Risotto

I love lots of kinds of food (mainly, rice). Anyone who knows me is well aware of my love of Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Malyasian, and other Asian cuisines. However, my love of rice does not stop there. I am in love with rice all around the world - from the delicious Spanish paella to the wild rice of the American South, all the way to the Chipotle lime-cilantro rice. And I'm not even going into what a stuffed tomato, bell pepper, or apple does for my saffron rice addiction!

But what is the big rice that vegans miss out on? Risotto! I don't know what started this craze where people add Parmesan cheese or cream to risotto, but it's driving me nuts! Risotto is naturally creamy and doesn't need all this other nonsense!

Arborio rice (also known as risotto rice) is very weird to me, at least as far as rice goes. It acts more like a dessicant, absorbing moisture, until it oozes apart while still maintaining it's crazy rice-ness. It's like a rice that comes with it's own gravy, and it's not some tasteless knock-off gravy either. This is how risotto should be.

Anyway, here's my Risotto recipe:
NOTE: I make a TON of risotto with this. Seriously. Good for potlucks or tons of lunches. It freezes well, and it seems to get better with time (and a little giardiniera doesn't hurt). 


How many lunches and dinners can I make at one time?!

Arborio Rice (I use the whole box, which is 1 lb)
Garlic cloves 4-6, minced
Vegetable stock 1 qt.
Diced Sage (dried) about 1 tspn
Diced Basil (dried) about 2 tspns
1 can of diced tomatoes
a handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
Oil for saute
3.2 Qt / 3 L saucepan

Veggies to stir in while things cook and you stir:
One zucchini or two little ones
4-6 oz mushrooms diced/sliced (if you like them as much as I do)
A couple handfuls of diced green beans
Spinach, a couple handfuls or to taste
Diced onion, celery, or a mix of the two about two cups
Whatever else you want. Risotto is pretty forgiving as far as ingredients go.

Saute the garlic gloves and dried herbs, with a little stock to give it a nice color. Then... ADD ALL THE RICE!! And stir it around sauteing for a while until it gets coated in oil and a little see-through. It's a lot of rice, and it looks super funny, but this is the key to keeping it rice-like and not porridge-like.

The next step is the most important: Slowly add the broth, one half cup at a time, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed. Once it starts sticking to the bottom of the pan, add another half cup, and keep on stirring with your big wooden spoon. Keep going until all the stock has been used up or the risotto is done. The rice is really absorbing the flavor of the stock, so try not to use plain water unless you run out of stock and the rice isn't done yet.

Whenever you want to add your tomatoes and other veggies, go for it. Save the fresh basil until the risotto has absorbed all the liquid and is fluffy. Turn off the heat, gently fold the basil in, and then you have a masterpiece!


And maybe I forgot the fresh basil in this batch...

Your pot will be FULL, so make sure you have plenty of containers to freeze this up in single-servings or a big party to go to. The oil you cooked it in at first helps it come out nicely and reheats into a smooth creamy risotto that doesn't goo into a big mess.

Why would you not make this?
Takes too much time - If this takes more than an hour, you're doing something weird. Stop that.
Takes too much work/stirring - Seriously? I'm probably punier than you are.
I don't have enough room in my kitchen. - Look at my kitchen.


Do you see counter-space there? I don't.

No excuses - this is a quick 30-50 mins that will feed you for a while and you will sound super fancy when you show up at work with your risotto for lunch. Like you actually spent time carefully crafting your lunch last night instead of making it last weekend and freezing it.

And you, my friend, are one classy cat.

Love,
M

Backpacks

Backpacks are awesome. And anyone else who thinks otherwise should read these next few lines carefully:

 - If you have a ton of books you need to carry to class, what do you put them in?
 - If you are hiking for days and are carrying your stuff, what do you put it in?
 - If you are going grocery shopping for a weeks worth of food by yourself and you have to carry it up stairs by yourself into your apartment and the stuff you are buying is canned food and glass bottles because that's what you have coupons for and can afford, WHAT DO YOU PUT IT IN?

I have always thought backpacks were convenient. I mean, going to classes and stuff? Just toss it in a backpack. Going to the library? Or backpacking? No brainer - a backpack for sure!

