Stress-free cooking after a long day : Rice and Vegetables

I arrived home shortly before 8 PM after a full day of column chromatography, mini plasmid preps, and bioinformatics software installation (The installation took more than 5 hours and it’s still not done!). I get home famished from the 11 hour work day.  Annoyed that I would have to wait until the frozen meat I took from the refrigerator would thaw. Ehh no.

I don’t have the patience nor the physical strength to slave in front of the stove. My solution? The Rice Cooker.

MATERIALS and METHODS

Rice and Vegetables

• 120 g rice (~3/4 cup)
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
• pinch of salt
• water

1 Put rice and salt in rice cooker

2 Touch the top of the rice with your index finger and add enough water until the water level reaches the first line on your finger.

3 Add frozen vegetables

4 Turn on the rice cooker. After you hear the switch click to Warm, let the rice cooker run for an extra 5 to 10 minutes to reduce the moisture.

RESULTS and DISCUSSION

As it is, rice and vegetables is a meal for me. Sometimes I would add a few drops of Maggi seasoning (Saarland woot!) to add more flavor.

What’s brilliant about the rice cooker is I really can forget about it until I hear the switch click. In the mean time, I could read and respond to emails, browse through my favorite blogs, or when it’s really urgent, start the methodology section of my progress report.

OUTLOOK and RECOMMENDATIONS

Because the final product is relatively bland, the rice and vegetables can be mixed with stronger flavors.  For example, once I took out a portion and prepared fried rice with Spanish sardines. I used the oil from the Spanish sardines as the base of the fried rice.

Rice and vegetables make a perfect side dish to grilled and broiled meat and seafood. Here I matched one serving of rice and vegetables with broiled chicken wings.

One trick to skip the effort of finding something savory to match the rice with, simply use broth instead of water when preparing the rice.

The only other type of frozen vegetables I’ve used is the Kaisergemüse, made up of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Similar to the frozen peas and carrots, Kaisergemüse has a neutral taste that I can mix and match with other flavors after preparation.

Now my tummy is filled. Stress level has gone down. Time to dump the dishes in the sink, lie down on the bed, and enjoy whatever’s left of this long day.

(This post was originally written last Thursday when  the chromatography, plasmid preps, and software installation actually happened.)