Lemon Rice

Hello again,

allright, so: despite going to the grocery store four times this week, I managed not to have any veggies to go with our fried fish fingers last night. Don’t ask. What to do? Thankfully, there was rice in the cupboard, which I seasoned with sauteéd onions, lemon juice, lemon zest, frozen herb mix, and lots of salt and pepper. It was pretty good!

Ingredients:
serves 2-3

1 1/2 cups rice

two small onions, diced
3 tbsps. lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
3 tbsps. herb mix, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a pot, combine the rice with 3 cups of water and a huge pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let cook until the water has been absorbed and the rice is soft. It really depends on what kind you’re using, white Basmati or brown hippie stuff or whatever.

In the meantime, slowly sauteé the onions in olive oil. When they are soft, turn off the stove and add the lemon juice and zest and the herbs. Stir; season with salt and pepper to taste.

When the rice is done, combine it with the onion/lemon mix, stir well, and enjoy!

Have a fun weekend!! Do some good cooking! I have cinnamon rolls planned for Saturday, hooray!
xoxo, F.

Some spring flowers on our kitchen window sill:

Spicy Rice

Hello there,

here’s an easy-peasy recipe for rice with veggies and tofu, seasoned with our very favorite condiments: chili paste and soy sauce. This is a nice weeknight dinner, leftovers to be eaten the next day for lunch, stretched with some peas, nuts, or whatever.
Here we go:

Ingredients:
serves 3-4

1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt

2 bell peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
approx. 14 oz. tofu, cut into cubes (I used store-bought, smoked tofu here; otherwise, use plain tofu that has been marinated)

vegetable oil
approx. 1/2 tsp. green chili paste (store-bought)
approx. 2 tbsps. soy sauce

Directions:

This is super-easy. In a pot, combine rice, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and let bubble over medium heat until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

In a large pan, fry the veggies and the tofu cubes in vegetable oil.

In a large bowl, mix veggies and rice. Season with chili paste and soy sauce. Stir well. Enjoy!

Eat well, my friends. Later! xoxo,
F.

Rice Salad with Grilled Peppers and Avocado

Good evening,

yes, another salad! I know that there are a couple of rice-and-avocado-salads out there on the interwebs, people call them ‘deconstructed sushi rolls’ or something, which is funny. My idea here was to push that into more of a mediterranean direction, hence the grilled peppers, balsamico vinegar, and fresh basil.
I have to admit that preparing those peppers took some time, so if you are in a hurry, I’d suggest simply dicing them raw and then fry them for a couple of minutes, i.e. not bother with the peeling process. About peeling peppers I’m not so sure anyways. I mean I get the idea, but on the other hand, the peel really doesn’t bother me. I don’t peel tomatoes, either. So, as often in life, this totally depends on one’s personal taste, and by all means feel free to do it or not. Aaaaaaanyhoodle, here comes the recipe.

Ingredients:
serves 4

3 bell peppers
1 ripe avocado
1 cup rice

1 handful of fresh basil
3 tbsps. olive oil
1 tbsp. white balsamico vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a pot, cover the rice with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, add a pinch of salt (or vegetable stock powder), and let cook on medium heat until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, stir, and let sit.

In the meantime, wash the peppers, and cut into stripes. Place the stripes, skin down, in a hot grill pan. Let sit until the skin turns black and blisters.

Take them out, put them into a bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit for a couple of minutes.

In the meantime, dice the avocado. I always cut it in half, take out the stone, cut the flesh into little cubes, and then kind of turn the avocado half inside out. That way, nice little avocado pieces fall right into my salad bowl.

Next, take the pepper slices out of the bowl, and start the laborious process of peeling them. Cut into pieces.

In a bowl, combine rice, peppers, and avocado. Add vinegar and oil, and season with salt and pepper. Lastly, chop the basil, and add. Mix gently. Serve with bread.

When we ate our salad, it was still a little warm, which I liked. But naturally, you can also let this salad prepare ahead of time and serve it cold. I think that some leafy greens would also work well in this, maybe baby spinach leaves?

For tomorrow I’m planning a chickpea-mozzarella-tomato-salad. We’ll see how that turns out!
Until then,
xoxo, F.

Fried Risotto Balls

Hello again!

Another recipe that does take some prep time. But these crispy little things are so good! Basically, you make a risotto, form little balls, stuff them with mozzarella, and fry them. There – you got it? Allright, here comes a more detailed description. (Once again, the source of the recipe has long been forgotten, sorry.)

Ingredients (makes about 24):

2 cups vegetable stock

2 garlic cloves, minced
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup risotto rice
1 cup dry white wine (if need be, substitute with veggie stock)

salt, black pepper

3/4 cup parmesan, freshly grated
2 medium eggs
1 large ball mozzarella
1 cup breadcrumbs

vegetable oil for frying; I used canola oil

Directions:

To make the risotto, heat the vegetable stock, and keep very hot during the entire process. In a pot, shortly sauté the garlic in olive oil; add the rice. Stir well, until the rice turns translucent. Add half of the wine, and stir until it is absorbed. Season the rice with salt and pepper, and add the stock, one soup ladle at a time, consistently stirring, until it is all absorbed and the rice is almost tender. Then, stir in the rest of the wine and let the risotto sit until nice and creamy. Add the parmesan, stir well and let the mixture cool completely (this will take a couple of hours).

Separate one egg; stir the yolk and the other egg into the risotto. Cut the mozzarella into small cubes. Then, with wet hands, form the balls and put them on a plate. I used about one table spoon of risotto per ball, flattened the mass a little in my hand, put two mozzarella cubes on it and then moulded it into a ball about a little bigger than a walnut. You get the concept. Then, put the plate in your fridge for another hour. I know, this is kind of annoying, but it makes all the difference.

Brush the balls with egg white, turn them over in the bread crumbs, and fry them in lots of oil (which should be approx. 350° F hot). Set them on a cookie rack or a paper towel in order to let them lose their grease, and then enjoy them while still hot!
We ate ours with a nice green salad, and some plain yogurt. So good!!