by Amy Saltzman
Do you have go-to recipes to make the most of your leftovers, or is it just me? By the end of the CSA week, I tend to have little bits of a few different vegetables lying around. My usual go-to dish is frittata with whatever is kicking around, but this week I was too hot to turn on the oven. Enter: fried rice. Modeled after a dish from one of my favorite Thai places, this has raisins and/or pineapple for sweetness and cashews for a salty kick, as well as some hidden vegetables! The “recipe” is based on my own kitchen experiments – modify to your tastes.
Recipe:
4 c cooked rice (can be made ahead of time)
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 Tbsp ginger, grated
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 pepper, spicy or bell, chopped
1-2 zucchini, grated
Any miscellaneous vegetables (I used a little swiss chard and some green beans)
3 eggs
1 Tbls. curry powder
3 Tbls. soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Cashews, raisins, and/or pineapple, as desired
Method:
Heat 2 Tbls oil in skillet, add onions and cook until translucent
Add garlic and ginger, stir until fragrant
Add hard vegetables (carrots, peppers), cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
Add quick cooking vegetables (zucchini, swiss chard, green beans), cook for 5 minutes
Add rice to skillet
Make well in center of skillet; add eggs and scramble into rice mixture
Season to taste with curry powder, soy sauce, or other spices as desired
Mix in cashews and raisins immediately before serving
Be warned, the zucchini does change the texture of this a bit, making it more moist than you might expect fried rice to be. And if you like big chunks of egg, you might want to scramble the egg in a separate skillet. If not, though, this is one-dish meal that comes together fairly quickly and is a great way to use any miscellaneous vegetables you need to get out of the fridge!
Amy Saltzman is an avid gardener and cook in DC. She is a member of the Lancaster County Farm Fresh and North Mountain Pastures CSAs.
