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Recipe Exchange
My friend Gini emailed me an old-fashioned recipe exchange tree letter, where you send one recipe back to the person who sent THEM the letter, then you put your friend's name and contact info in the send to: position and send the letter on to twenty other friends. The suggestion was to send an easy recipe you do all the time that can be made with basic ingredients - ideally something you can write up from memory.
I don't think I've ever written this one up before, so I thought I'd share it generally. If you feel moved to respond with a recipe of your own, I'd be delighted.
Fried Eggs over Stir-Fried Veggies
One of my favorite recipes is a healthy breakfast recipe - pretty fast, and I love how it looks on the plate.
Ingredients:
eggs (1 or 2 per person, as desired)
Tablespoon or two butter or vegetable oil
carrots and zucchini (see portions below)
one medium tomato , sliced and cut into pieces, or multiple grape tomatoes, halved
dash of garlic salt
dash of oregano and dill, or an Italian herb mix
Directions:
Start with one carrot (or half a big carrot) and half a medium size zucchini per person. Peel and cut the ends off the carrot(s) and wash and cut the end(s) off the zucchini, then cut both of them lengthwise in half. Lay the halves flat side down and cut lengthwise again, so you get long, not more than 1/4 inch thick slices of veggies. You might need to also cut the carrot in half. You want all the pieces to be about the same length.
Heat 1/2 a tablespoon of oil or butter in a medium saucepan, and cook the carrots on a medium/medium low setting for 2 or 3 minutes, then add the zucchini, the tomatoes, and the seasonings. cook another 2 to 5 minutes until tender, stirring frequently. (how long depends how hot it is - if you keep it hotter you should really stay on it and stir frequently). Zucchini will change color when cooked - you want it so it just gives easily to a fork or when cut with the spatula, but not soft and mushy. Tomatoes may cook down and fall apart completely - that's fine. They are there for moisture and flavor.
Empty the stir-fry out of the pan onto plate(s), then fry eggs to taste in same pan (I like mine over easy/medium so the yolk mixes with the veggies). Add more butter or oil as needed.
Serve the eggs on top of the veggies, and enjoy!
I don't think I've ever written this one up before, so I thought I'd share it generally. If you feel moved to respond with a recipe of your own, I'd be delighted.
Fried Eggs over Stir-Fried Veggies
One of my favorite recipes is a healthy breakfast recipe - pretty fast, and I love how it looks on the plate.
Ingredients:
eggs (1 or 2 per person, as desired)
Tablespoon or two butter or vegetable oil
carrots and zucchini (see portions below)
one medium tomato , sliced and cut into pieces, or multiple grape tomatoes, halved
dash of garlic salt
dash of oregano and dill, or an Italian herb mix
Directions:
Start with one carrot (or half a big carrot) and half a medium size zucchini per person. Peel and cut the ends off the carrot(s) and wash and cut the end(s) off the zucchini, then cut both of them lengthwise in half. Lay the halves flat side down and cut lengthwise again, so you get long, not more than 1/4 inch thick slices of veggies. You might need to also cut the carrot in half. You want all the pieces to be about the same length.
Heat 1/2 a tablespoon of oil or butter in a medium saucepan, and cook the carrots on a medium/medium low setting for 2 or 3 minutes, then add the zucchini, the tomatoes, and the seasonings. cook another 2 to 5 minutes until tender, stirring frequently. (how long depends how hot it is - if you keep it hotter you should really stay on it and stir frequently). Zucchini will change color when cooked - you want it so it just gives easily to a fork or when cut with the spatula, but not soft and mushy. Tomatoes may cook down and fall apart completely - that's fine. They are there for moisture and flavor.
Empty the stir-fry out of the pan onto plate(s), then fry eggs to taste in same pan (I like mine over easy/medium so the yolk mixes with the veggies). Add more butter or oil as needed.
Serve the eggs on top of the veggies, and enjoy!
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I used to be a regular at Nini's coffee shop in Burlingame, before I moved a couple of towns over. You can get the Wally's special with veggies. It has a layer of hash browns, with sautéed carrots, zucchini and tomatoes on top, then two eggs the way you wanted them, and cheese on top.
Nick's in Salt Lake City (technically the Medical Towers Coffee Shop, but everyone knew it as Nick's) had their legendary Greek Breakfast, which was the same concept only with ham, bacon or sausage. I'm sure they could have been talked into doing veggies. The greatness of the Greek Breakfast was they put the cheese under the eggs, so it melted down into the potatoes. I always asked for my Wally's at Nini's with cheese under the eggs. The cooks at Nini's were first-rate and did everything to order.
