Pad Thai in a Hurry, with Cauliflower

 The other day, coming home from a tiresome journey, I needed a meal to pick me up, but I had no energy for any big production, and here the conveniences of a smart pantry came to the rescue.

On the way home I had picked up a beautiful head of Fioretto cauliflower, and I remembered that I still

had some Annie Chun's Brown Rice Pad Thai noodles, and some Maesri Thai Red Curry Paste, as well as a package of frozen Goya Fajita Mix, as well as a king mushroom. With the help of some onions and garlic, a deliciously refreshing and spicy meal was quickly ready.
Usually, I regard meal prep as a necessary part of therapy, it is a wonderful way of communing with nature on the 4th floor in the Bronx, and looking out on a side street.

But there are times when convenience counts, and 

you can still have a healthy meal, so here we go:

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 3-6 cloves of garlic
• 1 king mushroom
• 1 cup water
• 1 can of Thai Curry
• 1 bag of Fajita Mix
• 1 TBSP of arrowroot (or other starch)
• Brown Rice Pad Thai noodles.

Preparation:

• Soak the Pad Thai noodles in hot water for 10 mins, rinse cold and set aside.
  
• Cut up the onion fine.
• Mince the garlic
• Cut up the king mushroom in strips (I use a mandoline)
• Stir-fry in the water for a while
• Add the curry paste
• Cut up the Cauliflower in florets
• Add to the mix and let it cook on medium flame for 2 minutes
• Add the Fajita Mix, and cook until soft, turn down the heat to just a simmer
• mix the starch with a 1/4 cup of cold water, and add to the mix.
• At the end add in the noodles and let them warm up.

Serve. Enjoy.

Evidently you could use different mushrooms, or you can add in a handful of fresh peanuts if you have them, and depending if you permit yourself some nuts, which tends to be a hot topic in plant-based circles. Evidently, if you are a serious heart patient, follow Dr. Esselstyn and avoid nuts and seeds, avocado and coconut, because of the oil content. You get all the fat you need from beans, etc.

One armed #WFPB with Neerob Restaurant

This is a case of necessity being the mother of invention. Some of us struggle to find the time for food prep, and if you really want to embrace the Whole Foods Plant-Based lifestyle, you have to create a routine that will get you through the week reliably. One solution is a new dinner special from Neerob. This particular challenge gained some fresh perspective for me recently, when I fractured my right wrist, and food prep became very hard. Now it was not just time, but a physical restriction.

I had an interesting experience with my friend Khokon, the owner of Neerob Restaurant, which has, since February of 2019 been the first restaurant in the Bronx certified by Plant Pure Communities. And, while Covid rudely interrupted us, we are now slowly working on a finding some sort of a new equilibrium, a new normal. The process was advanced a bit by my having a fractured wrist, which limited my food prep capabilities:

Dinner for three days, anyone?

Of course it was my right hand and I am right handed, and it is amazing how clumsy you can be with your non-dominant hand. I am getting better, but undoubtedly I will still be far from proficient when the cast comes off on December 3rd.

But a solution emerged quickly. It will soon be on the menu and we are going to develop a new page on the Neerob Website for #WFPB food.

There will be a "Market #WFPB" dinner, consisting of Salad, Rice, a Dal (lentil sauce) with a green vegetable in it, and one or two veggie dishes.

For a small extra charge, you can get the "Market #WFPB ++" for which they could make enough extra of the dal, and the veggie dishes to take home for at least two more days.

Day 2 & 3 

It could look like the dish on the right, or like the dish at the bottom (separate pics of salad and dinner)

On the second and 3rd day you would make your own salad, and cook your own rice, and get some low fat whole wheat and flax tortilla wraps from OLÉ, available at Chang-Li Market.

You can then make yourself some kind of a burrito with rice, dal, some veggies, and, if you want, some pickled jalapeños (I put1 4-5 nacho slices in each one).

You can vary the salad endlessly. This would cut your prep-time significantly, I ate two or three of those burritos for dinner. Easy, even if you only have one arm!

