Fried Rice

I thought of you today when I made this for my kids for lunch.  It's a great way to use leftover rice and it's such a quick meal to put together that it makes regular appearances on our table.

There are much fancier ways to do it, but this is a basic recipe.  I usually add a frozen or leftover vegetable (the favorite here is peas, which is why they are in the recipe, but put in whatever you want).  If I have a little leftover chicken or pork, I'll chop it up very small and put it in, too.  Just add it when you add the vegetable.

Fried Rice
In a small bowl, whip together:
2 eggs
a dash of salt

In a large, flat-bottomed skillet, heat over medium-high heat:
1 Tablespoon oil (I usually use canola)

Pour the eggs in all at once and tilt the pan to spread them out. You want a big, flat, egg  pancake.  Cook them until they are set.  If you need to, pick up a corner of the eggs and tip some of the liquid onto the pan to get them all set.  They should be dry-looking.  Chop them up with a spatula and put in a bowl off to the side.

In the same skillet, heat:
1-2 Tablespoons sesame oil (you can use another oil in a pinch, but it will lose some of that unique flavor)

Add:
2 cups leftover rice (or whatever you have that's close to 2 cups.  It's a very forgiving recipe!)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger or 1/2 teaspoon dried ground ginger
1/4 of an onion, really finely chopped (you can skip this and add scallions-green onions at the end, but I don't always have green onions on hand and I rarely am without a regular onion)

Cook, stirring, until very hot.  Add:
1/2 cup frozen peas (or vegetable/leftover meat of your choice)

Heat until the vegetable is warmed.  Then add back in the eggs and 1 sliced scallion(green onion), if you don't use regular onion in the recipe.

You're done!  The whole thing usually takes me 10 minutes.

Serve it with soy-sauce.

If you want to get fancy with your fried rice, you can use this recipe.  It is delicious, but not as quick or easy
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/southeast-asian-fried-rice-10000001949703/

-Jennifer