With plenty of garlic and ginger, loads of summer peppers, carrots, broccoli, tofu, and rice – all these wonderful ingredients turn a humble rice into something scrumptious.

Lots of peppers, a little of this, a little of that, soy sauce and sesame oil

Lots of peppers, a little of this, a little of that, a splash of soy sauce, drizzle of sesame oil , the result is this phenomenal rice dish that is healthy and delicious.

Summer and in particular August brings lots and lots of peppers at the markets. Peppers in all colors and sizes and with all levels of chili spice. I had so many peppers from my neighbor and in my farm box this week that I knew it was going to take a while to go through them and i really wanted to use them up fast to take advantage of their freshness. Enter this loaded veggie fried rice.

About the recipe

This recipe is mostly peppers but I also added broccoli and beautiful tender carrots. Cut them all up into thin slices and shallow fry them with lots of garlic and ginger and dried red chilis.

Cook the veggies al-dente. Then add in soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, salt and sugar. In goes the rice and tofu and toss it all together. What you get is a hearty fill-me up veggie fried rice that you can have multiple bowls full.

Cook’s Notes:

• Day old rice works best in this recipe as it’s more dry and won’t clump up when cooking with the veggies.
• Experiment with your own combination of veggies – mushrooms, cabbage, green beans, try them all!
• My daughter asked me “How did you make it without making it super salty from the soy sauce.“ I get this issue often when using soy sauce. I want the flavor of soy sauce but don’t like how salty it makes my dishes. I’ve tried the low sodium soy sauce but it lacks the same flavor. My trick? I make my dish with salt like any other dish, and use soy sauce more as a flavor enhancer. Go light on the salt and then add more after you add the soy sauce,
• Use the dried red chilies as they add a lovely smoky flavor! To keep it mild, split the chili and remove the seeds.

Loaded Veggie Fried Rice
serves 6-8

Ingredients:

3 red bell peppers cut into thin slices
8 long red bell peppers/lunch box peppers cut into 1/2 inch circles
2 bunches of broccoli florets thinly sliced
6 tender slender carrots peeled and thinly sliced
8 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
2 inch piece of ginger minced
4 dried red chilies – remove seeds to keep it mild
4 cups day old rice
1 block of extra firm tofu
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
Oil
1 tsp salt

Directions

Drain and cut tofu int 1 inch chunks. In an omelette pan warm 1 tbsp oil and shallow fry tofu until slightly browned. Set aside.

In a large wok or pot warm 2 tbsp oil. Add the garlic and ginger and fry in the oil until garlic is fragrant. Add the red chilies and fry them in oil for a few more seconds. Next add all the veggies. Cook for 10 minutes stirring often to get an al-dente veggie mix that’s slightly charred as well.

Next add the salt, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Mix into the veggies. Then add the rice and tofu and toss everything together. Cook for about 5 minutes to allow the flavors to coat the tofu and rice.

Taste for salt and adjust accordingly. Add more soy sauce if you want more soy flavor.

Serve warm with any Asian hot sauce such at Siracha.