Broccoli fried rice

This fried rice was thrown together using leftovers I had in my fridge.  I had leftover broccoli from a dinner earlier in the week.      I had used up all my soy sauce except two lonely packets leftover from Chinese takeout; so the prime flavoring used was sesame oil  and sesame seeds.

Omelette with spicy mayo sauce served over White Rice

What do you make on a Friday night when you just want to order a pizza and be done with it?  Eggs and rice of course!

My mother would call this "comida de pobre" or "the poor man's dinner."  My husband who lived in Japan would call this "Om-rice," I just call it fast food.

What makes this particular dish awesome is the steamed white rice, which is way easier to accomplish in a rice cooker.  It doesn't have to be as fancy as my zojiroshi Japanese style rice cooker, but when you use a rice cooker the rice really does come out fluffier.  My mother has three different ones that have all served her well: a Hitachi from the 1960's which is still kicking despite its wear, a 20$ one she picked up at a local drugstore, and a microwave rice cooker that she found at her local Latin grocery store.  All are able to produce fluffy rice on the cheap.  Aside from that the only other tool needed is a decent nonstick pan.

Omelette Ingredients:

6 large eggs beaten (at least three per person)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil divided

White rice ingredients:

1 cup white rice

Water according to rice cooker's recommendation

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

Spicy mayo ingredients:

2 tbsp light mayo

1 very generous squirt of Siracha sauce (spicy Thai chili sauce AKA Rooster sauce)

2 tbsp lime or lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Water if you want the sauce more fluid or less spicy

Directions:

Wash the rice really well with lots of cold water constantly pouring out the fury water and adding fresh water until the water looks clear. Once rice is clean add water according to rice cooker's directions and then add a splash more (this makes rice a little more sticky and fluffy). Then add oil, salt, stir everything and begin to cook rice. My rice cooker takes about 45 minutes on "quick setting,". Other rice cookers depending on the brand can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

During The last five minutes of cooking time begin work on your omelette and sauce.

In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise, siracha sauce, and lemon juice.  Taste it and add salt and pepper as needed.  If sauce is too spicy you can add a tbsp if water or extra lemon juice. If not spicy enough add more siracha sauce.  Keep sauce Refrigerated

Heat nonstick pan in high with 1tsp of olive oil.  while oil is heating up, crack the first three eggs in a small bowl and beat vigoursly with a fork. Add eggs to pan and begin stirring the center and then re distributing uncooked egg throughout pan by turning pan with handle.  Lower heat to medium low.  Using spatula drag it around edges of pan lifting cooked egg up slightly.  Once egg starts to look like a pancake and is only slightly runny in the middle, lift one side of the omelette and fold it over the other side.  Slide onto plate over the rice.

Drizzle sauce over omelette, and serve hot.

Minestrone soup

What do you make when company comes over and you have a bunch of random pantry and fridge items?  Soup of course!  This particular soup was also a good way to use up a head of celery I bought a week ago before it went bad (leftover celery was chopped and tossed into freezer).

Ingredients:

Carrots diced

Celery diced

Can of spaghetti sauce with veggies (I used this also to get rid of it, but I would probably just use diced tomatoes canned)

Onion diced

5 cloves of Garlic smashed

1 can of roman beans ( I bought these by  accident and decided to use them up)

2 bouillon cubes (I had a mysterious box of beef ones leftover from my roommate)

Salt to taste (you may or may not need it based on the bouillon and spaghetti sauce used)

Black pepper 1 tsp

Dry Oregano 1 tsp

12 cups of water (I just added water to a 24 oz can 4 times and added to pot)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup of frozen green peas

2 bay leaves (fish them out before serving)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large stock pot and add diced onion, carrot, and celery.  Cook until onions are translucent, add garlic and billion cubes (if you use stock instead of water you can omit this).  Add thorough rinsed beans and tomato sauce or diced tomatoes.  Stir and add water.  Bring to boil, lower heat to medium and cook for at least an hour stirring occasionally.  Make sure carrots are soft and add frozen green peas. Stir and serve as first course or with a sandwich.