[vegan mofo day 11] how to: super easy and quick lunch "rice bowl with greens"

This is my super easy, inexpensive lunch I usually whip up. It looks simple but, seasoned with soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and garlic, it actually is pretty flavorful and yummy :) If you already have cooked rice and chopped greens at hand (say, you chopped extra veggies at your dinner prep the previous night), it cooks up really fast too, which is a huge plus for a busy lunchtime (or cooks this in the morning to put it in your lunchbox, maybe?).

Since it's so easy, I don't know if I can even call this a "recipe" but I thought of writing down how-to in case somebody's looking for a quick and nutritious lunch. Hope you'll enjoy it :)

Rice Bowl with Greens How to

ingredients

canola oil*

A clove of garlic, sliced

Chopped greens of your choice, e.g. broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts are my usual choices

1-2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast

garlic powder

salt and pepper

A bowl of cooked rice (leftovers work perfectly!)

soy sauce

* you can use other types of oil too, but I like the flavor that the combination of canola oil and soy sauce creates. It reminds me of egg rice bowls I used to eat in pre-vegan days. More on that sometime.

1) Heat the oil in the pan at medium-high heat. You might want to use a little bit more oil than you usually use to stir fry vegetables as the extra oil will coat the rice later. Place the slices of garlic and heat until they become fragrant.

2) Put the chopped veggies and turn the heat up. Fry the veggies.

I like crunchier and a bit burned vegetables, but if you like softer stir fried veggies, you might want to keep the heat to medium high.

3) In the meantime, if your rice was sitting in the fridge, warm it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Don't worry if it's not warmed through. It will be cooked again in the pan later. If you've cooked your rice fresh, skip this process.

4) When the veggies are done, add the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.

5) Turn off the heat. Add the rice and mix with the veggies in the pan. The remaining heat will cook the rice without frying.

6) Drizzle the soy sauce to your liking.

7) Dig in!

variations

• add beans or diced tofu to make it a more substantial meal. Black beans or chickpeas are my favorites for this. Add them after the vegetables
• add drops of sriracha sauce before you eat to spice it up!
• add pieces of nori sheets after the heat is turned off (just before adding the soy sauce)
• add sesame seeds