Adjustable expectations and broccoli

Another long day at the O.K Corral today. It would have been so easy to just stop at Billy's on the way home and pay someone else to cook and serve me up a burger and fries and a beer for dinner.

But today was CSA day. Usually this is something I really look forward to. This evening, however, it was a little stressful because I wasn't sure I'd make it on time to pick them up. Luckily, I barely made the last call for fruits & veggies! I hurriedly threw the beautiful squash and broccoli and boy choy and carrots and onions and Lord knows what all else, into my bag, and headed for home.

Its cold enough out tonight that I surely could have stopped anyway- its not like anything was going to wilt in my car. But I knew I had a ton of good healthy food that needed to be used, so I sucked it up and thought about what I would make. With such a huge variety of veggies,stir fry seemed like the obvious choice: fast, easy, healthy, and you get to use a very big knife to chop stuff up. I am one of these weird people who likes to chop veggies. There is something both calming about rhythmically chopping piles of vegetables, and satisfying about taking out a small bit of aggression in a controlled way.

If you were to time me making stir fry, it almost always takes about 25 minutes. I put a cup of basmati rice in the rice cooker (2 cups water or broth), and get that started first. Then I heat up my pan with some olive oil, and start chopping the thickest veggies first: carrots, and broccoli take the longest. I throw those in over medium heat, then chop a spicy radish, half an onion, and two small bell peppers, and add them to the pan. I add some salt, Bangkok seasoning blend, and some tamari and let everything steam a little. Then stir it, and taste it, and add more salt and spice blend to taste.

See? Super easy and nummy! It just happens to work out that the rice and the stir fry are done perfectly at the same time. It gets a little more complicated when you add meat, and takes about an extra 10 minutes. If I had any thawed out tonight, I would have added chicken.

The best part is that now instead of feeling overly full from meat and beer, I feel good, and now I have plenty of leftovers to bring for lunch tomorrow! I'm so glad I pushed through the temptation to pull myself up to the bar in favor of doing something I enjoy and that makes me feel better.

Though honestly, I have to admit that if I had gone to the bar and ordered my burger, I'd probably be just as happy with the outcome. Which makes me glad that I apparently am, by and large, a glass-half-full kind of gal. No matter if you fill it with beer or wine or good tequila, I'll adjust with a smile.

 

Here's wishing you an evening of being waited on, or the ability to happily adjust your expectations. Cheers!