Leftover Fried Rice

Have you ever seen one of the Chopped episodes where everything in the mystery basket is a leftover? Sometimes, a lot of creativity is required to turn some of those random ingredients into a cohesive meal! Luckily, my “mystery basket” tonight was a bit easier. Plus, for my “pantry,” I have a fresh selection of vegetables that I picked at a local farm just this afternoon.

As I’m writing this, I have the voice of Ted Allen in my head – we have leftover teriyaki steak, grilled bok choy, an ear of corn on the cob, leftover tofu, leftover rice, and an enormous pile of fresh vegetables.

First thought – fried rice. Fried rice is such an amazing dish because there really is no wrong way to make it. Plus, it all happens in one large frying pan.

Sorting through the produce, I pulled out a bunch of carrot greens, carrots, beet greens, celery leaves, and kohlrabi. I chopped those up with the leftover bok choy and the corn.

I added the rice to a hot frying pan with a splash of toasted sesame oil and let it crisp up. Then I tossed in some beaten eggs, the chopped veggies, and a drizzle of soy sauce. I decided to warm up the tofu and steak in a separate skillet because I didn’t want the steak to dry out from overcooking in the rice and vegetables.

The entire meal took about 15 minutes from start to finish. And now I have more leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch!