Meatless Mondays: Farmstand Fried Rice

<Meatless Mondays is a national campaign that asks people to cut out meat from their diets one day a week in order to improve personal and environmental health. Change.org provides a seasonal, vegetarian recipe every Monday. For more Meatless Mondays meal options, see here, here, here, here, and here.

I know, "farmstand" and "fried rice" are not exactly the words you would expect to see together. But one of the reasons I love this recipe is because it is infinitely customizable, not to mention quick and easy. It's perfect for those times when you've got just a few leftover vegetables from last week's CSA or farmers' market trip, and you need to use them up before they go bad. I love to make this for lunch the day after indulging in a guilty-pleasure meal of takeout Chinese food, as it is also a great way to use up leftover rice.

In other words, if you've got some vegetables and don't know what to do with them, and you've got some rice, then you've got a tasty meal. The amounts below are rough estimates for a solo lunch, so feel free to add more or less, depending on your appetite.

Farmstand Fried Rice

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup assorted chopped vegetables (carrots, onion, garlic, eggplant, squash, broccoli, corn, anything you've got!)
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice (preferably day-old)
2 tablespoons tamari, shoyu, or soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 egg (optional)
Fresh basil or cilantro (optional)

1) Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add vegetables (see note below) and cook, stirring frequently, until just barely done.

2) Scrape the vegetables to one side of the pan, add a little more oil if necessary, and drop the rice onto the other side of the pan. Press it down with the back of a wooden spoon, and let sizzle for a minute or two. Stir both the vegetables and rice, trying to keep separate, and let the rice sizzle another one or two times.

3) Combine the vegetables and rice and add the tamari and vinegar. Stir together almost constantly for another minute or two.

4) If using the egg, make a hole in the center of the rice by pushing everything out to the side. Crack the egg and drop it into the center of the pan and stir just the egg constantly for about a minute. Turn off the heat, and stir everything together to combine. If you have some, sprinkle a little chopped fresh basil or cilantro on top.

Note: When sauteing the vegetables, try to think about what will take longer to cook, and add that first, rather than adding everything together at the same time. For example, eggplant will take longer to cook than shredded carrots, so you would want to add the eggplant first, and then the carrots several minutes later. You can also use hardy greens in this, such as mustard greens — just add them later on so they don't get too wilted.

Photo Credit: Mykl Roventine via Flickr