Wok n Woll Wednesday...I'm embarassed by that pun.

I think Wednesdays suck. That might be because I'm a glass half empty kind of gal, but really Wednesday is not halfway to the weekend, it's only halfway through the week. One way I've been learning to deal with this most terrible of days (only second to Tuesdays, they are even worse than Mondays), is to institute a WOK WEDNESDAY!

Image credit: Google Image search


I love my wok. I'm not sure I'm using it to its fullest capabilities, but it's a nice way to change up the cooking routine. I found my wok at a yard sale in Alabama and believe I paid $3.00 for it. Funny thing is, there were about 5 other woks that were up for grabs at the sale. This leads me to conclude one of two things 1) woks are useless or 2) the world doesn't know how to wok. I'm going to go with 2 (myself included). I might invest in a how-to book in terms of my wok because at this point, all I cook in it is fried rice. But man that fried rice is good...

A great thing about fried rice is that it basically allows you to empty out your refrigerator of any leftovers. When Wednesday hits, I'm pretty much through my cooking for the week so this allows me to use up those leftover tidbits (did someone say leftover asparagus bottoms?).

Now, I have to warn you. I don't usually work from nothing when I cook. I'm a rule follower, I like recipes (even though I have a hard time following them). Fried rice is the one exception (that and Matt claims authority in the fried rice department).

I started off cooking some brown rice (about 1 1/4 cup uncooked) and put it in 2 cups of boiling water that had been salted and jazzed up with a little Earth Balance (I'd say about a teaspoon). After the rice had cooked for about 45 minutes, the fun began.

Start by putting a little oil (olive for those of us who aren't so classy, grapeseed or oil of a worm that was in love with a fruit ihavenoideawhyoilissocomplicated) in the bottom of a decently smoking hot wok. Then add your veggies. Yesterday, we used asparagus, broccoli, onion, garlic, tomato, celery, green onions, serrano pepper...I am sure I'm leaving something out. Some authorities say you need to add everything separately, paying special attention to the veggies that take longer to cook, but we are rebels, so we put it all in at one time. Then when everything is just about cooked, you add the rice. Now for the most important part: seasoning. I loves me some terriyaki sauce so I always use a healthy dose of that stuff (along with cilantro, cayenne pepper, seasoning salt, and soy...it was a leeeetle bit too salty yesterday), but really you can add anything you want.

I really love water chesnuts and wish they had been in the cupboard, but alas, there was none.

So, here's the finished product. Ignore the GIGANTIC fork in the background. No, I don't eat with it, that's how I get the cover of my pot off when it's hot because it's broken. What can I say, innovation is a gift...

Anyone out there have some other great recipes that utilize a wok?