It's A Keeper: Leftovers Magic with Special Fried Rice

What to do with leftover veggies from making the Cowboy Hash? Fried rice, of course. Since I am currently in the Rachael Ray school of cooking (meaning I buy all her cookbooks, watch 30 Minute Meals, and subscribe to her magazine), I know that she often says that she often provides a cooking method, not just a recipe. One such method can be found in her Special Fried Rice, which is the perfect place to throw the extra veggies from the fridge at the end of the week. She also has a great Funky Fried Rice recipe in 30 Minute Meals, both of which use the same basic method.

I used my leftover bacon, green bell peppers, mushrooms, and sugar snap peas from the week. I also skipped the seasonings for the rice (the garlic and ginger) and used Kikkoman Fried Rice seasoning from the grocery store. Otherwise, I followed the cooking method from the recipe and was darn happy with my results.

Here's the recipe, with my comments in brackets:

2 3/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups white rice
3 tablespoons vegetable or wok oil, 3 turns of the pan
2 eggs, beaten
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 inches fresh ginger, minced or grated
1/2 cup shredded carrots, available in pouches in produce section, a couple of handfuls
1 small red bell pepper, diced
4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup Tamari, dark aged soy sauce

Bring water to a boil. Add rice, reduce heat, cover and cook over medium low heat until tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Spread rice out on a cookie sheet to quick cool it. [I used my rice cooker, which is so much easier. Then I put the rice on a plate and stuck it in the fridge while I chopped the veggies, cooked the bacon, and cooked the other stuff.]

Heat a wok, wok shaped skillet or large nonstick skillet over high heat. [If you don't have a wok, you should get one! I use this one from Calphalon that is hard anodized so it is nonstick. I swear the fried rice and stir-frys turn out better from a wok than a skillet, but it could be psychological.] Add oil to the pan. [I cooked the bacon first and just used that oil to cook the egg in.] Add egg to hot oil and break into small bits as it scrambles. When eggs are scrambled, add garlic and ginger to the pan. Add carrots, pepper, scallions to the pan and quick stir-fry veggies 2 minutes. Add rice to the pan and combine with veggies. Fry rice with veggies 2 or 3 minutes. Add peas and soy sauce to the rice and stir fry 1 minute more, then serve.

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