Spicy Peanut Any-Veggie Fried Rice

Servings 4 people

1/3 cup soy sauce (or coconut aminos, tamari)
1/4 cup rice vinegar or lime juice (or other light colored vinegar)
2 to 4 tbsp sriracha (or other Asian hot sauce, or 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes)
2 tbsp peanut butter (or other nut butter, tahini, or sesame oil)
2 tsp 2 teaspoons honey (or brown sugar, honey)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1- inch piece fresh ginger, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion (leek, shallot, scallions, any kind of onion)
2 to 3 dense vegetables, finely chopped (carrots, celery, asparagus, fennel, bell pepper, summer squash, zucchini, etc)
3 cups cooked grains (any kind of rice, farro, barley, quinoa, etc. preferably one-day old)
3 cups roughly chopped leafy greens (kale, Swiss chard, spinach, escarole, beet greens, bok choy, dandelion greens, etc)
2 large eggs
Garnishes: more sriracha, sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, cilantro, chives, lime wedges

Whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, peanut butter, water, and honey in a small bowl. Set aside.
Warm oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, dense vegetables, and 1 tablespoon water and stir frequently using a wooden spoon for 3 to 5 minutes, or until almost tender. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for another 30 seconds.
Stir in the rice, greens, and peanut sauce and stir until everything is coated in sauce and the greens are wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.
Push the rice to the side to create a large clearing in the skillet.. Crack the eggs into the skillet and use the wooden spoon to scramble rapidly. When the eggs are cooked, stir them into the rice.
Serve immediately, garnished as desired.

Firm, starchy vegetables like potatoes and winter squash won’t cook fast enough to use here.
Cabbage is firm and takes longer to cook, so it counts as a “dense vegetable”, not as a leafy green!
Feel free to add meat! Cook bacon or sausage first, before you do anything else, then cook the vegetables in the grease, instead of using olive oil.
If you have any tender (or frozen) vegetables such as corn or peas, add those at the very end, when you add the rice.

Best resources for local vegetables in Monterey County:

Hall’s Organics is delivering for free ($30 minimum) all over the peninsula. Their strawberries are out of this world, as is the rest of their produce.
Pop-up farmer’s market at Stationaery in downtown Carmel every Wednesday and Saturday from 10:30am -1:30pm.
Sunday farmer’s market at the mid-valley shopping center in Carmel Valley from 9am-1pm.

Author: Caroline Chambers