Homemade Fried Rice and Loads of Veggies

I could hardly get all the glorious vegetables in my refrigerator when I put away my CSA box last week. For one, everything in the box was enormous and strangely shaped. Second, we still had vegetables from our previous CSA box to eat.

Seriously, some weeks we eat through almost everything in the box in the first few days and I am more than ready for the next box and then other weeks…well let’s just say I am not ready for more.

I decided I needed to make something that would make some room in my refrigerator so I turned to my new-to-me favorite cookbook “Enchanted Broccoli Forest” Authored by the immensely talented Mollie Katzen.

I must confess that I have owned both “Moosewood Cookbook” and “Enchanted Broccoli Forest” for years (like 10 years) and I have never made anything out of them, never even opened them after my first look. Isn’t it a shame?

I must have known on some level that I needed to keep these cookbooks. They were given to me for a wedding gift and birthday gift so long ago…I remember looking through them and thinking “man, this is a lot of work”.

I am so grateful for these cookbooks now. There is so much information and the recipes taste great. The best part is they all use tons of vegetables, which I have a mass quantity off these days, so it is a great relationship.

I was honestly inspired by this post from Agrigirl’s Blog recently. I realized as my mouth was watering looking at this post, that I am totally unaware of how to cook and eat beans and grains.

In the back of my mind I remembered these unique cookbooks mentioned above and when I opened them up I found the most amazing thing…a bean and grain cooking chart with explanations of the benefits of each, ratios and yields…incredible. It was within my reach all along.

Since opening “Enchanted Broccoli Forest” just over a week ago I have made at least 5 recipes…all outstanding.

I know I am probably one of  the absolute last people on this planet to start to get excited about these cookbooks. “Mooswood Cookbook” published in 1977 and “Enchanted Broccoli Forest” published in 2000. I am just really happy I didn’t give away these cookbooks…they are priceless with their wealth of knowledge and recipes.

So, the recipe.

I joined three recipes (Fried Rice, A Dinner of Sautéed Vegetables and Hal’s Special Sauce) from “Enchanted Broccoli Forest” with a few twists of my own to make this meal.

This is not a meal you can whip up in 20 minutes…well, if you have everything chopped and the rice already cooked then it is. Be ready to put in some time but, there are lots of leftovers which is a bonus for all the work.

I will say that my boys were not that thrilled with it, they did eat it but it was just too healthy for them I think to say they loved it. My husband enjoyed his two bowls and I savored all I could eat the day I made it and then all the left-overs too. YUM.

Ingredients: (Serves 6-8)

For Fried Rice:
2 Tbs. plus 1 Tbs  peanut or canola oil (I used peanut)

2 eggs beaten

6 cups previously cooked rice (I used 4 cups cooked white jasmine rice and 2 cups cooked Quinoa)

Added Vegetables: (this is in no way a set list. What ever you have in your fridge that sounds good together)

1 medium onion diced

2 carrots diced

1/2 purple cauliflower (pulled into small florets)

1/4 bunch of chard (pull apart leaves from stalk, dice stalk, thinly slice leaves)

1/2 med stalk of broccoli (pulled into small florets, include the stalk–just peel and chop)

6 large asparagus chopped

1 medium yellow pepper

1/4 purple cabbage chopped

1 medium summer squash diced

Hal’s Special Sauce:

1/2 cup orange juice (you can use pineapple juice too)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 Tbs grated fresh ginger

2-3 cloves minced garlic

1-2 Tbs honey

2 tsp Chinese sesame oil

2 Tbs cornstarch (I used flour instead, the ratio is for every Tbs of cornstarch you need 3 Tbs flour)

How to Make:

• Start by making the rice (and grains if you are adding those), even a few hours ahead and set aside in the refrigerator.
• While the rice is cooking or at any time before heating your wok start chopping. There is a lot of chopping in this recipe. The “Enchanted Broccoli Forest” cookbook includes some great tips on how to chop and dice different vegetables. It also has pointers on which vegetables cook together at the right times and groups them so you know when to add what vegetables. Brilliant.
• Make Hal’s Special Sauce and set aside. 1) Combine the first six ingredients together, I used a 2 cup liquid measuring cup. 2) Add the cornstarch (or flour) to a bowl and whisk the liquid mixture into it. 3) keep the whisk handy, the cornstarch separates from the other ingredients so you will have to mix it up just before you add it to your wok.
• beat together your two eggs
• When you finish chopping and mixing, get all your ingredients together so they are handy. Cooking in a Wok is fast paced, make sure you have every thing together before you start.
• Heat up the wok (you can use a deep skillet too) to about 375 degrees.
• When hot, it only takes my wok about 2 minutes to heat up (toss a sprinkle of water into the wok and if it sizzles it is ready) add 1 Tsp of the peanut oil and the beaten eggs. Scramble eggs until dry and remove to a plate.
• Now add 2 Tbs peanut oil and onion and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until onion is tender
• Add carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, asparagus (if thick) and cook for two minutes, constantly moving veggies around.
• Then add yellow pepper, summer squash, asparagus (if thin) and cook for one minute, continue moving veggies around.
• Now add chard and Hal’s Special Sauce and mix well, cook for another minute or so.
• Finally add rice and egg, mix and cook at a slightly lower heat for one to three minutes.
• When everything is well mixed and heated through it is ready to serve. Enjoy!

So, what is your favorite way to eat grains and/or beans? I would love some new recipes and ideas, please share.

Looking for some great recipes…look here, a CSA link-up– http://inherchucks.com/2012/05/31/whats-in-the-box-28/

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