Chicken curry fried rice

 Ingredients (feel free to add, subtract, or adjust amounts)

• have ready 500g previously cooked jasmine rice
• if freshly made, spread on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more
• 1 skinless boneless chicken thigh (approximately 185g), cut into small pieces
• marinade the chicken with 1/2tsp chicken bouillon powder, then a tsp of oil
• if you want to velvet the chicken, add the bouillon powder, an equal amount of cornstarch, then 1 tsp of water. Mix, add the oil, and mix again.

Prepare in separate bowls

• 180g frozen corn
• 100g frozen peas
• 110g carrot, diced to be the same size as the corn and peas
• 1/2 medium sized onion, diced (approximately 85g)
• 1 sweet pepper, diced (approximately 115g)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, or as much as you like

(Looking at the above again, it's pretty clear it's roughly equal weights of each of the veggies, except for corn which 2x, and garlic, which is whatever you want. Dollars to donuts the volumes are roughly the same. If you don't have a scale, it's about a cup of each.)

Unless you have a big wok and a hot stove, have a large bowl to hold ingredients after they have been cooked.

Stir fry the chicken and set aside.

Stir fry the onions and carrots until the carrots are almost sufficiently tender. I don't like crunchy carrots, so I add a bit of water cover, lower the heat a bit, and let steam for 2-3 minutes. This also deglazes the wok.

Add the frozen corn and bring everything back up to a sizzle. Add the peas and bring everything back up to sizzle again. Add the sweet peppers and cook the veggies until the peppers have the right amount of crunch. I like crunchy peppers. Cook the veggies in any order you like to get the results you want. Dry out any excess liquid, and set aside e.g. in the same bowl as the chicken.

Rinse the wok to get rid of sugars introduced by the veggies and dry with paper towel. Reheat the wok to medium-high. Add 2-3 tsp oil and briefly fry the garlic. Add the rice in 2-3 portions, stirring it together with the garlic. Continue to stir-fry the rice until it has dried out a bit e.g. there is some crackling or browning. Add S&B curry powder 1 tablespoon at a time and stir-fry until the rice tastes right. Carefully introduce 1/3 to 1/2 cup water along the edges of wok (as opposed to pouring it directly into the rice) in small amounts. Stir-fry the rice between additions. The water helps dissolve the curry powder and lets it be absorbed by the rice. Add the least possible amount of water. Keep in mind the veggies and chicken will probably have some juices too.

Raise the heat and add the veggies and chicken to the curried rice. Stir fry the combination a few minutes to reheat and blend. Add more curry powder if you like.

For a protein boost, serve with chopped peanuts.

To brighten the flavours, serve with a squeeze of lime.

Inspired by this recipe:

• https://cookingformysoul.com/curry-fried-rice/

I did not include egg to avoid raising the protein levels.

I am aiming for low-sodium, but feel free to add salt to the chicken marinade, and to the final product.

Chicken and Ginger Congee

• 1-inch piece of ginger (or less), julienned
• 2 stalks green onions for garnish
• 300g skinless chicken breast, sliced 3-5 mm thick (your choice)
• I think this recipe would work with 200 to 250g chicken breast
• adjust protein per serving
• marinade chicken breast with:
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp low-sodium oyster sauce 
• 1 tsp low-sodium chicken powder
• 2 tbsp water
• massage above into the sliced chicken breast, then add
• 2 tbsp neutral cooking oil and massage again to blend in
• let marinade 10-15 minutes while you prepare the rice
• wash 3/4 cup jasmine rice
• bring 8 cups water to boil
• add the rice, return to boil
• lower heat to medium-low
• loosely cover to avoid boiling over
• cook this way for 30 minutes. Do not stir.
• once time is up, whisk the porridge for 3-5 minutes until the rice has broken up
• add the chicken gradually so they don't stick together
• cook another 2-3 minutes until the chicken is done

Amateur attempt at nutrition facts:

• 300g raw skinless chicken breast provides 60-93g protein. Let's go with 76g protein.
• 1 tbsp Wan Ja Shan vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce: 550mg sodium
• 1 tsp Lee Kum Kee premium bouillon powder flavoured with chicken: 810mg sodium
• Yields about 1800g congee, makes 4 servings
• So about 75g chicken slices per serving, add congee until scale reads 450g.
• Each serving: 19g protein, 340mg sodium

Kiddo requested less ginger, so I added half to the pot and set aside the rest as garnish.

