Spinach and Ground Meat Fried Rice

"Meat, vegetables, and rice, all in a single bite!"

Yes, this is the opening line for this dish, in the book "Bento Love" and I totally agree! The boiled spinach can prepared ahead. No marinating is required for the meat. Leftover rice from the previous day can be used.

Not a spinach lover? You can still give this dish a try, as even though plenty of spinach is used, the taste is not too empowering. Instead, the browned ground meat and fried garlic give this dish its fragrance. The taste of the fried rice can be adjusted to your taste. More soy sauce and salt if you prefer a saltier dish, or less if you like.

The ingredients listed below serves 2 adults and 2 kids, slightly different from that listed in the book.

4 servings of rice for 2 adults and 2 kids

1 bunch of spinach

200g Ground Meat (I prefer Ground Turkey)

1 tbsp Minced Garlic

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 tbsp Butter

Dash of pepper and salt

• If rice is still warm, spread in a shallow dish, or freezer, to cool.
• Blanch spinach in boiling salted water.
• Rinse under cold water.
• Drain and squeeze out excess water well.
• Chop finely. I use a pair of scissors to cut up the spinach.
• Heat up a frying pan.
• Add oil to the well heated pan.
• Add butter.
• Saute garlic until fragrant and add meat.
• Stir-fry over medium heat.
• When the meat is browned, add rice. Mix well.
• Add spinach, stir-fry well, breaking up any clumps.
• Season with soy sauce. Adjust according to your taste.
• Season with salt and pepper.

In fact, I forgot to add salt when blanching the spinach. The spinach was prepared in the morning, to be used in the evening. Half an hour before dinner, I started frying the meat. After mixing the meat and spinach with rice, I seasoned the dish with soy sauce first. I tasted it, and then added the salt. Add the seasoning gradually, adjusting according to your taste. The dash of pepper was a nice touch to the fried rice .... the boys didn't complain about the fried rice being "spicy"! They finished their bowl of fried rice, accompanied by a bowl of miso soup!

This new dish is going to be a regular on my table!

Popeye will be proud of me!

Hanbagu Turned Meat Balls!

Hanbagu, a Japanese minced meat patty.

Sounds like Hamburger, doesn't it?

I found the recipe of Hanbagu from HappyHomeBaking.

The first time I made it, I fried it in a pan. The patty was crispy on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside. I was really surprised at its juicyness! The boys and the man liked the patty. They ate the patty with their rice, and were happy. After a successful first attempt, I paired the patty with a hamburger the second time. Included some tomatoes and lettuce. It was good. However, we could never finish the amount that was cooked. So this time round, I decided I would turn the patties into meatballs! Especially so, since my little boy had been telling me about his friends loving spaghetti and meatballs. However, instead of frying them, I baked them! It was delicious, but not as crispy as I wanted them to be.

400g Ground Beef/Pork/Chicken/Turkey

1 Egg

1/2 tsp Salt

4 tbsp Breadcrumbs (I used Panko)

3 tbsp Milk

1/2 Onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp Butter

• Saute the finely chopped onions with the butter, till transparent.
• Set aside to cool.
• Add to meat and mix well.
• Soak breadcrumbs in milk.
• Mix meat, egg, salt, and breadcrumbs mixture.
• Roll the meat into balls.
• Coat the meatballs with some olive oil.
• Put them into a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
• Bake at 400F for about 30 minutes, or till cooked.
• Change the oven from Bake to Broil. Grill till the tops of the meatballs are cripsy. Watch the oven, or the meatballs may burnt.

Instead of spaghetti, I used Whole Wheat Penne.

We finished the plate of baked meatballs!

I cooked a little too much pasta for the night. Well, the extra pasta would go into the boys' lunchbox tomorrow morning!

Miso Turkey

"Would you guys like to try the school lunch tomorrow?", I asked.

"No way!" came the answer from my elder boy.

So since school started, I have been cooking and packing lunches for the boys. I don't mind preparing their lunch, even though it means that I have to cook in the morning. A look at the school lunch menu helps made the decision : French Fries, Brownies, Chicken Nuggets, Chocolate Cake, Green Beans, Baby Carrots and Dip, etc. It may be low-fat brownies, or baked french fries instead of deep fried. There may be healthy items like baby carrots. But to have a dip to go with the baby carrots? I don't know what goes into the dip, really. Plus, my boys love eating rice more than bread or pasta. Yes, very asian.

I have only about 45 minutes each morning, to cook and pack their lunch boxes, wake the boys up, prepare breakfast, change and get ready to walk to school. Hence, whatever that goes into the lunch box with rice, has to be easy to prepare! No fancy bento boxes. Mummy has no time for that =)

Miso turkey, is one of the dish I prepare at least once a week. It goes well with mushroom, broccoli or cauliflower. I will usually put the broccoli/cauliflower in the microwave while I cook the miso turkey.

Ground turkey can be substituted with ground chicken or pork.

250g Ground turkey

2 tbsp Red Cooking Wine

1 tbsp Miso Paste

• Marinate the ground turkey with the red cooking wine.
• Set aside the ground turkey for 5 minutes.
• Heat up the saucepan.
• Add a tablespoon of oil into the saucepan.
• Add the ground turkey into the hot oil.
• Using a pair of chopsticks, or spoon, stir the meat.
• When almost cooked, add the tablespoon of miso paste.
• Stir to mix well.
• If too salty, add some water.

The miso turkey adds just the right amount of flavor/saltiness to a bowl of plain hot rice with broccoli/cauliflower. I usually do not season the broccoli/cauliflower. For my little boy, who is a slow eater, I will cut the broccoli into smaller pieces. Alternatively, I fry some fresh button mushrooms in a little butter to replace the broccoli/cauliflower.

Yummy!