Southern Stir Fry

At the same time I was flexing my baking skills with the Triple Chocolate Cake, I had the opportunity to try out a new vegetable side.

Among the guests at the dinner party was a friend of both Ox and myself, Maria. Maria is a vegetarian, so meatloaf was pretty much off the menu for her (although she was tempted, I have heard). So I volunteered to make an additional vegetable dish to go with the traditional “meatloaf sides” – mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn. Ox and I discussed it, and we both decided that this sounded like it would work best with the meal.

And we were right. Perhaps there’s something to cooking and eating vegetable dishes after all.

Southern Stir Fry

Serves 4

1 cup cold cooked rice
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
½ teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 can (15 to 16 ounces) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
2 cups lightly packed spinach leaves

Spray 12 inch nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. (Or melt a tablespoon of butter or a tablespoon of oil in a 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium high heat).

Cook the rice, corn, thyme, garlic salt, pepper, and black-eyed peas until hot, stirring occasionally. Stir in spinach and cook until the spinach begins to wilt.

Source: Betty Crocker’s Fix-It-Fast Family Favorites, from General Mills Inc. © 2000

Notes from the Hare

Nothing to say, really – I used a red and black pepper blend instead of just red pepper. This went over very well at the dinner party.