Vietnamese rice pudding (che dau trang)

Ingredients:
(makes 8 servings)

• 0.5c dried black eyed peas (I used adzuki beans because that's what I had)
• 0.75c short-grain white rice - mochi rice prefered
• 0.5c sugar
• 3c water, divided
• 1 15oz. can coconut milk, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla

1.)  Sort, rinse and soak beans overnight.  Drain and rinse water.  In a large pot, bring beans to boil in two cups of water, cover, and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

2.)  Add rice, half the sugar, and about 3/4 of the can of coconut milk.  Simmer for 15 minutes covered, but watching for boil over.  Stir mixture halfway through cooking time.

3.)  Add rest of sugar (more or less to taste) and more water to your preferred consistency.  Continue simmering, stirring every few minutes, with cover ajar until rice is cooked about 15 - 25 minutes.

4.)  When rice is done, turn off heat, add vanilla and allow to site, covered, for 15 minutes.  Serve hot or cold with a tablespoon of remaining coconut milk over rice pudding.

Mini-Review
So YUMMY!  Not the healthiest thing for you but it's one of my guilty indulgences.  I'm working on getting it 'healthified' so when that happens I'll be sure to post about it.

Stuffed cabbage

I've had stuffed cabbage once in my life and actually really liked it! So when I found a recipe for it, I tweaked it a little and made it healthier. This recipe is pretty simple, but requires a lot more time in preparation and cooking than most of my other 'easy' recipes. Save this one for the weekend.

So why cabbage? Besides the fact that I've never cooked with it before, the cabbage family such, as head cabbage, kale, and collard greens, contain phytonutrients known as glucosinolates that help increase the production of detoxifying enzymes in your body. More information can be found here, here, and here.

Ingredients for filling:
(makes 6 servings; 1 serving = 2 stuffed cabbages)

• 1c cooked brown rice
• 10 cabbage leaves
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 ripe Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• garlic to taste
• 1tsp. dried oregano
• 1tsp. cinnamon
• a dash of cayenne pepper
• 0.5c bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs
• 10 toothpicks, pre-soaked in water

Ingredients for sauce:

• olive oil cooking spray
• 6oz. unsalted tomato paste
• 10 white mushrooms, diced
• 0.5c water
• 0.25c apple cider vinegar
• garlic to taste
• 1tsp. oregano
• 1tsp. cinnamon
• a dash of cayenne pepper
• 0.5tbsp. dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

1.) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Turn off heat and blanch each cabbage leaf for a few seconds, until leaf is pliable and won't tear when folded.

2.) Set a large pan over medium heat and cook turkey until no longer pink. About 5 minutes. Add all except about two tbs. of the chopped onions and cook till onions are clean. Set aside the two tbs. of onions for the sauce.

3.) Add diced tomatoes, cinnamon, oregano, and cayenne and cook till fragrant. About another 3 more minutes.

4.) In a separate bowl, mixed together the bread crumbs and cooled brown rice. When thoroughly mixed, add the rice mixture to the turkey mixture. Take off heat and mix well.

5.) To stuff cabbage, place about 0.25c worth of filling in the middle of a cabbage leaf. Roll like a burrito, starting with the two side edges, then the bottom edge. Continue to fold away from you until cabbage leaf is completely sealed. Secure with wet toothpick. When all cabbage leaves are filled, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

7.) To make sauce: Using same pan as filling, set over medium heat. Mist with olive oil cooking spray and add reserved two tbs. of onions, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.

8.) Add in tomato paste, water, apple cider vinegar, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne and thyme. Cook until fragrant, about 2 more minutes.

9.) Remove from heat and put about two spoonfuls of sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish (or cake pan if you have no dish, like me). Lay stuffed cabbages in dish and pour remaining sauce over cabbage.
10.) Cover dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. ENJOY!

Mini-Review
Okay... this recipe has major potential to be good and the only thing I would change: the sauce. The apple cider vinegar was WAY too strong and both Anthony and I didn't like it. The only time I had stuffed cabbage it was more of a marinara sauce so that's kinda what I was expecting. I think toning down on the vinegar and adding in more tomato flavor will totally make this recipe good.

Other than that, adding in a couple of egg whites to the filling mixture for more 'binding' power would totally make this recipe work better. Actually, eggs where called for in the recipe - there in my ingredient picture! - but I totally forgot to use them.

Curried rice w/ shrimp and scallop

This recipe was adapted from Real Simple, and although the original recipe sounded great, I added/subtracted ingredients to what Anthony and I would like. The original recipe used white rice which made the cooking time MUCH faster but we're brown rice eaters so I used what we had. Overall this dish was so YUMMY!!! We threw in some red pepper flakes for an added kick and more spiciness.

The next time I make this recipe, I will leave out one carrot because it made the curry too sweet, and throw in some other veggies instead: mushrooms, peppers, celery... basically anything that would normally go in curry. Also, next time I would add the carrots, onions, water and rice all at the same time if I'm using brown rice because the onions pretty much disintegrated and the carrots were really mushy. If you're making this with white rice (cooking time is only about 15 minutes for the rice) then sauteing the carrots and onions first would be perfect.

Ingredients:
(makes 4 servings)

• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• garlic, minced
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1c uncooked brown rice
• 3/4 lb. uncooked shrimp
• 3/4 lb. uncooked scallops
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Chop carrots and onions and cook until soft (about 5 minutes).
2. Mince garlic while carrots and onions are cooking and add to skillet, along with curry powder. Cook garlic and powder until fragrant (about 2 minutes).

3. Add uncooked rice, 2.5c of water, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, stir once, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

4. While rice is cooking sear scallops.(Yes, I bought the tiny ones!)

5. Add uncooked shrimp and seared scallops to curried rice, nestling shrimp close to the bottom of the skillet. Cook until shrimp are cooked through (about 5 minutes).

6. ENJOY!