Photo credit:
pinknblack73, flickr
Wanted: easy healthy dinner in under 30 minutes. Bonus if it's vegetarian. Double bonus if it uses leftovers. Triple bonus if it tastes really good. Okay then, no problem. What you want is fried rice. All you need is to have a couple of things to have on hand and you can whip up a batch that's better—and cheaper—than your standby Chinese takeout.
The secret? Toasted sesame oil. Bonus points for fresh ginger. Here's how:
Chop up a couple of cups total of a variety of seasonal veggies like broccoli, peppers, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, peas, whatever you have on hand. Some form of onion, preferably scallions, is a must. Use bite-sized pieces, and leftovers are fabulous here. You'll also need a few cups of leftover rice (I prefer brown)—this meal is so awesome that I always make extra rice just to have left over for fried rice—and about 4 beaten eggs.
Saute your veggies until tender in a tablespoon or so of sesame oil, throwing in anything that's already cooked at the last minute just to warm. Meanwhile, warm cold rice in the micro. Push veggies to one side in the pan and pour in your eggs. Allow them to partially set, turn over and set the other side, then break into biggish pieces (or you can use the technique from 101 Cookbooks, totally worth the extra effort but not necessary; I love her recipe, too!). Add rice, season with soy sauce or tamari and more sesame oil to taste, and you're done. So easy, and so delicious!
(and it's different every time, so it satisfies the creative cook)
Enjoy!
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I love fried rice! But I have a much more lazy way of making it. Since I stir fry all the time, I usually have some leftover veggies and other cooked dishes. The variety is enough over the course of one week not to add fresh veggie ingredients, so there's no added cooking time for fresh veggies. So in my case, I'll start with the scallions and eggs, then toss in the rice and leftovers and the eggs will break up as I'm mashing things together in my wok. Flavor with soy sauce and sesame oil to taste. Alternatively, if all you've got in the wok is rice, eggs, peas and carrots, you can add ketchup instead of soy sauce and sesame oil. The key is not have an flavors that taste weird with ketchup if you're going to do this. I know ketchup isn't very asian, but as an american-born chinese, I happen to like the combo!
Oh, awesome! Great idea to save leftovers all week. But ... ketchup, seriously? I am so going to have to try that; I NEVER would have thought of ketchup! Thanks!