Garlic fried rice and DAMN.... blogging is just too much fun!

A great great great great great big thank you to Laurie Dominguez for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger - she is one amazing individual and one super awesome blogger :) Check out her Avocado brownies, one of her many creative and delicious recipes, and something I would definitely make again and again.

 Nominations!


Laurie's Cravings
Oishii Treats
Cake Whiz
Toxic foodie
Sortachef
Awkward Kitchenette
Definitely Leopard
Littlekitchenbigflavors
Juanitas cocina
Pegasus legend
Ellen B Cookery
Choc Chip Uru
Gourmantine's Blog
Bakerita
Menubyvicky


7 random facts about Jen:

- Loves herbs and growing plants but has never successfully grown a herb garden
- Odd fear of walking over subway ventilation grates
- Will get into a barking argument with her dog Two-two
- Studies functions of specific proteins and genes found in baker's yeast in a lab where one does not know day from night
- Wishes she was funded to study the biochemistry of baker's yeast in bread and beer
- One of her happiest moments was trying shiso leaf for the first time in Hawaii with mommy Huen and sister Sandy
- Would love to get scuba diving license and dive all over the world, first stop: Australia


The rules for this award are....

1. Thank the Blogger who nominated you.
2. Include a link to their site.
3. Include the award image to your post.
4. Include the award image on your blog.
5. Give 7 random facts about yourself.
6. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award.
7. When nominating other bloggers, include links to their sites.
8. Let those bloggers know they have been nominated. 

And as an added bonus, recipe for Garlic fried rice below:


Ingredients:
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp Vegetable oil
1/2 cup very small diced squash
1/2 cup diced asparagus
About 3 cups of day-old rice (or fresh cooked rice)
Parsley, salt and pepper to taste


Fry and brown garlic in vegetable oil under medium heat. Add squash and asparagus and cook until softened yet still crunchy, about 3 mins. Add in rice and mix to make sure most rice grains are separated and heated. 

If rice is freshly cooked, combine with squash/asparagus mixture right before serving. Salt and pepper to taste, garnish with parsley.


Recipes for fried rice/mixed rice are always versatile, you can pretty much personalize it any which way and it will be delicious in the end. 

Some options are: crack an egg into the mixture when the rice is added, adding cashews, pineapples, using brown rice (requires slightly longer cooking time), adding barley,  avocado, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, kim-chi, peanuts, peas, cooked bacon, water chestnuts, lotus root, beetroot, arugula, watercress, green onions, shallots, ginger, carrots, corn kernels, thai basil, tofu, paneer, mushrooms, chili peppers, zucchini, pulled pork, tuna, bean sprouts, cabbage, kale, leftovers in the fridge.


Happy eating everybody!!


Update: June 29, 2012; 8:07 pm
Garlic fried rice with peas, red peppers, egg, and cilantro