauce as needed

This is a good meal.  Easy, cheap, good for using up leftover vegetables.  What would I do differently?  I’d heat the oven hotter to get a little more crisp on the rice.  I might also add some garlic and ginger to make the flavors a little more complex.  Maybe I’ll try that the next time.  And there will be a next time!

Oh, and hang on to the takeout rice container.  You can put your leftovers in it!

Stir-Fried Veggies and Rice with Seared Tuna

My mission tonight was to use up the ends of vegetables in the fridge and turn them into something that didn’t seem like odds and ends.  I had half an onion; some shiitakes; wilty green onions; the last of the broccoli slaw; half a bag of matchstick carrots; and some cooked rice staring at me from the fridge.  I bought a beautiful piece of yellowfin tuna at the store to help dress it up.  If you figure that all the vegetables and rice are sunk cost, then I only invested the cost of the tuna.  This is one of the best $5 odds and ends dinners I’ve ever had!

I found a marinade for the tuna on Genius Kitchen.  I left out the red pepper flakes, just not in the mood; and the sugar, just didn’t need it.  I wish I’d used more ginger and less lime, but basically this is good.  And it’s fish, so you only have to marinate for 30 minutes.  Love not having to plan too far ahead.  I started the marinade first and then started on my vegetables.  About half of those were already chopped so the prep work was only about 10 minutes.

Your tuna is going to cook 2 minutes on each side so you’ll start the stir fry first.  A little canola oil in a wok or wide pan at the beginning and a little soy sauce and sesame oil close to the end and that’s it!  When you’re adding your vegetables, whatever you have, just think about how long each one takes to cook and how soft you want it to be in the end.  I wanted the onions to be pretty soft so I added them first, with the garlic and ginger.  Then the carrots and broccoli slaw to cook the raw flavor out of them.  I wanted to keep some crunch in the peppers so I added them just before the mushrooms. Always throw in the green onions last.  They look pretty on top.

Do the tuna in a separate pan.  That way you can be super careful about the timing on that.  This tuna steak was a little more than an inch thick, so 2 minutes on each side leaves a cool pink center.  That’s what you want.

Here’s what you need: (I added the carrots and rice at the last minute)

• Tuna marinade
  • 2 T soy sauce
  • 2 T lime juice
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 T minced ginger
  • 1 t sesame oil
• any selection of vegetables:  for example,
  • 1/2 onion, sliced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1 C broccoli slaw
  • 1 C matchstick carrots
  • 1/2 C shiitake mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 C baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 5 green onions, chopped

Here’s what you do:

For the tuna:

• Mix all the marinade ingredients in a baggie or a dish
• Add the tuna and marinate 30 minutes at room temperature
• While the stir fry is cooking add 1 t canola oil to small, heavy pan
• Heat oil until it smokes
• Cook the tuna 2 minutes on each side, discard the marinade

For the stir fry:

• Heat 1T canola oil in a wide pan or wok until oil shimmers
• Add onions, garlic, ginger; cook 2 minutes
• Add broccoli slaw and carrots; cook 2 minutes

• Add bell pepper and mushrooms; cook 2 minutes
• Add 1 T soy sauce and drizzle of sesame oil
• Mix and cook 1 more minute
• Stir in the cooked rice, if using, until rice is heated (about 2 more minutes)
• Toss with green onions

So the stir fry takes about 10 minutes to chop and 10 more to cook.  There’s plenty of flavor, but no heavy sauce.  And mixing in the rice will reduce mean you use less of it.  More vegetables and less rice is good.  Serve with the tuna on top.

So, I spent $5.50 on 8 ounces of yellowfin tuna.  I had half tonight and have half left for tomorrow. That $2.25 a serving for this beautiful dinner.  It’s cheap.  It’s healthy.  And it’s good.  Mission accomplished!

Butternut Squash “Noodles” with Chicken and Peanut Sauce

Like many of you, I’m in the throes of shedding those excess holiday pounds.  I’m not a fan of diets or giving up things or being hungry.  Mostly I know what I should and should not be eating.  What I need is a system that helps me see when I’m making good and bad choices.  Calorie counting doesn’t work for me.  So, I’ve joined Weight Watchers.  I have no interest in selling you on that or any other program.  I tell you that as a way of explaining some of the choices I’m making right now.  Because I do not enjoy being hungry, I’m paying a lot of attention to the WW list of zero point foods.

