Use it or Lose it

Whenever I need to make something out of nothing, fried rice is usually the answer. I almost always have rice and some kind of veggie hanging around the kitchen.

A few keys to fried rice: the rice should be cold. Leftover rice from that Chinese takeout you got last week is perfect. You know - you order the meal, you only eat about 1/5 of the rice they give you, then that little cardboard box hides in your fridge until you eventually throw it out. Don't throw it out, make fried rice! Rice = cold, wok = hot. Also, unless you like your rice with scraps of rubbery egg bits, throw the egg on top of the hot rice (rather than cooking it separately) as illustrated in the photo below, and stir directly into the dish. The hot rice will cook the egg, and the dish will have a nice overall taste and texture.

How to make Easy Vegetable Fried Rice:

• Rice (cold)
• Veggies (what 'cha got? Onions/scallions, peas, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli...)
• Oil (I like vegetable)
• Soy Sauce
• Egg

Heat a small amount of oil in your wok over medium-high heat. Cook the veggies until soft. Start with the more dense veggies (like broccoli) as they will take longer to cook. Then add the rice and toss with a generous amount of soy sauce. To get a feel for it, start with a little and keep adding more until the rice has reached your desired color/taste. Once the rice is sizzlin' and the veggies and soy sauce are incorporated, stir in the egg and cook for about a minute more. Yum!