Fried Rice and then off to England

We are off to England tomorrow bright and early. We decided to travel light, both taking one backpack small enough to carry on the plane. Because of this, we are going low tech and leaving the laptops at home. Our cell phones won't work there either, so this is our chance to disconnect and really get away from it all. I'll be sure to share some highlights when we return in two weeks.

We enjoyed a quick meal to eat up the last of our vegetables before leaving: Fried Rice. This is a great way to eat up whatever you have on hand.


Chop your vegetables and stir-fry until they are tender.


If desired, add the greens and cook until wilted.


Add cooked rice and cook until heated through. Add seasonings and cooked eggs.


I chose to garnish mine with a little extra Tamari and Srirachi Sauce.

I have to admit that I was wrong about fried rice. I thought I should pour the beaten eggs over the rice and vegetable mixture and cook it together, but my husband thought I should cook the scrambled eggs separately. I cooked it my way and the results were less than stellar. I swear that it has turned out in the past, but not this time around. The rice seemed to soak up the egg and the results were pretty gummy. (My husband thought it was fine, but I knew it could be better.)He is right. Cook the eggs separately.

You will hear from us again in two weeks. Cheers!

Fried Rice... or Couscous

I planned on making a quick dinner of fried rice tonight. I texted my husband toward the end of the day to ask him to put on some rice if he got home first. On my way home I realized that there might be a problem. I remembered as I stepped on the subway that we probably didn't have any rice at home. I called him when I got off the train to ask if he found any rice. He didn't. I offered to pick some up on my walk home, but he assured me that he had it under control. Mmm, what could that mean?

When I got home, he explained that he was making fried couscous. It was delicious. I could pick up the strong flavor of the turnip greens, the subtle garlic flavor of the scapes, the sesame oil and the salty soy sauce all with the chewy texture of the couscous. As we were eating, I asked him for the proportions and directions so that I would be able to write it up as a recipe. He told me that he cooked everything separately and combined it at the end. At this point I broke a cardinal rule, and I criticized his technique. When someone makes you dinner, you should tell them it is delicious and thank them for it; you should not criticize how they made it. I was so shocked by his plan of action that it just slipped right out.

I was taught to make fried rice by heating up some oil, adding some cooked rice, and once it was heated through to pour beaten egg over the top and scramble it all together. My husband is not alone in scrambling the eggs separately. I was reading through some blogs during lunch today and found that they had fried rice for lunch at Sixpoint too. Ha, there must be something in the air. She made her fried rice with separate scrambled eggs too. What do you think? Should the eggs be cooked separately? Here are my directions with his ingredient list:

Fried Rice/Couscous
2 C water
1 C couscous
1 salad turnip with its greens
1 zucchini
1 carrot
2 small heads of bok choy
handful of scapes
2 T olive oil
4 eggs
1/4 C sesame oil
2 T soy sauce
1 T honey


Bring the water to a boil, add the couscous, turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Chop the vegetables and add to hot wok or deep skillet with olive oil. Cook until tender. Add the couscous or rice. Cook until it is heated through. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add the sesame oil, soy sauce and honey. Pour the mixture over the vegetables and couscous/rice. Toss to combine and cook until the eggs are firm. Serve immediately.