Vegetarian Fried Rice with “Cheese.”

This recipe came up in my feeds on Youtube today and realized I already had some leftover white rice from our Chinese night, which was going to make dinner even easier for me. Yes, please!

I found this yumminess on Mary’s Test Kitchen. Her version is completely vegan. Mine is vegetarian due to the addition of eggs. She makes hers in a skillet and then broils them in oven-proof crocks. I made my version in two skillets and a saucepan. But, whether you make it Mary’s way or my way, you’ll have a rich, creamy dinner in no time.

Ingredients:

1 & 1/2 cups – cooked rice. (Make fresh rice or reheat leftovers with some water in a skillet.)

1/4 cup – frozen corn, thawed

Handful – thawed peas

1 Tbsp – Nutritional Yeast

1/2 tsp. – sugar or sweetener

1/4 tsp. – salt

1/8th tsp. – pepper (Mary’s called for white pepper, I used black.)

1/2 cup – liquid vegan “egg” or I used 3 – medium-sized eggs, scrambled

3/4 pound – vegan ground beef (or you could use regular beef)

1 tsp. – vegan oyster sauce, soy sauce, or tahini if gluten-free

1 Tbsp. – water

For the Bechamel:

2 Tbsp. – vegan butter, melted

2 Tbsp. – all-purpose flour (yes, use GF flour if you need to, I did.)

1/2 cup – plant-based milk, I used almond

Sprinkle on onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper

Water – approximately 2 Tbsp.

Top Bechamel with:

2 handfuls – Vegan mozzarella shreds/slices

Directions: (This is what I did)

Break apart precooked, leftover rice into a skillet with a little oil and water until you can spread it flat with a spatula.

Season with nutritional yeast, sugar/sweetener, and pepper. Stir.

Fold in thawed peas and corn. (I only had peas, so I left out the corn. Use what you have.)

In another smaller skillet fry your vegan ground. Use three-quarters of this for the rice recipe. Save the rest for something else.

Move warmed-up rice to the side of the larger skillet and add in your vegan “egg” or scrambled eggs and fry till set. When fully cooked, stir rice and eggs together, add in almost all the “beef” and mixture and turn off the heat.

Heat oven to Broil

In a small saucepan, make your bechamel topping by melting the butter, adding the flour, and whisking in plant milk to create a thick white sauce. If it thickens too much, add water until it’s a pourable consistency.

Season the white bechamel with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

Pour this mixture over top of the rice and spread out with a spatula

Top this with vegan mozzarella and place under the broiler for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and browning, but not burnt.