Weekend Cooking 8/23: Healthy Fried Rice

Each weekend, Beth Fish Reads hosts Weekend Cooking.  This is perfect for me since I love food and cooking almost as much as I love books!

We ate a lot of typical summer meals this week, taking advantage of the bounty from our local farm's CSA. My son turned 21 last Sunday, so we had all of his favorites: steak, green beans, and Caesar salad with banana cake for dessert! Later in the week, we made a simple chicken and vegetable stir-fry and had some seared Mahi-Mahi with a fresh salsa on top.

We had a lot of bok choy this week from the farm, so I decided to make a family favorite: homemade Pork Fried Rice with fresh watermelon from the farm on the side. This is a healthy and delicious alternative to Chinese take-out, and our family loves it (as have many visiting kids over the years!). Best of all, it is super-simple so you can get dinner on the table quickly. You can vary the exact combination of vegetables, though this is our favorite, and use chicken instead of pork or even leave the meat out for a vegetarian meal. It is gluten-free (if you use gluten-free soy sauce) and dairy-free (though not Paleo with the rice). My recipe is included below - hope you enjoy it!

Healthy Chinese Fried Rice

(Serves 4 - 6)

A healthy & delicious alternative to take-out!

1 cup 30-minute brown rice (or enough pre-cooked or instant brown rice to make 4 cups cooked)

2 eggs

1 egg white

2 tspn sesame oil

1 package (about 1.25 pounds) boneless pork chops or chicken breasts, cut into thin 1-2 inch long slices

1 Tbl sunflower or peanut oil

1 head bok choy, sliced

4 ounces white mushrooms, chopped

3/4 cup frozen peas

1 bunch scallions (green onions), chopped

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Low-sodium soy sauce, to taste

1. Cook rice with water according to package directions (we like Uncle Ben’s 30-minute brown rice, but you can use pre-cooked or 10-minute brown rice if you are in a hurry – you need a total of 4 cups of cooked rice so read the package). When rice is fully cooked, move it to a bowl and chill in the refrgerator. If you are using pre-cooked rice, you can just use it at room temperature.
2. Beat eggs with sesame oil in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok, stir-fry pan, or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté pork or chicken until no longer pink and dump out of the pan. Keep warm.
4. Add bok choy and mushrooms to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes. Add peas and scallions and sauté until bok choy is tender.
5. Reduce heat to medium. Make a hole in the center of the pan, pushing vegetables to the sides and add egg mixture to the center, moving eggs constantly to cook and scramble them.
6. When eggs are cooked, mix together with the vegetables, add cooked meat back in, and add cooled rice. Mix well. Season with soy sauce and freshly ground black pepper (we like a lot of soy sauce in this dish because the rice absorbs it).

Serves 4-6 (depending on amount of meat and vegetables used) as a main course.

© Suzan L. Jackson 2015

(Do not reprint or publish without written permission from the author)