When I was younger my dad used to make us veggies and rice for dinner. It was always one of my favorite meals. A steaming pot of rice accompanied by fresh sautéd veggies and soft cubes of tofu, topped off with some soy sauce and fresh nuts. I remember smelling the salty aroma of soy sauce as I entered my home after evening ballet class. Upon arrival, I would eagerly walk into the kitchen to see steam rising from the rice pot and an assortment of colorful veggies glistening from oil in a pan beside it. A smile would appear across my face, knowing the comfort of this Asian inspired dish would soon quench my grumbling tummy.

My younger brother, Christopher, and I would eagerly sit at the dinning room table as my dad finished the last details of our supper. We would rock back and forth in our chairs and fiddle with the bamboo placemats as we impatiently waited. A few minutes later my dad would appear with a steaming plate of veggies and rice for each one of us. We would chat about our days as we filled our guts and spoiled our taste buds.

One night when we were eating our veggies and rice, I discovered a new vegetable. Marveled by the unfamiliar slightly bitter yet light and savory taste, I asked my father what the leafy greens were. He told me that there were actually two, the curly darker green one was called kale and the flatter lighter green one with the red and orange veins and steams was called chard. I repeated the words slowly “kale” and “chard.” I was in such astonishment that simple veggies that simply grow out of the ground could taste so heavenly. After that, each meal of veggies and rice was accompanied by an overeager question of weather kale and chard where present in the meal and a boom of excitement when the answer was yes. As I happily ate my meal, I would declare my love for kale and chard.

(Veggies cut for my stir fry)

Veggies and Rice was actually one of the first things I ever learned to cook. My dad and step mom had gone out for the night and left us to fend for ourselves. I was 13, standing around the kitchen with my brother and best friend, Courtney. The stealthy hands of the clock had somehow managed to sneak their way to 6:30 and our stomachs were grumbling. Aside from baking muffins and helping my parents in the kitchen, I had never really cooked before and didn’t even really know how. I looked around the pantry and in the fridge and couldn’t find anything except a bunch of veggies. I guess I was hoping for something simple like prepackaged raviolis with a jar of marinara, I had no such luck.

My mind wandered to one of my favorite meals, veggies and rice. Since we had tons of veggies and this meal didn’t sound too extravagant, I decided that would be the meal I would cook for my brother and friend. The only problem was that I didn’t know how to cook. Like the word association game, I thought of the word “cook” and then “grandma.” My grandma loves cooking and is quite good at it so I called her up to learn how to make my stir fry dinner. After giving me directions on how to make the rice and cut and sauté the veggies, I thanked her and persisted to cook my first meal.

(Sautéed veggies a few minutes away from being done)

After about 30 minutes the food was done and we all eagerly dished up our plates and met in the dinning room. My first meal was not as flawless as one would hope. I was not yet knowledgable in vegetable types and chopped up a large forest green spicy pepper to sauté with my veggies, at the time I was very sensitive to spice, needless to say the meal left me with an ice cube on my lips to calm down the burning of that cursed pepper. Luckily Christopher and Courtney handled their spice a lot better than me and enjoyed the meal without the presence of ice cubes. Other than that, the meal was actually very good and I had taken my first step towards becoming a chef.

Now, 5 years later, veggies and rice is still one of my favorite meals. Since then I have learned a lot of cooking techniques, such as how to cut vegetables efficiently, and the same size so they will cook evenly. I’ve developed an intuition of how often to check my veggies and learned to look for signs of when to add the next veggies. I’ve learned which veggies take longer to cook such as onions, peppers, carrots, and cauliflower vs. ones that take shorter like bok choy, chard, and collard greens. Needless to say, my cooking has improved and so have my veggies and rice.

                    (Tofu just added to the pan)                                              (Tofu that is almost done)

Over these past years, I have experimented with several variations of this meal and today I’m sharing one inspired by this beautiful and unique volcano rice. I love this rice! It is a blend of red and brown rice grown in volcanic soils in Indonesia. The volcanic soil is rich in magnesium, manganese, and zinc which makes for a more mineral rich rice. That being said, you may substitute brown rice if you desire and it will still taste great.

