Recipe: (serves 3 to 4) 
1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and coat prepared dish with butter.

Fried rice is one of my all time favourites. However, it has to be home cooked fried rice. There is a difference between the fried rice i bought from outside and home cooked fried rice. This recipe may not be the best fried rice you have ever eaten but it is certainly one of my favourite fried rice. It is simple, easy and only uses several basic ingredients. I love my fried rice with lots of onions because it actually gives a mild sweet flavor to your dish. Usually people use long grain rice for fried rice but I prefer to use short grain Japanese rice. Well, it is just personal preference! My mum just explained to me why i should have used overnight cold rice instead of freshly cooked rice.  Fresh cooked rice is too moist and soft because of the high water content. Basically, cold overnight rice is dry and firm, hence better able to hold it's shape.

Ingredients: (Serves: 3)
1.5 cups of cold overnight cooked rice.
3 eggs
5 onions
2 handfuls of mixed cubed vegetables
Soya sauce/ Soy sauce (moderate amount)
Teriyaki marinade (optional)
Olive oil

1. Drizzle about 1.5 tbsp of olive oil and fry your eggs until 5/6 cooked in a non stick pan. Place the cooked eggs on a plate and set aside.
2. Drizzle another 2 tbsp of olive oil. Sautee the onions until they are slightly brown and add the mix vegetables. Add a little amount of soya sauce and teriyaki marinade. Stir fry until they are about 3/4 cooked.
3. Add rice. Add soya sauce a slight amount of teriyaki marinade. Stir fry evenly. If not salty enough, add more soya sauce until just the right taste for your family. Taste your fried rice occasionally to prevent yourself from adding excessive amount of soya sauce.
4. When it is almost done, add in your eggs and stir fry your fried rice evenly. Serve.

 

To be honest, I love rice a lot. In the past, i used to ask the school's canteen aunty to add more rice for me whenever i order caifan from her. I can't imagine my meals without rice seriously. But now, I am avoiding it as much as possible. Not because I don't like them anymore, but the fact that they are...carbohydrates. If you cut down on carbo, you can rly slim down a lot. Trust me on this. Now you know why I avoid rice. Hee. I can rly go on and on about diet n exercise. But I shan't bore you any further with that. Haha. So i turned to other alternatives, salad. I spammed salad for the past two years and it isn't that bad after all. It was tough at the start when I switched to a no rice diet. As time passed, I got more used to it and kinda like it eventually. But I still love rice. To enjoy rice with lesser guilt, consider rice salad. I got this idea from Laura Vitale. Made some minor changes to her recipe with whatever ingredients i have on hand. This is definitely a healthier choice compared to your ordinary weekday chicken rice or Seafood horfun pack home dinner. I used canned food as it's more convenient. To make the dish healthier, you could use fresh ingredients  from the market. Although this looks as if it contains a lot of rice, it doesn't. They can be stored for a couple of days in the fridge. You cld prepare these for tmr's lunch at work or dinner for your kids if you are working OT!!



Ingredients: (Servings: 2-3, Serve cold. )

3/4 cup of rice- cooked*
1 can Corn Kernels ( Can/fresh)
1 can Tuna chunks in light Olive Oil ( You cld substitute with other alternatives like Shredded Steamed Salmon etc...)
1 cup Cherry tomatoes
Cranberries
3-4 tbsp of extra virgin Olive Oil. ( ensure rice stays moist)

Steps:

1. In a large bowl, Add corn and tuna to the rice. Mix well.
2. Toss in cherry tomatoes and cranberries.
3. Add olive oil.