What should I add to plain frozen vegetables and plain white rice to make it flavorful??

Question

I have a bag of Steamfresh frozen veggies that has carrots, pea pods, water chestnuts, and broccoli and regular Uncle Bens white rice. I made it earlier and while it didn't taste bad and did fill me up, it was kinda bland and I felt it needed a sauce or something. Any suggestions on what sauce to make to make it a perfect easy lunch?? I'd like it to have a chinese type of feel.

Answer 1

Minced fresh garlic makes everything better.

Answer 2

i do this all the time. make the rice, steam the veggies, and top it with soy sauce! simple and good!

you made it sound so good, thqat's what i'm making for dinner now! (i'm going to add chicken) here's the sauce i'm making:

Basic Stir Fry Sauce Recipe

1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon or lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon rice wine or sherry

Heat the sesame oil in a small saucepan. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry 15-30 second over medium heat to bring out the flavor. Add the chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, Tabasco, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Bring just to a boil, stirring. Dissolve the cornstarch in the wine and whisk into the sauce. Heat until sauce thickens and reaches a full boil.

Simmer for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Answer 3

If you are NOT a vegetarian, try cooking the rice in chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp broth (or thow a "cube" of dehydrated broth in the water).

If a vegetarian:

Tam-tam broth (or cubes) can add a mildly spicy asian flavor to the rice. Some supermarkets carry it in the "asian" or "ethnic" aisles, or your can find it at the asian markets.

Soy or teriyaki sauce sprinkled over everything will give you what you want. If you have a little wasabi (and it only takes a little) you can spice it up.

And there's nothing wrong with butter/oil, garlic, salt and pepper .... "Pepper meaning the wide variety of ground peppers available. Paprika adds a "zing" without adding a "burn," unless you over do it drastically. Black pepper is traditional, but used in quantity can add some heat. Use ground red pepper sparingly.

Finally, why not melt a little shredded cheese into the whole thing? Make what you like and feel free to experiment.

Answer 4

You can either make a home made teriyaki sauce:
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
1 cup soy sauce
4 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 cup white sugar
7 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 dash red pepper flakes
black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Bring mirin to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour in soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar. Season with garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and black pepper; simmer an additional 5 minutes. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

OR
Take some chicken stock add a little soy sauce and if you want add a few drops of sesame oil, you can add some cornstarch to thicken it, if you want.

Answer 5

1 cup carrots and peas
1/2 cup rice -- raw
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon peanut oil
1 1/2 quart chicken broth
2/3 cup baked ham -- slivered
1/3 cup green onions -- chopped
1 soy sauce

Instructions:
Combine rice,carrots and peas, water and salt in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling; cover and simmer 25 mins. Cool. Toss cooled rice with peanut oil in a large skillet until rice turns golden brown. Keep hot until ready to serve. Meanwhile heat together chicken broth, ham and green onions. turn into large soup tureen. Serve soup at the table topping each bowl with a spoonful or two of hot rice which crackles as it goes into the soup. Pass soy sauce, adding individually to taste. Makes 6 servings.

Answer 6

A little soy sauce serves as a tastier replacement for salt (which it contains, by the by). You could try some fresh herbs if you have any, or take a little advice form Simon & Grafunkle--parsley, sage, rosemary, OR thyme (all four are a bit confusing to the palate). Dill would also taste good with that. A little freshly ground black pepper is good on just about anything except ice cream. Alternatively, you could try a little paprika or creole seasoning.

Answer 7

Make the rice like usual but use the vegetables in a stir fry. Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Toss in your vegetables and cook until a fork pierces them easily. Stir the vegetables often or they may burn. You can also add a bit of soy sauce or chicken stock, chopped garlic and/or onion. Serve over the rice.

Answer 8

Kikkoman (brand) Stir-Fry Sauce is real good and add a little soy sauce, tastes great. Is a bottle with a green wrap(mostly green) at the Chinese section at H.E.B. Add pieces of meat it is healthy and non fatting

Answer 9

Soy sauce is my favorite for white rice. Yet just plain old koscher salt really pumps up the flavor also.

Answer 10

I don't know about a Chinese type of feel but my mother takes frozen chicken breasts and boils them on the stove marinates them in some spices and cuts them in little pieces. She makes some spaghetti noodles and puts chicken broth over the whole thing (veggies, chicken pieces, and noodles) mix and serve. Sorry I don't have any measurements she just made it up but it tastes great.

Answer 11

Yeah, if you add some chicken stock to your rice when you're cooking it, it pumps it up alot, the powdery kind is easiest to work with. If your a vegetarian, try veggie stock, but it's not as flavorfull. . . Or in the rice while it's cooking put in some basil and seasoning salt.