Ok, moving on.  Over the weekend I was watching The Kitchen on the Food Network.  It was a “lighten up” themed show and Jeff Mauro made this amazing looking dish:  Thai Peanut Sweet Potato Noodles with Shrimp.  Mostly I was attracted to the peanut sauce.  What’s not to love about peanut sauce?!  I substituted butternut squash noodles because sweet potatoes have points and butternut squash doesn’t.  I thinned the sauce and only made half a recipe to keep the points under control.  And I used chicken instead of shrimp because that’s what I had.

As expected, I wanted to drink the peanut sauce.  I ended up with a cup of it.  It only took two tablespoons to add enough to my noodle bowl.  I might not thin it quite so much next time.  The “noodles” were a little mushier than I wanted.  Maybe the sweet potato ones hold up a little better.  Fortunately, I had some pre-cut broccoli slaw left from taco night and I added it in.  That gave me the crunch I needed.  And this whole dish came together in about twenty minutes.  A winner for sure!

Feel free to top with tofu for a vegetarian bowl.  And I’d guess you could use a different nut butter if peanuts are a no-go in your house. I might try it with tahini instead of peanut butter.

Here’s what you need:  2 servings of noodles and lots of peanut sauce

• 1 container pre-noodled butternut squash noodles
• 1 1/2 C pre-cut broccoli slaw
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 clove garlic, grated on a rasp grater
• water to achieve desired texture
• cooked chicken or shrimp or pork or tofu

Here’s what you do:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Spread the noodles and broccoli slaw on a sheet pan
• Bake 10-15 minutes on dry pan
• Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl to make the sauce
• Serve vegetables and protein in a bowl
• Top with 2 T of peanut sauce

Thai Chicken Breast in Coconut Milk

I’ve had enough of black-eyed peas and greens, at least until tomorrow.  And honestly, the transition back to healthy eating isn’t going all that smoothly.  So, here’s an attempt at something that tastes and feels rich, but maybe isn’t so bad for you.  I used lite coconut milk at least.

Let me start by saying that poached chicken is a lovely, soft, velvety dish, that’s pretty hard to pull off in my experience.  I’ve only ever tried it in broth and overcooked it every time.  You just end up with boiled chicken that way, that leaves most of the flavor in the broth and makes for a kind of rubbery texture.  Not the same at all.  This is the most successful I’ve ever been at poaching chicken.  Yay me!

This dish is a little bit strange.  The texture is a little too smooth.  The color is a little too blah.  The sauce is a little too thick.  I liked it.  But I wanted to love it.  I don’t love it.

First of all, it’s really unattractive.  If I hadn’t added the carrots it would have been almost entirely beige and brown.  Unless you’re eating biscuits and sausage gravy, an all beige and brown dish isn’t very appetizing to look at.  Second, the sauce is a little bit much.  I think you could cut the coconut milk with chicken stock as the poaching liquid and cook that down in the end.  It would lighten things up some as well.  Finally, the poached chicken is so soft and velvety, which is good, that the shiitake mushrooms have more bite to them than the chicken.  It’s unexpected, and not in a good way.  Ultimately, I’m glad I halved this recipe.  I liked it enough to eat one serving of leftovers, but not more than that.

Here’s what you need for 4 servings, as in the original recipe: (the photo is what I used for 2 servings)

• 1 can lite coconut milk
• 3 T fish sauce
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 garlic cove, minced
• 1 stalk lemongrass, outer layers removed, core finely chopped
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved horizontally
  • NOTE:  The original recipe doesn’t call for them to be halved horizontally, but I’d have been poaching forever if I hadn’t.  And if you halve them ahead of time your 4 portions will already be done.
• 8 oz sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1/2 C matchstick carrots
• 2 scallions, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
• Rice for serving

Here’s what you do:

• Heat the milk, fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and lemongrass in a large skillet
• Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat
  • NOTE:  Do stir this as it heats.   If you don’t the coconut milk solids will stick to the bottom and burn.
• Reduce to a simmer and add the chicken; cook 5 minutes

• Flip the breasts; add the mushrooms, carrots, and scallions

• Cook another 3-5 minutes, until the chicken is done; the time will depend on the thickness of the chicken.
  • NOTE:  If you’re not sure whether or not the chicken is done, slice across the thickest part and check. You can cut it up to serve it, so you don’t lose anything by checking it.
• Remove the chicken and keep it warm
• Bring the sauce back to a simmer and cook it down 2-3 minutes

• Serve chicken and sauce over rice

 

Thai-American Noodles

The season of eating and drinking with abandon is almost over!  And while I will certainly take advantage of the next few days, I need a break!  I need a meal with no potatoes, cheese, or gravy.  Hello Asian food!

For the last few months I’ve been reading my way through Ruth Reichl’s My Kitchen Year.  It’s about the year after Gourmet magazine folded with Reichl at the helm, not that it was her failure.  But she did feel like she had failed.  And, halfway through, it seems that a year in the kitchen brought about her recovery.  In any case, there are a lot of yummy recipes along the way.

This recipe is from the Winter section of the book.  Not a bad way to escape the February blues!  I find that limes always make me feel a little bit sunny and cheerful. (Often they’re in a glass of bourbon and ginger so maybe that has something to do with it).  Still, this is a bright and happy dish.

It’s not a difficult dish to make, but do get everything together before you start.  It’s worth it to measure everything out into little piles or little bowls or whatever you need to stay organized.  Once you start it moves really fast.  My one complaint about this recipe, and the others in the book, is that the ingredients are divided into two sections – a shopping list and a list of staples.  That means they aren’t listed in the order that you need them as many recipes are.  Read the recipe all the way through before you start.  Maybe read it a couple of times.

Here’s what you need: my photo and the one from the book

• 8 oz rice vermicelli
• 1/4 C fish sauce
• 1/4 C white vinegar
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/2 C peanuts, crushed
• 2-3 T peanut oil (or other neutral oil)
• 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 4 scallions, chopped, whites and greens divided
• 2 eggs, beaten

Here’s what you do:

• Soak noodles in hot water until they soften
• Drain noodles and set aside
• Mix fish sauce, sugar, and vinegar in small bowl
• Heat oil in a wok or large pan until it shimmers
• Add shrimp, cook until they’re just opaque, remove from pan and set aside

• Add garlic, jalapeno, and white parts of the scallions
• Stir until aromatic
• Add pork and cook until there’s no pink

• Stir in softened noodles
• Mix in fish sauce mixture

• Cook over med-high heat until the noodles have absorbed the liquid
• Push the noodle mixture to one side
• Add the eggs and stir until they’re cooked

• Mix the eggs into the noodles
• Add the shrimp, scallion greens, and peanuts

• Serve with lime wedges and Siracha

A couple of tips on the cooking.  Use tongs to mix everything in.  The noodles stay all clumped together if you try to use a spoon.  You can also use the tongs to scrape all the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan.  Also, I think a few more vegetables would be a welcome addition.  Some matchstick carrots and thinly sliced red bell pepper would add some color, texture, and a little sweetness.  Possible that you could cut back a little on the sugar if you had some extra vegetable sweetness.

This is a pretty versatile dish.  Use ground chicken instead of pork if that fits better into your diet.  Leave out the shrimp if you don’t want them.  Some more vegetables and maybe some tofu would make this a fantastic vegetarian dish.  Get some rice paper rolls or lettuce leaves and use this as a filling. Lots of possibilities.  I think this is going to make a few more appearances before the winter is over!

 

Half Marathon Weekend: Half Recipe of Coconut Beef

Yesterday, Saturday, I completed a half marathon.  Long runs make me crave two things:  iron and protein.  This usually finds me chowing down on a double cheese burger somewhere.  Yesterday, sadly, I missed lunch so I didn’t have it in me to plan dinner.  Many thanks to The Mill and their rib eye special!  Blowing off lunch means I’m still kind of catching up today.  And still craving beef.