But now it hits me what an awesome thing the backpack is. I mean, couponing is cool, but everything is prepackaged. As a vegan, it's a little different because the only vegan things that are readily available with coupons are things like pasta sauce, canned beans, salsa, spices, sauces, stock, etc. And these are heavy items.

Living alone means I have to carry all this stuff by myself - throughout the store and into my place. With slightly puny arms, even just hauling this stuff around the store is tricky. Then loading it into the car and carrying it up stairs into my place? It's not just a merry little trip - this is something seriously exhausting, especially with the coupons I have.

Now, I have been dividing up the things I have - okay, maybe I'll get stock this week since I'm not out yet and then my heavy item next week will be pasta sauce - but it's still a bit tiring. Which is why I have decided to invest in a backpack.

Carry a bag full of 4 cans and 3 glass bottles in your arms. Now put it in an over-the-shoulder bag. Now put it in a backpack.

Which is easier? The backpack.

And just think - if I didn't have a car, I would be forced to carry my groceries in the snow, walking, taking the bus, walking again, etc. Now think about it - BACKPACKS ARE AWESOME!

Plus they totally fit under the seat in front of you as a carry-on for taking plane trips ;)

Simple Pleasures

When I was a kid, I used to love weekends and breaks from school for one simple reason - I got to make my own lunch leisurely, using whatever I wanted in the kitchen. There was plenty of food since we had a family of five, so if I wanted to use part of a bell pepper, someone else could have the other part or it would go into dinner. There was none of this: 'oh, I can't eat all this food by myself so I only have a limited selection of groceries in the fridge' ordeal that comes with living alone.

Now those of you who knew me back then are probably saying, 'Wait a minute! You ate ramen for lunch! It's not like you made real food!' And that's true. I ate a lot of ramen. Something about the guilty pleasure of eating a salty soup (maybe with some chili pepper in it) on a hot Houston summer day, steaming up your face and giving yourself a little more sweat than that lovely glisten you already had...

I also made a lot of egg drop soup - after learning how easy it was to make reading through a cookbook. A little fish sauce, a little sesame oil, and all of the sudden I could make something that was foreign and exciting! I love Asian cooking, and egg drop soup opened the door for me to realize that I can make food as good as restaurant Asian food in my own kitchen - whereas before my attempts were less than stellar (I remember one occasion stir-frying ham... which is already pretty salty before you add soy sauce...)

The real epiphany came to me watching my sister and my mother: after seeing my mom add veggies to mac 'n cheese (you can do that?!) and my sister applying the same concept by adding fish sauce and sesame oil to her ramen (no way!!), I realized that boxed and prepacked foods can be a template for a meal! Shocking, right? Hey, I was like twelve at the time...

What does my little mind do? Make egg drop soup and put ramen noodles in it. Instant success! Make ramen noodles and add veggies to it. Instant success! Make egg drop soup and add veggies to it. Instant success!

And here I am, all these years later, sitting in a warm apartment on a Saturday afternoon, hoping to get some work done at some point. And what do I make for lunch? Ramen (the vegan kind) with veggies in it.

Sometimes, it's the little things in life - like waking up on your own instead of your alarm clock waking you, or having a hot cup of tea after sledding with friends - that really make your life better. No matter how crazy work is, no matter how hurt I am after a break-up, no matter how cold and miserable it is outside... going into the kitchen, looking at all this food I have, and deciding on a simple bowl of ramen just makes it all better.

:)

The New Year

Dear readers,
I have an announcement that several of you already know - I have moved to Michigan! I received several promotion offers to choose from, and ended up transferring into a supervisory position in Grand Rapids, Michigan right before Christmas. What does that mean for you? Not much. What does that mean for me? Getting rid of almost everything I own, driving across the country, freezing my butt off scraping ice and snow off the car, and drinking so much hot tea to stay warm that I need to pee every thirty minutes.

And I've also started baking again. Yup, turns out the reason why I wasn't baking in Florida was because I only bake when I'm freezing and I want to warm up the apartment via oven and myself via food. I made fudgey brownies about a week and a half ago, and today, I am attempting lemon poppy-seed quick bread. Both were premixed boxes, but any baking is better than no baking.

