Vegetable Fried Rice

Because we're in the middle of moving from Japan to Ireland, I have emptied the refrigerator and stopped buying food.  We've been living on takeout and the good grace of friends for about a week now.  Last night, we were over at Bunnary's house, and she always makes me the most delicious vegan nummies.  The specialty of the evening was tofu fried rice.  It was Heaven in a bowl.

Now.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about that fried rice since we left, and I actually went to the commissary and bought ingredients to make it here at home.  It was worth the mess and chaos of making room in the kitchen.  Bunnary's rice was a simple comfort dish made with a few ingredients.  Using the same process she taught me, I added some ingredients because my eyes got big at the store and I bought up the whole produce section.  Also in the process of buying too many vegetables, I forgot to buy tofu.  So...here is my basic fried rice recipe...sans tofu.  It was delicious!

Remember that this is just a process recipe.  You can add tofu, beans, nuts, or seeds if you like, and you don't have to use the vegetables I've used.  Use anything you have on hand.

***About the Pictures:  Click on them to see the larger versions.  These thumbnails look awful!***

Vegetable Fried Rice
5-6C Fluffed Jasmine Rice (that was my yield cooking 2C rice in 3C of water)
1C Carrot, Diced
1C Celery, Diced
1C Yellow Onion, Chopped
1C Mushrooms, any kind, diced
1.5C Cabbage, chopped
2C Kale, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
2T Soy Sauce (I used low sodium)
3T Canola Oil
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Heat 2T of the oil in a large pan on medium-high heat.  Add the rice.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper.  Stir-fry the rice for a solid 5 minutes.  This will evenly distribute the oil and "fry" the rice.  You do not want the rice to burn or change color here.  You just want to fry it and get a bit of flavor in.

  

Remove the rice from your pan and set aside.  Heat the remaining 1T of oil in the same pan you just used to fry the rice.  Saute the carrot, celery, and mushroom until the mushrooms begin to sweat and the carrot and celery begin to soften (about 3 minutes).  Add the onion.  When the onions begin to turn clear (about another 3 minutes), add the garlic and stir through.

  

Quickly add your kale and cabbage.  Stir-fry actively until the kale and cabbage are good and wilted.  This shouldn't take more than an additional 2-3 minutes.  Now, you're ready to toss the rice in.  Add the rice back into the pan, and get everything really well mixed.  Almost done!  Pour in the soy sauce, stir well, and then let everything sit there getting cozy together for a few minutes.  This will bring your rice to that nice brown "fried rice" color we all know and love.  You can lower the heat and walk away to clean up if you like.  By the time you're done putting everything away, the rice will be ready to taste test.

  

Adjust the salt content to your liking and serve!