Friday, October 17, 2008

Vegetable fried rice

This is all I have to show for my blogless week. I've been trying to, once again, wittle down the produce drawer in the fridge, and have been cooking a bunch of uninteresting pasta and stir-fry with the various vegetables. Do you know how "meh" penne with kale pesto and vegetables looks in a photograph? Feh.

The stir-fry from Thursday wasn't bad, if a little heavy on the hoisin and oyster sauce, but it was Project Runway (and debate) night. So I skipped the photos altogether. Last night saw the conversion of leftover rice and the remaining broccoli, peppers, shiitakes, scarlet runners (I've been picking them slightly underripe and slicing them, pod and all) and kale, as well as half a block of silken tofu and an egg, into fried rice. I also added some surimi, but it isn't crab at all, and didn't elevate it the way I hoped.

It was good, just not like the salty Chinese-American fried rice I was craving. It was, however, flavorful and healthy. Now I just have to eat the last gallon-sized bags of pattypans and yellow pear tomatoes (the last ones before I compost the vines!). Maybe I'll just bake the whole lot in cheesy bechamel.

20 comments:

peter said...

Yep. The meh/feh coefficient is a real visual problem for the leftover helper dinners. Maybe try a ring mold next time. Or foam! That's the ticket.

Brittany said...

This is what I am craving right now.

Manggy said...

Ah, salty Chinese-American fried rice! When I was Shanghaied (ooh, pun) to a rural community as a requirement for community medicine, I used to pop open a can of diced vegetables and make fried rice from the leftovers for me and my adoptive family. Good times. Then again, the (fresh) ingredients you've used are definitely a lot healthier, heh :)
Yay for Leanne!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Cheesy bechamel is always good.

You know what that rice needs? A can of tuna and a grating of fresh ginger. Not what you were aiming for with the classic fried rice, but one of the staples of my impoverished student years (I only used carrots, peas and onions though, your veg rocks).

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

What is this healthiness I see here? I'm slightly disappointed. I depend on you for amazing veg and fruit, but this is ridiculous. Rice. Stir-fry. Pffft. What about dumplings or wontons, something I can sink my teeth into?

But it's all good. For real. I think everyone is in a blogging slump this week. Everybody's post starts with "I've been lazy" or "I haven't been inspired."

Susan @ SGCC said...

I recently learned how to make homemade fried rice and I love it. It's perfect when you need to purge the fridge. My fave is with Spam, shrimp and pineapple. Yours looks and sounds great with all of those beautiful veggies!

Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul said...

I love any kind of fried rice...nice way to clean out those vegie drawers in the fridge Heather.

Heather said...

Jube - You and your math skills. I totally shoulda squoze the rice into a ring mold and then topped it with foam.

Brittany - You and your pregnancy cravings.

Mark - You and your..oh who am I kidding, I could never keep it up for long. Did you put Jufran on your fried rice? I hear Filipinos like ketchup on rice. Is that racist?

Foodycat - Is there anything cheesy bechamel can't do? I did put ginger in the rice, but tuna may have been nice too.

Nikki Hunny - I did eat some dumplings with it! Frozen ones from the Asian market that I steamed up. Glad to see it was just the full moon and not me.

Susan - That sounds really fucking good. I wanted something hammy and shrimpy so bad!

Petah - We just haven't gotten a hard frost yet, and I have to keep nibbling from the garden so it doesn't go to waste!

Claudia - You're absolutely right, I should do something good. What about if I used nonfat milk in the bechamel?

Manggy said...

No, don't worry about it :) But it has been a very long time since I've seen someone mix rice and ketchup (the seven year-old in me cringes at the thought of mixing food like that). Usually we just lop a puddle of it next to the food. Eating with a fork and spoon: dip food into the ketchup, eat. Spoonful of rice, eat. Rinse and repeat :)
Ooh, that reminds me, I totally want a fried chicken with some Jufran right now :)

Jennifer said...

Please do not make nonfat bechamel. Stuff them with goat cheese and grill them. Mix of healthy and creamy. I love fried bottom of veggie drawer rice.

Lo said...

mmm. This looks darned good. But I hear you when you're craving one thing and making another.

Looking forward to what you do with those pattypans.

Anonymous said...

we actually ordered in on wed. there was no way i could cook w/ the debates and the phillies game AND project runway on at the same time!!! i haven't seen the finale yet, so don't reveal who won.

i give you credit for even cooking that night - looks good!

glamah16 said...

I know what you mean. So much of what I have time to cook lately isnt blog worthy, but its good.

Nilmandra said...

LOL I know what you mean about meals that taste great but just don't photograph well. I've had days of no blogging because of that too! But hey clearing out the fridge and dose of TV is important too ;)

Dahlia said...

OMG. I just accidentally ran across your blog, and just for S & G I clicked on "Failure Pile" - HI-LAR-I-OUS. I laughed so hard I snorted. Girl, you are so bookmarked.

Emily said...

I love fried rice. I like the sesame seeds on top.

Brittany said...

I love that salty Westernized fried rice. The kind that leaves me all puffy the next morning from the assload of sodium. MMMmmm. Sodium.

What could be better than cheesy bechamel? I want some right now please.

Núria said...

I love making up a rice with all veggies leftovers I have in the fridge... It's amazing how good it can become... when there's no pressure and you cook with a glass of wine or a beer, the dish comes out perfect ;D

Heather said...

Marky-Mark - Oh dang Jufran on fried chicken sounds gooooood.

Jennifer - Oh, I do it all the time. The cheese counteracts the skim milk. ;)

Lo - Maybe if I'da had some egg rolls to go with it, it'da done the job.

Amy - You are a lot smarter than I am! If we could get anything other than pizza by delivery here, I'd have done it in a heartbeat.

Courtney - The great skill in being a good food blogger is making mundane food blog-worthy. I'm so not there yet.

Cookiecrumb - You are a genius. I keep forgetting that bechamel freezes like a dream! Pattypan casserole, coming right up.

Nilmandra - Split-pea soup is the hardest one to make pretty so far. :)

Dahlia - You flatter me. Glad you find my failures amusing! ;)

Emiline - Fried rice loves you, too.

Brittany - I actually did think about putting some MSG in it for extra flavor. Yes, I keep a bag of it in my cupboard.

Núria - You are so right! Goofing off in the kitchen, having some wine, is the only way I know how to cook. :D

Anonymous said...

"I'll bake the whole lot in cheesy bechamel."

Wow. That's poetry. :-)