The day after a Half usually also means a lot of rest.  That doesn’t really happen when you have a puppy.  So, I was up at the crack of dawn, walked my dogs and headed to the SPCA to get some shelter dogs out.  Not a lot of energy left for dinner.  God Bless the Crock-Pot!  Over the years I’ve found a lot of good recipes in Stephanie O’Dea’s Make It Fast, Cook It Slow.  This is another one!  I did my chopping, little as it was, this afternoon and threw everything in the Crock-Pot. When I got back from puppy class I put the insert in the cooker and set it to High.  Do other stuff for four hours and voila!

Here’s the rest of the good news.  I had 1/2 a can of coconut milk and 1/2 an onion left from a few days ago.  All of the spices I already had in the house so all I had to buy was one pound of stew meat!

Here’s what you need: (for half a recipe)

• 1 lb stew beef, cubed
• 1/2 can (1 C) coconut milk
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/2 onion, cut into chunks
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 inch fresh ginger, minced
• 2 t brown sugar
• 1/2 t cumin
• 1/2 t curry powder
• 1 T chopped cilantro stems
• 1-2 t Thai chile sauce
• salt

The original recipe calls for 1/2 t of ground coriander.  I didn’t have any, but I do have cilantro.  Cilantro stems are very flavorful and tender enough to use so I substituted those.

Here’s what you do:

• dump everything in a small Crock-Pot
• Cook on high 4 hours
• Serve over rice

 

Adjust the amount of chile sauce to adjust the heat.  I thought this was just perfect, and I like hot, but not too hot.  You might also cut the beef in smaller cubes. It cooked just fine, but they were right on the edge of needing to be cut.  It makes sense to cut them small enough to be small bite-sized.

Easy, good and probably 2 meals of leftovers.  Perfect!

Thai-ing to Beat a Cold: Coconut Rice Noodles with Ginger and Eggplant

I’ve got a few things working against me this week – end of daylight savings (I hate the time change); cold and damp to warm and rainy weather; and some nasty sinus stuff.  Add to that a pretty busy schedule over the last few days and I’m feeling a little run down.  Gotta get myself together before my half marathon on Saturday.  Time for some soup!

I’ve had eggplant on the brain for a week or so, but I’ve never made a soup with eggplant in it.  Melissa Clark’s Dinner: Changing the Game to the rescue again.  I found this recipe for a Thai soup with rice noodles.  It’s a little bit strange in that it’s designed around summer vegetables.  I couldn’t quite wrap my brain around a Thai coconut curry with corn and tomatoes so I made some omissions and substitutions.  No corn or tomatoes.  Added mushrooms and green onions.  I stuck with the spinach because I had some left from last week.  I used chicken stock because I had that leftover too, but vegetable stock would have been my preference.

I only made a half a recipe, two servings, which I think I might be sorry about!

Here’s what you need: 2 entree servings

• 2-3 oz rice noodles, prepared according to the package
• 1 hot chile, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled
• 1/2 t curry powder
• 3 T vegetable oil
• 1/2 C cilantro leaves
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 large eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2-3 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 C stock, chicken or vegetable
• 1 C coconut milk (lite is fine)
• 1 T fish sauce
• 1 handful fresh spinach
• 1 large green onion, chopped
• 1 T fresh basil, chopped

I know.  It’s a long list.  The good news is that you don’t have to mince the garlic, ginger, chile, and cilantro because you’re going to stick them in a food processor or blender and make a paste.  That will save some time.  Buy the mushrooms pre-sliced. And you don’t have to chop the spinach at all.  So, it’s not as bad as you think.

If you have a wide, deep pan, that will work well.  You want to have a big enough surface to brown the eggplant and other vegetables in a single layer, but you need it to be deep enough for the soupy part.

Here’s what you do:

• In a blender or small food processor combine garlic, ginger, chile, curry powder and 1 T oil.  Pulse until it’s well blended.  Add the cilantro leaves and lime zest.  Pulse until it becomes a paste.  Set aside.

• Heat 2 T oil in a large pan.  Add eggplant and saute until browned. 6-8 minutes.  Remove the eggplant from the pan.  Add the onions and mushrooms.  Saute until they soften.  5-6 minutes.  Stir in the spice paste and cook 1 minute.

