Fabulous Fried Rice

Who doesn’t love a bowl of good fried rice?

Honestly, I didn’t care for fried rice for the longest time. Why would you waste perfectly yummy rice by putting veggies & eggs in with it?

Then I met a woman who made the absolute best fried rice. It had so much flavor, it wasn’t a gross texture, and it smelled heavenly! She taught me how to make it; I had no idea it was so easy. Now I love it & have put my own twist on it due to some food restrictions!

I love how this can be whipped up in under 30 minutes, only takes a handful of ingredients, is nutritious but also so delicious, and the leftovers are just as good as when it’s first made. I love putting it into the menu rotation, but I also make sure I always have the ingredients on hand for those nights when the menu is empty & it’s dinner time!

The problem I have with recipes that I’ve put my own twist on, or that I’ve been making for a while (in this case, umm, 20 years!), is I don’t measure, which I know is a pain for someone who’s never made it before! So this recipe isn’t going to be in standard recipe form, as I’ll give you measurements when I have them, but for the most part, it’ll be ingredients with general amounts listed.

Main ingredient list:

1-3 cups of rice
I love having leftovers, so I typically make closer to 2 cups of rice. I’ve had it with brown rice, black rice, & plain old white rice. The person who taught me how to make it said she liked to make the rice a day before making the fried rice, let it sit overnight, & then make the fried rice. Honestly, I usually remember I need rice as I prepare to cook! So, you can make it either way.

1-2 bags of riced cauliflower (caulirice)
This is one of my tweaks to the recipe. I love having the caulirice to add to the bulk without having as many carbs. I tried it with just the Caulirice & no regular rice & I didn’t care for the texture/flavor. But having it mixed is delicious.

1 bag diced ham
You could use any kind of meat here. If I make it around Thanksgiving, I use leftover turkey or ham. But my go-to is the pre-diced ham from Walmart.

1 Diced onion

1-3 T diced garlic
I seriously eyeball this. I am in the camp where garlic is its own food group! So I usually just take a fork & scoop some garlic out of the jar. (I buy pre-diced garlic because it is a serious time saver.)

1 bag of frozen diced veggies
I use the one that has peas & carrots. But you can use whatever veggies, fresh, frozen, whatever works for your schedule, taste, & preferences.

Sesame oil
Here’s another example of eyeballing it! I drizzle the oil in the pan until it looks right. It will make the house smell amazing; just a heads up!

Soy Sauce
I use Coconut Aminos instead of Soy Sauce for my health issues. But again, you will drizzle this over everything near the end of cooking. If I had to guess, I would say ¼ Cup? Drizzle it until the rice looks nicely coated but not soaked.

3-6 eggs
I leave these out as I can’t have straight eggs, but I loved having them in the recipe when I could eat them.

Green onions
I like dicing them up & sprinkling them on top of the finished meal.

Steps:

1) Drizzle some Sesame Oil on your pan, let it heat up & then dump the veggies, onion, ham, & caulirice in. Cover with a lid, stirring occasionally. Cook until veggies are cooked & not frozen.

If not including egg, skip step 2.

2) Transfer the veggie mix to a bowl & then scramble the eggs in the hot pan.

3) Dump the rice & veggie mix back in the pan; add your garlic. Drizzle your Soy Sauce ( or Coconut Aminos) over the mixture. Cover & stir. Cook until mixture starts to brown & get toasty.