OMGSNAX!

bear cub’s been recording at my house this week & they were set to come over this evening to practice, so i figured something that involved a lot of prep time would work well as everyone else would be busy while i was cooking — although it was awfully loud as they were playing at full volume one room over, so loud that those of us in the kitchen couldn’t really make conversation over the noise & through our earplugs!

i saw the rice bowl post on kim o’donnel’s blog in the washington post & realized that i hadn’t made fried rice in some time, so i was quite excited to give this new recipe a try!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons sesame oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup chopped shallots
2 tablespoons minced, mild fresh chilies
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup diced carrots (substitute: chopped fresh green beans)
4 cups cold cooked rice (about 1 1/3 cups uncooked rice)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced celery (substitute: chopped bok choy)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

METHOD
heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact.

swirl in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, & the eggs. cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, tilting wok so that the eggs cover the surface as thinly as possible to make a pancake. when bottom is just beginning to brown & egg is just set, flip & allow to set on other side, about 5 seconds. transfer to a cutting board & cut into shreds.

add remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil, followed by shallots, chiles, & garlic, & stir-fry for about 10 seconds. add carrots (or substitute), reduce to medium heat & stir-fry 2-3 minutes until shallots soften. add rice, bell pepper, celery (or substitute), soy sauce, salt, & pepper. increase heat to medium-high & cook 2-3 minutes more, breaking up rice with a metal spatula until heated through. add egg & stir to combine.

remove wok from heat. stir in cilantro & drizzle remaining sesame oil.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i doubled the recipe since there were six of us eating, & that worked out just about right & was still manageable in the wok. more & more, i’ve noticed how difficult it is to properly use a wok on an electric range (especially one as shoddy as mine!). i blame alton brown for raising my awareness here — but it still seems to get the job done, so not too many complaints.

i do think the trick of using cold rice is probably helpful for it to be more fried & less sticky (i didn’t plan ahead & spent most of the day with my cousins, so i had to make the rice while i was chopping vegetables), & i have a hunch that long-grained rice would go a long way to that goal, too, but the taste was still fine & i don’t have a problem with sticky rice anyway.

the only real substitution i made was using peanut oil instead of vegetable oil. i considered adding broccoli (everything’s better with broccoli!), but it makes val sick so i refrained.

honestly, i’m not sure if i can say how it compared to the other fried rice. i’ve made it on several different occasions, & i do appreciate the addition of the tofu (which isn’t very popular among many of the people who eat my cooking), but i think that taste-wise, this version was maybe a little bit better by virtue of being less complicated. i definitely enjoyed the inclusion of the fried egg in this one!

“Aromatic Vegetarian Fried Rice” from The Breath of a Wok by Grace Young, via Kim O’Donnel.

meg — my recipe-searching partner-in-crime (we once spent an afternoon back-&-forthing about the perfect vegetarian stroganoff recipe) — sent me a link to this particular dish back in september, & i bought a squash right away to try it. i unfortunately couldn’t convince anyone to try it with me, & the squash languished unused & unloved, first on the counter, then in the produce bin in the fridge, till i finally threw it out last week b/c it was starting to look a little scary.

in the meantime, i’d discovered trader joe’s pre-cubed squash — the glory! the ecstasy! — & have made several squashy dishes on my own without worrying about losing fingers (always a big concern), & so finally the time was right to attempt this casserole.

INGREDIENTS
1 large butternut squash
1 cup chopped onions
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1-2 dash cayenne pepper
1 cup red bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1 cup green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS
cut squash in half lengthwise & scoop out seeds. bake cut sides down at 425 degrees 45-50 minutes or until very soft at thick end. let squash cool & scrape out of the shell; mash as smoothly as you can. meanwhile, sauté onion, garlic, & spices in olive oil until onion is translucent. add peppers & salt, stir, cover, & leave on low heat 5 minutes.

preheat oven to 350 degrees. stir beaten eggs into mashed squash. add corn, sautéed vegetables, & grated cheddar; stir to mix well. bake 20 minutes covered; uncover & bake 20- 30 minutes more.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i was initially planning to halve the recipe considering every time i mentioned wanting to try it, no one sounded all that thrilled about it, but as it turned out, we were expecting eight for dinner so i figured it’d be prudent to make up the whole recipe. i purchased more pre-cubed squash from trader joe’s (i know it sounds like a product placement, but seriously! best thing ever!!), but i neglected to purchase more bell peppers, so the casserole itself was a little sparse owing to this fact — & the fact that i hate corn in almost every capacity (including popped, excluding on the cob & in bread or muffin format) so i eliminated that right off the bat.

so instead of roasting the squash halves, i just plopped the squash cubes in the casserole dish with a little olive oil, covered it with foil, & cooked it at 400 degrees for a little over half an hour. i could then mash them up with a fork with no trouble at all.

if i hadn’t been so pressed for time, i probably would’ve let the squash cool a bit before adding the egg — as i knew it would start to cook after being added to such a hot dish — but i was STARVING & i knew everyone would be over in no time at all, so i did the best i could, mixed everything up quickly, & put it back in the oven before it even knew what hit it.

taste-wise, i thought it was a little bit eggy but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. i just haven’t been all that successful at finding a dish i think highlights the squashiness of squash. i knew the cumin/chili powder combination would be a little overpowering — & it was — but i’m at my wits’ end as far as coming up with subtle squash recipes.

it was still good, don’t get me wrong — in fact, we had no leftovers, & even daniel (a self-proclaimed squash-hater) tried it & said he’d eat it again if i made it! — it just wasn’t exactly what i was looking for.

“Chilean Butternut Squash Casserole” via megatron, modified from Moosewood’s recipe

chili was daniel’s idea for our weekly dinner at his house last night — fairly easy, good for winter, feeds a lot of people. it sounded pretty good to me, too, so we pulled a couple recipes off the internet & out of cookbooks & intended to wing it when caroline reminded me that her mom makes a delicious vegetarian chili. one phone call later, we were on our way to get the surprisingly few ingredients in this chili recipe!

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 can each kidney beans, pinto beans, & black beans, drained & rinsed
1-10 oz can enchilada sauce
1 teaspoon oregano

METHOD
in a large stockpot, sauté onion & bell pepper in oil. add remaining ingredients. bring to a boil & then reduce heat to medium-low. simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes.

DEVIATONS & OBSERVATIONS
added: a second bell pepper, some carrots, a jalapeno. eliminated: all black beans (which daniel decided was somehow blasphemy). substitued: diced tomatoes for crushed (a mistake).

this is an easy recipe to double, which i did in anticipation of a larger than usual dinner crowd — most of whom were sadly no-shows. it tasted just fine, although it wasn’t spicy enough by far — i should’ve considered a spicier version of the enchilada sauce. the consistency was a little soupier than i generally like, & it didn’t reduce down despite simmering for an hour or so. my mom’s chili was always more robust, although hers was basically like eating spicy meat sauce with oyster crackers since no one in my family liked beans when i was a kid. i probably shouldn’t have subsituted out the crushed tomatoes — maybe the chili would’ve been a little less chunky/brothy, a little thicker.

we ate it with cornbread (made from a mix) & saltines, & everyone who ate it gave it top marks, so maybe i’m just nitpicking. if i make it again, though, some changes will be made.

“3-Bean Enchilada Chili” from caroline’s mom.