Fried Rice ‘Whatever’ Omelette

Do you have days where the hours seem to evaporate? One minute it’s noon, then in the blink of an eye - 6pm.  The family needs dinner but what can you toss together that is satisfying, filling and nutritious?  My Fried Rice ‘Whatever’ Omelette takes minutes to prepare and cook. A few simple standby ingredients mean it can be on the table in 20 minutes – better than any takeaway.

Eggs, vegies, maybe some leftover roast chook and rice create an easy, tasty meal – with ‘Whatever’ you have in the fridge!

                                

TIPS AND HINTS : The secret weapon is your own cooked and frozen rice.  Any time I cook rice I make double then spoon the extra into small freezer-safe containers or ziplock bags.  The key is to keep the rice a little loose and fluffy, don’t push it down – just push the air out of the container gently and seal.  Small batches defrost superfast and ziplocks can be flat-stacked in the freezer easily.  The defrosted rice will not be quite as lovely as freshly cooked rice but because it has dried out a little it is perfect for fried rice or even as the base to soak up a rich curry sauce. 

Preparation and cooking  I slice, dice, stir, cook so allow 20 minutes including defrosting the precooked rice.

Serves    I usually serve this for 4 people - just adjust amounts to your needs

Ingredients

This list is very flexible – main ingredients are the eggs and precooked rice so vary the rest to suit yourself. This recipe I made from the 'odds and sods' vegies I had in the fridge and pantry.

2 onions, chopped

A splash of Peanut Oil (or your preference)

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

½ red capsicum – chopped

½ red chilli – finely sliced (leave out or increase depending on your chilli preference)

1 stalk celery – finely sliced

Small chunk of eggplant – small dice

¼ cabbage – finely shredded

1 carrot – grated

Few mushrooms – sliced

Optional: diced precooked roast chicken, or ham or sausage

From the garden – sliced shallots, parsley and chives

From the freezer – handful of peas and corn

Couple handfuls of baby spinach

Dash of soy sauce (I like low salt)

Splash of sweet chilli sauce

Ground pepper – white or black

¼ teaspoon 5 spice powder

2/3 to 1 cup of defrosted pre-cooked Rice

6 - 8 eggs – lightly whisked (I usually find 6 large eggs enough)

Handful of snow peas – shredded for final crunchy garnish

Method

Use a good sized frypan that is suitable for stove top that can also go under the oven griller.

Preheat the grill ready to crisp up the top of the omelette prior to serving.

You want to cook the veg on the stove frypan but still retain some crunch so just add the hard veg first then the meat and finally the softest veg followed by the egg. Then grill til golden.

Heat the oil in the frypan on the stove.

Add the onion and cook gently til golden.

Add and cook the garlic, chilli, capsicum and eggplant. 

Stir and heat through the diced meats.

Sprinkle the rice over and stir through until golden to combine with the other flavours.

Toss through the shredded cabbage and carrot, celery and the sliced mushrooms, followed by the peas and corn.

Add the spinach, chives, shallots, parsley.

Season with a splash of soy, sweet chilli sauce, spices and pepper.

Taste and adjust to your preference.

Gently pour the whisked egg mixture through the veg. Check stove top is not too hot. 

Lift the veg slightly to allow the egg to coat the base.  Cook gently but avoid excessive stirring.

When the egg is almost cooked, pop the pan under the grill until cooked and golden – keep an eye on it – cooks very quickly.

Remove from grill. Allow to cool for a minute and drizzle the tiniest amount of soy sauce over.

Cut into wedges and sprinkle with the shredded snow peas.

                                            Enjoy!  Colleen