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First of all, (Belated) Happy Chinese New Year to our Asian friends (well, to all of you who celebrate it)! It makes me miss my best friend who has all these incredibly yummy food during this time. Green tea moon cake, anyone? All those candies, cakes, and other delicacies whose names I cannot remember — I want! We ate pho, does that count as a celebration?

I think you know my everyday cooking style for now, which is Cook What’s Available. Dan took over the kitchen last night and pampered me with a delicious dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce that was packed with flavor, chardonnay, and apple pie (that his mom gave to us the other day) with ice cream for dessert. Yum! We were left with ground sirloin from the sauce, there was cooked jasmine rice, and unopened bag of baby spinach in the fridge begging for attention.

I ended up making Ground Sirloin with Baby Spinach, served with Garlic Fried Rice:

Ground Beef with Spinach

The ground beef was cooked in my usual onion and garlic, but I spiced it up with paprika. The jasmine rice, previously cooked in coconut milk, was fried with garlic and garlic powder. I am so happy with the outcome of yet another lunch experiment. This is another 30-minute recipe and I was able to take pictures within that time frame. Rachel Ray talks, I take photos. Hah.

If you want to give it a whirl, here’s a visual step-by-step guide:

And behind the cut are the recipes.

Ground Sirloin with Baby Spinach

Ingredients [For 1 to 2 servings]

  • ~ .25 lb ground sirloin (or any ground beef)
  • 1/4 bag baby spinach (about two small handfuls)
  • 1/4 white onion, chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • ~ a smidgen of paprika
  • salt
  • fresh ground pepper
  • ~ 1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Procedure:

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in medium heat. Cook ground beef until you lose the redness. You can add more oil if it becomes too dry or the meat starts to stick at the bottom.

2. Mix in chopped onion. Add salt and pepper. Cook until onion loses its opacity and beef is thoroughly cooked.

3. Lower your heat to medium-low, add a little more oil especially if your beef is lean and have no oil to contribute. Add the chopped celery and garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes, which will leave you with a nice bright green celery.

4. Add paprika. I sprinkled once from the container and that was perfect for me. Add more if you like. Stir.

5. Turn off the heat and toss in spinach. Serve with rice.

Simple Garlic Fried Rice

Ingredients [for 1 1/2 cup rice; 1 to 2 servings]

  • 1 1/2 cup rice [take your pick: white, brown, wild rice mix, or even quinoa]
  • 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
  • ~ 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • extra virgin olive oil

Procedure

1. Brown chopped garlic in olive oil heated in medium-low heat.

2. Add your rice and sprinkle garlic powder. Mix well.

3. Take off heat and enjoy. Yeah, that’s it! :-)

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