great way to use up leftovers and vegetables in your crisper

Who doesn’t love fried rice? It’s one of those guilty pleasures you might crave when you think of chinese takeout, but there is nothing bad about a freshly made homemade fried rice dish.  Especially when you’re using up leftover cooked rice and any vegetables in your fridge that might go to waste if you don’t eat them soon!  This is something that my mom has made ever since I can remember.  It was often a quick lunch she would whip up to feed our family, especially if we were in a hurry or low on groceries.  She’s definitely perfected this dish, and to this day, I still don’t make it quite like hers…but I’m getting there!  She doesn’t ever do the same fried rice twice because she literally just uses up what she has in her fridge (she uses any leftover protein from last night’s dinner, veggies that were sautéed and stir fried)  but somehow mom’s fried rice is always the best!

Another reason this meal is so great is that it’s all done in one pan – very minimal dishes to clean after cooking.  That’s pretty important in a crazy busy house with two little ones!

Keep in mind that you can use pretty much any ingredients you have in your fridge.  I have listed below what I used, because that is what I had in my fridge that day!  I didn’t happen to have any meat, but you could easily add diced up cooked chicken, beef, pork, etc., if you had some left over from a previous meal.

what you need:

• 1 broccoli stalk
• 2 medium carrot
• 3 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 2 eggs
• 1 large shallot or 1 small cooking onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 1/2 cups cooked rice (rice from the day before is best – it is drier and will soak up the other ingredients’ flavours)
• 1 1/2 tbsp naturally brewed soy sauce
• cooking oil (I use grapeseed oil)
• freshly ground black pepper *optional

what to do:

1. Prep your veggies – wash and peel, then cut into a fairly fine dice. Spinach can be roughly chopped.
2. Finely chop garlic and shallot.
3. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat lightly.
4. Have your rice ready near you.
5. In a large non-stick pan on medium-high, heat up 1 tbsp oil.
6. Add carrots and broccoli, stirring every so often, until broccoli turns a brighter green. Add garlic and shallots, continue to sauté, until shallots have softened are are translucent. You will also smell the aromas of the garlic and shallot.
7. Push veggies onto one side of the pan, and then add a little bit more oil (just 1/2 tsp or so) to the empty side. Pour eggs into this space to make scrambled eggs.
8. Once eggs are cooked (this won’t take long), mix everything.
9. Add the rice – if it is day old rice it will be firmer and hard – just gently use the back of a wooden spoon to press down so that it loosens and contacts the heat of the pan.
10. Add soy sauce by drizzling over top, and continue to stir, frying for another few minutes, until rice is lightly browned and everything is mixed together.
11. Serve immediately, hot off the stove. Enjoy!