My move also means I have to make friends again. The more I think about it, I've always had to make and remake friends my entire life. When I was little, I went to a private daycare, then a Catholic school until second grade, then a public school, then middle school, then high school, then college across the country, then my move to NJ searching for employment, then my move to Florida for my first 'real job', and now my promotion to Michigan. So I should have good friend making skills, right?

Wrong. I spent all day trying to start conversations with people, telling my waitress to ask solo diners if they want to join my table, and even downright asking someone to be my friend. Nope. At least I know my neighbors and coworkers, so I'm not completely devoid of human interaction. In fact, I really like my neighbors and their friends, and I could probably survive without other friends for a while longer before I go crazy.

I'm also lucky in the fact I have a wonderful boyfriend who lives six hours away - which means one or two weekends a month or so I should have human interaction with a very attractive male who is interested in me and interested in spending time with me. But I don't want to rely too much on that being my only source of fun 'cause that sounds like a recipe for being overly dependent which doesn't sound super appealing to me, especially since this relationship is still quite young.

So, readers, I am gathering up the courage to go out and try to find friends again in a few hours, by myself once again. I can't say that I've ever had the courage to go into a bar by myself before, but if this will help me plant my feet better, I might be able to try it.

Why am I so nervous? Well, I am a lightweight - and when I am nervous, I drink quickly. Also, I am looking for friends, not one night stands or even a relationship (already have one of those, thanks). Girls at bars tend to be clique-y and I've never been good at integrating into those. And what if I spend all night talking to people, having some fun, and then no one exchanges numbers or makes plans to see me again, or what if I'm turned down flat asking to be friends AGAIN?!

That's what makes me uncomfortable with this idea. Plus I only go to the bar if my friends want to go, it's expensive and loud, and I'm trying to cut back on alcohol consumption.

What did I do to make friends in Florida? I went to the public market (the one here is tiny since it's winter and its too cold), I went to public yoga classes (the ones here are very expensive and I turned my living room into my own yoga studio), and I hung out with coworkers (the ones here are nice, but have families or something turns me off from getting too close to them).

So what will I end up doing tonight? Who knows. Wish me luck!
Molly V

P.S. Of course, I still love all my long-distance friends, thank you for all your support and texts and calls and Skype-ing!!!!

Re-evaluating the Vegan thing - and will still eat vegan!

So I recently ate seafood again - as sort of a re-evaluation of the vegan thing. Why? I just wanted to. You're supposed to doubt everything, right?

It was very consistent with my memory - same texture, taste, mouth-feel that I remembered. But it didn't produce the same feeling of comfort, same 'mmm this is the stuff' or 'tastes like home'. I didn't crave it anymore.

So I'm going to keep eating vegan food. Meat and cheese doesn't produce the same excitement it used to do for me, and I've now discovered that seafood, my once all-time-favorite, doesn't do that either.

I am quite happy with the fact that I was comfortable enough to question and re-evaluate the vegan decision. It's like I am able to keep in touch with myself and always know who I am, not who I chose to be.

What have you questioned lately?

A random update??

It's been almost a year since my last post - so why am I doing one now?

Good question.

You see, I had a little bit of an epiphany today. To make a long story short, I lost my purse with some very important belongings in it last night. Upon waking this morning and realizing that it was gone, I got to start the fun process of retracing my steps, going to the police station, calling all the cabs in the area on other people's phones, calling the rental car company, trying to prove who I am without a drivers license, trying to order a new DL without debit or credit cards, etc.

I am very lucky.

I have friends that will help me look, friends that will feed me when I can't buy food, friends that will drive me places, friends that will help me call, friends that will let me use their phones, and friends that have friends that will also help me do these things even though I met them yesterday.

So even though I am in the middle of what some have referred to as a 'crisis', I feel great! Sure I can live without a cell phone - I'll just make people call the hotel and be transferred to my room! Sure I can live without a rental car - I can take public transport for the rest of my trip! Sure I can live without my credit/debit cards (for a little while) - since I'm on a business trip, I'll just get my coworkers to use their comapny cards to cover my business travel expenses! Sure I can live without a license - I have my passport in my hotel room, so I can use that as my ID for getting on the plane home!

Now, I will be re-ordering all of these things, make no mistake (especially a new medical insurance card, I definitely will need that). But I think I am so incredibly lucky to do this at a time / place where I can get away with it, and going without a phone, car, etc for a few days will probably be a good experience for me.