30 Minute Meal--Fried Rice

I had a request some time ago for ideas on 30 minute meals that are relatively easy. I felt kind of lame passing them off to the likes of Rachel Ray, who has perfected the genre of quick weekday meals whipped up in half an hour. The truth is, our dinners are either fairly complicated or super lazy. Boxed mac and cheese and frozen Trader Joe’s meatballs are my idea of a 30 minute meal. Throw in a salad and you’ve almost got gourmet dining, right? Okay, whatever. We don’t always have to agree. Anyway, I do happen to have a recipe I tried last night that will fit the bill, while using up a few veggies in the fridge. It’s easy and requires very little prep. Needless to say, I’m quite pleased with myself.

Basic Fried Rice w/Tofu

I used tofu because I’ve been on a marinated tofu kick, but this dish would also be great with pork or chicken. Those vegetarians are such a bad influence. (You know who you are.)

1 cup uncooked white rice (I used basmati)
1 ¾ cup water
splash of vegetable oil

3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pckg marinated tofu (I used Teriyaki flavored), cubed
2 eggs beaten
4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup onion, coarsely chopped
3 cups bok choy or savoy cabbage
¼ cup frozen peas, thawed to room temp
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil

1. Cook rice in a medium stock pot. Set aside when finished.
2. Add 1 Tbsp oil to wok (or really big pan) and fry tofu cubes until nice and crispy. Set aside.
3. Soft scramble the eggs in the oil that's left over in the pan. Set aside.
4. Put remaining 2 Tbsp oil in pan and sauté garlic and onion for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté an additional 3-5 minutes. I added a splash of beer to deglaze and cooked it off for another minute or so.
5. Add rice to pan, cook for 1 minute. Add soy sauce and sesame oil, cook for an additional minute, then stir in egg, peas, and tofu.

Very easy, very addictive.