By Amanda Mahaleris – July 2021
Ok, let me set the stage. It’s Thursday night, and you’re standing in front of the fridge. You’re thinking to yourself, “What should I make for dinner tonight?”. You pick up the zucchini that’s a day past prime, looking shriveled and neglected. The mushrooms are beginning to brown, and those carrots just don’t look quite right.
Another week of tossing the produce you had all the best intentions of making. Instead, you pick up the phone and order takeout. Well, hold on a minute; I have a solution for those neglected vegetables. Today, we are making vegetable fried rice!
This recipe is inspired by traditional Chinese fried rice, which typically includes egg and pork. This is an easy go-to weekday meal that excludes the animal protein, with even more vegetables and a good source of plant protein. One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it is a good way to use up those veggies in your fridge before they go bad. I don’t know about you, but food waste is a pet peeve of mine!
Getting Started
This is yet again another simple and versatile recipe that can be ready in under 30 minutes. To do this, you’ll want to grab whatever you have in your fridge that’s looking, well… it needs to go. Do some haphazard chopping (safely, of course), and voila!
In my recipe, I use zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, onion, and edamame to get the job done. Ok, well it’s not exactly edamame, you’ll probably notice in the pictures that my “edamame” seem quite large, this is because I used lima beans! Remember, this recipe is about using what we have on hand. While edamame would be a more traditional protein source in an Asian dish, frankly, I didn’t have it.
Easy Vegan Vegetable Fried Rice
Equipment
- Large non stick skillet or wok
- Medium pot with lid
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown or white rice uncooked
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ Tbsp ginger minced
- ½ large onion diced
- 1&1/3 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 cup mushrooms cleaned and chopped
- 1 cup edamame shelled
- ½ cup carrots chopped or shredded
- 1 cup zucchini chopped
- 2 Tbsp liquid aminos
- scallions garnish
Instructions
- Thoroughly rinse rice and cook according to the directions on the package.
- Saute garlic, ginger, onion, and 1 tsp sesame oil in non-stick skillet on medium heat until onion is slightly brown.
- Add mushrooms, edamame, carrots, and zucchini to the skillet and sautee on med-high heat for 5-10 minutes.
- Transfer veggies to another dish.
- Add remaining oil to the non-stick skillet and on high heat, fry rice until brown.
- Mix in vegetables and liquid aminos to rice. Stir well and serve.
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Tips and Tricks
To save extra time, use leftover rice that you might already have in the fridge. You can use white rice if you prefer. Generally, I enjoy the taste of white rice more, but in this dish, I really don’t notice a difference. So, I use this as an opportunity to get a serving of whole grains
Other Suggestions
Try adding tempeh or tofu for extra protein! If you’re vegan, vegetarian, or just trying to incorporate more plant-based meals in your diet, it’s important that you’re adding plant-based sources to them. If you’d like to learn more about healthy plant protein sources and how much protein is in them, check out Jenn’s blog “How Much Protein is in That?”.
Jenn: Additionally, don’t be afraid to play with various flavors! I’ve whisked together soy sauce, sesame oil, vegetarian hoisin sauce, and rice vinegar for a different taste. My husband’s a big fan of various Asian-inspired foods, so these are all staple items in my pantry. If I have white miso paste, I mix that in as well!
Everyone thinks fried rice is so complicated! Thanks for sharing this easy recipe!