The next part of the meal is the veggies. I try my best to eat with the seasons so most of the veggies in this meal naturally and traditionally grow in the summer time, hence the recipe name. You may also substitute other veggies if you would like, I often times just use whatever veggies I have on hand.

The last part of the recipe is the 5 Chinese spice tofu. This is something my dad started making a few years ago and I have come to enjoy. Its a nice and easy way to spice up the tofu and add texture with a crunchy outside while still possessing a soft interior.

This recipe is dear to my heart. It has roots of family tradition yet also has some new twists that I have experimented with. I hope you, your family, and friends enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

With love from my kitchen to yours,

Kayley

Summer Volcano Rice and Veggie Bowl with 5 Chinese Spiced Tofu

Nutrition:

Notes:

• Traditionally made soy products (like “traditionally brewed soy sauce”) are vastly different than commercially produced soy products. Many modern companies make soy sauce using chemical methods in place of fermentation to save time. Fermentation is key to making soy healthy for consumption. During fermentation goitrogens and phytoestrogens (chemicals that naturally occur in soy) are neutralized by “using the fat- and protein- rich beans as a substrate for microbial action” (3). If these chemicals are not neutralized, they can disrupt thyroid and sex hormone function causing “hypo- and hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer, and – particularly during infancy or pregnancy – male and female reproductive disorders” (3, 4, 5). For these reasons it is important to buy traditionally made soy products.

• Sprouting rice increases the bioavailability of nutrients. The process of germination increases levels of “levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), magnesium, potassium, and zinc, as well as the phytonutrients ferulic acid and gamma oryzanol” (6). Sprouting also helps decrease anti-nutrients (molecules that bind to nutrients inhibiting their absorption) like phytates, saponins, and lectins (7). You can buy rice that has already been sprouted or you can practice this ancient method yourself.

• How to Sprout Rice:

1. “Place ½ cup brown rice in a quart-size sprouting jar or other sprouting container. Fill with water, cover with a sprouting screen or mesh sprouting lid. Soak 12 hours or overnight.
2. Drain off water.
3. Invert the jar over a bowl at an angle so that the rice will drain and still allow air to circulate.
4. After 12 hours of draining, rinse and drain again.
5. Repeat rinsing and draining 2-3 times daily.
6. Tiny sprouts should begin to form in 2-3 days. At this point, sprouting is complete.
7. Drain the sprouts well and transfer to a covered container” (8).

• Nutrition is based on the products I use. I provide a nutrition table so that you can quickly check to see if your food products match or so that you can easily calculate the nutrition for any changes you want to make to the recipe. I think this helps if you have very specific diet goals and/or fitness and/or health goals. I also wanted you to be able to see exactly where I get the numbers for my nutrition facts so that you can see that they are reliable and learn more about macro breakdowns of food.

• I only calculate half the oil used because a lot of it sticks to the pan

Works Cited

1. Nutritionix. Gladson. https://www.nutritionix.com/ Accessed 21 January 2019.

2. “Nutrition Label of volcano rice.” Lotus Foods, Richmond, CA, 2019.

3. Shanahan, Catherine. Deep Nutrition. New York: Flat Iron Books. 2016. Print.

4. “Soy Sauce.” Science Direct. Accessed 28 October 2019. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/soy-sauce

5. “The Story and Science of Soy Sauce.” Science Meets Food. 6 June 2019. http://sciencemeetsfood.org/story-science-soy-sauce/

6. Layarda, Sofia. “Sprouted Brown Rice: Health Benefits and How-To.” Health Castle.12 March 2013. https://www.healthcastle.com/sprouted-brown-rice-health-benefits-and-how-to/

7. “Antinutrients.” Nutrients Review. Accessed 21 August 2020. http://www.nutrientsreview.com/antinutrients

8. “How to Sprout Brown Rice.” Culture for Health. Accessed 21 August 2020. https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/sprouting/how-to-sprout-brown-rice/