VEGETABLE FRIED RICE

Happy second day of SPRING!

Holy stromboli, are the hills alive here in the Sierra Nevada or WHAT? We’re most def experiencing variable Spring time weather with the warm sunny days punctuated by cooler rainy ones. Our mountains are already turning pretty green, our birds are starting to sing a tune or two in the morning, people are acting a-fool, brunch season is game ON, bathing suits are being dusted off and looked at from odd angles, it’s time to trade cheese for vegetables (don’t shoot the messenger).

Let’s discuss Spring produce. Here’s what’s in season:

apricots
artichokes
arugula
asparagus
beets
bok choy
carrots
fava beans
garlic
green beans
herbs
leafy salad greens
leeks
morel mushrooms
onions
peas
potatoes
radishes
ramps
rhubarb
spinach
strawberries
sweet cherries

The other day I was craving vegetables (shocker)…in the form of fried rice (make sense, right?). Every week, I make a big batch of rice (because: gluten-free carb of choice) to eat alongside whatever kit and caboodles (main entrees) I prepare, and recently it dawned on me : why stop at steamed when I can add a plethora of sauteed veggies and call it an entree? BOOM make-ahead meal of champs.

The vegetable-to-rice ratio in this application is so on point, I can barely stand it. Basically we’re looking at a heaping mound of sauteed vegetables with a rice chaser…just the way a good vegetable fried rice should be.

Do you own a wok? Yeah, me neither. I’ve been relying on skillets the entirety of my adulthood for all things wok-able. Which brings me to my next point…

…my new Wolf Gourmet stainless steel cookware. HAVE.YOU.SEEN.IT? The kind folks at Wolf Gourmet sent me their 10-Piece Cookware Set, and you’uns…it is fab. For this particular recipe, I used the 2-quart saucier to steam the rice, the 3-quart saucepan to saute the veggies + fry the rice, and the 8.5-inch skillet to scramble the eggs to add into said fried rice. The line is so flipping gorgeous, I can barely stand it…the cookware is thick, durable, easy to clean, contains super pimp handles, and it’s just so pleasing on the eye sockets. You can purchase the set from Bloomingdales.

Moving right along from my show-and-tell, let’s talk recipe prep.

All’s you do it saute the vegetables, add in the cooked rice, stir in the scrambled eggs, then whamo: Basically a side-dish-made-entree. Basically what I eat when there are no men in the midst to feed. Basically the best companion to binge watching Workaholics on Hulu, slash any Gerard Butler movie.evah.
My work here is done.