Photo by Julia Mueller of her vegetable fried rice from her blog, The Roasted Root.
When Sally and JP told me that farm share from Glade Road Growing this week was slated to include baby bok choy, carrots, sweet peppers, lettuce mix and garlic this week, I suggested that I come up with a recipe for fried rice (which will use everything except the lettuce.) Mueller's recipe, which she developed for the spring features broccoli, spinach and green onions and is a side dish, but her photograph was so beautiful and her blog so in line with the kinds of recipes I develop that I decided to feature it here. Like hers, my fried rice is mostly veggies with some rice, rather than the reverse proportions that you will find in your typical Chinese restaurant. Mine is more yellow, as I use turmeric and olive oil to flavor the rice.
*
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 cups brown rice
4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 baby bok chok, sliced thin on the slant
2 cups shredded carrot
1 piece fresh ginger, finely chopped to make 1 to 2 tablespoons
8 cloves garlic, smashed peeled and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 onion, chopped (or green onion, if you make this in the spring)
2 cups green peas (fresh if you make this in the spring, frozen this time of year)
8 duck or large chicken eggs, well beaten (you can substitute 1 cup of cooked chicken for 4 of the eggs, if you prefer.)
4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
4 tablespoons miso, thinned with an equal amount of water
Chopped roasted peanuts
Instructions
1. To cook the rice, in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom and a tight-fitting lid, combine the rice and water and bring to a boil. Rinse. Return to pot, add teaspoon sea salt, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and ground turmeric and bring again to a boil again. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and leave for 40 minutes until water is absorbed.
2. While rice is cooking, saute the vegetables. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet, wok, or saucepan and heat to medium-high. Add the bok choy, bell pepper and onions and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of water, cover, and continue cooking until the bok choy is bright green and the peppers and onions have begun softening, about 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the shredded carrot, ginger, garlic and pepper flakes. Continue cooking until garlic and ginger are very fragrant, about 3 minutes.
4. Transfer the cooked rice to the skillet with the veggies and add the peas. Stir everything together well and reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the rice mixture to sit.
5. Scramble the the eggs in a separate skillet and add to the fried rice. Turn off the heat and stir in the miso, toasted sesame oil and peanuts.
