Comunidad Health Foods

Let me tell you a little secret: a good stir fry is a busy cook's best friend. Step 1: Saute some vegetables and meat in a pan while some sort of grain cooks on the back burner. Step 2: Add some seasonings. Step 3: Mix the grain and veggies/meat together. Step 4: Eat. Dinner can be on the table in no time at all, particularly if you have pre-cooked or leftover meat or beans in your freezer.

This past week was relentless, and left no time for "real" cooking. I was driving at least 40 minutes each day, hopping back and forth between home and school. Then, there was L's birthday and the ensuing cake adventure, and driving another few hours to see him. Needless to say, I did a lot of thawing, recreating, and reheating. I did, however, take advantage of some of the black beans I had frozen a week ago, and put together a nice little stir fry. It was a little rushed, and I was a little scatterbrained (re: I forgot to look at the "recipe" I had written down and instead just kind of did my own thing), so it didn't go exactly as I had planned. Still, it was tasty, and a very quick fix.

I got the idea originally from, who else, Smitten Kitchen. I had saved a recipe from there for Confetti Salad, and I meant to make mine a lot closer to her original than I wound up doing. I meant to add lime juice and corn kernels, but completely forgot. I also added spinach, mostly because I needed to use up a bag in the fridge that was on its last leg, and I stuck in some tomatoes for the same reason. I also mixed it together with quinoa to make it more of a meal. Really, it wound up being a largely different dish, and will more than likely wind up trying the original the way it was actually intended, before too long.

Black Bean & Quinoa Stir Fry, inspired by Smitten Kitchen
Yield: 1 serving
The Ingredients
1 section from a large bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/4 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp. olive oil
pinch minced garlic
1/4 C dry Quinoa
1/4 C black beans
1/3 - 1/4 tomato, chunked
fresh ground pepper
1 pinch each paprika, cumin
1/4 C spinach

The Method
1. Add the bell pepper, onions, garlic and olive oil to a pan and saute over medium to medium-high heat until the onions just begin to brown. Start the water for the quinoa to boil, and add the tomato and beans to the pan with the pepper and onion. Season the vegetables with ground pepper, paprika, and cumin.
2. Once the quinoa is finished cooking, add it to the pan with the vegetables and lower the heat to medium or medium-low. Adjust seasonings and mix around.
3. Remove pan from the heat and add the spinach to the pan. I ripped mine into smaller pieces, but that's really just a personal preference. Mix the spinach into the rest of the ingredients, allowing it to wilt slightly.

This might as well be a formula rather than a recipe. Think of it as a skeleton to which you can add any sort of ingredient: protein + grain + vegetable, and you have yourself a well-rounded, pretty healthy meal (depending upon, of course, which proteins, grains, and veggies you use). You can add a little bit of cheese, pile it up into a baked pepper or other vegetable, wrap a tortilla around it...you get the picture. It's easily reduced to a single serving or expanded for a larger crowd, and because you can use frozen vegetables, it can be ridiculously inexpensive.

Should I get off of my stir fry soap box now? Yes? Alright, well for now, I'll just leave you with these words: rum-soaked apples, cinnamon cake, and peanut butter cookies. Interested? Stay tuned.

Tonight I cooked dinner for the last time this week, and I have to confess that I'm somewhat relieved. I'm slowly learning how time consuming cooking can be, particularly when you move as slowly and ungracefully as I do, still. Compared to the rest of this week, though, tonight's meal came together painlessly and (relatively) quickly.

I chose a Beef & Orange stir fry and paired it with a Wild Rice & Barley Pilaf with Pomegranate Seeds, a recipe that I doctored so much I think it would more accurately be described as being inspired by that recipe. I try not to change recipes much if at all the first time I make it - after all, you have to know what you're dealing with before you charge in making all of these changes, right? But pomegranates are not so easy to come by and a wild rice whole grain blend in a box was more readily available and feasible than two separate containers that my family would never finish on their own, anyway. So, many substitutions ensued. The end product? Delicious:




Beef & Orange Stirfry, courtesy of marthastewart.com
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
3 Oranges
2 cloves of garlic, minced (substitution: pre-minced garlic, a fraction of a spoonful)
2 T. soy sauce
1 1/2 lb. trimmed, boneless sirloin or rib eye, cut into 1/2 in. strips
1 T. cornstarch (substitution - whole wheat flour due to a last minute inability to locate the cornstarch)
1-2 T. canola oil
6 scallions, green parts only, cut into 1-in. pieces (modification: cut into typical small rings, taste preference)

Instructions
Into a small bowl, finely grate zest and squeeze juice from 1 orange. Add garlic and soy sauce.

With a sharp paring knife, peel remaining 2 oranges. Slice oranges crosswise 1/2 inch thick, then halve slices; push out, and discard any seeds. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss meat with cornstarch until coated. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Working in batches (adding more oil if needed), brown beef on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes; transfer to a plate.

Pour juice mixture into skillet, and boil until syrupy, about 1 minute. Return beef to skillet; add orange slices and scallions. Toss until coated and heated through. Serve hot.

"Wild Rice & Barley Pilaf with Pomegranate Seeds" courtesy of eatingwell.com
Yield: 6 Servings
Ingredients
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 C wild rice, rinsed
} (substitution: Persia Organic whole grain blend, discarding the seasoning packet)
1/2 C pearl barley
3 C reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth (substitution: water - chicken broth was another m.i.a. ingredient in my pantry tonight)
1/3 C pine nuts
1 C pomegranate seeds (substitution: an estimated 3/4 C dried cranberries)
2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
2 T. chopped flat leaf parsley (substitution: 1 T. dried parsley flakes, after absentmindedly telling my mom last night that I was done using the parsley we had bought at the store)

Instructions
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened. Add wild rice and barley; stir for a few seconds. Add broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the wild rice and barley are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, 45 to 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in a small, dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until light golden and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.

Add pomegranate seeds, lemon zest, parsley and the toasted pine nuts to the pilaf; fluff with a fork. Serve hot.



And that brings to a close my week of being active with this blog. However, I'm going to make crepes for my boyfriend this weekend, and it is my mom's birthday next weekend so I told her I would come home and cook a meal for her. And then there's Passover, and I'll be home to hopefully bake some Passover-friendly baked good. So here's to thinking that from here on out I'll be a lot better at keeping up with this. I really like keeping track of all that I've made and a few thoughts on the recipes, even if I am the only one reading this.