Fried rice is a great meal to put together on a night where you’re not sure what to make for dinner. Using whatever vegetables and protein happen to be in your fridge, you can whip together a hearty, healthy meal. Virtually any meat or veggie can be cut up and tossed into your wok to make this meal — so feel free to be creative!

Making fried rice also a great way to experiment with spices. A traditional fried rice uses soy sauce, garlic and ginger. For this recipe, I chose to use curry powder for an extra kick, plus glutenfree tamari and toasted sesame oil for a deep, rich flavor.

Curry Fried Rice

· 1 lb. protein (I chose chicken)
· 2 1/2 cups prepared rice
· 2 cups mixed vegetables
· 3 tablespoons of toasted
sesame oil, plus an extra
dash for cooking your eggs
· 2 Eggs
· 2 Cloves of garlic, minced
· 2 tsp. Gluten-free fish sauce
· 2 tsp. Gluten-free tamari
· 3 tsp. Curry powder
· 2 tsp. Ground ginger
· 1 tsp. Onion powder

The key to making awesome fried rice is timing. Cook the rice first and set it aside. Next, set your wok to a high heat and add a small splash of toasted sesame oil. Scramble your eggs and add them in a wok. stir and fold your eggs until they are fully cooked, then break the scrambled eggs into small pieces, and set aside. You’ll be adding them back to the wok later.

Next, add your 3 tablespoons of sesame oil to the wok, still on high heat. Add your chicken, garlic and spices to the wok and cook for about 5 or 6 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Try not to stir too much, that way chicken gets a nice dark color on the outside.

Next, add your vegetables, fish sauce and tamari. Saute´ your chicken, vegetables, sauces and spices together until they are well combined, aromatic and cooked through. About 5 minutes.

Once the meat and veggies are finished cooking, add your scrambled eggs back into the wok and scoop in your pre-prepared rice. Saute´ everything together until it is nice and hot. You shouldn’t need any salt or pepper because the tamari and fish oil and curry powder make this dish super flavorful, but you can add salt and pepper at the end to taste, if you like. If you don’t want it very spicy, you can also add a little less of the curry powder. Enjoy!

ALICIA BANE is Wire Editor of The Times Record, and a food blogger. See more recipes from her at eeshaeats.wordpress.com