You could use left-over tomato sauce or canned tomatoes, if you have some open, or if it's winter and good fresh tomatoes are not available. My favorite way to cook zucchini is to sauté some onions, add zucchini, a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce, and a bit of liquid (white wine or water). Throw in a bit of oregano and a lot of basil. Cook for a couple of minutes. Zucchini cooks really fast. Serve over polenta.
When I had a friend over for dinner who needed to minimize carbs, I sliced some large zucchini into long thin strips, the same size as linguini, and had that instead of pasta. It was really good. You have to be careful about the cooking time: 30 seconds or less. Goes great with either pesto or tomato sauce. This is a good way to use up the giant zucchinis that attack in the summer.
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I was inspired by the excellent Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking to make the following dessert/ breakfast/ whatever, based on the FAR more complex Guriev kasha:
Prepare 2 cups of brown rice. (I use the slow cooker, and just use brown rice as a stir-fry/ pancake/ waffle add-in all week long.) The dish is best served with the rice warm and other ingredients cold, as it is enhanced when you appreciate the contrasts in temperatures and textures.
Top with 10-16 ounces of chilled fruit in bite-sized pieces. I like to use thawed frozen mangoes, but most tart, soft fruits will work well. Cherries are good. So are peaches/nectarines.
Take about 1 cup of heavy cream. Mix in a bit of vanilla and almond extract, if desired. Pour thickly over rice and fruit.
Sprinkle generously with brown sugar. Mix layers as you eat.
Yum!
Those dishes sound great too— I especially like having an idea for what to do with a couple spoonfuls of tomato sauce. If I make spaghetti sauce from scratch I usually use one of those small cans of tomato paste in with a can of diced tomatoes, or if not from scratch a whole jar or can of sauce, but my spouse cooks in such a way that we often have part of a jar of sauce or half a can of paste left over, which might go to waste if it goes in the fridge and we forget about it/ don’t have a plan to use it.
How do you prepare the polenta when you serve your dish over it? Just slice and sauté?
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Brown 1/2 lb ground beef or TVP with 2 tsp taco seasoning (I make my own and toast it first because I don't have children at home and I love the smell. Also, a certain commercially-available paprika that the pre-fab spice guys put in EVERYTHING is very, very bad for me). Drain. Throw into slow cooker with one 8 oz. block of cream cheese (unwrap first), 1/2 cup enchilada sauce (not to be that bitch, but since I am that bitch, homemade enchilada sauce is easy and delicious and very worth it in this context), and 1/2 c. salsa. Slow cook until the smell drives your neighbors to casually saunter over and hint about how they are so hungry and that smells just delicious, one hour one high of two hours on low. Serve as dip.
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Re: Yum!
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I don't do chain letters... but here's recipe I've already made twice since isolation began. (Though, I've been doubling the recipe to serve me for more days.)
Lentil Barley Stew
One largish onion (about (5'11" male) fist-sized)
About the same amount of celery.
About 1/2 as much carrot.
Cooking Oil/Butter/Ghee
1/3 cup pot barley
1/2 cup green lentils
1 28-oz can chopped tomatoes (or equivalent chopped fresh tomatoes)
2 cups water
Rosemary
Pepper
Salt
(Optional other herb(s) -- I like a bit of Oregano. Garlic doesn't hurt, too. Maybe a Bay leaf.a)
Chop the onion, celery, and carrots.
Fry them in adequate amounts of oil in a largish sauce pan until tender.
Add tomatoes, water, lentils and barley.
Add herbs & spices. I do it all by hand -- 3 generous pinches of Rosemary, small palm cup of pepper & salt, sprinkle of Oregano.
(Recipe originally said 1/8 teaspoon of Rosemary, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt. But that's a lie. I used 1/2 tsp Rosemary the first time, and now use a bit more.)
Bring to a boil, then simmer stirring occasionally until barley is tender or you're too hungry to wait. (About 50 minutes.)
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Re: Yum!
2/3 cup polenta, 2 cups water, pinch of salt.
Put in a large covered dish — make sure there is room for the polenta and water to boil up. Stir so the polenta is suspended in the water. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Stir thoroughly. Microwave another 4 minutes. Stir again. Microwave 2 minutes. Add some butter, stir, and put aside until it is time to serve. Makes 2 large portions or 4 small.
Variation: stir in grated cheese at the end.
For smaller or larger quantities, the ratio is 3 cups water for each cup of polenta. The cooking time is longer for larger quantities.
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http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/s607.rap.html
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