Easy Pea-zy fried rice

First of all, I want to apologise for the crappy photo - I had a hungry husband and both of us had had a long day and frankly this smelt SO good that it didn't hang around for long on the table getting photographed. I have never made fried rice before, but after having Nat's mum and brother and sister in law over for dinner a few nights ago, Nat and I found ourselves with a lot of leftover rice (I over estimated how hungry people would be!!)

Anyway - I had to go to a staff meeting and end of year party yesterday and Nat was working all day so by the time both of us were home it was late and I didn't have anything prepared. I looked in the fridge and the rice was staring back at me and so I decided to make fried rice.

Fried Rice is SO easy if you have left over rice - and while I don't usually cook with so much oil - it was nice for a treat. Although the ingredient list looks long, this meal was whipped up in under 30 minutes, and I was going slowly - I could have had it on the table in much less time if I had really been bothered. I used a recipe that I was given in grade 7 cooking class - but I modified the amount of oil and the spices and ingredients other than the rice. You can modify the ingredients with what you have on hand. Other veggies could include - cauliflower, corn, broccoli, finely diced cabbage, capsicum, asparagus - just make sure that everything is chopped quite small.

I used little pieces of Kittee's Seitan (which I think is marvelous!!) chopped up - but you could also easily use chickpeas, cashews or re hydrated TVP.

There should have been leftovers for this dish but we were both so hungry (and it was so Delicious) that it only fed the two of us (Nat went back for seconds). So I would say that this dish serves 2 hungry very hungry people, or 2 moderately hungry people with some left-overs for the next day.

Easy Pea-zy Fried Rice

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion - diced
3-4 garlic cloves - minced
1 stalk celery - diced
2-3 medium carrots - chopped
2 spring onions - chopped
2 medium sized mushrooms - chopped (I used the normal white button mushies - any mushroom would do though)
1/2 cup seitan/re hydrated TVP*/chickpeas
4 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 cups of cooked rice (I used medium grain brown - use whatever cooked rice you have on hand)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup water

Pour about 2 tbsp of oil into a large (non-stick) frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot enough (a piece of onion will cause bubbles in the oil when dropped in), put in the onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Stir for 2-3 minutes
Add 2 tbsp of soy sauce and then the spring onions and mushrooms. Continue to stir until the onions are almost done (they will become opaque).
Scrape all the vegetables to one side of the frying pan and then add the cooked rice to the cleared side. Press down on the rice using the back of your wooden spoon (or stirring implement) and then pour 1 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp of soy sauce onto the rice. After a minute stir the rice and then pat down again.
Add the spices and mix rice again.
When rice is heated through - mix it in with the vegetables. Add the peas and then cook until peas are heated through. Serve.

Tried and True Mexican Chili Beans

Home again. Nat and I drove down a day earlier than expected so that he could catch up with a friend today. Once we arrived home and I had unpacked and put away everything from our trip it was quite late in the day. My parents own a organic wholesaler business and so I always home home with all the staples that I am running low on. This time I returned with Agave, red lentils, brown rice, dried red kidney beans and chickpeas, quinoa, dried dates, nutritional yeast, spelt spaghetti, kamut tubes, flax seeds, raw sugar, a box of soymilk, some chocolate samples that they had been sent (yummy) and probably lots of other things that I can't remember.

So - I was too tired to go to the shops to stock up on vegetables. On the way home we briefly called into a grocer and I picked up some celery and capsicum as being at home had reminded me of another of those recipes I grew up on: mum's mexican chili beans.

Mum and Dad decided to become vegan when my brother and I were very little. This was before the internet, and so mum's recipes were based on her cookbooks. For a little rural community in Tasmania, for mum to be cooking the weird and wonderful stuff she did was just awesome considering all of my friends parents cooked meat and three veg every night for dinner.

So - I consider myself very lucky - its funny now though - "mum's recipes' as my brother and I call them were so weird when we were growing up - we loved them. But now times are a changing and they are not so different to all the other recipes that you can find on the web. Each of those recipes still holds a special place in my heart (and tastebuds).

This recipe is DEAD simple. It takes no time and mostly uses staple kitchen ingredients (in my kitchen anyway).

Note to all parents reading this blog: I grew up on these recipes so they are pretty kid friendly (if the kid likes vegetables) - ie. they are not overly spicy.

This recipe one based on a recipe from a book that one of mum's friends made called Tried and True. I highly doubt you will be able to get a copy (as I can't even get one and I rely on photocopies of scribbled on cooking stained recipes) I feel that I should be able to share it.

Nat had these wrapped up in tortillas. I served mine over rice. I whipped up some vegan sour cream using this recipe I found on Tara's blog. My cream didn't come out as firm as I would have liked - my silken tofu may not have been the right type - I am not too sure. It was still really tasty!


Mexican Chilli Beans

2 cloves of garlic
1 onion - diced
1/2 green capsicum - diced
1 stalk celery - chopped
2 cups (or 1 can) kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
1 tsp chilli paste (optional)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 veggie bouillon cube (optional)

Brown garlic, onions, celery and capsicum in oil or saute in water. Add other ingredients, including a little liquid if necessary. Simmer until vegetables are cooked.