• Add the stock and coconut milk.  Bring to a simmer.
• Add the eggplant back to the pan along with the fish sauce.  Saute 5 minutes, until eggplant is soft.
• Stir in spinach.  Cook 1 minute.  Add lime juice and basil.

• Divide cooked rice noodles among the bowls and top with the soup.
• Garnish with green onions and cilantro leaves

A few tips.  When you’re making the spice paste, go ahead and include the cilantro stems.  They’re tender and they have a lot of flavor. No need to waste them since you’re making a paste.  Also, measure the fish sauce.  The best way to describe the flavor of fish sauce is funky.  It’s a great addition, but too much is really too much.  Make sure you get a good sear on the eggplant.  That will help it keep its shape in the broth.  Finally, if you have leftovers, store the noodles and soup separately or your noodles will be mushy when you reheat it.  You can heat up the noodles by dunking them briefly in hot water.  That will also separate them.

Here’s how it turned out:

So good.  Really, so, so good.  When I make it next time, and there will be a next time, I’ll use more chile.  The thai chiles didn’t look good at the store so I bought jalapenos. (I’m making Mexican later in the week).  Jalapenos are much milder than thai chiles so I should have used more of them.  Better to have too little heat than too much, but more heat would really add something to this dish.  Still, there’s something truly wonderful about the mixture of coconut milk, lime juice and fish sauce.  The eggplant is soft but not slimy and not bitter at all.  The spinach is optional, but add it if you have it.  It looks pretty, doesn’t have a strong flavor, and adds an extra vegetable.

This was perfect for an evening that’s cold and damp and that got dark at 5pm!

Giggling Squid Thai

I have a tradition of eating Thai food at Thai Square on the Monday nights I arrive in London.  I arrived at Heathrow this morning, but instead of proceeding into Central London as usual, I took a cab to Henley-on-Thames. I have meetings here for the next few days.  It’s a really pretty little town and I know nothing about it except how to find the Cafe Nero and the Starbucks.

After a little napping, a few conference calls and some work, I turned to Yelp for dinner recommendations.  I’ve been here once before and planned to head to the nearest Indian restaurant.  Eating Indian food while I’m here is another of my traditions.  Then I found 2 Thai restaurants just a few steps further.  The Thai Orchid had better reviews so I planned to go there.  On the way I walked past the other Thai place, Giggling Squid.  There were 2 couples and a family looking group there.  It looked fun and nice.  I went on to Thai Orchid.  No one in there.  In fairness it was only 7:00, but still.  Not like it was 6:00!  And it looked a little stuffy.  So, I went back to Giggling Squid.  The sign didn’t come out, but this is what it looks like from the outside.

I’m a big fan of squid, crispy or grilled or stuffed or sauteed.  The salt and pepper squid here was nothing like the fried calamari you get in bars and restaurants at home.  Nothing.  First, it was full tubes instead of rings.  More a tempura batter than anything, but not huge.  The most tender squid I’ve ever eaten.  Served with a sweet chili sauce.  Sooooo good.

I followed that with Chicken Pad Kingh.  This is a dish that lets the fresh ginger sticks smack you in the face.  With earthy mushrooms and sweet carrots as the perfect foil.  The sauce and mushrooms and bell peppers were amazing.   Honestly the chicken was just filler.   It reminded me of a ginger chicken dish I used to get at a Vietnamese restaurant in Tysons Corner, VA.  Oh how I’d missed that dish until today.  Add some rice and a glass of rose from Provence and you’re in for a better Monday night than most!

It’s not like I’m going to make the trek out to Henley on Mondays from now on, but wow am I glad I had this opportunity.  If you have a chance to go to a Giggling Squid restaurant, don’t pass it up!  And get the squid.  It definitely made me giggle!

 

Gingered Collards with Rice Noodles and Vegetables

I know what my Southern friends are thinking – Gingered Collards??  I never heard of such a thing!  For, the non-collard eating folks out there, just pretend I said lacinato kale.  It sounds fancier.  But I hope you’re all intrigued enough to read on!

