I know I haven’t written for awhile…since the swine flu scare here, I believe. But I’ve got a question that I’ve been pondering for a bit now: how to define community. So, if you’d be so kind as to email me or post a comment of what your definition of community is, I’d be much obliged.
And here is a recipe that I’ve fallen in love with. I make it on a weekly basis, pretty much as is, except for switching up the veggies some. I don’t have a wok, so I use a large saucepan and I suggest chopping the veggies first and, once that’s done, it goes quite quickly (despite the length of the recipe). You can make it as spicy (or not) as you like. I find it somewhat addicting and it’s quite delicious the next day as well.
Thai Fried Rice
Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant (p 581-I recommend the entire cookbook)
Choose 3-4 of the following to equal 2-1/2 cups:
green peas (fresh or frozen)
green beans, sliced diagonally in 1-in pieces
red or green bell pepper, cut into short strips
bean sprouts blanched for 5 seconds, cooled and drained
(and I use broccoli and pretty much anything else I happen to have on hand)
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1/4 C vegetable oil
1/2 T minced fresh ginger root
2 T minced garlic cloves
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6 C cook rice (preferably short grain)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 C chopped fresh tomatoes
2 T Thai sriraja chili sauce or other fresh hot chili paste or a few tiny chciles cut into small circles
2 T fish sauce
juice of 1/2 lime
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1/2 lime, cut into thin wedges
scallions, whole or cut on a severe diagonal into 1-in pieces
tiny chiles (optional)
Choose and prepare the vegetables. Select a combination with a variety of colors.
In a wok, heat the oil and stir-fry the ginger and garlic until golden. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set them aside for later. In the same oil, stir-fry the vegetables until just cooked (add the harder ones like carrots first and the sprouts last). Remove the vegetables from the wok and set aside.
Most of the oil will now be gone, but never mind, just add the rice to the wok and heat thoroughly. With your wok spoon, make a hole through the rice down to the wok and put in the eggs. Stir until they are pretty well set before you mix them into the rice. The more you cook the eggs before stirring them into the rice, the drier the dish will be, which is the way I like it. [Those are the author's words, but I also like it better a bit drier. If you mix the eggs in right away, the whole dish gets a little mushy]. Add the tomatoes, the reserved ginger and garlic and the stir-fried veggies. Finally mix in the chili sauce, fish sauce and the lime juice.
Either serve one whole scallion per person to chomp on with the fried rice or top each serving with thin slices of scallion. Have lime wedges available for squeezing on top and more fresh chiles for the foolhardy.
Enjoy 
