An eater's manual

As you may have noticed in my sidebar, I have added some links and the third one down is titled "Food Rules" by Michael Pollan. I actually own the book, which I bought at the college book store over a parody book of a popular piece of work, and I must say it's a very good read for anyone who loves food and/or is going on a diet.

There's four sections, including the introduction, that talk about the "rules of food"

"What should I eat?" -- Eat food.
"What kind of food should I eat?" -- Mostly plants.
"How should I eat?" -- Not too much.

The link below the one to "Food Rules" is to another one of Michael Pollans books, "In Defense of Food", which came before "Food Rules"

I really do suggest "Food Rules" for anyone and everyone seeing as since my mother has read it, her thought process in what we need from the market has changed pretty drastically. Now, as the book suggests, even if you read it you can or should only take one rule from each section of the book.

Even if you don't change your eating habits, you'll be surprised at what you find out.

Happy eating everyone!

BokChoy and Rice.

^{Bok Choy Image by Urban Talk}
BokChoy, or Chinese Cabbage as it may be known in the normal supermarket, is one of my favorite vegetables. It's got this bitter flavor that isn't too strong but when cooked correctly it can be delicious. I suggest trying to find an Asian Food Market near you that sells Baby BokChoy because they are usually much cheaper to buy in a group bag than buying one giant head of Bokchoy at the local supermarket.

A week or so ago after going to the Hana Asian Market down in the valley where I bought some BokChoy, I was hungry and I remembered some left over rice we had from our stir fry from the weekend. So I decided to make myself something that was filled with veggies.

Ingredients;
2 Heads of Baby BokChoy
1 small head of Broccoli
6~7 Baby Carrots or 1~2 normal carrots
About a tablespoon of butter
About 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water
Soy Sauce
1 Cup [or more if you want it] of Rice [any kind, I used white]

Directions:
1- First make sure that all of your veggies are clean, I need to emphasize this because at a local buffet where I first had bokchoy, they didn't clean it completely and I found a ladybug in my food.
2- Slice the Bokchoy in half and then cut it into slivers as small as you'd like. I personally cut each 'leaf' in half. Chop up the Broccoli so you have the florets [the flowering part] and the stem if you like the fibrous section of it. I suggest adding it in because it is good for you. Then chop the carrots into about 1/4th inch sized circles.
3- Grab a pan, preferably a sauté pan, put the butter, water and as much soysauce as you'd like into it and put it on medium. Wait for the butter to melt, stir it slightly before adding the veggies.
4- Put a lit onto the pan so everything can steam and wait 4~6+ minutes depending on how large you cut everything. The time can be shorter if you like more crunch to your veggies or longer if you like them to be mush.
5- Once the veggies are done to your liking, add the rice and mix it up!
6- Taste it, add salt and pepper [or more soysauce. I suggest adding the soysauce first if it needs more soy and salt if you're using normal Kikkoman Soy] to your taste and enjoy!