By Zoey Siow
I was raised by my grandmother when I was young as my parents were working full time. My grandma was an amazing cook and I love every bit of her cooking.
One of my all-time favourite is Yam Rice.
Now that I am a mum of 3 boys, I will cook most of the meal for them for 3 specific reasons:
I know exactly what goes into their tummy.
Minimal seasoning and using various alternative ingredients to make it flavourful.
I want my children to know what real food is. Healthy eating starts from home.
My love for Yam Rice inspired me to be creative, that brought about this easy to make delicious Pumpkin Rice recipe.
Why I Chose Pumpkin?
Pumpkin is one of my favourite. It is easily available in the market. The sweetness of pumpkin makes this dish easily acceptable for children even with minimal seasoning.
Pumpkin offers so much health benefits. It is:
High in dietary fibre
Beneficial to boost immunity
Packed with Vitamin A
An Antioxidant
A Good source of protein, iron and potassium
Pumpkin is definitely one of the items that will always be in my fridge that helps me when I need to make a quick meal.
If you have read my previous article “How I cook a meal under an hour”, you will know that I absolutely love one pot meal. Pumpkin rice is my all time favourite one pot meal.
Ingredients
1 big onion, finely chopped
300 gm pumpkin, deseeded and cut into cubes 1 carrot, shredded
3 to 5 stalk of french beans/ long beans, thinly cut
6-8 pieces of shiitake mushroom, thinly sliced
100 gm of minced meat (of your choice) - marinate with sesame oil and a dash of salt
2 cups of rice (I normally use mixed grain - white rice + brown rice + quinoa + millet)
Optional
A handful of dried shrimp, soaked with water to reduce the saltiness and roughly chopped.
(I don’t use this if it is for children below 2 years old as dried shrimp has high salt content)
Method
In a saucepan, saute onion till the color turn translucent.
If you chose to use dried shrimp, add and saute for another 1-2 mins
Add in mince meat and stir fry till they are fully cook
Add in shredded carrot and french beans/ long beans, continue to stir fry.
Next, add in shiitake mushroom.
Add rice and pumpkin, stir evenly.
Lastly add 2 cups of broth or water, season to taste.
Transfer into rice cooker and cook.
Tips :
Using hand chopper to chop onion and shiitake mushroom help reduce preparation time. If you make a choice to hide a particular ingredient, hand chopper will do a perfect job.
Happy Cooking!
-------------
Zoey Siow is a parent-child connection expert and mum of 2 active boys. Taking a huge career leap this year, Zoey let go of her high-paying corporate 9-5 job to be full-time with her boys.
Now, she’s working on her passion to help parents who want to unleash their children’s full potential but have no idea where and how to start. She’s determined to empower parents to connect and bond with their children in a fun, engaging and non-time consuming way.
Get connected with Zoey now via