If you ask me on any given day what Dan and I had for dinner the night before, the answer will probably be “fried rice.” It’s not that we’re fried rice fanatics…it’s just that the stuff is so easy to make, so delicious, and so versatile. You can cook it with any ingredients you want, any way you want, and it’ll be wonderful pretty much every time. Too tired/lazy to cook a full meal? Fridge packed with stale leftovers that you probably should eat but no longer find appetizing? No problem! Just throw everything into a hot skillet with oil and rice, stir, season, and boom — a yummy, hot meal in no time.
That’s how I found myself standing over my wok last night, stirring together a hodgepodge pile of garlic, wilted spinach, onions, 2 week old roast pork bits, and stale rice. Not the most appetizing list of ingredients on paper, but somehow it all came together perfectly. With minimal chopping, stirring, and seasoning, we were digging into heaping bowls of the most amazing porky, savory, garlicky fried rice in less than 20 minutes. Not exactly a 4-star meal, but I’ll take it!
Fried Rice, Revisited
** This doesn’t even really deserve a recipe, since the whole point of fried rice is to use up any leftovers you have in the fridge. So, feel free to use this as a base and build from there!
Ingredients:
- 3-4 cups rice, cooked (preferably at least a day old, but fresh works)
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup meat of choice, chopped (I used leftover roast pork, but you can go with ground meat, chicken, shrimp, etc.)
- 2-3 cups spinach
- 1/2 large onion, diced
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp cooking oil (I used chili-infused olive oil for some heat)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Directions:
- Heat cooking oil in a large skillet on medium-high, until small bubbles form in the oil.
- Add garlic and onions, and cook until garlic is fragrant and onions are soft/translucent.
- Add spinach, and cook until leaves are wilted. Using your spatula, push spinach/onion mixture to one side of your skillet to open up some room on the bottom.
- Pour beaten eggs into the open space in your skillet, and allow eggs to cook in an even layer. Scramble gently, until eggs take shape, then mix in the spinach/onion mixture.
- Add chopped meat, and fry for about 1-2 minutes, until browned.
- Add rice, and stir until there are no more lumps in your rice, and all ingredients are uniformly mixed.
- Drizzle rice mixture with sesame oil, and turn the heat up to high. Cook mixture for 2-3 minutes (stirring/tossing constantly), or until the rice stops sizzling.
- Season with salt/pepper to taste.
- Enjoy immediately in a heaping bowl by itself, or with this or this or these.
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