We love this healthy fried rice recipe, which is a variation on the traditional stir fry. One of the main reasons it is always in our dinner rotation is because the base ingredients are something we almost always have on hand and the “required” veggies (carrots, celery and broccoli) are long lasting in the refrigerator. I’ll frequently cook this the last night before we go grocery shopping. I also like that this recipe is a loose guideline. It is nice to be able to add or subtract ingredients based on what looks good and is in season.

Baked brown rice

The rice in our fried rice is Lundberg organic, short grain brown rice. We buy it in bulk at Costco. A friend turned me on to this baked brown rice recipe years ago, and I’ve never turned back to making it on the stove top. We make the quantity below, but you could easily make half this recipe. For our family of four, we often make this size batch and use half of it one night in fried rice and freeze the remaining half for another night of fried rice or other option.

Directions

  1. Turn on oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Add 3 cups of short grain brown rice to a 9×13 pan.
  3. Add 5 cups of hot water (I use near-boiling water from our instant hot water dispenser).
  4. Cover pan tightly with foil.
  5. Bake for one hour.

Healthy fried rice recipe

Just like any stir fry, the ingredient quantities listed below are very loose. You can add more or less of anything based on your likes, needs or what you have on hand.

  • 1/2 to 1 cup diced veggies: celery, carrots, broccoli, etc. (these are your base veggies)
  • 1/2 to 1 cup diced additional veggies: green beans, asparagus or anything you like
  • 1 to 2 large cloves of garlic, sliced thin
  • 1 small onion or shallot, sliced thin
  • Four eggs
  • 1/2 to 1 tablespoon butter to cook eggs in
  • 1 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
  • Frozen add-on veggie options: edamame, green peas, etc.
  • 2 to 3 cups cooked, cold, short grain brown rice
  • Salt
  • Optional add-ons: Garbonzo beans (rinsed and drained), whole cashews and sesame seeds.
  • Optional garnishes: Braggs amino acids or soy sauce, hot sauce of choice

Directions

  1. Prep ingredients. Dice veggies and slice garlic and shallot/onion.
  2. If you’re using any frozen add-ons such as edamame or green peas, add them to hot water to thaw/warm up while you cook. Drain them right before adding at the end.
  3. Heat large pan or wok on high heat. When hot, add enough oil to cook the veggies in. Add the carrots and celery. Cook on high to medium high heat for about 4 to 5 minutes. Broccoli cooks faster than the carrots and celery. Add broccoli when it feels like the longer cooking vegetables have a little head start. Use this same logic with any other vegetables you are adding. Green beans are long cooking, so I would add them near the beginning.
  4. Add garlic, shallot/onion and salt to taste, reduce heat to medium-high for the last few minutes of vegetable cooking. Continue cooking, stirring often until garlic/onion/shallot are cooked and the other veggies are crisp but tender to eat (to your taste).
  5. Remove vegetable mixture from pan.
  6. Return pan to medium heat and add butter. Add eggs, scrambling them as you do. Once cooked, add eggs to the veggie mixture off of the heat.
  7. Return pan to medium heat. Add 1 to 3 tablespoons of olive or coconut oil to pan (sesame oil is nice in this step, too). Add brown rice. Stir fry rice in oil to heat it up.
  8. When the rice is hot, coated with oil and getting a little crispy, add the veggie/egg mixture to the pan along with any other add-on ingredients such as garbonzo beans, cashews, edamame or green peas. Mix everything thoroughly together. Salt to taste.
  9. Serve with any optional garnishes or sauces.

The leftovers from this meal are a great lunchtime treat. If we have a lot leftover, we even re-heat it in the serving bowl in the oven, and it is great. Original inspiration for this recipe came from The Joy of Cooking.

Hyatt family eats are occasional posts devoted to sharing some of the things our family is cooking. We believe in a whole-foods, minimally-processed approach to nutrition that is realistic for a busy family of four. We’d love to hear about what you’re eating too! Email us at Go@HyattTraining.com