Fried Rice

Stir-fry is one of my favorite meals, but some days I come home too hungry and tired to go through the effort of making it. The shortcut imitator: fried rice. It has all the vegetables, protein, and flavor of my stir-fries, but take half the time and effort to prepare. Why? Those vegetables are chosen carefully to avoid long cooking times, there's no special sauce to worry about, and everything is thrown into a pan in one big mess.

-1 teaspoon canola oil
-1/2 cup liquid egg whites
-1/2 cup cooked rice
-1/5 a block of firm tofu, cubed
-1 handful of sliced mushrooms
-1/2 cup of frozen peas
-soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a saucepan or wok. Pour in the eggs and cook until half-set; add the rice and stir to coat with uncooked egg. Add the tofu, mushrooms, and frozen peas. Cover and cook until the egg is done and the peas are warmed through. Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper.

One downfall of this dish: it can be heavy on the sodium if you use a liberal hand with the soy sauce (like I do sometimes). If you do, cut out the additional salt, or consider switching to a low-sodium brand of sauce.