Really Cooking

Having a home cooked meal is faster than going out for fast food - as long as the kitchen is ‘cook ready.’ I’ve been getting better at that recently with my favorite winter time meals - something warm and a complete meal in one dish.

The first type is a stir fry. I don’t generally have rice or noodles - preferring to fill up on the generally lower calorie veggies. Here’s my basic strategy to prepare a complete meal in 30 minutes or less.

Cut up veggies that need to cook the longest. Carrots, celery and bell pepper are examples. Add frozen veggies (I generally buy cauliflower and broccoli frozen since I can use it at the rate I want instead of being overwhelmed with the need to use up the amount I bought in the produce section). Begin the stir fry in a large skillet with a little olive oil. Season (I like orange zest and McCormick’s Pinch Perfect Citrus Fiesa).

While it cooks, cut up veggies that cook more quickly (like onions and mushrooms) and measure out protein (like dry roasted soybeans). Cut up broccoli and cauliflower if the pieces are too large with kitchen scissors once it has thawed. Add rest of veggies to the stir fry.

Once the onions and mushrooms have softened, add sauce (if desired). I like to use roasted garlic hummus with a quarter cup of water to coat the stir fry. It merely needs to be stirred in and heated.

And then it’s ready to eat!

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The second type of meal I like in the winter is soup. I always make a bean soup for lunch on the day I cook a pot of beans (soaked overnight and then cooked the following morning). This week I cooked a package of dried black beans.

About 20 minutes before I wanted lunch, I took out a couple of cups if bean liquidfrom the pot to start my soup in a smaller pan. I added 1/4 cup multi-grain rice (that cooks in about 15 minutes), dried onion flakes, orange peel and a bouillon cube.

While that bubbled, I cut up mushrooms, yellow pepper and carrots. The veggies went into the pot along with a cup of the cooked black beans after the rice has been cooking for about 10 minutes. Cook until the rice and veggies are cooked….and it’s a warming and filling meal!

The rest of the beans are parcelled out to containers of about 1 cup each and frozen to be the start for soups in the coming weeks!