Since suddenly being thrust into the roll of full-time father of three, there are things that I seem to have trouble getting accomplished as readily as I did before. having three boys in the house tends to make me forgetful.  I forget to finish laundry, walk away from dishes, forget where I put my keys and sometimes I even forget to eat.

I know that not eating isn’t healthy.  I would never let my kids go without a meal, but in the dead heat of the day, I’m finding that remembering to eat before dinner has become a challenge.  To try and get myself to eat a more balanced and more creative diet, I’ve begun telling myself that lunch is the perfect time for foods that the kids probably won’t eat.

Doing so has made remembering lunch more fun.  I know there won’t be an argument over what’s served and that I can eat the things I love with abandon.  Just feed the littlest, put him down for a nap, then go crazy trying out new flavors.  I’s an almost guilty pleasure that I’m happy to say has been effective.  I haven’t forgotten lunch in a few days.

This is a simple dish, but packed with flavor.  I opted to skip noodles or rice this time, more for the sake of getting it on a plate than for any other reason.  It held up on its own, but without some form of starch, I’d call this a great side rather than an entree or full lunch.  In any event, give it a shot, I think you’ll like it!

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I whipped this up for myself on the same night I made the beef in plum sauce for my wife. It was a perfect pairing with fried rice, and more than spicy enough to make my mouth sing. All three dishes were wonderful and could be served together without issues.

For a little less fire, skip adding the additional curry powder at the end, or marinade in a sweet curry, it’s up to you. I was feeling the need for a few alarms, so I went with a yellow curry sauce and a mix of red and yellow curry powder.

This is a simple dish, and would work well on the grill if you simply kabob the ingredients then serve with a dish of curry dipping sauce on the side. Not a bad job considering that I took about five minutes to decide what i was going to do with a leftover pork loin. (Hey, they come two in a package, and if we cook them both, we eat them both, so there’s always one left over.)

Any suggestions on what would have made this a better dish? I’m itching to make it again, but I’d like to see if I could boost the flavors in it a bit.

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Making Asian inspired dishes should not be daunting. While it’s true that there are a lot of very complicated recipes for Oriental cuisine, there are likewise a ton of simple recipes you can experiment with while you master the techniques. The trick is to play with the flavors available in your local ethnic aisle and find what you like. Before you know it, your friends will be calling you for take-out orders!

I created this dish for my wife, who has issues with spicy foods (and therefore most off the shelf Asian sauces and glazes.) Plum sauce is very mildly spiced and lends not only a wonderful flavor, but a rather intense glaze to this simple stir fried beef. The ingredient list can be found at any Mega-Mart, prep time is only a few minutes and cook time is nearly instant. This one will Wow you, I promise!

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First of all, let me apologize for the lack of photos of preparation. Unfortunately I was alone at home when I made this, so there was no one to hold the camera, and anyone who’s ever cooked any variety of stir-fry knows well that once you’ve started, there is no “pause” or “stop”, both of which immediately equal “burned”.

Fried rice is one of those foods that most people get when they eat out, but I don’t know too many people who make this dish at home. That’s a crying shame, in my opinion, since true fried rice is something that can be prepared by any home cook and tailored to his or her family’s tastes in seconds. Why go out and pay $4.00 for a side of fried rice when you can make it for less than $2.00 at home with perfect results each and every time?

Simply put, if you can make rice (and with the availability of rice cookers nowadays, there is no reason anyone can’t make perfect rice), you can make fried rice. Turning plain white rice into amazing fried rice takes only a few minutes and I guarantee that anyone in your family that enjoys takeout will adore this recipe.

A note. I’m going to give the basic recipe for fried rice, then I’ll give my take. It really is best to start making this the traditional Asian/American/Canadian way first, then put your own twist on the subject.

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The morning started with a simple email. It’s one I try to send my wife at least once a week, and goes something like this:

Me: …blah blah blah… Would you like anything in particular for lunch?

Mrs. CbsoP: … Yadda, Yadda, Yadda… Yes, I would absolutely love to have a little stir fry over white rice.

Me: I think I can handle that request. Any particular kind of stir fry come to mind?

Mrs Cbsop: Stir fry: how about something with snow peas no sesame oil, but definitely soy.

Snow peas, eh? No problem! … except that I didn’t have any. A quick run to the store would fix that since we’re on base now, that’s a 5 minute trip, including getting Mr. Seat of his Diaper ready to go.

No sesame oil?!? O.K. I’ll admit that I’ve been on a sesame oil kick. You may remember that the last time I made snow peas I used sesame oil as well. I suppose too much of a good thing is just too much, so we’ll skip it this time. A quick check of the freezer to see what veggies are hanging out and…

Yuck. Some frozen medleys, great for a side dish, but lacking at the flavor and perkiness required for a stir fry. It looked like I’d have to handle everything on one store run. The only problem with that was I had no idea what I’d be using, other than snow peas.

Luckily the produce department was there to help me out. We were lucky enough to have fresh snow peas on the shelf, so I figured I’d turn to the other bins in the area for inspiration. The boc choy looked good, so a small head of that went in the cart. Bean sprouts, fresh from California. Couldn’t pass that up. (It’s a joke between my wife and I. She though all Californians lived on bean sprouts, and was a little amazed to find that I didn’t.) some carrots and scallions to round out the day, and we’re all good to go. Less than 20 minutes later I was on my way back to our little kitchen, having spent a total of $6.50. Not too bad.

Stir Fry is less about measurements than about combinations, so the amounts given below may be either a) a guestimate, or b) just a vague idea, but that’s the joy of the thing, you don’t have to be precise and you can use whatever you can find, as long as it plays well with the other ingredients.

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I have a few go-to recipes in my arsenal and this is most definitely one of them. A perfect combination of heat, sweet and sour, it compliments vegetables, fish or chicken well, without overpowering the flavor of the main component.

And it will leave a little tingle on your tongue in the process.

Garlic Chili Stir Fry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. garlic chili paste
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. roasted garlic rice wine vinegar

Method:

Mix all ingredients in small bowl or shaker bottle. Mix well. Allow to sit 5 minutes and mix a second time to ensure honey is dissolved completely.

Usage:

Add to stir fried foods at end of cooking, or use as dipping sauce for chicken, vegetables, shrimp or fish.

Enjoy!

What I would have done differently had I thought of it at the time:

For more heat, add a bit more of the garlic chili paste. More sour, more vinegar. If using for fish a bit of citrus may be nice, and apple cider vinegar if using for pork with pork. The recipe is very adaptable and you should feel free to have fun with it.

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I’ve been craving snow peas since I saw a recipe for them on Simply Recipes about a week ago. At the time they were nowhere to be found in this neck of the woods and I was sure I’d have to settle for sugar snap peas instead.

Thank goodness for the MegaMart.

I made a quick run yesterday to pick up a lamp for better low light photography, and figured I’d grab some cilantro and green onions (scallions, spring onions or whatever you happen to call them) while I was there. Low and behold, right next to the tofu sat several luscious little packages of snow peas. (I guess in Texas they’re considered a health food… Who knew?)

I had to have them, I couldn’t help myself. So with two packages in the cart, I headed for the checkout and home to cook ‘em up.

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