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This fried rice dish is perfect for the fish recipe I posted yesterday. I love making fried rice for meals- especially since I can incorporate lots of different vegetables and feed my family.

My daughter loves all versions I have made in the past- well, almost all of them.

For this one, I bought a bunch of green beans from the farmers market. They were lovely looking and I couldn’t help buying them. As I thought about what to make for dinner, I was flipping through a food magazine and came across a fried rice dish. That is when I decided to chop the green beans really small and make a delicious rice dish with them.

You can’t make fried rice without first making plain rice. How do you make your rice? I make mine with chicken broth. It imparts delicious flavor without much effort and I am always looking to add flavor into anything I can. The rice comes out yummy- lightly salted and nutty and it is perfect and ready to use for the fried rice.

I sauteed the plain rice with your usual suspects and in no time had a delicious fried rice dish. Try this recipe next time you are in the mood for some healthy Chinese food.
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Here is another recipe using one of my favorite ingredients- mangoes. I bought some cod for dinner and decided to make a mango sauce.

I cut up two mangoes and cooked them with garlic, shallots. I added apricot jam (yum!), rice wine vinegar and garlic chili sauce. Using all the delicious ingredients resulted in an unbelievable sauce.

I sauteed the fish simply with salt and olive oil- delicious and very quick.

Bok choy is one of our favorite vegetables and I try to incorporate it lots of dinners. In this case, I sauteed them with olive oil and salt. I served the bok choy on the side with the fish and the mango sauce. I made brown rice and it was a perfect meal. It was delicious, quick and healthy- what more do you want??

Try the pan seared cod with mango sauce and bok choy- you will love it…
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I felt like eating the really unhealthy Chinese dishes like the orange chicken. The amount of fat, salt and all the other bad stuff turned me off- plus who can afford the calories??

I decided to make my own. I got some boneless, skinless chicken breast; cut it in small pieces and marinated them in tamari. I then sprinkled them with corn starch and sauteed them- instead of deep frying. I saved loads of calories by simply sauteing the chicken pieces.

I then assembled the sauce with fresh navel oranges, rice wine vinegar, tamari, garlic and honey. With the help of some more cornstarch, I had a delicious, thick sauce- perfect for orange chicken.

While shopping for the chicken, I found Chinese broccoli (at Whole Foods). My husband and I usually buy the greens in Chinatown in NYC and love eating it as often as we can. So, when I saw it in the market, I was super excited. I simply sauteed it with garlic and served it with the chicken and brown rice.

It was a delicious meal- my daughter and husband loved it.
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I love, love this salad. I utilized our favorite fruit in the house-mangoes. I make everything with this delicious fruit- entrees, appetizers, salads and dessert, oh, and some delicious drinks as well. I needed to serve a side dish with the shrimp curry I posted yesterday. I wanted to make some kind of a starch and also vegetables. I decided to make a rice salad (never made one before) and use mangoes, red peppers, green onions, cilantro and mint. How can you go wrong with all those delicious ingredients??

I made a fabulous dressing consisting of rice vinegar, honey and olive oil. It is amazing to me how just the right ingredients can make such a big difference in a dish. The tangy dressing made the rice salad absolutely delicious and it went perfectly with the shrimp curry.  We ate the rice salad a few days even after the curry was finished. It tasted better the next day.

This salad will be perfect with any grilled entree like hamburgers, hot dogs or even steak.  This will be a staple in our house for the summer.
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One of my favorite ingredients  to have in my pantry is tamarind. I have the regular dried tamarind that I get from the Indian store but I also have the tamarind concentrate which is available at most grocery stores like Whole Foods. The concentrate is always in my fridge and I use for a lot of things including dressings, sauces, etc. It is easy to use and a little goes a long way. I love the earthy, tangy flavor it imparts to all the dishes- especially when it is paired with honey or sugar.

In this dish, I wanted to make a quick stir fry and wanted to use the tamarind concentrate to replicate a few Thai dishes I enjoy at Khun Thai- one of our favorite restaurants. I love the mixture of flavors in my mouth- sweet, sour, spicy and savory- my mouth waters as I write….

I marinated the chicken pieces and mixed up a quick sauce for the stir fry. I had green beans in my fridge and I thought it would be a great combination with the chicken and the tangy sauce. I made brown rice on the side and it was a perfectly balanced and delicious meal.
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