Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Anti-procrastination brigade...

To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing -- Eva Young

And thats what kept happening to me , month after month, one good intention after another.. The link goes into my bookmarks, reminders, right panel to glare at me, then out as the date goes by... the 1st of the month bright with intentions , 15th bringing a bit of anxiety about things yet unaccomplished and then full blown panic as the end of the month approach... decision time - what to pick , what to throw .. which challenge to love and which to step over.. Im talking about all the culinary challenges floating around in this amazing culinary-blog-world ! It would be a full-time job to keep track of all those event and participate in..

Ones I've managed to stick to are the Daring Cooks and Sweet and Simple Bakes - and come to think about it, is it because they tell you exactly what to make, with a full recipe and instructions attached ? Hmm... maybe Im just a follow-the-recipe kinda cook.. unlike those natural ones who concoct delicacies out of nothing and gourmet meals out of everyday pantry stuff ..


One of these event which I would very much like to be part of but keep managing not to is IAVW started by Vaishali of Holy Cow .. She is hosting it this month and I saw her announcement on Its a Vegan World - Chinese and decided to take things in hand aka make do something chinese asap .. no procrastination .. no 'Perfect is the enemy of good' .. no scouring for recipes for days and for ingredients some more..I decided to go ahead with the recipe I had and the ingredients at hand..


I cannot believe I have never tried the much-loved and ubiquitous chinese fried rice as yet .. innumerable pulaos , rice variations but somehow never got around to making the fried rice.. though basic and simple , I think its an authentic indo-chinese recipe and if I sneak it in early enough I may claim my dibs on it [grin]




Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice cooked yesterday

chopped spring onions

Steamed broccoli nd mushroom - 1 cup

handful of coarsely grated carrot

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

salt nd pepper to taste


Prep:

Heat oil and add the spring onions , stir for 2-3 mins and add ginger + garlic .. add the carrots and stir for another couple of mins. Add the steamed veggies and salt and pepper. Add the rice and soy sauce and mix thoroughly. Set aside.


To go with it I made this Sweet and sour Tofu with vegetable with the vegetables that I had in hand - Some steamed radishes (Im really glad on how I used radishes in varied ways this week - one, this stir fry and other was with mung dal - both turned out very well-adjusted and not out-of-the-place additions) , some cubed tofu and some peppers..


There goes my entry to IAVW and if this month chooses to bring some more chinese in my kitchen, so be it!

5 comments:

  1. Hi Dips, If this is a second comment you're seeing from me on this post, please delete it-- my laptop did something strange and my last comment disappeared. I can't say if it went through.
    I'm so glad you didn't procrastinate :) I love this delicious, healthy and flavorful fried brown rice recipe, and the tofu looks amazing too.
    Thanks also for pointing me to the Eating Animals book. I'll be sure to look for it at the public library.

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  2. Delicious dishes together...am drooling over the sweet and sour tofus..

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  3. Dips,
    I hear you about "full time job to participate in all the events". I got caught up in trying to participate in just about every event there was for a couple of months, and let me tell you it was not a full time job but an overtime job. I was cooking not for my family but for the event, though they did get fed eventually. Thankfully, I have quickly got over it, simply because it was too exhausting. So don't feel bad if you can't participate in a lot of them. :)
    I do still try to participate in a few regular ones like Vaishali's IVW and Susan's MLLA.
    Coming to your fried rice and sweet and sour tofu, they look yummy. Need to come up with something for the event myself.

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  4. Your dish sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing :)

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  5. Chinese Fried Rice tastes the best with brown rice.. the textures absorbs the flavor so well. Yours look fantastic. I could have it just by itself with some hot sauce.

    Soma(www.ecurry.com)

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