Pork Fried Rice with Fresh Veggies and Garlic

The trick to any fried rice recipe, including this one, is “day-old-rice.” This is a great dish to plan to have for dinner towards the end of the week, like a Meat Free Friday meal (or even on a Saturday afternoon) because it uses up all the leftover things that you probably have taking up space in your fridge from earlier in the week!

Yummy fried rice paired with Beyond Meat’s Plant Based Brats, even the meat-eaters in the family will ask for seconds! This recipe is really adaptable so don’t worry if some of your ingredients (like the veggie selection) varry a little! If you don’t have any day-old-rice hanging around to use for your fried rice base then you can always cook up a batch, strain and spread out on a small sheet tray and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Fresh rice, straight piping hot and from the pot simply has too much moisture to “fry” up properly and you’ll end up with a slightly soggy or chewy end result.

What you are going to need to buy:

Rice

Veggies (use what you have in the fridge) or a frozen bag from the store works just fine. We used corn, green beans, peppers, and onions.

Butter (for a Vegan Recipe we used Earth Balance)

Egg (for a Vegan Recipe we used VeganEgg from Follow Your Heart)

Minced Garlic - (we like these jarred options from Spice World!)  

Plant Based Brats - (We used these from Beyond Meat)

Soy Sauce

Worcestershire Sauce

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Sesame Oil (optional)

What you are going to need to do:

In a large skillet saute’ your veggies in a small amount of butter and garlic. This is especially important if you are using frozen veggies because they will likely have more water/moisture that you will want to cook out.

Add your egg, or VeganEgg to the veggies and stir vigerosly so that the egg coats the veggies and cooks at the same time. You’ll likely have some small, pea-sized pieces of egg along with the veggies and that’s what you want. Use a spoon or spatula to break up any larger pieces of egg.

Add another 1-2 tablespoons of butter and bring heat in skillet to medium high. Add in rice and stir to combine with veggies. Add soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, to taste. This would also be the time to add more garlic, if desired. Stirring every 15-20 seconds for 3-4 minutes, or until you notice the rice and veggies starting to brown and get slightly crispy. Be careful not to burn!

Remove rice and veggies and place into a glass bowl that can be covered to keep warm. I like to set my bowl on the stove behind the burner that I am using so some of the residual heat can work to keep it warm while you cook the brats.

Cut your brats, on an angle, into 1” thick pieces. Over medium heat add butter to the skillet and place braut pieces into pan with cut sides down. At this point, I like to sprinkle the brats with a little worcestershire sauce and additional garlic. Cook until you see that the cut sides are picking up some color and then flip, about 1-2 minutes per side.

Serve the brats over the fried rice and garnish with a drizzle of sesame oil, if desired.

Enjoy!