My First Whole Foods Trip and Stir Fried Rice

What a lovely day it has been today. It reached about 17 degrees C, but with the sun felt much warmer. I wore capris, and sandals, and was very warm wearing shorts and a T shirt on my run. Not only was the weather nice but I went to Whole Foods in Oakville for the first time. I have heard all about it through reading lots of American blogs and just couldn't wait to go myself. I figured today would be a perfect day! (disregarding the volume of shoppers out on this Holiday weekend Saturday)

The produce section was smaller than I expected but the rest of the store sure made up for it. The meat/seafood section was VERY impressive. There was lots of organic and "properly raised" meat, along with a big selection of grass fed beef, which is where my Dad picked it up for my 23rd Birthday dinner. The seafood is all labeled with where it is from and they had a lot of sustainably wild caught and properly farmed fish. There was also an impressive amount of prepared foods. I was very glad I ate lunch before I went because I would not have been able to resist the salad and hot food bar.

Any lingering hunger I had was supressed by the samples throughout the store. I tried a strawberry jalapeno jam on brie cheese. It was amazing and definitely worth the 8 dollars a jar for a special occasion. There was a ton of in-house made foods. Fresh pasta, sauces, salads, soups, sandwiches, pizza, meats, anything you could ever want! Was it pricey? Yes. But you know what, if I could afford it, didn't have the time to prepare something, and wanted to ensure I was eating something made from real food with natural ingredients, I would definitely head to Whole Foods (if there was one in my city, anyway).

Although I took the trip mostly just to take a look, see what all the hype was about, and check out some prices of some of my favourite products, I knew I would buy myself something. First I picked up some Green Mountain Gringo Hot Salsa which was on sale for $2, regular $6! To go along with that I chose one of my favourite brands of tortilla chips Guiltless Gourmet. I chose the spinach artichoke parmesan flavour. This brand is awesome because the seasonings are made with natural ingredients, a rare find in "healthy" chips. Finally, I picked up a berry scone. As soon as I saw it I knew that is what I wanted to have for breakfast on Easter Sunday when Lent is finally over. The cherry on top of the whole trip was that at the checkout, I got the chips for free because they didn't scan, and got 10 cents off for bringing my own bag, all while we listened to the live Jazz band playing by the checkouts.

I could get used to that place.

I'll send you off with a recipe I put together one night when I got home late and was starving. It was quick, easy, and very filling.

Stir-Fried Rice

1/2 tbsp olive oil
dried chili pepper (whatever you can handle)
~2 cups of frozen veggies (I used a blend of broccoli, pepper, carrot, beans, and water chestnuts)
1 garlic clove
1 tsp minced ginger
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 egg
1 egg white
dash of milk
soy sauce to taste

1. Heat oil with chili pepper on medium heat.
2. Add half defrosted veggies and garlic, and saute until no longer frozen.
3. Add ginger and rice and stir to combine. Heat for 3 minutes or so.
4. Meanwhile, beat egg, egg white and milk together. In a pan on medium-low heat, cook egg until about 1/2 done. Add to rice mixture and stir to combine, stirring until egg is cooked and veggies/rice are hot.
5. Serve topped with a bit of soy sauce.

This was my first time making a fried rice with egg and it turned out pretty good. I have made this twice since, and will probably make it many more times.

Have a fantastic Easter weekend!

Wild Rice and Tofu Salad with Sesame Dressing

I LOVE the bulk barn. Really, I will take any opportunity to browse the bulk barn, even when I don't need anything. I also buy things I don't really need. A while ago I bought some wild rice even though I had mason jars of 4 different kinds of rice already in my cupboard. When I saw this recipe on the New York Times I knew that was going to be my use for the wild rice. Plus, I got to use my magic bullet to make another dressing. I made a couple modifications based on what I had on hand, but the gist of the recipe is the same.

Wild Rice and Tofu Salad with Sesame Dressing from the New York Times, Recipes for Health

1/2 lb firm tofu
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 cup uncooked black rice
1 cup frozen edamame, defrosted

Dressing:
1 garlic clove, finely minced
3 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds*

1. Cook rice according to package directions. Yields about 3 cups of cooked rice.
2. Meanwhile, cube the tofu and pat dry with paper towel. Toss in 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp soy sauce. Bake in 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes or until bottom side browned. Flip and bake for another 10-20 minutes, until browned.
3.  Combine cooked black rice, tofu and edamame in a large bowl. Allow to come to room temperature.
4. For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a food processor or magic bullet. Blend until most of the sesame seeds are no longer whole. Pour most (80%) of the dressing over the rice mixture. Toss and serve room temperature or cold.

*Toast sesame seeds on a pan over medium heat. Be careful not to burn.

This salad was incredibly filling and tasted great as leftovers cold the next day. I really liked the dressing, but I think it would have been better with rice vinegar as the original recipe called for. The original recipe also called for raw tofu. While I am a tofu fan, I don't go so far as to eat it raw. The basic baked tofu used in this recipe would be great for any stir fry using tofu. This salad lacked veggies for sure which is really just the result of it being put together on a Friday, a day short of the usual grocery day. Bell pepper, cucumber, celery, onion, and mushrooms would all have been lovely in this salad.

I don't know if it is the sudden arrival of spring weather here in Ontario, but this salad makes me feel like summer is on it's way. I am pretty sure it is the weather but just in case it is the salad, you should make it too so you can feel like summer is coming, it is a great feeling ;)