Gluten Free Vegetable Fried Rice Recipe

Recently, Mr. T wasn't feeling well. When he finally felt like he could eat some real food, he requested veggie fried rice. I was dubious at first. Asian foods aren't in my comfort zone and I don't even own a wok anymore. But after watching a few You Tube videos I felt up the the task. Surprisingly, this dish is really easy to make. (Follow my lazy cook tips to make it even easier!)

Since we watch how much sodium we eat, I used Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids instead of soy sauce. If you are gluten free, I encourage you to get your hands on a few bottles of this stuff. It's a fantastic soy sauce replacement. I even use it as a general salt replacement in things like soups and marinades. It's an old-school health nut food (think long hair and Birkenstocks).  You'll find it in just about every health food store around. I think Whole Paychex sells it as well.

Basically you can use any veggies you like. Feel free to add more or less of anything I have here depending on your tastes. Another tip is to use leftover long grain rice. If you are cooking rice for another meal, make extra and you can make fried rice the following day for dinner. To cook the rice, use 2 1/2 cups water for every 2 cups you make. Add rice, then water, to the pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat to very low. Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes. You don't want the rice to become mushy because you are going to cook it again. But honestly, you can use any leftover rice you have and this dish will still turn out great.

Gluten Free Vegetable Fried Rice Recipe

Serves 4

(Note: I mentioned that I don't own a wok, but I do have a huge Calphon pan similar to a paella pan that worked really well.)

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked white or brown rice

3 eggs

3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil (Or another oil with very little taste, don't use olive oil.)

1 tsp Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids (You can use soy sauce if you are not gluten free.)

1 tsp sesame oil (Optional)

1/2 onion diced (Lazy cook's tip: buy pre-diced onion, they sell them in the produce section)

1/2 cup shredded carrots (Lazy cook's tip: For goodness sake, don't try to shred them yourself. Buy them pre-shredded!)

1/2 - 1 inch nub of fresh ginger, grated (Lazy cook's tip: Peel, then freeze your ginger. Use a Microplane to grate as needed!)

3-4 cloves of garlic minced (Lazy cook's tip: Use a Microplane or a cheese grater!)

1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms (Optional for the mushroom phobic.)

1 cup or more of broccoli (Lazy cook's tip: Just use frozen broccoli. It's nearly as nutritious as fresh and so much easier.)

1/2 cup frozen green peas

2-4 tbsp Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids (Depending on how dark you like your fried rice)

Optional:

A few tablespoons Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce (Not gluten free and totally optional!)

Sriracha sauce to taste if you like things spicy!

Before you begin anything, be sure everything is in place (mise en place) because this goes fast.

First heat the pan over medium-high to high heat. Add about a tablespoon or more of oil. Beat eggs as you would for scrambled eggs and add a few splashes of Bragg's (or soy sauce). Add to pan, tossing quickly. Break up eggs a bit and when cooked, remove from pan. Set eggs to side.

Add more oil about 1-2 tablespoons and onion. Cook until it starts to soften and lightly brown. Add carrots, garlic and ginger. Add mushrooms if using. Cook for about a minute or two then add broccoli. Cook until broccoli is slightly tender.

If you have a pan that's very large you can just add the rice now. If not, remove veggies first, then add rice.  I also like to remove the veggies so that they don't overcook. I also add more oil, about a tablespoon or two, before I add the rice. Toss rice until it starts to brown a bit. Add Bragg's and toss to distribute evenly. Also add stir fry sauce if you are using.

My pan isn't that big, so I dump the rice, the veggies and the eggs into a huge stockpot and toss. This is where you can add the sriracha sauce if you want your rice a bit spicy. Be careful, this stuff is hot!!