Love fried rice from the local Chinese take-out place, but don't want to spend the time or money to indulge your craving? No problem! With this shrimp fried rice recipe, you can have your favorite Chinese food on the table in no time -- at a fraction of what you would pay to have it delivered from the local take-out joint.
Even better: You can make this fried rice recipe healthier than the take-out version, by using less oil and more vegetables.
Indeed, this fried rice recipe is a terrific way to use up leftover rice and those vegetables in the crisper that are starting to look old. In fact, this recipe tastes better when it is made with cold leftover rice than with freshly-made and cooled rice.
Feel free to vary the vegetables to suit your own taste. The yellow squash adds nice color, but if you happen to have zucchini on hand, that will work, too. It isn't traditional in most fried rice recipes, but it works surprisingly well. The key is to cut the vegetables small, so they cook quickly and the flavors blend well.
Healthy Shrimp Fried Rice
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 2 tsp. water
- 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
- 6 ounces raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 3 Tbsp. canola oil, divided
- 1/2 cup finely-diced carrots
- 1 cup scallions, sliced and divided
- 1/4 cup finely-diced yellow squash
- 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
- 2 cups cooked, cold white rice*
*Note: If you don't have cold, cooked rice on hand, simply prepare 2 cups of rice according to package directions. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes before frying.
- Whisk together the cornstarch and water. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, pepper and garlic. Pour the marinade over the raw shrimp and let it sit, refrigerated, for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wok or heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the carrots and 1/2 cup of the scallions. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add the squash and mushrooms. Cook another minute or two. Add the shrimp and cook just until pink. Remove from the woke and set aside. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the wok and stir fry the rice.
- Toss with the shrimp and vegetables and garnish with the remaining 1/2 cup of scallions.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Per serving: 343 calories, 8 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 55 mg cholesterol, 54 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 12 g protein, 40% vitamin A, 9% vitamin C, 7% calcium, 26% iron
 |
 |
