Garlic, and shopping at the Asian grocery

I gave up on fresh garlic a long time ago. It's annoying to peel, garlic presses are a pain to clean, and garlic goes bad too quickly to keep enough on hand for the amount that I use.

Instead, I use minced or crushed garlic in a jar, the wet kind. It really tastes the same, is cheaper, it's easy to load up in a dish (spoonful after spoonful...mmmm!), and it keeps for a long time. No one has ever noticed the difference, and it's light-years tastier than garlic powder. It's saved me a lot of time, money, and aggravation. I also use ginger in the same format; we are ginger addicts here, and I never disappoint a guest with my cooking.

If you really want to find inexpensive garlic in a jar, try the Asian market. I pay a lot less for many ingredients, including coconut milk, canned specialty vegetables (bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn), dried mushrooms, produce, fresh mangoes, and sauces (tamari, vegetarian oyster, stir-fry). Some of them are up to 50% less than in the standard grocery store, and there is little to no difference in quality. We hit up the Indian grocery for staples like basmati rice, dried chickpeas and lentils, and spices (cardamom is especially inexpensive, and it's a great place to get pre-blended spices like garam masala).

Good food is important in our household. We eat a LOT of vegetables, and our friends really enjoy visiting for dinner. Because we're fairly poor, our food budget does not allow for much dining out, and fast food places are not vegetarian-friendly anyway. Lunches usually consist of leftovers, and snacks are cheap stuff like yogurt, dried fruits, cheap pretzels, and bulk nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans--I am allergic to peanuts, but okay with tree nuts). We're definitely not "junk food vegetarians"; we couldn't stand to eat so unimaginatively!

Essential tools: The Rice Cooker

I received my first rice cooker as a wedding gift nine years ago (yes, my first wedding). Now that I have one, I can't imagine how I managed life without it. I put in rice, water, and possibly seasonings, put the lid on, and flick the switch. No stirring, no watching the pot, just perfect rice every time with almost no effort. Doubly good is that, to clean it, I just soak the pan for a little while, and anything stuck to it comes right off.

Rice is a perfect companion to many of my dishes, and I keep at least a couple types of rice on hand. We buy basmati rice in large cloth bags at the Indian grocery, and we buy jasmine rice in large quantities at the Asian grocery.

Because these wonderfully scented rices are fantastic on their own, I usually leave them plain while cooking. Sometimes, however, I toss in a bay leaf, or I sprinkle in some cardamom. Either one can lend a little something to the rice.

If I have a lot of leftover rice, I will sometimes use it to make rice pudding, or store it for the next day's meal. There is no such thing as "too much" rice. It's too versatile to go to waste!

I would like to impart one piece of advice for use of the rice cooker: Use a little bit of extra water than you would normally use for stovetop cooking. This will prevent the rice burning on the bottom. My general rule of thumb is an extra half cup of water, but if you've got a really large cooker, you may have to use more. I have our formula tacked up on the fridge:

W = 2R + .5
The quantity of water is equal to twice the amount of rice, plus a half cup. So, if you are cooking one cup of rice, you will need two and a half cups of water.

Another bonus of rice cookers is that they usually can also steam vegetables. So, you can cook your rice in the bottom while steaming a basket of carrots and broccoli up top! Very easy, no stove needed, and you can work on things other than standing over a hot stove!

Some are fancy and digital, while others are simple. Ours is simple, and it works just fine. You don't have to spend a lot to get good results! Also, please note the size of the cooker that you're getting. If you have more than two to feed, a larger cooker is a good idea, but if it's just for two, a smaller quantity of rice tends to burn in the bigger cooker--so you'd want to go for the three cup model. The links below are just an example of what's out there; search for rice cookers to see all kinds of them. Read the product reviews carefully, too, so you don't end up with a dud. There are a few out there that are very cheap, and you should avoid them. Expect to spend about $20 for a simple 3-cup cooker that works pretty well. I wouldn't trust anything that costs less than that.

Finally, if you do get a rice cooker, I'd love to hear about it--what brand, what model, whether it's really good or too cheaply made. Good luck, and enjoy :)