Thursday, August 2, 2018

Pineapple Fried Rice

I think that this was my favorite recipe out of the most recent round of meal prepping. I found this recipe on the COOKIE+kate blog, and I think I may have to go back for more! To be totally clear, this is not necessarily a meal prep must. It's actually a skillet meal, and is probably best when cooked as the instructions below. However, I would highly suggest chopping all of your veggies and fruit ahead of time. That simple step will save you a LOT of time on the day of cooking. Also, this one cooks pretty quickly, so there will not be time to chop in between steps.



Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil or quality vegetable oil, divided
  • 2 eggs, beaten with a dash of salt
  • 1 ½ cups chopped fresh pineapple
  • 1 large red bell pepper, diced
  • ¾ cup chopped green onions (about ½ bunch)
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
  • ½ cup chopped raw, unsalted cashews
  • 2 cups cooked and chilled brown rice (about 2/3 c dry), preferably long-grain brown jasmine rice
  • 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce or sriracha
  • 1 small lime, halved
  • Salt, to taste
  • Handful of fresh cilantro leaves, torn into little pieces, for garnishing
Instructions:
Heat a large wok, cast iron skillet or non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and place an empty serving bowl nearby. Once the pan is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles on contact, add 1 teaspoon oil. Pour in the eggs and cook, stirring frequently, until the eggs are scrambled and lightly set, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer the eggs to the empty bowl. Wipe out the pan if necessary with a paper towel (be careful, it’s hot!).

Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and add the pineapple and red pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid has evaporated and the pineapple is caramelized on the edges, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then add the green onion and garlic. Cook until fragrant while stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Transfer the contents of the pan to your bowl of eggs.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil to the pan. Pour in the cashews and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Add the rice to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the rice is hot, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.

Pour the contents of the bowl back into the pan and stir to combine, breaking up the scrambled eggs with your spoon. Cook until the contents are warmed through, then remove the pan from heat. Add the soy sauce and chili garlic sauce, to taste. Squeeze the juice of ½ lime over the dish and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and set aside.

Slice the remaining ½ lime into 4 wedges. Transfer the stir-fry to individual serving bowls and garnish each bowl with a lime wedge and a light sprinkle of cilantro. Serve with bottles of soy sauce and chili garlic sauce or sriracha on the side, for those who might want to add more to their bowls.

For Meal Prep:

Bag 1
  • chopped pineapple
  • red pepper
  • green onion
  • garlic

Bag/container 2

sauce ingredients (there are only a few, so this doesn't have to be done ahead of time, but it can be done

In the Kitchen
  • eggs
  • cashews
  • brown rice (can cook several days ahead and refrigerate, minute rice makes this very quick and easy)
  • sauce ingredients (if not prepped ahead)
  • cilantro
  • lime

 

Option: Add Chicken

I love this rice on it's own, but I recently decided to make some teriyaki chicken to go on the side, and it was not a mistake. For the part of the chicken, I just bought a 30 minute marinade (Lawry's is my favorite), and put the chicken on the grill, stovetop, or in the oven. I cook the two (rice and chicken) separately, but the chicken adds to the flavor and substance. You can stretch this meal much further by adding that component.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Meal Prepping #3

I just need to say this: I LOVE MEAL PREPPING! Here is the 3rd round that I've done for myself. I'm working on getting all of the recipes up and linked to this post. I have learned included a few Instant Pot recipes this time. 

One of the things I noticed as I made these was that the pasta and rice dishes that I made in the Instant Pot were pretty good the first day, but became pretty mushy in the days after (leftovers). I am still working on a plan for how to make the rice and pasta recipes in a way that are better for leftovers, because there are always leftovers at my house. 

Without further ado, here are the most recent recipes: