Breakfast rice bowl with Fancy Eggs

I guess I am posting more frequently now because, well, coronavirus. I feel entertained to chronicle these times via some meals. Also, it seems a mostly enjoyable quirk of my personality to menu plan, ration a bit, and see how to eat up everything with the least amount of shopping trips - is at peak utility* in these times! 😂 And since I am reaching the end of some fresh (less long-lived) produce, forthcoming recipes will primarily be composed of cabbage, carrots, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and any remaining stuff in the freezer.

*The time where this skill was was less fun, but also of peak use, was when I was co-caretaking a rustic hideaway (with a few guests) on a remote island in Norway for two weeks and the previous caretaker paid no heed to food going bad or using things up. MANY nights I labored over what needed to be eaten before it went bad without needing to order more food, and thought up new recipes to make with things like a surplus of cod, red peppers, cucumbers and sour cream. It's like I went into survival mode of the pantry (even though it wasn't even my money I was spending!!)

So. Today's breakfast was rice, Japanese-inspired scrambled eggs, avocado, kimchi, and nori. It was SO good, partly because rice is delicious and I don't eat it that often and it felt novel. Also, I hadn't had nori in a long time, but remembered a package that has been in my cupboard for months. Or a year? Nori on these eggs - yum.

This is less a recipe and more a guide or inspiration. Even just rice and these eggs would be good (I saw a recipe for something similar recently in Bon Appetit or Saveur, but now I cannot seem to find it) which is what made me think of making this today.

Fancy Eggs
2-3 eggs
2 tsp rice vinegar
1-2 tsp tamari
pinch of stevia (or 1 tsp sugar or sweet something)
1 T butter for skillet
1 sheet Nori, cut up into strips

1. Mix your ingredients other than butter in a bowl.
2. Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet. When it is melted and hot, pour in your eggs. Allow the eggs to fry in the butter around the edges, and stir gently. I think these are best eaten when they are still soft, and not overly cooked. Salt as needed.
3. Sprinkle nori strips over the top.

Serve atop freshly cooked rice and any sides - I had avocado and kimchi with mine. I also added some spinach to my eggs (I sliced a handful and added it right after pouring in the eggs).

Salmon and Sweet Potato Hash

This is a pretty simple recipe my friends made for me recently, and I fell in love with it. So had to make it myself.

They served a Paella type rice thing with it that involved lemon zest, fresh parsley, red pepper flakes which was very complimentary...  But I bet some of the Cauliflower rice would be good too.

Anyway, here goes:

Salmon and Sweet Potato Hash 

Get a big chunk of salmon. 

Cover it with some sugar, salt, pepper, and lemon slices. 

Wrap this in a tin foil packet, or place in a pan and cover. 

Cook for an hour at 200 degrees.

Get a couple two three sweet potatoes. 

Cut them into dice sized pieces. 

Do the same with red and green pepper and an onion. 

Throw the potatoes in a pan with olive oil and a clove or three of garlic. 

Cook for about 10 minutes. 

Add the peppers and onion. Cook for another 5. 

When salmon is done, shred the it and add that as well. 

And a generous amount of turmeric. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Paella Rice

Heat up olive or other type oil. Add 3 cloves of garlic (crushed), a healthy dose of red pepper flakes, and 2 cups of your favorite rice. Stir the rice around until coated with the oil. Add a bay leaf, ½ bunch of chopped Italian parsley, the zest of two lemons, and a quart of chicken stock. Bring to a boil (don't stir much), and then reduce to medium low and cook for 20 minutes, covered. Continue to not stir. When the stock is mostly gone, stir it and serve.

Roasted fall veggies

I went to the farmer's market tonight (only 5 markets left at Midtown!) to bulk up on some squash and try out the brussel sprouts. Things are quieting down at the market - they did have tomatillos at one stand, lots of peppers and tomatoes, some cabbage, onions, broccoli, potatoes...but it is definitely a smaller crowd. Oh winter, here you come.


I got home late and was tired - and opted to go for simple. I made a rice pilaf - which I am calling pilaf only because I used chicken broth instead of water. This made the rice seem much more exciting and flavorful with no extra work on my part.

And then I made a pan of roasted veggies: aforementioned brussel sprouts, sweet potato and onion. The final result was filling (pilaf is more filling than rice) and delicious. The sprouts were thumbs up, btw. Get your stalk and cook some up soon! (I hear the stalk is good roasted whole in a grill - have not tried that yet, but it sounds enticing, if also higher maintenance.)

Roasted fall veggies (not really modified from this blog post)
1 sweet potato, diced in large bites
1 stalk brussel sprouts
2 small onions, quartered
2 T balsamic
1 T olive oil
honey
salt and pepper

Remove sprouts from the stalk, wash to get any loose dirt off.
Make sure veggies are all dry before putting them in a roasting pan.
Mix up the balsamic, oil, and honey (1-2 tsps) and pour over the top.
Cook on 425 for 30-40 minutes, stirring a couple of times in the middle.
Generously salt and pepper (extra salt was really good).
Serve!

rice pudding!

I thought I would attempt to make yogurt in my crock pot this week, but when that never happened (it requires so much watching and tinkering, and still no guarantees) I decided to use the leftover milk for rice pudding.
I used to make rice pudding a lot when I was in college (you know, the very first time) because I had this strange habit of buying milk in gallons rather than other, more manageable quantities for a household of one. Unfortunately, the rice pudding seems to have disappeared along with my more refined grocery shopping skills.
The inspiration for this latest batch comes from the Smitten Kitchen (link in the title), who insists that it's ok to eat it for breakfast OR dessert.

1/2 C arborio rice
4 C milk
1/4 C sugar (although I would use less next time)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 t vanilla extract
some raisins

Combine all of the ingredients except vanilla in a pot. Bring to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for a good long time (30-40 min), stirring occasionally. Add the vanilla before you eat it.