fried rice

well, here i am...back and cooking! bet you thought it would never happen. and frankly, neither did i. i'm in my second trimester, and i have energy again, which is a wonderful feeling after being so tired for so long.

since i've been pregnant i've been more concerned with the food that i've been putting into my body. i want my little bump to have the very best after all! this fried rice is a great light dinner (and would also make a good lunch). it more than served two of us, which is surprising when you see the short list of ingredients below. fried rice is great because you can load it up with your favorite items...these are mine.

ingredients:
1 cup rice (uncooked)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 red bell pepper
2 cobs of corn, kernels removed (see below for tips)
4 scallions
3 large eggs
1 boneless and skinless chicken breast
3 tablespoons soy sauce (tamari if you are preparing it gluten free)

directions:
using a rice cooker (or your preferred method of cooking rice) combine the rice and water and cook.

while that is cooking chop the red bell pepper and the scallions and mince the garlic and ginger, then set these aside. husk the corn, break (or cut) off the stem, and clean off all of the fine threads. hold the corn in your left hand and, starting at the halfway point in the cob, run your sharpest knife down the side to remove the kernels. then flip the cob over and remove the kernels on the other end. set the corn aside with the other vegetables.

clean and "de-fat" your chicken breast (that's what we call it in our household anyway) and then cut it into small pieces. you want it to distribute through the fried rice, so the pieces should be pretty small. set aside.

in a small bowl, whisk the three eggs together. set aside.

ok, now that all of your prep work is done you are ready to fry the rice! in a large pan heat the canola and sesame oil over medium high heat. add the vegetables and stir through until the bell pepper begins to soften. add the chicken and stir until it is cooked through. make a "well" in the middle of your pan by pushing all of the ingredients to the sides, and then pour the eggs into the center. cook these as you would scrambled eggs (e.g., keep moving them around with a spoon or spatula) and once they are completely cooked, mix everything together.

your rice should be done at this point, so add it to the pan and increase the heat in the pan to high. mix the rice through with the vegetable, chicken, and egg mixture and then add the soy (or tamari) sauce. the heat from the pan will remove any extra liquid and make the rice nice and fluffy. once everything is incorporated, it's ready to serve. enjoy!

notes: this is so easy, and like i said, can use any ingredients. this is just what we had on hand. make good use of your local farmers market to get the freshest ingredients you can, and this will be a delicious meal in your house too. oh, i don't know this for sure, but i'm 99% certain that if you have little ones, they will love this too.