Spicy Stir Fry

You'll see in my pictures of the dish that I don't have a very high ratio of rice to veggies.  I used a serving of rice for one but ended up making enough stir fry for my parents as well.  I'm not writing in amounts of the vegetables because in a stir fry you don't need to be exact--put as much as you want.

I love egg in my stir fry but you can easily leave it out to make this vegan and still get plenty of protein from the peanuts.

Spicy Stir Fry
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
Minute rice
Cooking oil
Garlic
Fresh ginger
Baby corn (canned or frozen)
Water chestnuts (canned)
Bamboo shoots (canned)
Sugar-snap peas (frozen)
Egg (optional)
Peanuts
Soy sauce
Tabasco sauce

1. Cook rice according to directions on package.
2. In a wok or large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat.
3. Mince garlic and ginger.  Saute in oil until garlic becomes translucent.
4. Add frozen vegetables and several shakes of soy sauce.  Let simmer until thawed.
5. Add canned vegetables and more soy sauce.  Let simmer a couple minutes.
6. Add rice, Tabasco, and more soy sauce.
7. Clear a space near the center of the pan for the egg.  Allow to scramble.
8. Add peanuts and serve.

Stovetop Quesadillas

Ok, repeat after me: Quesadillas from the microwave are not real quesadillas.
Good.  Today for lunch I made myself a quesadilla.  I used to microwave them until I saw a friend make one on the stove in high school and have never gone back.  It doesn't take much longer to cook, the cleaning is minimal, and the texture is much, much better.

Quesadilla with Tomato and Green Onion
Prep time: 4 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
1 green onion
4 cherry tomatoes
2 small flour tortillas
1/2 c. grated 2% cheese

1. Dice the green onion and tomatoes.
2. Lay one tortilla in a frying pan over low heat.  Top with cheese and veggies and cook with lid on until cheese starts to melt.

3. Place second tortilla on top of cheese and veggies.  Press down to stick to cheese. Flip quesadilla.
4. Increase heat to medium and cook until tortilla on bottom has browned.  Flip over and brown the other tortilla.

5. Cut and serve.

Tip: I love topping mine with salsa, especially when I am feeling too lazy to chop veggies and make them with just cheese.  Guacamole is also an amazing topping.

Quick Migas

Migas are one of my favorite breakfasts to cook when friends have spent the night, and with pre-shredded cheese and chunky salsa instead of fresh chopped veggies the prep time is very short.  This recipe is a serving for one; just multiply it by the number of people you're feeding.

Quick Migas
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 5 mins

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp shredded cheese
2 tbsp chunky salsa
1 handful tortilla chips (broken)

1. Beat the eggs and milk together in a bowl until the color is mostly uniform.
2. Pour egg mixture into a skillet on medium heat.
3. When the eggs start to solidify, add cheese, salsa, and chips.  Cook until eggs have finished solidifying.

Tip: When I'm watching my calorie intake, I will often toast a corn tortilla in the toaster oven and use that instead of tortilla chips.  It cuts out a few calories since it's baked rather than fried.

Pasta Primavera

After a VERY long hiatus I am back and hope to start posting on here regularly again.

I made one of my favorite summertime dinners tonight: pasta primavera.  It doesn't require standing over the stove (like stir fry or gumbo) and is a good cold dish when I'm not in the mood for a salad.  Plus, it's very versatile and good when you need to toss together whatever veggies are in the fridge before they get old.

Pasta Primavera
Cook time: about 12 minutes (depends on the type of pasta you use)

Ingredients:
Whole what noodles
Vegetables (I used artichoke hearts, olives, and tomatoes, but some of my other favorite include broccoli, zucchini, green onions, and spinach.)
Garlic powder (1/4 tsp)
Olive oil (1/2 tbsp)
Cheese or nuts for protein (I used parmesan tonight, but pine nuts or pecans make good vegan substitutes.)
Salt
Pepper


1. Cook noodles according to package instructions.
2. While noodles are cooking, chop up any vegetables that need to be sliced.
3. Drain noodles.
4. Add all ingredients in a bowl and stir.