I am frequently on the hunt for something to do with collards (or kale) besides cook them to death with smoked meat.  I do love them that way, but one cannot cook with ham hock alone.  Of course my new chef BFF Vivian Howard worked it out for me.  And then I threw in a bunch of other stuff and made a whole meal out of them.

Let’s start with the collards.  Forget about half of what I’ve told you about chopping collards.  Do remove the stems and stack the leaves on top of each other.  Don’t roll and slice them.  You’re going to cut them into 1-2 inch squares instead.  So we’re already in unfamiliar territory with these greens.  And then you’re going to cook them in oil and butter and ginger until they caramelize.  Now we’re fully in a foreign land.  And it’s a wonderful place!

A few tips before you start.  Mis en place is a good thing.  It’s not huge here since you don’t have to move too fast, but since I was making this up it helped to feel prepared.  So do all your chopping and measuring and putting your noodles in to soak, or your water on to boil, before you start heating any oil or butter.  You’re going to make the collards all the way through and set them aside. That way your large cast iron skillet will be free make the sauce and to do the other vegetables.

Here’s what you need:

For the collards:

• 1 t canola oil
• 2 t butter
• 1 bunch collards chopped into 1-2 inch squares
• 2 T finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 T finely chopped fresh garlic
• 1/4 t crushed red pepper
• 1/2 C orange juice
• 1/2 C water
• 1 T brown sugar

Here’s what you do:

• Heat the oil and butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat until the butter foams
• Add the ginger
• Add the collards, spread them into an even layer
• Add the garlic and red pepper
• Leave them be for 3 minutes (Seriously, no stirring or shaking the pan)
  • This is a LOT harder than you think.  I had to set the kitchen timer and walk away from the stove to resist the urge to stir!
• Now you can stir!
• Spread the collards back into an even layer and them sit another 3 minutes
• They’ll start to brown and carmelize
• Add the water, juice and sugar
• Cook until the liquid cooks away
• Remove the collards from the pan and set aside

If the collards get as done as you want them before the liquid cooks away just remove them and leave the liquid in the pan.  It will help with the sauce.

For the noodles:

You’ve got a couple of options.  Either fill a pot with HOT tap water and soak the noodles 25-30 minutes.  Or fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil.  Cook the noodles as you would pasta. Drain, rinse, and return to the pot.  Stir in the collards and a little bit a sesame oil to make sure the noodles stay separated.

For the sauce:

• 2 T finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 T finely chopped fresh garlic
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 T maple syrup
• 3 T orange juice
• 1 T sesame oil
• 1/4 t crushed red pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and then add to the cast iron skillet.  Bring to a boil and stir until it reduced and thickens.  Stay close by.  The sugar will burn if you’re not paying attention!

Pour the finished sauce into a bowl and set aside.

For the vegetables:

• 1 T sesame oil
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thin
• 1 C matchstick carrots
• 1-2 spring onions, sliced, whites and greens divided
• 8 oz sliced shiitake mushrooms

Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.  Heat the oil until it shimmers.  Add the peppers, carrots and onion whites.  Saute 2-3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms.  Cook down 3-5 minutes.

You’re almost done!  Add the vegetables to the noodles.  Stir in the sauce.  Top with the onion greens.  Enjoy!

How’d it turn out?

I had two bowls, so that tells you something.  It’s warm and noodle-y and has a great kick to it.  I’m super pleased to have happened upon these gingered collards.  They’ll be great as a side for a pork roast.  And it’s nice to have a way to serve collards that’s not so winter-y.  This also meets my requirements for flexibility!  You could use this to clean out the vegetable drawer for sure.  Bok choy, cabbage, radishes.  No rice noodles, no problem.  Udon, soba, spaghetti, rice – whatever you want.  Chill everything and serve over lettuce and cucumbers.  Vegetarian not your thing or need some extra protein?  Double the sauce and use it to marinate a flank steak.  Serve thinly sliced beef on top of your vegetables.  Not into spicy?  You can leave out the red pepper.  The fresh ginger will give you a gentler kick in the pants.

I’ve marked this as intermediate only because it’s a fair number of components in a specific order.  Don’t let that scare you!  It’s just noodles and veggies with a yummy sauce!