Pumpkin Cornbread and Fast Fried Rice

We’re almost to Friday, and this week that means HALLOWEEN!!! Though we may be a little too old to go out and Trick or Treat, Halloween still means candy and costumes and really adorable kids ringing the doorbell (I’m still thrown by the fact that apparently nowhere other than Des Moines do kids have to tell a joke to get their candy. Truly one of the cutest things ever, a kindergartener trying really hard to tell you a joke that they’ve just made up, but I guess that isn’t what most cities do…). Anyways, with Halloween comes pumpkins, and though it isn’t quite time to whip out your grandmother’s pumpkin pie recipe, it would be a shame not to enjoy pumpkin in some fashion! In order to not overdose on sweet pumpkin dishes, this pumpkin cornbread is a delicious addition to any meal, especially as the weather grows cooler.

Pumpkin Cornbread

Taken from The View from Great Island

           

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground cardamom (or use cinnamon and or ginger instead)

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling, real pumpkin)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 Tbsp molasses

1/3 cup buttermilk or milk

Instructions

1)  Set the oven to 400 degrees

2) Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl (flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, spices, sugar) Try to smooth out any brown sugar lumps

3) Whisk the wet ingredients together in a larger bowl (eggs, pumpkin, oil, molasses, milk)

4) Add dry to wet and stir until just combined

5) Pour into a buttered 9 inch spring form pan or 8x8 square pan and spread evenly

6) Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

7) Cool for a few minutes in the pan and then ENJOY!

Notes

If you don’t have/don’t want to use cardamom, I like to substitute ¼ tsp of cinnamon and a ¼ tsp of ginger for the ½ tsp of cardamom

About the pumpkin, I’ve found that Libby’s canned pumpkin is fabulous in any recipe. Do I wish I had time to roast and puree my own pumpkin? Sure, but lets get real, no med student has time for that!

If you don’t have buttermilk, never fear! Any kind of milk works here. Or if you want to make your own buttermilk, simply mix just under a 1/3 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes. Instant buttermilk!

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One of my favorite meals to get whenever I go out for Chinese is fried rice. I try really hard to not think about just how much oil they’ve used in making it that delicious. Luckily, making your own fried rice is super easy, super fast, much healthier, and is perfect for cleaning out all those little bits of leftover veggies and meats you have sitting in the fridge. Not only are the ingredients customizable, but the amounts are as well! In fact so much so that the recipe I finally made my mom write down for me has no measurements at all, just use what you have available!

Fried Rice

Ingredients

Rice

1 egg per person/serving, beaten

Vegetable oil

Meat, cooked or uncooked (whatever you have, or leave out and go veggie fried rice!)

Veggies, small dice (whatever you’ve got around, frozen works just fine here as well as fresh)

Green onions chopped (optional)

Chicken broth (or beef, or vegetable)

Soy sauce

Sesame oil (optional)

Instructions

1) The most important thing to making fried rice is make sure you have all your ingredients laid out and prepped before actually starting to cook!

2) Heat pan (or wok if you have it) over medium high heat, add small amount of oil.

3) Add egg and stir until cooked (30 seconds). Remove from pan and chop into small pieces

4) Add more oil and let heat.

5) Add meat, if uncooked then let cook, if already cooked then just until warm. Regardless, stir.

6) Add veggies and stir until cooked.

7) If using green onions, add and stir.

8) Add rice and stir until rice is warmed.

9) Add chicken broth and soy sauce and cook until absorbed (just enough broth and soy sauce to mix in throughout, if you add too much don’t worry, just let it cook until it is all absorbed)

10) Return egg to pan and toss a few seconds to warm

11) Take off heat and add sesame oil if using

12) Enjoy! Chopsticks optional

Notes

Leftover rice actually works best here, why I’m not quite sure. But fresh will work just fine as well, it just means that supper will take longer than the 10 minutes I’ve usually got until I start just eating the ingredients!

The amount of each ingredient is really up to you, even the rice. I’ve made this before thinking I had a ton of rice leftover, dumping it into the pan and realizing I was having more veggies with a little rice.