Rainwytch’s Weblog

No idea where I got this recipe, but posting it here ’cause I keep losing it. Quick, simple, cheap comfort food. Plan to make this weekend, to go with my cold.

Mark Thomas
Serves: 6

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 35 min
1 teaspoon(s) Vegetable oil
1 1/2 pound(s) chicken thighs, skin removed
1/4 teaspoon(s) ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 lemon
1 1/2 cup(s) regular long-grain white rice
1 large garlic clove, crushed with press
1/8 teaspoon(s) ground red pepper
1 can(s) chicken broth
1 1/4 cup(s) water
1 package(s) frozen peas
1/3 cup(s) drained salad olives or chopped pimiento-stuffed olives

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Directions

1. In nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Add chicken to skillet; sprinkle with black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add onion and green pepper to same skillet with chicken. Cook until chicken is browned and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes, turning chicken over once and stirring vegetable mixture occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, with vegetable peeler, remove 3-inch strip peel from lemon. Cut lemon into wedges; reserve.
3. Stir lemon peel, rice, garlic, ground red pepper, broth, water, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt into mixture in skillet; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in frozen peas; cover and cook 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; stir in olives. Spoon into serving dish if you like. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over each serving.

Nutritional Information
(per serving)

Calories 335
Total Fat 6g
Saturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 57mg
Sodium 870mg
Total Carbohydrate 49g
Dietary Fiber 4g
Sugars –
Protein 21g
Calcium

So far, I have ruined and wasted some of my CSA food. I’m trying to be better. But first I must share the failures:

Strawberry Mint Vinaigrette (see last post for recipe; to lazy to find and link)
The strawberry-balsmic vinegar was AMAZING! I cup balsamic vinegar to 1 1/2 cups strawberries. Blend, let sit 1 hour, strain. The pulp was so good that I almost saved it to put over ice cream or in yogurt.

Then I ruined it by making the mint vinagrette. It wasn’t terrible over salad, just a little too mint-y. It WAS, however, pretty bad as a marinade for chicken. Just don’t do it.

But the fun one…
How to Make Radish Farts:
I keep getting more radishes than I can eat. So I was trying to come up with innovative things to do with them. I remembered that my mom used to slice cucumbers and keep them in the fridge in a solution of white vinegar, water, and red onion. Yummy.

I decided to try a similar thing with the radishes. I used apple cider vinegar (thought it would be tastier) and the chives from my box.

2 days later, I opened the fridge and noticed a distinct farty smell. Investigation revealed the radishes as the cause. I removed them and thought “well, kimchee smells horrible when you first open it, but is tasty, so maybe that’s true of the radishes”

Nope.

I ate a couple – first vinegar taste, then strong radish taste, then fart taste. The fart taste didn’t fully develop until AFTER I swallowed, which meant that for a few hours, I also had farty burps.

Ick, ick, ick. Those things went in the trash as soon as I could get them safely out of the kitchen.

Radishes continue to arrive in my weekly boxes, so if anyone has non-farty recipes for them, I’d be delighted to have them.

I got my first CSA delivery today – delayed 5 weeks due to their winter flooding and our nasty spring. The box is pretty small; I’m glad I didn’t decide to share it. I think The flower arrangement is gorgeous, and includes mint – yum! Maybe it will mask the doggy smell of my living room.

The strawberries are a bit over-ripe, so I’m taking them up on their recipe suggestion of a strawberry vinaigrette. I’m excited about the garlic flowers. I tried some a month or so ago and didn’t sautee them quite long enough. Hooray for second chances.

Easter Egg Radishes
Bok Choy
Mizuna
Arugula
Mint
Garlic Flowers
Cherries
Strawberries
Flowers

Recipes:
Strawberry Mint Vinaigrette
2 1/2 tablespoons strawberry vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

To make the Strawberry Vinegar:

1/2 pound strawberries, trimmed (1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1 cups white balsamic vinegar

Pulse berries with sugar (if using) in a food processor until finely chopped and very juicy. Transfer to a bowl and add vinegar. Let stand 1 hour. Strain vinegar through a sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.

Vinegar keeps, covered and chilled, 1 week.

Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy with garlic flowers

Adapted from Gourmet, November 2007-Lillian Chou

1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
a handful of garlic flowers, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
1 bunch bok choy, quartered lengthwise
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil

Stir together broth, soy sauce, cornstarch, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until cornstarch has dissolved.

Heat wok over high heat until a drop of water evaporates instantly. Pour peanut oil down side of wok, then swirl oil, tilting wok to coat side. Add garlic and stir-fry briefly, 5 to 10 seconds. Add half of bok choy and stir-fry until leaves wilt, about 2 minutes, then add remaining bok choy and stir-fry until all leaves are bright green and limp, 2 to 3 minutes total. Stir broth mixture, then pour into wok and stir-fry 15 seconds. Cover with lid and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in sesame oil, then transfer to a serving dish.

I’ve fallen off the wagon. I’ve completely stopped journaling my food, and am doing only a so-so job at portion control.

Trying to get back on the wagon now. (Online peoples call this being “On Plan” or “OP” but I’m not a clubby jargon lover.) Know what doesn’t help? Sunset’s buttermilk chicken. I made it last night and I’ve already eaten 6 pieces. Yikes. Tonight, it’s going into the freezer into little pre-portioned baggies. BEFORE I eat any more. And then I will see if I can manage to weigh in at less than last time. So tired of that friggin’ pound that I keep gaining and losing, over and over and over again. Even when spending the weekend walking and hiking and digging up sod. Damnit.

I kinda blew points this week on a bunch of wine, so I’m looking for ways to be good. Last night, my carpool fortuitously needed to make a stop at Uwajimaya on the way home.

OMG, that downtown store is AMAZING! Too bad I hate driving downtown. Or maybe, given my grocery fetish, good

Produce is uber cheap there, especially some things common in asian dishes, like cabbages and mushrooms. I made a stir fry with:

Thinly sliced red onion
Baby Bok Choi, halved
Morel and Baby Oyster mushrooms
Pea shoots/sprouts
2 thai chili peppers, sliced into rounds
2 TB black bean garlic sauce
1 TB Olive oil

Yum yum yum yum. So simple, I got lunch and dinner out of it. Tonight I’m going to make it again, adding some tofu and brown rice for a little more substance. That will up the points value, but still in the reasonable range.