Easy Fried Rice

My people do not like to eat leftovers so I have learned to disguise them, otherwise I get the stink eye.  Sometimes I can sneak them into my husbands lunch with no complaints, but not often.  Last weekend we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant and ended up with quite a bit of leftover white rice.  Of course I couldn't just leave it there, all alone, with no one to love it.  The next day I had to give it a make-over so someone would eat it (they're flighty) and what better way than fried rice. 
This is a VERY versatile dish.  You can use any left over rice, brown, white, jasmine, whatever.  Add whatever veggies you have on hand or even chicken or steak.  It is a great way to clean out the fridge and trick everyone into thinking you worked really hard!

Fried Rice

Ingredients

leftover rice

leftover or fresh veggies

garlic

leftover chicken or steak (optional)

soy sauce 

egg

Directions

This is not so much a recipe as a technique.  All the ingredients and amounts at your discretion.  I will tell you how I did mine and give you some tips and ideas along the way.  First heat up some vegetable oil in a non-stick pan or wok over medium high heat until shimmering.  If you are using left over, pre-cooked vegetables heat the oil to smoking.

I used fresh veggies, so they had to cook a little.  I wanted my oil just to shimmering so I could cook them longer and not worry about them burning.

Add the vegetables.  If using fresh stir them frequently and cook until done.  If using pre-cooked veggies, stir constantly and heat through. 

Toss in the garlic and stir constantly about 30 seconds.

Add in the rice.  I used frozen peas and they cook quickly, so I added them at this step too. 

Now is when you would also add the cooked, left over meat.  Crank the heat up to high and start stirring.

Try to break up all the rice as you stir.  Add in some soy sauce.  You could also add pepper flakes or ginger if you wished.  My people would not have liked me.

Once everything is hot, scoot it to the sides and make a spot in the center.

Crack an egg in the center and start stirring in immediately, keeping as much of it out of the rice as possible.  Scramble it up into small pieces.

Then stir it into the rice.  Check the seasonings and add more soy sauce if necessary.

So yummy.  Maybe I'll come up with a good spring roll recipe to show you to go with it!