One day Shamim made me a dish with Brussels sprouts, and the next day I ate it as a salad next to my burrito, with rice and dal and jalapeños, and the third day I added a bag of roast chestnuts and that made a whole meal. Side salad optional.

Typically, I bring my own brown rice, for it is too much to ask them for making special brown rice for one. Not enough demand as yet.

Budget #WFPB on Starling Avenue

Recently, Premium Halal had Okra at $1.49. Their selection of veggies is always great. In general Okra goes anywhere from $0.99/lb to $2,49 lb, depending on the shipment. It pays to watch... Okra is extremely healthy! Low on the glycemic index and high in nutrition.

Rice, one of our staples

White rice is a nutritional disaster.

White Rice is very high on the glycemic index, and basically it is stripped of the nutrition and fiber of brown rice. Yes! Magazine had a beautiful story recently about The Story of White Rice. Notice this passage:

After farmers harvest their rice, it typically goes to a mill. There, it is cleaned and the husks are taken off the grains of rice. At this point, it is referred to as “brown rice” or “unpolished” rice. Once the husk has been taken off the rice, there remain several very thin layers of wholesome bran. At this stage, the rice is full of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and protein—and very healthy to eat.

But polishing rice from so-called “dirty rice” into the sparkling white form that most people prefer has caused—yes, caused—a number of major, adverse impacts on health.

First, polishing removes most of the vitamins and minerals vital to one’s health. One example: the rice bran contains vitamin B and thiamine, both key to preventing beriberi. Indeed, in the largest World War II prison camp in the Philippines (where John’s grandfather was interned), American prisoners suffered from beriberi until they convinced the Japanese prison guards to let them cook the bran shavings that came off the polished rice; then the beriberi went away.

White rice also increases the risk of diabetes, rates of which are rising quickly in the Philippines, the United States and many other countries. The rice layers removed during polishing contain nutrients that guard against diabetes. Polished rice further contributes to diabetes risk because it causes blood-sugar levels to rise more rapidly than brown rice does. According to the New York Times, a 2010 Harvard study showed that people who consume white rice at least five times a week “are almost 20 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who eat it less than once a month.” In our travels in the Philippines and the United States, we meet people who are shifting to brown rice on their doctors’ orders precisely because of concerns about diabetes.

And polishing rice also reduces the protein content of the rice, which can mean the difference between being well-nourished or malnourished. The bottom line on all of these health fronts is the same: the more polished the rice, the less healthy.

from: The Story of White Rice

Brown rice is healthy, black and red rice even better...

Here's for the selection of Basmati Brown Rice at Al Aqsa:

Basmati Brown Rice in 4lb, 8 lb and 10lb packs.  The Shimla Road Brown Basmati is $6.99 for 4 lbs and $14.99 for 10 lbs, Deer Organic Brown Basmati is $14.99 for an 8 lbs bag. Neerob Bazaar, by the Bx22 bus stop carries Swad Brown Basmati for $12 per 10 lbs. Take your pick. Brown Rice from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan is the healthiest you can get because of lower arsenic levels. In the US, I would trust Lundberg rice the best.

Brown versus white

The bottom line? Brown rice versus white reduces the diabetes risk by 16%, and a significant reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer and, for that matter, red, purrple and black rice may be even better, so you might explore some variety:

Different varieties at Chang Li Supermarket:

Rice blend

Black Rice

 

Onions, another daily staple

Canadian Onions on the left, US Onions on the right.

The US onions go for $2.99 for a 10 Lb bag, and the Canadian onions, such as Onio and Vegco, go for $4.99 for 10 lb. It all varies a bit with the seasons. I've seen the Canadians for as little as $3.99 and sometimes more than $4.99 too. The US onions I've seen as low as $ 1.99 at times.

In short, with $15 to $20, you can have 10 lbs of high quality rice and 10 lbs of quality onions, then you can add various lentils, chick peas and beans, and that is most of what you need for staples for the month and you only need to add fresh fruit and vegetables.

Rice in the hood

Buying, keeping, and preparing organic brown rice is easy, but it does require some thought.

