Ep 3 Broccoli & Mushroom Stir Fry with Tomato Brown Rice

Those miniature tree-looking greens called broccoli belong to the family of cruciferous vegetables, which also includes cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, and bok choy. Cruciferous vegetables are high in vitamins, fibre, and disease-fighting phytochemicals. These nutritional powerhouses protect against inflammatory bowel disease and are linked to lower certain cancer risks.

It is not necessary to boil the broccoli as the vegetable can be eaten raw, but not everybody likes the taste. If you decide to boil the broccoli, be aware it will only take a few minutes before it turns bright green and is ready. Boiling broccoli for too long will not only cause it to disintegrate easily, it will kill off most of the nutrients.

To jazz up the rice that the broccoli and mushroom stirfry is served with, we have added tomatoes, full of naturally-occurring monosodium glutamate (MSG), giving the brown rice a great flavour.

Like broccoli, tomatoes have been shown to help reduce the risk of prostate and pancreatic cancers. They are high in antioxidants, especially vitamin C and E, which are known to help prevent and even reverse many kinds of cancer as well as heart disease.

Ingredients

Tomato brown rice
1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1 tomato, remove the core
¼ tsp of salt

Broccoli and mushroom stirfry
1 head broccoli
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
¼ cup water

Method

1. Place brown rice in rice cooker bowl. Wash and rinse with water. Add 2 cups of water and salt, and place tomato in the middle of the rice. Program rice cooker to cook.
2. While rice is cooking, cut broccoli into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
3. After rice has been cooking for about 15 minutes, fill a medium-sized saucepan with water and bring to boil. Add broccoli and salt, boiling until broccoli is bright green. Transfer broccoli into a bowl of cold water.
4. Heat a medium-sized non-stick frying pan over medium flame. Add oil, light soy sauce, ginger powder and garlic. Fry until fragrant.
5. Add mushrooms and water. Mushrooms will release their juices and soften. Fry until all the liquid has been absorbed. Mushrooms will be moist, but not wet.
6. Add broccoli, frying until broccoli is a rich, deep shade of green.
7. When rice is cooked, stir to mash and mix in tomato.
8. Serve broccoli and mushroom stirfry with the tomato brown rice.

Facts:
Broccoli: It belongs to the cruciferous vegetables family, such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, bok choy, etc. They are high in certain vitamins, fiber, and disease-fighting phytochemicals.

Studies show that this special dietary compound can protect against inflammatory bowel disease, especially broccoli. Various components in cruciferous vegetables have been linked to lower certain cancer risk.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes, same as broccoli, have synergy, that may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. They are high in antioxidants, vitamin C and E are two of the most common antioxidants. The benefit of consuming antioxidants is that they may prevent and even reverse many kinds of cancer as well as heart disease.