Added a lap cheong sausage for the kiddo. Each one weighs 46g, contains 7g protein and 370mg sodium. If it's cut into 11 slices, each slice 33mg Na. Ignore the protein.

Source:

• Kidney-Friendly Chicken and Ginger Congee
• Chicken Congee (鸡粥) | Made With Lau 

Beef and Macaroni

This is the 1/2 recipe of https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/262326/a-minnesotans-beef-and-macaroni-hotdish/, makes 3 servings.

• ½ pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 cup elbow macaroni
• ¼ large green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• ¼ large onion, chopped
• ½ (16 ounce) can tomato sauce (e.g. Hunts)
• ½ pound tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon soy sauce (substitute with coconut aminos if aiming for low-sodium)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅜ teaspoon dried basil
• ⅜ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (omitted)
• ¼ teaspoon chili powder
• ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ cup beef broth (or just use water)

Brown the beef, break it up, drain excess fat, and set aside.

In the same pan, sauté the uncooked macaroni, peppers, and onions for 3 minutes.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, ground beef, and the rest of the ingredients. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure the pasta does not stick to the bottom of the skillet and burn. Add more water or broth if needed. When the macaroni is tender, remove the lid and continue to cook until the sauce has thickened. Optional: top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Amateur attempt at nutrition facts:

• 8 ounces raw extra lean ground beef: 48-52g protein, 145mg purines, 71-150mg sodium
• 1/2 cup uncooked elbow macaroni: 7g protein
• 8 oz Hunt's tomato sauce: 310mg sodium
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce: 56mg sodium
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce: 710mg per tbsp, so divide by 6 gives 118mg sodium
• have not counted sodium or protein content of other ingredients

If it makes 3 servings, each serving contains:

• 18-20g protein
• 48mg purines (converts to 96mg uric acid)
• 185-211mg sodium

According to Google AI, the human body typically converts purines into twice their weight in uric acid.

If a low-purine diet is less than 100mg purines per day, one serving represents half that.

Stuffed Peppers

• 4 red, green or yellow bell peppers
• 1 cup cooked white rice or couscous
• 2 cups cooked ground beef (or try using any chopped meat)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1/2 cup no salt added chicken stock
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 1 peeled, diced tomato, or about 1 cup crushed / diced tomatoes
• Fresh ground pepper
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese

Slice off tops of bell peppers, remove seeds and discard. Chop up the bell pepper tops and place into a large bowl. Add rice or couscous, chopped meat, dried basil, parsley, chicken stock and red onions. Toss to combine and season with fresh pepper. Stuff each pepper with filling, sprinkle with parmesan and place in a square baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender.

My notes: did not have parsley, substituted dried oregano. Really, any seasoning would probably work. Since the filling is already cooked, taste and adjust, e.g. with Mrs Dash. Did not use parmesan cheese. Instead, pulled them out after 30 minutes and topped with shredded cheddar and a bit of panko. Broil for a few minutes at the end to brown the panko and cheese topping (watch carefully).

Amateur attempt at nutrition facts:

• 2 cups cooked extra lean ground beef weighs about 8 ounces or 246g
• 23g protein
• 157mg purines
• 1 cup cooked white rice: 4-5g protein

If the above makes 4 servings, each serving:

• 7g protein
• 39mg purines

Source: https://www.kidneycommunitykitchen.ca/dietitians-blog/portions-matter/

Tahini and Hummus

Tahini

Toast 1 cup hulled sesame seeds in a dry skillet (e.g. the 10" cast iron one) until light brown. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Let cool for a few minutes, e.g. in a metal mixing bowl. Process in a food processor until crumbly. Add 2 tbsp of neutral oil (light olive, avocado, or sesame) and process another 2-4 minutes. Add a bit more oil, 1/2 tbsp at a time, if necessary, until the paste starts to fold over so the blades can chop it. A pinch of salt of desired, to taste.

Source: https://www.inspiredtaste.net/26901/easy-tahini-recipe/

Hummus 

Have ready 250g cooked chickpeas, well drained. 

