Well, we might all be stuck inside currently, but that doesn’t mean our taste buds can’t take a trip. This Pineapple Fried Rice is full of vibrant veggies that bring this dish to life, along with sweet, caramelized pineapple that gives some tropical flare. Garlic chili sauce adds a bit of heat, but it’s mellowed out by a squeeze of fresh lime and some low-sodium tamari.
While it may look gourmet, this entire recipe comes together super quick, so its best to have your ingredients chopped up and ready to go, and even better to have your rice cooked and chilled in advance. To make this super simple, I used Trader Joe’s frozen, microwave packs of brown rice You can also find these at most grocery stores. You pop them in for 3 minutes, and voila! Rice is ready to go. The reason I say to have chilled rice is because it doesn’t clump together when you are making stir fry, so please, chill your rice! An hour would be preferable, but even 30 minutes would be great. If you could make it the day before, even better.
You can serve this completely on its own, but if you’re looking to make more of a meal out of this and still keep it vegan, I pan fried some of the regular Beyond Sausages, sliced them up and tossed them in some gluten free sweet and sour sauce and it was SO GOOD. 10/10 would recommend.
Pineapple Fried Rice
Author: The Lean Clean Eating Machine
Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil; divided
- 1 ½ cups chopped fresh pineapple
- 1 large red bell pepper; seeds and core removed, diced
- 1 bunch finely chopped green onions
- 2 cloves garlic; pressed and minced
- 1/2 cup frozen peas; thawed
- 1/4 thinly shaved purple cabbage
- ½ cup chopped raw, unsalted cashews
- 2 cups cooked and chilled brown rice (1 bag of the frozen Trader Joe’s packs is 2 cups worth)
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons garlic chili sauce
- 1 small lime; halved
- Salt to taste
- Handful of fresh cilantro leaves, torn into little pieces, for garnishing
Instructions
- In a large non-stick frying pan, add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and add the pineapple and red pepper. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid has evaporated and the pineapple is caramelized on the edges. Then add in the peas, purple cabbage, green onions and garlic. Cook until fragrant while stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Pour mixture into a seperate dish and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil to the pan. Pour in the cashews and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly. This will only take about 30 seconds, so be sure to watch the closely. Add the rice to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the rice is hot, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.
- Pour the contents of the bowl back into the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the contents are warmed through, then remove the pan from heat. Add the tamari and garlic chili sauce.
- Squeeze the juice of ½ lime over the dish and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and set aside.
- Slice the remaining ½ lime into 4 wedges. Transfer the stir-fry to individual serving bowls and garnish each bowl with a lime wedge and a light sprinkle of cilantro. Serve with bottles of tamari and garlic chili sauce on the side.