My amazing friend Lena Vegan Living Challenge submission - The days when your cooking imagination kicks in, and you are lazy to go to grocery store.
Imagination kicking in.
I actually enjoy the days when I am almost left without food because that is when my cooking imagination kicks in. In order to be a good cook, you have to have imagination. Or you can just follow other's people recipes and stock up your fridge on regular basis. The opposite of me.lol I prefer playing around with cooking. I think it is way more rewarding unless you burn and oversalt your meal or something. Even if you do. Don't get discouraged. Cooking is a lot about trail-error. :)
So what those using your imagination to cook means? It means to go on a scavenger hunt into your fridge and cabinets and look for whatever is left and you can use to make yourself something to eat. Turn everything upside-down if needed. lol After about 10min of being on the hunt for ingredients ended up with this :
- 1 eggplant
- zucchini
- 3 carrots
- rice
- Chia seeds
Not complaining at all. I can work with this for sure. I decided I have enough ingredients to make myself a nice vegetable risotto. Which is one of my favorite dishes to make because everything is done in about 20 minutes and if I don't burn or oversalt something it turns out good. I get basically all my body needs for energy to ensure I can endure my basketball practices.
The preparation.
I started by boiling the water and adding carrots to it right away because carrots take longer to cook than zucchini and eggplant. I cook them separately. I spiced it a bit with Himalayan salt to start with. Until water started to boil I took the time to cut the eggplant and zucchini. When the water started boiling I added the rice to it and started to cook eggplant and zucchini in a separate pan.
I never cook my vegetables on any oils, but rather I add water instead to steam cook them in a way. I don't do it for too long as I want the vegetables to keep as many nutrients as possible, but also that they are not raw. It usually takes about 5-10min to cook them to the way I like them. I add my Olive oil when the cooking is done for the taste and another nutrient boost to my dishes.
For me, the taste is the same if you fry them in oil or steam cook them. But steam cooking is healthier and you are preserving way more nutrients from olive oil and vegetables. Anyways everybody has their own theories for cooking and this is kind of one of my own. I can't support it by any research, but for me, it makes a lot of sense. The more you fry the food the more nutrients are lost.
Finishing it up
Anyways, after about 5-10 vegetables were ready to be mixed with my rice and carrots which have been cooked also. It took about 15 minutes to cook the rice. This is how it looked before I mixed it all up. I added some paprika and pepper to it as my spices. To be honest those two are only ones I had.I really need to go grocery shopping.lol
After mixing it up for about 2-3 minutes I added the olive oil and mixed it up a bit more so everything blends nicely. One minute after my lunch was finished and ready to be served. As you can see I cooked a bit too much so I will probably have some leftovers for dinner. Or maybe as I am writing this I am kind of getting hungry again and I might for a second round. lol I love simple and delicious meals such as this one. Especially with my busy basketball schedule.
20 minutes is all you need for a delicious meal such as this. Invest time in your health my friends. Your body will thank you for it.
O yes, I almost forgot. You are probably wondering what I did with Chia seeds? If you look closely at the picture below you will notice chia seeds added on top of the risotto for some extra nutrient boost. I like to add all kinds of seeds to my meals. Mostly I use hemp hearts, chia seeds, and sesame seeds. You really don't notice them much in your meal, but they are packed with vitamins and minerals our body needs on daily basis.
If you looking for delicious vegan recipes visit my friends Lena blog or visit her Steemit account @lenasveganliving. It is full of delicious recipes you can use to improve your cooking skills. Here is the link for her blog.
So, my friends, I hope you enjoyed reading my post and hopefully will use some of the tips for cooking I wrote about. Cooking is all about trial and error. Pretty much like anything in life. Practice makes better. Have fun with cooking. Explore, make your own dishes, don't be afraid to make mistakes. Use your imagination.
Until next time, Bon Apettite, much love,
dbjegovic 💓
ALL THE IMAGES POSTED, AND WORDS WRITTEN IN THIS POST BELONG TO ME. 100% ORIGINAL
COPYRIGHT OF DURO BJEGOVIC
Hi @awakentolife! @lenasveganliving is sending you 0.1 SBD tip and @tipU upvote
:)
@tipU - send tips by writing tip! in the comment, get share of the profit :)Durko you are such a great example especially for people who thinks that vegan food is boring, or too expensive or, they have to have special cooking skills, or they have to buy special ingredients, or the most common complain is protein lol.
In this simple recipe you can totally prove to them wrong and present us with simple, yet delicious, highly nutritious and cost effective meal. No to mention the advice about cooking. I am truly happy to have you on my team, because my recipes could be sometimes too complicated for someone who never cooked before or is just thinking to go vegan. I think what you are presenting is more beginner friendly and I hope I will see posts like this from you more often. Thank you so much upv & rsd plus tip!