Add to food processor big bowl: 1/4 cup tahini and 1/4 cup lemon juice (approx 1 lemon). Process for 10 seconds (they say 30), scrape down the sides, process for another 10 seconds (again they say 30). Apparently this helps "whip" or "cream" the tahini. Update I'm not entirely sure this step is necessary or does what it claims to do. With our food processor, this "whipping" step throws a lot of the ingredients up onto the bottom of the lid, which requires careful scraping. Might be a waste of time. Why not add the tahini, lemon juice, oil, garlic, cumin, salt, and half of the chickpeas, and then blitz it? Maybe I'll try that next time.

Be careful not to nick the spatula on the food processor's blade.

Add 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 clove mince garlic, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp of table salt. Whip it again with the food processor for 30 seconds or so. Scrape down the sides and bottom, and whip it again for 30 seconds.  

Add 1/2 of the chickpeas and process for 1 minute. Add the remaining chickpeas and process for 2 minutes, scraping periodically. Another friendly reminder not to nick the spatula on the blade.

The hummus will likely be thick and have tiny bits of chickpeas. Either gradually add 2-3 tbsp of cold water and continue processing, or add 1-2 ice cubes. I like using the ice cubes because they stir things up in the bowl. Also, they cool things down, which might help balance the heat being added by the processing. Do the above until the desired consistency is achieved. Taste and adjust as needed.

This should all fit in a 500ml mason jar. Serve with a thin layer of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika, sumac, or za'atar.

Source: also Inspired Taste

Naan bread (low sodium)

Add to the bowl of a stand mixer:

• 2 cups flour (whole grain, bread, whatever you got)
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp ground white pepper (skipped this time b/c kids)
• 1 tbsp garlic powder (aka garlic granules)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (bottled was ok, fresh is probably preferred)
• 2 tsp olive oil (light is fine, EVOO is probably wasted here b/c cooking over hight heat)
• 1 cup warm water (mine was around 38C, ideal is 41-46C)

Stir that around with the dough hook on medium until it starts to form a dough. Lower the speed a notch, and add flour 1 tbsp at a time until the dough comes away from the sides. Knead with the machine for 5 minutes, or 10 minutes if by hand. Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl, and cover. Let rest for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Divide the dough into 8 balls, cover with mixing bowls, towel, or whatever, and let rest again for 10 minutes give or take.

Heat a cast iron pan to 450F or slightly higher, maybe 475. Do not add oil to the pan. It should be dry.

On a well-floured surface, and with a well-floured short rolling pin (dowel), flatten the ball into a disk roughly 6-8 inches in diameter. Gently knock off any excess flour by passing the disk between your hands, flap, flap, flap. Flop the disk into the hot pan, and let it cook 1-2 minutes until it is puffed up and has nice brown spots. Flip it over, and cook for another 1-2 minutes until the colouring is what you want. Remove and put onto a plate for immediate consumption, or onto a cooling rack.

After each patty, wipe any flour out of the hot pan, so it doesn't burn and affect the next slice of naan bread.

Source: https://www.cukebook.org/recipes/low-sodium-flatbread-recipe/

One pot chicken and rice

Chicken

• 2 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
• 1 tbsp ginger, sliced
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 tbsp "4 seasons spicy bake mix" or chicken bouillon powder
• 1.5 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp cooking rice wine
• 1.5 tbsp neutral oil (e.g. light olive oil)
• 1 tsp salt (optional: skip to lower sodium)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 275 to 300g boneless skinless chicken thigh, cut in 1" cubes

Marinade the chicken in the above for 30 minutes on the counter, or longer in the fridge.

Rice

Wash 1.5 cups jasmine rice. Use the measuring cup used for baking, not the "cup" that is commonly used to measure rice, which is actually 3/4 of an actual cup. After the rice has been washed 3-4 times, drain the water using a strainer, not the back of your hand. This is to ensure the water is accurate.

Put the drained rice in the rice cooker and add 1.25 cups of water. Add the marinated chicken. Add 1 or 2 links of lap cheong that has been peeled (using warm water to loosen the skin), and sliced on the bias.

The original recipe says not to add the leftover marinade for fear of making the rice too mushy. But I think it depends whether you have used air chilled chicken, and how much marinade is left over. If it's only 2 or 3 tablespoons, I say add the marinade. However, the marinade is very salty, so avoid adding it if you are concerned about sodium intake.

Start the rice cooker. When it finishes, let it rest another 15 minutes before removing the lid. If the rice is not completely finished, add a few tablespoons of water and start the cycle again.

