Thursday, April 8, 2010

Leftovers anyone?

Steve has been traveling a lot for his new(ish) job which leaves me home alone a lot during the week. Last night I decided to make fried rice. The problem with me and making fried rice is by the time I'm done, no matter what, I have a GIANT pan full of it. So last night I set out to make a batch for one with a bit of leftovers for lunch today. Once I added the onions, garlic, broccoli, zucchini, edamame, shrimp, brown rice and eggs I had once again made enough fried rice to feed a family of ten. I know it's hard to tell in this picture but that wooden utensil is giant...and this is my biggest fry pan full of fried rice AFTER I've eaten my dinner serving. I'm going to be so over fried rice by Friday it's not even funny.


Betsy's Fried Rice
In a couple tablespoons of canola oil saute...
1 small to medium onion
4-5 cloves chopped garlic
1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
Add veggies of choice chopped small so they cook and continue to cook until not quite fully cooked.
Add apx 2 cups cooked/cooled short grain brown rice (day old seems to work even better straight from the fridge) and mix all together.
Make a well in the middle of everything and pour in 2-3 beaten eggs and let them set a bit then start scraping them up so you get a scrambled egg thing happening in the middle of your pan (the other ingredients will start to tumble into your eggs which is fine...eventually start mixing it all together.
This is where I typically add either frozen Trader Joe's shrimp to heat through, leftover chopped chicken breast, chopped baked tofu. Whatever I feel like. This recipe is the ultimate "clean out your fridge" recipe.
Then depending on taste and the amount you've made, I'll pour a couple tablespoons of soy sauce around the pan and mix some more. I'm always careful here b/c if you add too much, you can't take it back.
The end! Let me know if you end up with an enormous pan as well! :)

7 comments:

Kate said...

That looks delicious! How do you bake your tofu? Do you coat it with cooking oil or anything? Do you have to flip it?

Another delicious addition to fried rice is rice wine vinegar. It adds just the right tang.

Betsy said...

When I bake tofu I'll drain a block and dice into 1 inch cubes. I use to spend time really pressing the moisture out of the tofu w/paper towels but realized that wasn't necessary. I'll cover my big cookie sheet w/foil, spray it w/cooking spray, spread the tofu in one layer and spray w/olive oil spray and add salt and pepper. Then I bake at 375 until it's just lightly browned and a little bit dehydrated. I've taken it too far before then it gets yucky. I still like it to have the texture of tofu. And I love the vinegar idea! I love the tang.

Liz said...

YuM! Think I'll clean out the fridge tonight - I even have left over rice from our stir fry dinner Tuesday night. :-) Love recipes - thanks for sharing!

suzytag said...

I love this fried rice. I'd like some right this second!!

Kate said...

Thanks for the tofu tip! I have all these ingredients in my fridge right now - even the tofu! I think it's going on the menu for tomorrow. Have a great weekend, Betsy!

Whit and Steve said...

that looks so yummy!! I'm still waiting for your recipe for the cottage cheese pancakes. I really want to try those!

But until then, we'll have to give this a try. Looks delish!

Lindsay said...

That is too funny! It sounds exactly like my fried rice recipe!