The Best Vegetable Fried Rice

For those of you on a Meatless Monday routine, here's one of my family's favorites. I started making this vegetable stir fry after watching the teppanyaki chefs at Benihana grill onions, eggs, zucchini then add garlic butter, soy sauce and sesame seeds to make the fried rice. Readers who know I'm a recovering picky eater, have heard before that watching the chef prepare our fried rice, then tasting it is one of the reasons I now love onions. As I watched him cook, I thought "oh my. that is a lot of onions...not going to like that." But once I tasted all the flavors together and the rice/onion pairing, my loathing for onions was long long long gone. I started putting onions in everything after that meal, and not just a little onion, a whole onion every time I got one out. The Benihana version includes grilled chicken, but unless I have bits of chicken already cooked in the fridge, this meal is usually meatless.

I crave this meal. I want to make it every week. But since I chop all the veggies fresh it actually takes a while to hack everything up. Don't skip this meal if you're short on time. Just grab a bag of cut carrots or stir fry veggies at the grocery. You could even buy some pre-made stir fry sauces. I'm not sure which to recommend because I make my own sauce. Any recommendations out there?

If you are going the "from scratch" route and haven't yet invested in the individual ingredients, they are pricey to start your treasure trove of flavors. Just think of all the savings you'll get when you don't have to order chinese take out as often because you can whip it up yourself at home!

The must have players in a good veggie fried rice
ingredients
1-3 cups cooked Brown rice (try it you might like it!) - day old or from the freezer stash, fresh is too moist and gets gummy
Soy sauce
Sesame seed oil (you can use any oil, but your stir fry won't have the classic taste)
Onions (lotsa lotsa onions)
Fresh ginger (grate it if you're feeding little ones, big bites of it can be overwhelming)
Crushed Garlic (lotsa lotsa garlic. I like 4 cloves, use less if you like.)
2 large Carrots- sliced in coins
Frozen Peas - 1/2 or one whole 10 oz bag.
Scrambled Eggs - 6-12

The optional players
optional ingredients
Left over cooked veggies - stir fry is a great place to use up cooked veggies
Left over cooked protein - stir fry is a great place to use up bits of cooked chicken, pork, beef, sausage.
Butter - I use it, because that's how the hibachi chefs do it, you could skip it.
Sesame seeds - sprinkled on at the end
Zucchini - I rarely buy them unless they're in season and almost free. Not my fave veggie, but they don't bother me lurking in fried rice.
Mushrooms- This is a new addition for me. Since both the boys are all over beta glucans and their abnormal cell devouring super powers I like to cook with mushrooms all the time!

Directions
I don't have a great big flat iron cooking surface, so I make my veggie stir fry in my largest heaviest pan. Here's how the process goes.

Step One
Dice one humongus onion. Pre - heat your largest heaviest cooking surface to medium. A wok would be great, but not all kitchens have them. I know most asian cooking calls for high heat searing, but I cook on med to avoid heating the oil too hot and preserve some of the nutrients, and it comes out fine. Takes longer though. Drizzle in some sesame seed oil. Add onion and saute until they take on some color, about 10 minutes. While inhaling the most amazing smell in the universe, peel then grate or chop the fresh ginger. I like a lot, but if you're just starting little one out on ginger, go easy until they get used to the taste. Maybe one small finger for beginners and 3-4 for experienced ginger lovers? Slice the carrot.

Step two
Push your onions to the side of the pan. If necessary, add a bit more oil. Add the carrot and ginger and cook until carrots are desired doneness. More time if you like them soft, less if you like them crunchy. Move the carrots to the side. Add some butter to the pan, let melt. Add 6-12 eggs directly to the pan, and scramble to cook

When they are almost done, mix all the veggies together. Now add 1/2 - 1 whole bag of frozen green peas and any cooked veggie/meat.

Step three
After they are heated through, add your crushed garlic and cooked rice. The garlic doesn't cook down much when you add it at the end here, I like the bite of the garlic, and I'm always nervous about burning garlic! If you like a mellower flavor add it to the carrots before you scoot them over and do the eggs. Once the rice is cooked add soy sauce to taste. Optional, sprinkle on sesame seeds.

Step four
Serve it up to the kiddies, and retire to the table with a huge satisfying bowl of fried rice. Enjoy. Every. Bite.

Kid Appeal Tip Young kids need to acclimate to foods with deep flavor like garlic, and ginger. Start with small pieces like crushed garlic, and grated ginger (use a zester or micro grater if you have one). Cook them longer and their flavors mellow. When they do get a spicy bite and have a reaction, instead of agreeing with them, that's it's too spicy, respond neutrally and give them something to do. "Ooh, you found a flavor bite, it's so gingery. Have a sip of milk." You can tell them that flavors are a grown up thing to like. Most little ones like doing what grown ups do and learning to like spicy flavors is something they'll want to do. Over time, as they acclimate to the flavors and spices you cook with regularly, you can use more and more until the kids tolerate the same level of flavor that mom and dad like.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
Did you watch last Friday? I want to hear your reactions. The more the press, school administrators and local, state, national leaders see the community's reaction to the truth about what kids are fed at school the more fuel we have toward change. Necessary changes won't happen this month, or this year, but over time, with enough concerned parents called to action, recommendations and solutions, school lunch programs can change. Let your voice be heard. Tell me what you thought, by commenting on the post I wrote last week.