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Stir-Fry Vegetables in a Bread Bowl
My favorite way to have vegetables is to quickly stir-fry them, so they are still crisp. A restaurant I used to go to a lot, served them in a beautiful woven lattice bread bowl and it was the perfect lunch. These veggies can be served over rice, rice noodles or as a side with stir-fried meat, poultry or tofu.
If you’re feeling creative I found a recipe for a lattice bread basket here.
Stir-Fry Vegetables
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup water or broth (vegetable or chicken)
Photo by ddpiesslice.blogspot.com
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- 6-8 mushrooms, washed and sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp ground ginger or 2 tsp fresh minced
- ¼ tsp crushed garlic
- 8 oz broccoli crowns
- 8 oz sliced carrots, or baby carrots
- 8 oz snow peas
- 6 oz can sliced water chestnuts or bamboo shoots, drained
- salt & pepper to taste
wok or deep skillet
Mix cornstarch, soy, water, lemon and honey together. Set aside. Heat wok, add oil add all the remaining ingredients. Stir-fry quickly, about 2 minutes, until vegetables are tender-crisp. Add sauce, bring to boil for 1 minute or more until thickened. Let simmer 2 minutes.
Mmm… mini pot pie
We bought a frozen turkey while at the grocery store the other day, they were on sale post holiday and the low prices made them hard to pass up. I roasted it yesterday, and then Mrs J demolished the carcass for the meat but not before I carved out half the breast for these pies.![DSC_4438 [1600x1200]](http://whats4dinnersolutions.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/dsc_4438-1600x1200.jpg?w=914)
Mrs J swore off ready made crusts after making those pumpkin/sweet potato pies the other day. This time she went with the Smitten Kitchen recipe. She has used it before and we liked the results. The SK recipe calling for vodka in lieu of water works great, too. Alton Brown used apple jack in a similar recipe that he used for an apple pie.
The filling for these mini pies was simple enough: Make a roux then add milk to make the classic white sauce. The peas and corn were from frozen and I just stirred them in with the diced turkey meat, the fresh carrots needed a few minutes at a boil first. I also stirred into the mixture a little turkey broth that was left from the last turkey we cooked at Thanksgiving. Seasonings were minimal, just some salt and white pepper, the broth added a hint of tarragon.
Beef Ramen
Occasionally I have a yen for ramen noodles so I try to keep a few packages in the cupboard. Fast and easy meals. This one has some of that brisket that has been featured here lately, a little Chinese cabbage that I bought the last time I was at my favorite Asian grocery, a broth made with shaved bonito flakes and dried kelp, the seasoning packets from the ramen, a spoonful of chili garlic paste, and some fresh onion and jalapeno. I asked Mrs J if she wanted some but she declined, instead having a snack of chips and dip.
Hot and Sour Soup
I’ve been dithering a bit on using that tofu but I finally managed to use up about half of the block on this Tyler Florence recipe. I used the dried mushrooms I have in the pantry, some shiitakes I believe, but the original packaging is gone. I keep them in a big plastic jar. I looked for some pork to use in this thing but settled on a half chicken breast. I think I used too much corn starch thickener because the final instruction in the recipe was to stir the soup to set up a swirling current so the egg would self-incorporate. This was so thick that that just wasn’t going to happen so I stirred it with a spoon as the egg drizzled in. I never get the egg right in these things.
I’ll get around to that miso soup I talked about the other day, I swear!
Mmm… ramen
Not much to this, just a basic ramen with some additions. I tossed some dried red peppers into the chicken broth to simmer along with a few dried shiitakes. When the mushrooms were tender I sliced them and then added the package of noodles and a few pieces of roast pork from the freezer. 
There are all sorts of amendments possible with these sorts of quick dishes: Various vegetables like carrots and broccoli, onions, bean sprouts, or water chestnuts all come immediately to mind. Of course, chili garlic paste goes with just about anything.