People think cooking, in general, is boring. Not only vegan. Which is absolutely wrong. Unless you burn or over salt your dishes. Even then it is fun. As I laugh at myself. But most of the time my dishes turn out to be good as I have been cooking for myself for the past 10 years during my basketball career. :)
And I can tell you one thing. It sure is a great feeling to experiment with dishes. Use your imagination. And in the end turns out to be a delicious new dish you created. It is unique and you created it. A great feeling indeed. Make the food taste even better. :)
The expensive to eat healthily is unfortunately just an excuse for many for not taking care of their bodies. In reality, it can be very cheap and very delicious. Just like the dish I made :)
As always many XOXOOXOXO for you my friend @lenasveganliving :)
I'm a total omnivore. Your post made my mouth water! That said, I am concerned about the anti-nutrients in many non-meat foods. This website is well thought out and very convincing: http://www.diagnosisdiet.com
Please feel free to comment. I've done a lot of research on nutrition over many years. I find the site quite well put together in terms of the research conducted.
I am not sure what you consider anti-nutrients? I am not trying to say the information on this website is not correct, but the only research I accept is the one on how I feel. The researchers and scientific data change their mind too often to be credible in my book.
This is what I know of me becoming vegetarian or 90% vegan. I feel 10 times better. The myth of losing energy is totally busted as I play pro basketball and have more energy than I ever had eating meat. I have not lost weight either. Or have problems bringing in enough protein. There are plenty of alternatives to animal protein. Plus my body recovers much faster from practices. I stopped having that bloated feeling in my body. My skin has cleared up and I did not have a flue or cold in more than 3 years. This is the only research I accept for myself. Again, not saying the data on your website is incorrect. Just saying I would rather listen to the how my body feels than any kind of research. Not sure what anti-nutrients are because I am pretty sure I don't consume them much or probably at all. Because my diet is based on alive fruits and veggies, legumes, rice, quinoa, amaranth, many different types of seeds and superfoods... If you are talking about tofu and products from them, then yes. Anything processed loses their nutrient values as they become "dead" products.
Everybody has their own theories on diets and what is healthy or not, but it all comes down to one question? How do you feel? And, how does your body feel? This is what I base my results on. :)
Interesting topic this is indeed my friend. Love having a conversation such as this so thank you for your amazing comment. Have an amazing day. :)
@selfishinvesting
Well said Durko!!!
You're absolutely right. I think everyone is different in subtle ways so it's a journey of self-discovery to see what works best.
I love to biohack myself and have found that whether I'm doing all veggies or all meat, I feel great. I get a sustained protein rush from meat/fish but also a sustained feeling of clean from doing power salads. Certain foods definitely induce unhealthy, sluggish feelings such as too much sugar or too many simple carbs. Otherwise, I find meat/fish/veg/whole grains/beans agree with me. My last sick day was in 2004 (no joke!).
You've received a FULL upvote from #TheUnmentionables - a SteemIt community full of members who like to kick ass, take names, and occasionally do it wearing (or forgetting to wear) our unmentionables...
Please upvote this comment so we can help our members grow faster!
CONGRATULATIONS TO 2nd PRIZE DEAR @awakentolife..........WELL DESERVED!
https://steemit.com/fruitsandveggiesmonday/@lenasveganliving/3mwcdr-steemit-fruits-and-veggies-monday-competition-winners-announcement
As always. Thank you. You have a great contest going which promotes healthy living. I enjoy participating when I get the chance. I hope this contest grows more and more every week. :)
XOXO
Wonderful receipe in picture ! congratulations for your prize in the contest @awakentolife ! ^_^
![congrats.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmer2s3nMMaekbqQx9BeAz7A3HKE6kerfyJj75VU4RfPZj/congrats.png)
Thank you @barbar-orenya :) I am glad you liked it. I appreciate the support.
Have an amazing day. :)
This looks great, Duro and how simple! Now, I need to go look in my refrigerator to see what I have!
Have a fabulous day and keep on Steeming!
hahah yep go on that hunt for ingredients and let your cooking imagination kick in. Make the best of what you have. Looking forward to your entry. :)
@dswigle I wish you the same. Have a fabulous and amazing day. :) 💓
Stay tuned. :) And thank you! xo
I didn't enjoy your post!!
It made me hungrier as am vegan XD
hahahah well there you go. You only need 20 minutes to prepare such a meal. Go to work. Use your imagination and go on the hunt for ingredients. :) @pisolutionsmru
Good stuff - actually looks pretty good
There used to be a tv show in the UK where they did exactly this with a random bag full of ingredients - ReadySteadyCook as I recall
Cheers
They did the same cooking show in Croatia also. lol It was called 3,2,1 COOK or something like that. It was interesting I am sure I would do good on it. hehe As I do this all the time. hehe Especially with my busy basketball schedule. :)
@holbein81
Yes. Give me some.of that. Delicious
Sending some over. hehe lol Let me know when you get it? hehe @sergiomendes
Cool. Will let you know how they taste.