First, if you are equipped with that most essential kitchen tool, the automatic rice cooker with an GABA brown rice cycle, that will determine what rice you buy. If you are still wondering if you should own such a device, do read my earlier post that I linked to in the previous sentence. The long and short of it is: if you have one of the fancy models with GABA brown rice cycle and a timer, it's better than having your own personal cook - they don't talk back, and they deliver like clockwork, never mind the GABA brown rice cycle takes two and a half hours.

If you do not have such a device, nor a pressure cooker, you might have reason to buy parboiled brown rice, which recently was available in many stores in the neighborhood, including this one at Neerob Bazaar:

Della Parboiled Organic Light Brown Rice (Quick Cooking)

The facts of life are that brown rice is healthier, but it takes longer to cook, and that is an excuse to buy parboiled rice. However, the downside is that it won't keep as long as raw brown rice, and you cannot cook it on the GABA-cycle, so if you do have a pressure cooker, or certainly a good rice cooker, you might want to skip this one and go for the raw (preferably organic) brown rice. Neerob Bazaar offered a good choice here too, from Laxmi brand:

Laxmi raw Brown Basmati Rice

 Basmati rice is always a flaverful choice, and Laxmi is certainly a good brand, however this is not organic rice. For a good organic rice, you need to make the trip to Good 'n Natural, at 2173 White Plains Road. They carry the full line of Lundberg Organic Rice, which is the best rice you can find in America today.

Lundberg Organic California Brown Basmati Rice

Personally, being a household of one, I prefer these 2 lbs packs from Lundberg, or other similar packs, because raw brown rice has limited shelf life.  You can find the best guidance on keeping food on the StillTasty website, and their specific advice for brown rice, here, states clearly that brown rice has a shelf life as follows:

1. In the pantry, in air-tight containers, 3-6 months.
2. In the fridge, 6-12 months
3. In the freezer, 12-18 months

The bottom line is: buy rice according to your usage pattern. Stale rice spoils the fun. Particularly if you're learning how to enjoy food more, which is what happens when you go vegan, the flavor of rice will hit the palate strongly, and life is too short to eat inferior rice.

Aside from this general guidance, there are some interesting rice mixes coming on the market, which are certainly worthwhile if you can find them. In our area you can find some mixed rices in the Lundberg family at Good 'n Natural, but also Chang-Li Market sometimes has interesting options, such as this Healthy Grains Rice from Taiwan, which is mix of raw brown rice, black rice, wheat, pearl barley, millet and buckwheat in a vacuum-sealed 2.6 lb bag:

Healthy Grains Rice Blend at Chang-Li Market

 Other good staple rices are Nishiki brand, which is a regular at Chang-Li, here:

2 Lb packs of Nishiki Brown Rice at Chang-Li Market

Other interesting varieties you can find at Chang-Li are red rice, here:

Red Rice at Chang-Li Market

and black rice - sorry, I forgot to take a picture, but you'll find it in the aisle with Chinese staples. The oriental black rice, also known as forbidden because it once was the reserve of the emperor, is real rice, and it is absolutely delicious. It is very different from American black rice, which you will find in gourmet stores, or in health food stores such as Good 'n Natural, which is a grass variety, and not a proper rice at all. Having said that, it is also delicious, and people often mix about 20% with their rice when they cook it, which adds depth to the flavor of the rice.

Lastly, another interesting rice blend, which I love, is this one:

3-Lb bag of Organic 10 Mixed Grains, from May-Wah on Hester Street, NYC

May-Wah Vegan Market is a good resource to know about for vegetarian or vegan foods, and/or meat alternatives. It is worth a periodic shopping expedition. This particular blend, Organic 10 Mixed Grains, contained Organic Brown Rice, Organic Sweet Brown Rice, Organic Oat Groats, Organic Rye Berry, Organic Barley, Organic Buckwheat Hulled, Organic Millet Hulled, Organic Wehani Rice, Organic Forbidden Rice, Organic Quinoa. It is a delicious alternative to just plain rice.


That's all for this report. Happy rice shopping! And, not to belabor the point, but, there obviously never is a reason to eat white rice in any form, it essentially has very little nutritional value.