Ingredients
1 Stalk Celery
1 Small Zucchini
3 Medium Carrots
2 Baby Bok Choy Heads
1/4 White Onion
1/2 Cup Snap Peas
1 Box Quinoa (appx two cups cooked - one cup uncooked)
2 Eggs
1 Cup Cooked Chicken (I used left over roast chicken)
3 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Tsp Paprika
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Onion Salt
2 Tbsp Garlic Stir Fry Sauce
4 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Cornstarch (1 tbsp mixed in bowl of warm water - use the dissolved paste when cooking)
2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup of Water (for steaming the vegetables)
Note: you can get creative with your stir fry sauce, I just used what I had at home which consisted of sesame oil, soy sauce, and garlic sauce. You could also use oyster sauce, a chili pepper sauce, or make a peanut sauce depending on what flavour you’re feeling.
Instructions
Total Prep Time & Cook time: 45-65 minutes
Makes appx 6 servings
If you are using pre-cooked roasted chicken (as I did), ensure you have some chopped into chunks and set aside for the fried “rice”. If you are dealing with fresh chicken, set the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit, place chicken in a baking seasoned baking dish and allow to bake for approximately 30 minutes (internal temperature of 165 degrees F). Using fresh chicken will add about 20 more minutes onto your total prep & cook time.
Bring two cups of water to a boil, add 1 cup uncooked quinoa, cover, and turn down to a simmer for 15-20 minutes or until all moisture is absorbed. You will need the cooked quinoa to make the fried “rice”.
Get out a wok with lid, or a large frying pan with lid (Pan 1), and another large sized frying pan (Pan 2). If you have two woks well that would be even better, but that seems unlikely.
Note: This recipe requires a lot of multi-tasking between pans. if you’re new to cooking this one might feel a little more challenging as it requires efficient time management to ensure everything finishes at the right time with the vegetables the optimal tenderness.
Chop up all the veggies, setting aside the zucchini and snap peas for the fried “rice” mixture. The rest of the veggies are for the stir fry: onion, bok choy, carrots, and celery.
Bring small saucepan filled with 3/4 cup water to a boil. Add chopped carrots to the boiling water and allow to soften for 10 minutes.
Pan 1: Add 1 Tbsp of sesame oil to large wok (or pan with lid) and place on medium heat. Add chopped onions once oil is heated (onions should be sizzling).
While onions are softening in the oil, prepare the fried “rice” by placing cooked quinoa in a large bowl, mix in two eggs, chopped chicken, 1 Tbsp of sesame oil, 1 Tsp salt, garlic powder, paprika, onion salt, zucchinis, and snap peas. Mix well.
Pan 2: Place 1 Tbsp of sesame oil on the other large frying pan and set on medium heat. Allow the oil to heat for a 2-3 minutes.
Pan 1: Add remaining vegetables to the large wok, with onions, mix in the vegetables until they are coated in the oil, and add one cup of water, 1 Tsp of salt, 2 Tbsp of garlic stir fry sauce, and 2 Tbsp of soy sauce. Cover the pan and leave on medium heat so that the vegetables will cook (approximately 10 minutes).
Pan 2: Now spread the quinoa fried rice mixture on the pan. Leave it on medium-low and allow it to cook for 10 minutes on one side before mixing (this ensures the egg cooks throughout the mixture).
Pan 1: Drain carrots from boiling water and add to the wok of cooking vegetables.
Pan 2: Add 2 Tbsp of Soy sauce into the quinoa fried rice pan, and mix so that the other side of the mixture gets time to fry on the pan.
Pan 1: Take a small bowl and fill with warm water, add 1 Tbsp of cornstarch to the warm water and stir until it dissolves. Take the lid off the wok - the water in the mixture must be boiling before adding the 3-4 spoonfuls of the dissolved cornstarch mixture. If the water is not boiling, turn up the heat slightly, keep the pan covered for a few minutes until the water is bubbling - then add the cornstarch. Once the cornstarch is added, turn the wok down to a simmer and cover for 5 more minutes while you finish off the fried quinoa. Total cook time for the stir fry (including heating the onions) about 20 minutes.
Pan 2: Continue to flip the quinoa mixture in the pan (it should be slightly crispy where the mixture touched the pan - that indicates the egg is cooked). Total cooking time for the fried quinoa is approximately 15 minutes.
Pan 1: Cornstarch should have thickened the water in the stir fry into a thicker sauce consistency. If is still seems watery, leave it on the heat and and add another spoonful of the cornstarch mixture - ensure mixture is bubbling when you do this.
Turn heat off of both pans. Layer some stir fried vegetables in a bowl, add a scoop of quinoa fried rice mixture, and top with a little more stir fry vegetables (including sauce). I topped mine with avocado, crushed peanuts, sesame oil, and paprika. A touch of Sriracha also adds a little bit of heat!
Alternative Recipe
Cauliflower Fried Rice
As an alternative to quinoa, I like to use riced cauliflower as a lower carb substitute. So instead of cooking up quinoa, use a food processor to rice the cauliflower. I also adjusted some of the vegetables that I used.
Ingredients
1 Head of Cauliflower
1 Chicken Breast (cooked and chopped)
2 Eggs
2 Stalks of Celery
1 Baby Bok Choy
1/4 White Onion (diced)
1 Bag of Bean Sprouts
3 Stalks of Lemongrass (optional, but a nice touch)
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Salt
3-4 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp of Sesame Oil
Optional: Sriracha
Instructions
Makes Appx: 4 Servings
Total Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Total Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Use a food processor (with the shredder blade) or a blender, to finely chop the cauliflower into a “riced” texture.
Place a large wok on medium heat burner with 1 tbsp of sesame oil.
While oil is heating, dice the white onion and crack open the lemongrass using a either a meat pounder (or a wine bottle like I did). The grass has a hard outer shell that will crack, you will then be able to smell the oil coming from the inside of the grass - that means the flavour will infuse into the oil.
Add the diced onion and lemongrass to the hot oil in the wok - simmer for approximately 3-5 minutes.
Dice celery and bok choy into small pieces, and chop the chicken breast into chunks.
Add riced cauliflower to a large bowl, crack in both eggs, and mix well.
Next, mix in bok choy, celery, chicken, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, 3 tbsp of oyster sauce, 2 tbsp of soy sauce into the cauliflower bowl and mix well.
Remove lemongrass from the oil, before adding the cauliflower mixture to the wok. Cover with a lid and allow to cook on med-high for 5 minutes.
Remove lid and flip around the “rice”, add 1 tbsp of oyster sauce and sriacha to the wok and mix thoroughly. Replace lid and allow to cook for 5 more minutes.
Remove the lid (and leave off). Continue to flip and stir the mixture for another 5-10 minutes (depending on wok size and how many servings you are making it may take longer or shorter to cook the whole pan).
Add bean sprouts and allow to cook for 1-2 more minutes. Rice should be slightly browned both from the cooked egg and oyster sauce. Mixture should also be moist but not slimy.
