Vegan Chow Down: Mango Fried Rice

Let me begin with a few confessions:

1. I have not started my cleanse yet because I realized my wedding anniversary is Saturday and I don’t want to toast my husband with green juice. Monday is the official start date, in part because my children will be back and school and I’m working in my office most of the week. Drinking my meals will be ideal.

2. January is a lean month for us financially. We get a little crazy in December; then January brings a slim paycheck, putting us on a pretty tight budget.

AND

3. I have cabinets and a fridge full of half-used things. Half empty jars of preserves, boxes of stock, and bags of frozen vegetables.

The combination of these three things had me standing in my kitchen last night, trying to form some sort of meal out the hodgepodge of half-empties. My final dish came as the result of Franken-cooking two recipes: Pineapple Fried Rice from Chloe’s Kitchen and Island Salad from Vegan Fire and Spice by Robin Robertson. The latter I received as a Christmas gift and I was itching to try it, even if I didn’t have all the ingredients. Later this month I’ll whip up something and share my review of the book, but in the meantime, here’s what I came up with.

I mixed up some brown rice (two almost empty bags make one whole batch!). While that was cooking, I chopped up some shallots and garlic, sauteed those, and threw in a mess of frozen and fresh veggies with some veggie broth and sliced almonds. Then I made a sort of sauce out of a third of a jar of mango chutney, the juice and zest of a lime (it looked very sad with all the other citrus gone), some allspice, and hoisin sauce. I mixed all the components together and called it Mango Fried Rice. I think this would be great with any sort of nut and other variations of vegetables.

Mango Fried Rice

• Easy
• Kid friendly
• Meat-eater husband and kid approved

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked brown rice (1 cup rice + 2 cups water simmered for 45 minutes)

1/2 cup mango chutney

zest and juice of 1 lime

2 TBS Hoisin sauce

1 tsp allspice

2 shallots, thinly sliced (or one onion)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup peas (frozen or fresh)

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup 1-inch mango chunks

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup almond slices

Preparation:

1. Saute shallots in sesame oil for about 3 minutes, then add garlic. Cook about 5 more minutes until the shallots are clear and soft.
2. Add carrots, peas, mango, almonds, and broth. Cook until all elements are heated through, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together lime juice and zest, chutney, allspice, and hoisin sauce.
4. Add cooked rice to the vegetable mixture and then combine all elements with the hoisin-chutney sauce. Serve warm.

XO

A