8-2-2011 Pineapple Fried Rice and Terra Chip Salad

Have you ever looked down and noticed a remnant of food on your clothes from your previous meal? That happened to me tonight after I ate my dinner, I looked down at my ruffled shirt and there was some Pineapple Fried Rice sitting on a ruffle.

Sometimes people refer to this phenomena as "saving it for later". This is so gross, but when I was a kid, if I found some leftover rice on my clothing I would get very excited to eat it. I remember one time, being at a Chinese restaurant and purposely putting some rice on my clothing to save for later. Thankfully, I do not practice that disgusting behavior anymore.

We had an incredibly delicious dinner tonight, 2 of the things we had were Pineapple Fried Rice, and Terra Chip Salad, they were both off the charts.

Here are the pics and recipes:

Pineapple Fried Rice

I love to order this dish on occasion at one of my favorite Vietnamese/Thai restaurants. This is my take on how to replicate it.

1 C. uncooked jasmine rice, cooked according to package, yields about 3 cups cooked rice
1 T. margarine, such as Smart Balance
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 C. frozen corn
1 C. frozen peas
1 C. canned pineapple pieces (I used rings and cut the into piece)
1 tomato, diced, or 12 cherry tomatoes cut in half
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 C. reserved juice from pineapple can
4 T. soy sauce
2 T. teriyaki sauce (I use Kikkoman brand)
2 T. margarine
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 T. toasted sesame seeds

Melt the margarine in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sautee until translucent. Add the garlic and stir constantly for about 1 minute until fragrant.

 Add the green onions, carrots, peas, and corn. Turn the heat up to medium high and stir fry for a minute. Add the pineapple pieces and tomatoes, and continue to cook for a another minute or two. Push the veggies over to one half of the skillet. Pour the eggs in the other half of the skillet and scramble until cooked through.

Now, add the rice, the reserved pineapple juice, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce. Also, add the margarine garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix everything together. Keep stirring until the margarine is melted and mixed through.

Taste to see if it needs more salt, and/ or garlic and onion powder, adjust to your liking.

Sprinkle on the sesame seeds and enjoy.

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Terra Chip Salad

I know you are probably thinking the combination of Terra chips and salad sounds weird. Trust me! It is amazing! Unfortunately I didn't come up with this recipe, it is adapted from The Kosher Palette.

Dressing:

1/3 C. vegetable oil
1/3 C. red wine vinegar
1/4 C. sugar
3 T. ketchup
2 T. grated onion

Salad:

1 package of mixed salad greens
2 avocadoes, diced
1/4 C. slivered almonds, toasted
1 red or yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced into strips
handful of pine nuts, optional ( I usually leave these out)
1 (6 oz.) package Terra Chips

To make the salad dressing, place all of the ingredients into a large bowl and use an immersion blender to mix until emulsified. You can also place all of the ingredients into a jar with a lid and shake to emulsify.

In a large salad bowl, place the greens, avocadoes, almonds, bell pepper strip, and pine nuts. Crumble 3/4 of the bag of the chips over the salad. Pour some salad dressing over and toss to coat. If you are wanting to impress your friends, arrange the rest of the chips around the edge of the bowl, this will look pretty.

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Sorry if it seems as though I have been slacking off on the blog lately. I have had the pleasure of dining at restaurants the past few nights. Let's just call it research.

I hope you have a great night! Pin It