Friday, April 21, 2006

Chik'n & Broccoli with Garlic Sauce

Today's lunch is not that complicated. I was in the mood for something Asian again, so I ended up packing Chik'n & Broccoli in Garlic Sauce. The sauce was just made from this recipe that I used with some tofu in the lunchbox a few weeks ago. To make it a little more interesting than just plain old tofu, I instead added some Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik'n Strips, frozen broccoli, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots.

The last time I packed something like this, I put it all in one container. I just put a little rice in the red container and then topped it with the sauce. I discovered that day, when I actually ate the lunch, that it wasn't really enough for a hungry adult to eat. It would have been fine if you were packing lunch for a youngster, but I wanted more than what would fit in a single container. So this time, I took the Chinese takeout approach and filled one container with my rice, and then filled another container with the sauce and all the vegetables. I can mix them together as I eat them and it will fill me up a lot more than my previous Asian lunch did.

I threw the same two raw foods in that I had yesterday. It's just some baby carrots and another slice of that raw Date Nut Torte that I made from Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food book. I got this book a couple of days ago and have been reading it avidly. It is full of lots of interesting information and a TON of raw food recipes. I intend on trying ALL of them eventually. I would like to do a 100% raw diet for at least a week at some point in the near future just to see how I feel and what happens. I've got my recipe book now, and the dehydrator is arriving today, so I guess I could start on Monday if I really wanted to. I just don't know though, it just seems kind of scary to think about eating raw 100% of the time. I know there's no shortage of food options or recipes, so I don't know what I am really afraid of. Maybe it's just because it would be something different.

I guess we'll see. I might start a week of 100% raw next Monday if I can get properly motivated. Or maybe not. I may just start slowly working more and more of it in and see what happens. Anyway, I guess the lunchbox on Monday will tell the tale. I'm sure it will contain, at least, some new raw food things that I make this weekend using my new dehydrator.

Well, that's all for Friday. It's pouring down rain here in Tennessee again. It's supposed to be really nice this Sunday though. I am planning on fixing a nice big vegan brunch on Sunday morning for my mom and dad out at the lake. If it ends up being anywhere near as good as the brunch that I made last weekend, I will probably do an extra post on Sunday and let you see how it turned out. All of this is assuming that it doesn't pour down rain though.

Thanks for stopping by today. I can't wait to leave work and go home and play with the new food dehydrator (yes, I am easily amused). I hope everybody has a great weekend and I hope the sun shines wherever you're at. See everybody on Monday!

10 comments:

Theresa said...

It's super sun shiney in upstate NY!

I have a question that is completely unrelated to todays post, but I'll go ahead and ask it anyways.... that pizza crust/bread dough recipe that you use... I wanted to try it out, but then I read it more closely... do you really let it rise for 9 hours? That seems ridiculously long. And then, what temps/times do you use for loaves/buns/etc?

Good lunch!

kennyboy said...

When I use it for pizza crust I let it rise a long time, sometimes overnight, so it doesn't poof up too much when I cook the pizza.

When I make bread with it though, no, I just let it rise 15 minutes the first time and then roll it out and cut it into buns, just like cutting biscuits.

I also change some amounts on that recipe and use 1 1/4 cup water, 3 Tbsp. sugar (to give the yeast plenty of food so the buns will rise more - I just use 1 Tbsp. sugar when I use it for pizza crust), and I use olive oil for the oil and I replace the salt with No-Salt to cut down on the sodium. Oh, and I of course replace all the white flour with whole wheat pastry flour now.

Heather said...

I love my dehydrator! We hike and camp quite a bit and I make my own trail mix with dried fruit. Pineapple is the best. I never got the cranberries to work. Have fun!

Anonymous said...

That looks delish! I think I may try that sauce tonight, have everything but the broccoli, maybe I'll replace those w/ carrots? hmmmm. Always so inspiring :)

kennyboy said...

Yeah, that sauce is yummy. And you can substitute anything like you said.

I didn't have any green onions, so a handful of frozen diced onions went in it instead.

Anonymous said...

Check out the raw book RAW FOOD DETOX DIET...she talks about going raw in stages....there is a test that u take that determines what level of raw would be right for u....she also has a recipe for green lemonade that is soooo good!....good luck

Merry said...

If you're a carrot lover like me here's a tip.....I used to be addicted to "baby" carrots but then I tried the organic "baby" carrots from my farmer's market. They're smaller than huge carrots but still actually look like carrots. They taste sooooo much better. I just give them a quick peel and chop them up and into the lunchbox they go. They're not quite as quick but the taste difference is huge. I figured out why....those "baby" carrots in a bag are actually big carrots that they've ground down to "baby" size. Who knew?

Kris said...

I don't think there's anything wrong with being entertained by a dehydrater! I love kitchen stuff. I was just telling Jim how going to the kitchen appliance and gadget section of the store is like a sex store for me. I love it, it's the best! When we bought our juicer we spent any entire evening pouring over the book and playing with it.

Sigh. I love the kitchen.

Anonymous said...

Here's the raw "Ranch Dressing" recipe. This is from the book Raw Foods for Busy People by Jordan Maerin.

Instant Ranch Dressing

1 cup cashew butter
1/2 cup water
3 Tb. lemon juice
1 tsp. raw cider vinegar
pinch of salt
1 tsp. italian seasoning or dried dill
1 clove garlic
1 stalk celery

combine all ingredients in a blender and whip until smooth.

This is a great recipe for fiddling with. Play with different herbs and spices to get the exact flavor you're looking for. I hope you like it!

Traci Anerson said...

Morning Star has vegan chicken strips? I
use to like chix patties but wished they were vegan. If you visit my blog...go to the food section...I'm a vegan (practically)...but you will hate my hompage...