Friday, January 8, 2010

Rice is nice...

It's wonderful when your child becomes old enough to tell you what they want...and are specific! There is so much frustration for both parent and child that comes from not being able to communicate with one another. Now the downside to your child being able to express their desires is that they have many, many, many desires. Especially what they desire not to do; such as eat, sleep, brush their teeth, clean up their toys.

Last night my boy told me that he wanted fried rice for dinner (he calls it spy rice). Well it was more like "I want spy rice with white and brown shrimp, eggs and no beans in it." I figured out that "beans" were peas. Ultimately, I bartered in carrots to take the place of so called beans. Oh, but they had to be soft carrots. Since I already had the salmon going for dinner last night, I did make sure to make a bunch of extra steamed rice so that I could make him the fried rice tonight.


I used the Shrimp Fried Rice recipe from the post:

"Confucius says..."

But this time I used minced white onion (1/4 of a medium onion) instead of green onions and steamed carrot slices instead of peas. I also threw in some steamed broccoli for color and extra nutrients. Shrimp and eggs made the cut.

Like the recipe, I still sauteed the shrimp and set them aside. But next I cooked the onion in the oil for about 3 minutes. While the onion cooked, I microwaved the leftover rice for a couple minutes until it was hot and soft again and added it to the pan with the onion. The rest of the dish was prepared as before. I did, however, use a bunch of soy sauce and just a bit of salt this time.

I realize that this fried rice thing is like pasta. Once you know how to make a good basic version of it, you can then substitute the side ingredients with whatever you like. The options are ENDLESS, people!

*Carrots and broccoli can be quickly steamed in the microwave. Just throw the cut up pieces of both all together in a glass bowl, add a few tablespoons of water and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Cook on high for a couple minutes. If you want them more tender, throw them back for a little longer.

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