Source: https://cookwithdana.com/one-pot-chinese-chicken-rice/

Bun (Vietnamese noodle dish)

Lemongrass pork

Begin preparations the day before because the recipe calls for a 24 hour marinade. Nations sells deboned pork shoulder in roughly 2 lb chunks, so I doubled the recipe. Trim off excess fat and any silverskin. Shoulder (aka pork butt) has grain that goes in all directions, but thanks to the marinade, it didn't make much difference whether I cut the slices against the grain or not.

Marinade for 2 lbs of pork butt (shoulder):

• 3 to 4 stems lemongrass (white part, bruised using meat hammer, 1cm slices on the bias)
• 8 cloves garlic
• 8 tbsp lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 6 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 8 tbsp brown sugar (not packed down)
• 6 tbsp light olive oil, or other neutral oil
• 1.5 tsp sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda)

Make 1cm thick slices of the pork butt, and pound them with a meat tenderizer. I harvested as many scraps as possible from what I bought, so there were lots of little not-steaks. Doesn't matter, because I'm going to cook them an a grill plate. Nothing will fall through, compared to cooking on the BBQ. Mix pork pieces in with the marinade.

The marinade will fizz because the baking soda reacts with the lime juice. Some heat will also be generated. I am curious how the baking soda or its by-products tenderizes the pork. In the end, the results were very good (L- loved it), so I will likely continue including the baking soda. As the author noted, pork shoulder usually benefits from long slow cooking, but this process created sufficiently tender and flavourful pork. Marinade for 24 hours or more.

I cooked the pork on a domed Korean grill plate on an Iwatani butane burner outside, because that's what we have. I wiped the plate between batches to remove black residue, to avoid burned (bitter) flavours. It's not difficult to do, just shut off the burner and wipe down with a damp paper towel. Don't forget to scrape off any lemongrass before putting the pork on the grill plate. It helps to have covered containers for input and output to keep wasps off the meat.

https://www.recipetineats.com/vietnamese-lemongrass-pork-steaks/

Nuoc cham (dipping sauce)

Begin preparations an hour or more before eating because it may be necessary to cool the sauce in the fridge before serving. I made the 8-servings quantity, which fits in a 500ml mason jar and was plenty for 2 or more meals for the three of us.

• 1 cup water
• 5 tbsp sugar
• 5 tbsp fish sauce
• 4 tbsp lime juice (1 to 2 limes)
• 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

The sugar has a hard time dissolving, so I put the water+sugar in a mason jar and microwaved it for 30 seconds to a minute (don't remember). The author recommended dissolving the sugar in 1/3 of the water, then adding the rest of the water at cool / room temp. If you prepare ahead of time, the sugar water will have time to cool before adding the rest of the ingredients (fish sauce, lime juice, garlic). Definitely try to add the lime juice to a cool mixture, to get the most flavour from the limes.

https://www.hungryhuy.com/vietnamese-dipping-fish-sauce-recipe-nuoc-cham-nuoc-mam-cham/

Noodles

Soak 375g package of vermicelli rice noodles in warm (45-50 degrees C) water for 10 minutes. Remove from the warm water, and cook in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Stop cooking when the noodles have reached the desired level of doneness (e.g. al dente). Drain and thoroughly cool down with one or two cold water baths, to stop the cooking process. Drain again, and use a salad spinner to remove any excess water. Spread the noodles across two plates to allow them to air dry. 

https://runawayrice.com/cooking-basics/make-perfect-rice-vermicelli/

Veggies and all the rest

Prepare:

• bean sprouts
• cucumber slivers
• sweet pepper slivers
• chopped lettuce
• lightly salted roasted peanuts, chopped or lightly crushed
• some Thai basil, coriander, mint leaves

The original recipe recommended a carrot + daikon quick pickle, but if you have some fermented carrot + daikon, e.g for banh mi, you're good to go. If you don't have daikon, even slivered carrots is fine. Everyone chooses what they want anyway.

https://www.recipetineats.com/vietnamese-pork-noodle-bowls/

Serve

Cut the cooked pork into bite-sized pieces.

Place some veggies in a big bowl. Add a layer of vermicelli. Top with pieces of pork, basil, coriander, mint, and peanuts. Spoon some nuoc cham over everything, and dig in.