This recipe is a wonderful ‘easy dinner’ treat that can be whipped up in a jiffy. I made this for my mum and step dad last night and they raved about it. I love having the chance to get creative in the kitchen (with less parameters than normal) and last night was no exception.
I just love standing at the stove with multiple pans on the heat at once, stirring constantly (it’s very therapeutic) and enjoying the delicious aromas wafting up my nostrils. Even more so, I love that this took me less than half and hour to prepare from start to finish (including washing up) and I still had time to shower and do half an hour of pilates before dinner.
I’m at the point where I really don’t care that I couldn’t taste the meal and happily ate my own dinner while my parents got stuck into the rice. Besides, I got to sample a new recipe that I’ll be sharing either later today or tomorrow (and this one is GAPS friendly, grain-free, nut-free, dairy-free and sugar-free – so get keen GAPSters!).
Nutrient Dense Fried Rice
Ingredients (serves 3)
3 cups of cooked jasmine rice*
2 carrots, diced
1 large handful (about 14) snow peas, chopped
2/3 cup chopped mushrooms
3 rashers of nitrate-free, free range bacon, diced (could easily leave out or substitute for leftover roast chicken)
2 local, fresh, free range eggs (organic if possible but no sweats if not, just make sure the chickens had a happy life)
1/2 teaspoon of chinese five spice (if making grain-free ensure that there’s no rice flour in the spice mix)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 Tablespoons of homemade tallow (or ghee, chicken/duck fat or coconut oil)
1/2 cup home-roasted cashews, to serve (can leave out for nut-free)
Now turn these ingredients into a tasty Fried Rice …
Melt cooking fat of choice (I used tallow) in a large frying pan and add diced carrots. Stir to coat and add chinese five spice and turmeric. Cook on high for 5 minutes stiring constantly, the carrots should be soft and golden (as if they’ve been roasting for an hour in the oven – that kind of colour/consistency). This step smells amazing and I imagine carrots cooked this way would make an excellent side dish or addition to a salad (just a thought).
Meanwhile, cook rice using the absorption method on the stove top. You could use three cups of cooked leftover rice if you have it from another meal or ue three cups of cauliflower pulsed in the food processor to resemble rice. If you do the latter, add the cauliflower to the pan at the same time as the carrots so that it softens to a rice consistency, and absorbs the rich flavours of the spices and fat.
Next, add mushrooms and snow peas and stir to coat. Saute for a further minute or two.
Then add the bacon, stir to combine and add your cooked rice (obviously skip this step if you took the cauliflower route)
Stir to coat the rice (it should all turn a golden yellow thanks to the turmeric) and then crack two eggs in and stir the eggs through the rice until cooked. At this point you can turn of the heat.
To serve scatter cashews throuh the rice and toss to coat.
Recipe Notes
*You can use cauliflower or broccoli rice for a grain-free option, because remember …
No I’m totally kidding, don’t ever feel guilty for using ridgy didge white rice or one of it’s groovy cousins; brown, red or black rice. If you use cooked and cooled rice you’ll be getting resistant starch which acts as more of a fibre than a starch anyways. Your gut bugs love resistant starch, so maybe prep your rice a day in advance for this recipe.