Enchanted Broccoli Forest

This one comes from the cookbook by Mollie Katzen named for this recipe. Leann and I made it for dinner last week, and it was delicious! Of course, I love broccoli, so it is perfect in my mind. I'm always wary of casseroles, but this one has a fun twist.

What's in it

1 1lb bunch broccoli

1 Tbl butter or oil

1 C chopped onion

salt to taste

1 clove minced garlic

2 Tbl lemon juice

6 C cooked brown rice

pepper and cayenne to taste

2 tsp dill

3 tsp mint

1/4 C fresh parsley, minced

1-2 C packed shredded cheese

How it's made

Time the bottoms off the broccoli, and cut stalks into spears, however you like. Cook them in a steamer until bright green and just tender. Rinse with cold water.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Melt the butter/oil in a skillet. Add onion and salt and saute until onion softens. Add garlic and lemon juice, and saute for about 2 minutes. Stir in the rice, seasonings, and cheese. Spread this mixture in the baking pan.

Arrange the broccoli spears upright in the pan like a forest of broccoli. Drizzle with melted butter (mixed with lemon juice if you'd like). Cover with foil and bake until heated through (20 minutes). Serve right away.

Vegan Sushi

Ok, so I loooove sushi. I could eat sushi pretty much anytime. I often get intense cravings for it. It doesn't help that there's a sushi restaurant in the same building as my gym. Every time I go to work out, I have to walk right by the place!

Since sashimi grade fish is typically a little out of my price range (and takes extra effort to acquire), I usually just make veggie sushi, which is just as good. I never would have thought I could make my own sushi, but a friend of mine gave me a quick lesson and I've been rolling my own seaweed ever since. It's so much cheaper than going out! And it's easy. All you need is a sushi mat, nori and some tasty fillings.

• 1 package nori (seaweed)
• Prepared sushi rice (from 1 cup uncooked)
• carrots
• celery
• avocado
• baked tofu
• anything you can think of that sound good in a sushi roll
• a few tablespoons of water in a small container
  
• soy sauce
• wasabi
  

1. Chop up your fillings. You want little matchstick size-slices---long and thin.

2. Set up your rolling stations. I usually let people roll their own sushi, so they can chose their own ingredients. I have two sushi mats with the rice cooker and the fillings in the middle and the small containers of water near the top of each mat.

3. Center a sheet of nori on your mat, shiny ridged side up. Scoop some rice onto the center of the nori and use a spoon to smash it flat and spread it out so that it covers the nori (to the edges!) leaving only about an inch at the top end uncovered. (This will allow the nori to stick to itself and form a roll.) About a third of the way from the bottom, press a small divot across the rice, creating a little space to nest your fillings.

4. Place a small row of the first filling all the way across the nori to the edges, leaving no gaps, but also not overlapping too much. That way each bite will have all the ingredients you add. Add your remaining toppings in a similar fashion, piling them up on top of each other in the divot area you created. The more toppings you add, the fatter your sushi rolls will be. For very spicy rolls, add chili sauce, or my personal favorite---a thin line of wasabi all the way across the nori.

5. Now for the fun part. Once you're satisfied with your fillings, it's time to roll. Pick up the bottom end of your sushi mat in both hands. Lift the mat (and therefore also the nori) up over the row of toppings and tuck it up snuggly on the side of the toppings furthest from you.

You want it to be tight or your rolls will fall apart after you cut them. Using little movements, roll the mat towards the top ( so that the mat ends up more or less folding in half), while continuing to roll the nori onto itself. Stop when you get to the inch you left rice-free.

6. Spoon a small amount of water onto the empty strip of nori. This will be the "glue" that makes the nori stick to itself and will secure your roll. Finish rolling the nori up over the top strip. Look, sushi! My friend said to put the finished rolls on a plate in the freezer while you make the rest. Chilling them slightly will make them easier to cut.

7. When you are ready to eat, cut each roll into bite-sized slices.

Sushi Rice

Sushi rice is short grain rice, though I didn't know that today when I was at Fred Meyer's shopping for our sushi dinner ingredients. Turns out it doesn't matter much. We made sushi rice with jasmine rice and it was just fine. I think that's really the nice thing about sushi---it's very forgiving. You can put pretty much anything in it and you can really get away with a lot before you mess it up too badly. It will still taste good.

I had no idea there was such a thing as sushi rice before I went to Kate's on New Year's Eve this year. I'd always made sushi with just plain rice (which was just fine---you see how this works?) and Christy sometimes even makes it with brown rice, but Kate's rice was definitely better. I investigated a little and found a few recipes. (Kate--any other versions or ideas?)

Here's one trick:

1. Stir 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil (optional), 1/8 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt together over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves (or microwave for 30-40 seconds). Let mixture cool and stir into just cooked rice. Let some of the liquid evaporate before using the rice.
   

* I started with 1 cup rinsed, uncooked rice which will give about 3 cups cooked rice. This was enough for about 5 rolls.
** How to make (vegan) sushi at home coming soon!

Thai Mango Sticky Rice

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, desert.  This tasty treat is good at any time of day, just like all good Thai food.  The newest iteration of Yum Sunday* happened last Sunday when I made this and Thai Iced Tea, and brunched at Lauren and Mary Ann's house.  

This treat is really easy to make, although it has a few steps, so if you have any questions, let me know!  I actually think mango sticky rice may be the avenue for world peace.

What's in it

1 1/2 C long grain sticky rice (I have a bag from Koda Farms, and it's called Premium Sweet Rice)

2 C unsweetened coconut milk (I use one can)

1 C sugar

2 tsp salt

ripe mangoes or other fruit (berries and bananas work really well)

sesame seeds

How it's done

Soak the rice in water overnight.

Drain the soaked rice, and place in a steamer basket.  You can use a traditional bamboo steamer inside a pot, or place cheesecloth over your own steamer basket to keep the rice from falling through.  Steam the rice 30-45 minutes, until the rice is plump and glistens, and pinches into chewy lumps.

While the rice is steaming, combine the coconut milk, sugar and salt in a medium pot and cook over medium heat.  Cook, stirring gently, for about five minutes until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and set aside.

When rice is ready, place in a large bowl, and pour the coconut mixture on top, stirring gently to mix.  Cover and set aside for at least 30 minutes.  I did this the night before and re-heated in the microwave.

Slice the mango and/or the other fruit.  

Serve the sticky rice on small dessert plates with sliced fruit on top, and sprinkled sesame seeds (or dried mung beans if you have any).  The rice tastes best when served warm.

*Yum Sunday was originally known as Waffle Sunday, which happened every Sunday at Alexis' house in Forest Ranch.  Alexis' mom, Patty, would make homemade Belgian waffles, and serve them up with a minimum of five of your favorite toppings.  When Alexis and I lived together in college, we had a revival of Waffle Sunday, although then it would happen at any time or day of the week.  After Andy and I dated a couple years, he finally introduce me to Thai Temple here in Berkeley, which is a temple that serves Thai food for breakfast every Sunday.  This is where I discovered Mango Sticky Rice.  After ritually going to Thai Temple months in a row, it became known as Yum Sunday (Yum!, for short).  I would have to say each of these iterations of breakfast were life changing.  Each of these iterations brought together friends and family, taking time out of the busy pace of life.  I highly encourage you to start your own Yum Sunday tradition.