Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

For the past few weekends, I've been preparing large batches of rice mixtures to eat for the 1st half of the week.  These rice mixtures (needs a better name) have turned out to be excellent.  They are flavorful, nutritious and easy.  Best of all, they are great for my recovery period.  On Mondays (in particular), my training is pretty heavy.  I get up, grab a quick bite for breakfast and I'm in the pool for about 45-60 minutes.  I have about a 10-15 minute break to change and grab a few bites of an energy bar before I am on a spin bike (soon to be my road bike, hopefully, please weather!) for another 60-120 minutes.  And, this is just the beginning stages of an 18-week program!  Considering I have to be at work and ready for an 8-hour day at school by 12:30/1:00, some days can get pretty tricky (especially if I'm having a hard time dragging myself out of bed and into freezing cold water).


I'm normally rushing back in the door around 11:00 and by the time I'm showered and dressed, I must get on the road.  Here is where these rice mixtures come in brilliantly.  One of the most important aspects of a "training regime" is the recovery stage that takes place within an hour after a workout.  With that much endurance, I need food to restore my depleted muscles.  I normally have a lunch-sized portion of my mixture set and ready to grab out of the fridge.  I eat some protein in the car and I'm off!  Lunch is reheated at the office and I'm all settled in for the day (despite the fact that my hair is always dripping wet at school, oh well).


This rice mixture is fabulous!  Seriously, it is incredible and it took about 7 minutes cooking time!  After reading through the recipe before prepping, I realized that there isn't much downtime to measure out ingredients so I spent about 5 minutes getting everything in order before I started the skillet.  I'd recommend doing the same.  This recipe is great and so easy to substitute.  You can swap the protein and the veggies with whatever you prefer.  I plan to use this as a base for a lot of future rice mixtures.  The link takes you to the original recipe (C.C's used shrimp!!), but I made some changes and reflected them in my recipe below.

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
adapted from Sugar Cooking who adapted from Closet Cooking
Yield:  About 5 1.25-cup servings.
Ingredients

• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 shallots (thinly sliced)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 3 tbsp chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup nuts (I used cashews and almonds)
• 3-4 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup pineapple, bite sized pieces
• Protein - I used about 1 cup of shredded/cooked chicken
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)
• 2/3 c peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1/4 c currants (or raisins)
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 2 green onions (sliced)

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat.
2. Add the shallots and garlic.  Stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add the egg and stir-fry for about 1 minute.
4. Add the chicken stock, soy sauce, curry powder and sugar; stir-fry for about 30 seconds.
5. Add the nuts and stir-fry for about 30 seconds.
6. Add the rice, break up any clumps and stir-fry for a few minutes.
7. Add your protein and soy sauce.  Gently stir.
8. Add the pineapple, peas and currants.  Stir-fry to mix them in.
9. Remove from heat and serve with sliced green onions.