Brown Rice and Steamed Veggies with Asian Dressing

In an attempt to kick of 2010 right and get the weight loss plan underway I'm working hard to monitor my eating. 

I decided that a good lunch for the week would be brown rice with steamed veggies.  I was going to use quinoa but didn't have any at home.  I used up some bell peppers I had that needed to be used and most of a head of bok choy which I love and which gives it a little asian flair.  It's nice and clean food, simple as can be.

BROWN RICE AND STEAMED VEGGIES WITH ASIAN DRESSING

1 cup brown rice
3 small yellow bell peppers chopped
1 large red bell pepper chopped
2 green onions sliced
1 head bok choy chopped, stems and leaves
**Note:  use whatever vegetables you like or have on hand!  Snap peas, broccoli, spinach all would be great additions as well

Cook the brown rice according to the package.  I get the best results when I put 1 cup of rice in just over 1 1/2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and cook about 35 - 40 minutes.  No peeking!

Chop up all the veggies and prepare a steamer (the Dream Steamer is one of my favorite items off of my registry).

Add the vegetables to the steamer in order of how long they will take to cook.  There are no hard fast rules, just use common sense.  Leaves take no time at all, the harder and crunchier the vegetable, the longer the cooking time.  I added the bell peppers first, then the bok choy stems, then the green onions and lastly the bok choy leaves.

I packed up a few tupperwares with rice and a healthy topping of veggies to bring to work for lunch.

FOR THE DRESSING
1 Tbsp miso
3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sesame oil
Freshly grated ginger to taste (about a 1in. piece)
red chili paste (to taste)
dash of fresh squeezed lemon - about 1-2 tsp
dash of fish sauce (optional)

Put all the ingredients (except the fish sauce) in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Keep tasting and add bits of this or that until you get the right flavor.  At the very end I added a tiny dash of fish sauce, just to give it a little kick.

I stored the dressing in a separate little jar and used on top of my rice and veggies. 

The dressing was particularly delicious.  I was the envy of everyone in my office with the fabulous smells coming from my lunch.