A super easy, take away style meal that's ready in about 30 minutes. Minimal effort results in a great, satisfactory and nutritious meal that is loaded with micronutrients. I had loads of carrots and courgettes to use up so hence my veggie choice, but this meal will be amazing with peas, sweetcorn, peppers, mushrooms, or bean sprouts too. If you want to make this dish more diverse with different kinds of veggies, you can simply reduce the ones I used here and add 1-2 additional ones, so you could essentially have carrot, courgette, peas, and sweetcorn for example. I used coconut aminos in this recipe, which is a great substitution for soya sauce, though it isn't as easily available to buy as soya sauce, so feel free to use the latter. However, I would choose low sodium soya sauce, so you don't end up with an overly salty meal. As for rice, I don't recommend cooking the rice as it won't mix as well, and it will be quite sticky. I find pre-cooked rice the best for this recipe.
Easy Chicken Fried Rice
Serves: 3 Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 20-25 mins
Ingredients:
2 medium chicken breasts (about 2 cups)
salt to taste (I used about 3/4 tsp)
2 tbsp sesame seed oil (for cooking)
1 tbsp coconut aminos/soya sauce (for the chicken)
1/2 cup diced white onion
1 large courgette (1 + 3/4 cup)
1 large + 2 small carrots (1 + 1/2 cup)
2 garlic cloves
pack of precooked rice, 250 g (I used basmati, you can use long or short grain too)
2 eggs
2 tbsp coconut aminos/soya sauce (to add in the end)
1 tbsp sesame seed oil (to add in the end)
Instructions:
In a wok/pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of sesame seed oil. I don't recommend other oils for this meal, as sesame seed oil has a great impact on flavouring in this recipe.
Cut the chicken into smaller cubes and add it to the wok/pan with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of coconut aminos or soya sauce.
Cook the chicken fully, this takes around 8-10 mins on medium heat.
Whilst the chicken is cooking, prep the veggies. Cut the onion into small cubes. Peel the carrots (optional, you can also leave the skin on), wash them, and cut them into small pieces. Wash and cube up the courgettes too. Here is how I cut my veggies in this recipe: Cut the courgette in half from top to bottom, so now you have 2 pieces. Cut both of those pieces in half again, so now you have 4 pieces. Assemble these pieces back together, so it looks like a whole courgette, and cut it up, this way you will have 4 small cubes within a slice. Do exactly the same with the carrots (if you slice up your veggies then try to cut them into 4 small pieces, it will take forever).
When the chicken is ready, remove it and set it aside.
In the same wok/pan, add all the vegetables and grate the garlic cloves in. Leave any oil or liquid that was left behind from the chicken.
Cook the veggies for 5-8 minutes, until slightly softened but not fully cooked.
Whilst the veggies are cooking, make the eggs.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and scramble them in a small pan/saucepan, then set it aside.
When the veggies are softened add the precooked rice, combine well, then add back in the chicken and scrambled eggs. Pour over the additional 2 tablespoons of coconut aminos/soya sauce and 1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil and let it cook for an additional few minutes (2-3). Do a taste test and add a few pinches of extra salt if necessary.
Garnish it with spring onion, chives, sesame seeds, or flaxseeds.
