Asian Style Rice

This is a quick one pot rice dish!  B loved it and said it was one of his favorite rice dishes.

1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1 1/4 C uncooked rice
2 1/2 C water
1 C frozen or fresh vegetables (whatever you have on hand)
1 envelope of dry onion soup mix
3 Tbs soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
hot sauce and pepper to taste

Brown meat and drain well.  Add chopped onion, garlic, rice, soup mix, soy sauce. Stir for a couple of minutes.  Add water and sesame oil, hot sauce, and pepper.  Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.  When rice is tender, make a hole in the rice and pour in the frozen veggies. Cover with hot rice and cover the pot for ten minutes.  If you use fresh veggies, you can boil them with the rice.  Add chopped green onions prior to serving.

Lettuce Wraps

B and I loved this dish!  He ate almost have of it for lunch and wanted more!!  It's really easy to put together and you'll have dinner finished in no time at all.

1 lb of ground chicken, turkey, or beef
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 C of cooked rice
2 1/2 C of vegetables (I used frozen, whatever I had in the freezer)
Pepper

Sauce:
2 Tbsp of hoisen sauce
1 Tbsp of soy sauce
2 tsp of toasted sesame oil
2 tsp of rice wine vinegar (white wine vinegar works too)
a dash or two of cayenne pepper or hot sauce

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

Brown the meat in a hot skillet.  Once fully cooked, drain well.  Add the garlic and ginger and stir until you can smell it.  Add the cooked rice and vegetables.  Stir until warmed through and then add the sauce to the mixture.  Mix again until warm.  Remove from heat and serve in lettuce cups or leaves.  Enjoy!

Fried Rice

 I love this dish because you can literally use anything you have leftover in the fridge.  The only thing you need is leftover rice.  Freshly made rice will just turn to mush when "fried". 

2 C of uncooked rice
Vegetables (any kind and they can be fresh, frozen, grilled, whatever you have in your fridge.  I used frozen corn and peas).
Chicken
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic minced
several scallions -- sliced somewhat fine
Soy sauce
Chili paste or hot sauce ( you can also use crushed red pepper)
about 1/4 of sliced onion

Make the rice the night before. It needs to be slightly stale.

Okay, all of these ingredients don't have an exact measurement.  You can use however much you like and whatever kind of meat or veggies you have on hand.  I used one breast of fried chicken I had in the fridge.  I just removed the skin and breading and chopped it up.  I also used about 1/4 of a link of turkey sausage.

Place several tablespoons of vegetable oil in a pan and let it get hot!  Have all of your ingredients on hand, because pretty soon you'll just start dumping.  Make sure your pan is pretty big too as this can get messy.  Once your oil is HOT, drop in the sliced onions and chopped sausage, and garlic.  Fry until sausage is crisp and onions are soft.  Dump in the frozen vegetables.  Cook until warm.  Dump in the leftover rice. Break up any lumps in the rice. The pan should be really hot and just keep stirring. Make sure the oil has coated the rice.  If you need to add more, add a little at a time until it is coated, but not greasy.  Add the chili paste or hot sauce.  Add cooked chicken.  Keep stirring.  Stir in some soy sauce.  Again, it depends on how much you like.  I tend to like my food somewhat salty.  When rice mixture is hot, add the toasted sesame oil.  A little goes a long way.  If you don't have it, don't sweat it, but it is a nice addition.  Check seasoning.  Add sliced scallions.  I like egg in my fried rice, B does not.  I usually scramble it separately and add it to my serving.  That's really it.  You now have a ton of fried rice and hopefully you used up a bunch of leftovers you had hanging out in the fridge.

This was so good, I kept sneaking bites out of it as I waited for it to cool enough to store.