As If

Who doesn't love a good Clueless reference? I've been excited for a few weeks now, because I bought Alicia Silverstone's book: The Kind Diet. The book is split into two parts. The first half contains great information about Alicia's diet, which she calls the kind diet. It is an all-vegan diet that relies heavily on macrobiotic principles such as daikon, umiboshi, green vegetables, sea vegetables, and whole grains. Alicia's diet is not for the faint of heart. An Alicia breakfast consists of brown rice and sea vegetables. I can make a lot of different kinds of pancakes, but pancakes from sea vegetables would be taking it a step too far, even for me. Still, there are a lot of health benefits to a macrobiotic diet, and it is always preferable to stick to locally-grown produce. While macrobiotics teaches us that the locally-grown produce is more likely to give our bodies the nutrients it needs to live within a certain climate, I prefer to look at it as supporting local growers and saving on the energy consumption required to import produce. It really makes me think twice before spooning tons of pineapple chunks over my vegan frozen yogurt.
I'm always one for progress, so I have made a point of trying out one of Alicia's recipes every week. I particularly enjoyed her recipe for fried rice, although I made some adjustments on my second pass. It uses sticky brown rice, which is deliciously sweet and soft and sticks together like sushi rice, except all on its own. I picked mine up at the bulk section of Whole Foods. It takes awhile to cook up, but I have been using that as an excuse to make extra. Anyway, this dish makes a great and filling lunch or dinner for one person, or it could be served as a side dish for 2. I think that it would be good with grilled tempeh or fried tofu.
Fried Rice with Daikon

• 2 TBSP. olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
• 4" piece of daikon, cut into thin slices
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2 TBSP soy sauce
• 2 TBSP sesame seeds
• 1 head of baby bok choy, chopped coarsely
• 1 cup sticky brown rice, cooked

Prep your vegetables. For the bok choy, cut the bulb off of the bottom and just use the leaves. Head the olive oil in a wok or heavy skillet.
Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 1 minute over medium high heat.
Add the daikon and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes before adding the carrots and cooking for another 2 minutes.
Add the soy sauce and sesame seeds and stir well.
Stir in the rice along with 1/4 a cup of water. As the rice heats, it should blend in nicely with the vegetables.
When the rice is starting to heat through, add the bok choy and cook another 5 minutes. You can add some water to the pan if the rice starts to stick.