Flied Lice?

Ummm . . . so this was my dinner on Monday night and while I have been really busy with school this week, I definitely could have posted this earlier.  The problem is, the picture stinks.  I don't have a fancy shmancy camera like Hank but that's ok because I love my little Elph.  Anyway, the picture definitely does not do justice to my dinner.

I had purchased some beautiful fresh ginger at the farmer's market on Sunday and I was (am!) going to make apple chutney with it but in the meantime I decided that I wanted to make some peanut sauce as well.  So, voila!  Lemon chicken with sate (peanut) sauce and fried rice (because I had leftover rice and veggies so it seemed like the perfect thing to make).  

The chicken was actually really good.  It's the first chicken that I've made in this house that I actually enjoyed and didn't end up feeding at least half of it to Lucy.  If any of your were at my parents' Christmas party last year, I was trying to recreate the lemon chicken sate appetizer on a larger scale and it worked out wonderfully!  I pounded the chicken thin (with a sauce pan), dressed it with some lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then I sauteed it.  The peanut sauce is awesome, the recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook, it just looks a little funky because I only had chunky peanut butter and I was too lazy to blend it.

The "flied lice" wasn't really  fried but it was good!  I don't think I realized how easy it is to make with leftover rice.  My recipe is adapted from the Joy of Cooking.  On a side note, JoC is a great cookbook.  I had always heard that it's essential (and a classic) so I asked for it for Christmas.  I hadn't really used it until I got here but it's quickly become my go-to cookbook.  It's better than the internet for looking up a recipe!

Fried Rice:

leftover (cooked) rice

2 eggs

pre-cooked veggies (any sort, I used carrots, peas, and green beans)

Soy sauce

In a large pan (or a wok if you have one) scramble the eggs.  If you are particular about your eggs, you should remove them from the pan while you heat up your rice.  If, like me, you like your eggs on the extremely cooked side, go ahead and leave them in the pan.  Add the rice and soy sauce to the pan.  Note, JoC said to add peanut oil first and then the rice.  I didn't have any peanut oil and I was using a non-stick pan so I just threw in the rice and it was fine.  I think that this is why my rice wasn't exactly "fried" but it was still good.  Add your blanched vegetables, stir everything around and season to taste with soy sauce (or oyster sauce, fish sauce, whatever you like).  There you go!  Flied lice at home!  

I am so impressed with recipes like panzanella, bread pudding, and fried rice that make excellent use out of ingredients that are "past their prime."  In my (very humble opinion) these recipes that use a stale ingredient are often better than the original, fresh ingredient on it's own.  That's probably because there's usually a fair amount of butter or cheese involved!