being mindful of the Living Force ..

being a fanboy of jedi ways, i thought about this advice that qui-gon jinn offered to obi-wan kenobi in star wars: the phantom menace:

OWK: I have a bad feeling about this.
QGJ: I don't sense anything.
OWK: It's not about the mission, Master. It's something.... elsewhere, elusive.
QGJ: Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs.
OBK: But Master Yoda said I should be mindful of the future.
QGJ: But not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, young Padawan.

good advice .. to a point, at least. [1] i took this to heart as i was cooking today.

i made three things, two of which i'll offer details to its preparation. once you know the ingredients, the other one isn't so hard to figure out. also, by pure chance these are all vegetarian dishes.

STIR-FRY BROCCOLI (JUST BROCCOLI).

all you need is a frying pan and a spatula for this.

• two cloves of garlic, smashed and diced.
  
• 2 crowns (4 cups) of broccoli, cut into florets. (prepare the stems, if you know the drill.)
  
• frying oil. your choice.
  
• to taste: oyster sauce, oregano, salt.

PORRRIGE WITH BROWN RICE, BARLEY, AND YAMS.

* i suggest a rice cooker for this.

* the pot of water can boil while you're chopping the yam(s).

* having learned that not everyone knows this, remember to wash the barley and rice before steaming. i suggest two washes with cold water.

• 2 large handfuls of brown rice
  
• 2 large handfuls of barley
  
• 1 large yam, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
  
• sesame oil
  
• frying oil (again, your choice)
  
• honey
  
• 2 bay leaves, allspice, leaf marjoram

i'll give the main ideas: there are two events occurring at any given time.

1. chop the yams as the water boils. when ready, boil the yams.
   
   
2. wash the rice as the yams boil.
   
   
3. steam the rice with an appropriate amount of water in the rice cooker.
   
   as the rice steams, spoon out the yams into a separate bowl, but DO NOT pour out the yam water. you can use this for fine vegetable broth, after you let it simmer to half its volume; if you have vegetable scraps, toss them in and sieve them out later.
   
   
4. heat a frying pan and sear the yams for three minutes. after the first minute, add allspice and marjoram and stir. after the second minute, drizzle a little honey and stir. after the third minute, add the frying oil.
   
   
5. fry for two more minutes, stirring regularly, then shut off stove heat. add the sauteed yams into the rice cooker, along with a few shakes of sesame oil. stir the mixture, and top with bay leaves.

when it looks like porridge, then shut the rice cooker off. The thickness is up to you.

if you did choose to make a broth out of the yam water, remember not to let it over-boil.

COUSCOUS WITH BLACK BEANS AND PEAS.

* if you made yam broth from the last recipe, now's a good time to use it.

• 1/2 can of black beans, rinsed. do what you will with the other 1/2.
  
• 1/2 cup of peas. if frozen, thaw them out.
  
• 1 small onion, diced. if you shed tears easily from chopping onions, keep them in the fridge until you must chop them. cold onions are powerless against humans.
  
• 2 large handfuls of (unseasoned) couscous
  
• vegetable broth, simmering temperature.
  
• boiling water.
  
• cornstarch
  
• frying oil.
  
• to taste: salt, sesame oil, thyme, pepper flakes.

this is a simple recipe, but i'll say a few things, anyway.

1. to infuse the couscouse, prepare a mixture of boiling water and broth; i suggest 1 part water to 2 parts broth for a bare minimum of flavor.
   
   as a personal rule (subject to change) add enough mixture to immerse all the couscous, and noting that volume of liquid, add an additional half of that volume. it should look like you drowned the couscous.
   
   however, couscous is prolific. it will swell and use up all of that liquid. if it weren't so tasty, it would be scary.
   
   
2. saute the onions, then the peas, and finally the beans. try not to cook the beans for too long, because they will break apart if under heat for too long.
   
   
3. all the seasoning goes into the saute. as a thickening agent, in a separate bowl mix 1 heaping spoonful of cornstarch with 1/2 cup warm water. mix extremely well, and then add to the saute, stirring immediately. at a high heat, a sauce will thicken after a minute. when it thickens, i suggest turning off the heat.
   
   as a caution, never put unmixed cornstarch into the pan, or any flour for that matter. you will never get rid of the lumps.
   
   
4. when the saute is done, stir into the couscous.

the job is done.

[1] in a nutshell, the living force is a local, short-term flow, whereas the unifying force give global, long-term character.

one could say that because qui-gon was too adept at the living force, he saw the immediate need to train anakin skywalker. yoda, who is often credited with strength in the unifying force, disagreed because of the long-term consequences.

you know the rest.