Sausage Fried Rice Recipe

Numerous people have asked me for this recipe, so I figured I should type it up for anyone who loves fried rice.  The best part is this recipe is easy, quick and cost effective to make.

(Recipe Credit: One of my long time friends taught me this recipe when we were teenagers.  I think I remember her saying it was her Grandmother's recipe, but she tweaked it a bit.)

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 package of sausage links (I use Farmer John's brand)
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 broccoli crowns, separated into bite sized pieces (pulling the broccoli apart works better than cutting the pieces)
• 1 bushel of green onions, diced up
• Soy sauce to taste (I use Kikkoman's reduced sodium)
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 egg (optional)
• 2-3 cups of long grain white rice (I usually use my rice cooker to cook the rice, but have used the frozen steam bags in a pinch)

Directions:

• Start cooking your rice per the instructions for your specific rice cooker or steam bags

• Using medium to high heat - Cook the sausage links in a wok or large pan.  Brown and crumble.  The smaller the pieces, the better.  Depending on how spicy you want your fried rice, you can add some fresh black pepper while the sausage is cooking.

• Once the sausage is browned, use a spatula to push the sausage to the outer area of the pan, creating a ring, leaving the middle of your pan for the veggies.
• Add the carrots and broccoli first.  I usually let them fry/steam with a lid on for about 8-9 minutes.  The oil from the sausage helps fry them and the moisture from the veggies creates steam.

• Once your carrots are soft enough to easily cut through, add the green onions.
• Mix all of the veggies and the sausage together.  I leave my glass lid on and cook for about another 5-6 minutes.  Add more freshly ground black pepper if you'd like.

• Once your veggies are nice and steamed (not limp), add your rice.  Mix thoroughly.
• Add soy sauce.  A few tablespoons to start, and more as needed.  You want to keep mixing it all in really well and the soy sauce should just barely coat the rice.  If you see rice that is still all white, mix better or add a little more soy sauce.  Add more black pepper if needed.

• Optional - if you want to add an egg (I've even used 1/4 cup of egg beaters before), move the rice mixture to the edges of the pan, again, creating a ring and leaving the middle of the pan open.  Add your egg.  Your pan will be really hot, so it only takes a few seconds to scramble the egg.  Once the egg is cooked, mix it into the rice mixture.

Voilà.  You just made the best fried rice ever!

PS this dish works great hot or even once it cools (like for a pot luck or BBQ).  You can also use different veggies.  For example, tonight I was running low on carrots, so I added in some diced sweet orange, yellow and red peppers.

I used My Fitness Pal to figure out the following basic nutritional information for this recipe (please note, this is not going to be 100% accurate, just a base based on the ingredients used and approximately 5 servings per pan):

If you try this recipe, please post your pictures in the comments section.