"Healthier" Vegetable Fried Rice

Last week threw a bit of a wrench into my 30 Day Dinner Challenge, we had dinner plans two nights and then I had the prepping for and celebrating of my best friend's wedding. A hectic week to say the least! But I still managed to squeeze in a decent meal or two.

First up: Vegetable Fried Rice!

K. requested a healthier version of fried rice and I was happy to accept the challenge. I'll freely admit that I completely winged this one and had a little bit of help from the some pre-cooked frozen brown rice.

"Healthier" Vegetable Fried Rice
should serve 4, unless you live in my household.

4 large eggs
4 C. brown rice, cooked and cooled
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 bag frozen peas, slightly defrosted
~1T of toasted sesame seed oil
1/4 C. Soy sauce
Sriracha, optional, to taste

Prepare your rice per the instructions. As I mentioned I cheated a bit and used pre-cooked frozen brown rice and it worked just fine. Remove your rice from the store top and set is aside to cool.

Place a large wok over medium heat and add just a little sesame seed oil to coat the pan. While the pan is warming up, whisk together the 4 eggs. Add the eggs to the pan, stirring constantly. You aren't trying to create fluffy scrambled eggs here, I was going for very thin eggs (if that makes sense?). When they are maybe a minute or two from fully cooked, transfer them from the wok to a plate and set aside. Clean the pan if necessary and turn the heat up to high. Add just a dash more sesame seed and let it thoroughly heat up. Toss in the onions and garlic, you should hear a pretty loud SIZZLE when they hit the pan, and cook until the onions are translucent. Add in the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes. Finally add in the peppers and peas and continue to cook the vegetables down. At this point I tossed in maybe 1 T of soy sauce, just to get the flavored really cooked into the veggies. Once you are happy with the state of the vegetables (I was aiming to get a little bit of browning on the onions), add the rice and eggs back into the wok. Pour in the remaining soy sauce and optional sriracha and cook for 5-10 more minutes on high heat. Serve immediately and with chopsticks.

K. has started having some fun with the photo shoot set-up

Overall it turned out really well. By the time I was almost done I remembered that I had bought tofu to add in as well but I didn't even think it needed it. 

Coming up later this week: Chickpea Cutlets, Vegetarian Lasagna and talks of a training plan (because 20-miler is less than 3 months away, eeeeek). Please try to contain your excitement!