Pan-Seared Turmeric Rice with Wine Sauce

The other night we made a ton of rice - not sure why exactly, but we did. That's a good thing though because day-old rice can be turned into so many wonderful dishes like fried rice or paella or what have you. The wonderful color of this dish comes from the little turmeric that was added while the flavor comes from the Edna Valley Chardonnay that was left in the fridge. Hardly any oil is used at all, and the rest of the moisture in the rice is from pure, simple water, making this a pretty healthy dish as well.

There's not as much of a need to follow the specific recipe here as this is a flavor-to-taste kind of dish. Enjoy!

Ingredients

day-old (stale) rice
water
white wine (I used chardonnay)
healthy oil
bell pepper strips
onion strips (or however you like it)
chopped or minced garlic
*spices to taste: turmeric, garlic powder, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, cumin, cajun
optional: any leftover meat
**optional: half a piece of fermented tofu/mung bean

Directions

1. Take a squirt or two of that healthy oil in a pan and heat it up. Next, add that day-old rice until it soaks up the oil and gets hot. Do NOT overfry it.
2. Add a little bit of water until the rice soaks it up.
3. Toss in the garlic and veggies. Grill them up and if anything starts to char or get too dry/fried, add a couple splashes of the wine.
4. Add the seasonings and mix well. At this point the turmeric should have enveloped the rice into a beautiful yellow color. Add a couple more splashes of wine. Be careful not to make it into a sticky rice.
5. Add any meat or fermented tofu and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Enjoy with friends or family and pair with a side of baked fries or green veggies.

* use whichever spices you like but the turmeric is essential for the rich color!
** Warning: a half a piece of fermented tofu will go a long, long way. It is a very salty and slightly sour tasting tofu, and most dishes will only call for one piece at most. Fermented tofu is hard to find sometimes, so feel free to leave this out as it is in no way necessary.

I use it because fermented soy is my highly preferred type of soy, as it was always meant to be eaten. If you have any questions, and you're hesitating, don't! Fire away.