BREAKFAST FRIED RICE

The best thing about making Pho, is the left-overs the next day.  All my veg were already prepped from yesterday so this morning it was nothing to make some yummy fried rice.  I also had some zucchini and summer squash left over from making the ratatouille from earlier in the week.  Rice  for breakfast is not something that is common in the US
My Stepmother Linda, who is half Japanese, used to make rice with raw egg yolk and dried shrimp for breakfast, which in my youth seemed a bit extreme ... I really love it now and eat it a couple times a year...  I've Americanized a version of  it to be more palatable for my kids... Inara loves breakfast rice plain with just fried rice and egg... she calls it Eggy Mice..

I made my version this morning with all the left-overs from the night before but it is extremely versatile... you can add sausage, egg and cheese for a breakfast casserole or eat it with Asian veg for a vitamin packed breakfast.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked rice (white, brown, both are good)
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup soaked, sliced shitake mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped zucchini or summer squash
1 cup chopped nappa cabbage
2 chopped green onions
1 diced baby sweet pepper
1 cup diced extra firm silken tofu
2-3 tbs chopped cilantro
salt and black pepper

Heat oil in a skillet and toss in the mushrooms and the rice, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and stir fry for about 5-7 minutes on medium heat until mushrooms brown and rice starts to get brown and crispy... add the rest of the ingredients and toss for an additional 3-5 minutes... taste for seasoning... I don't use soy sauce in breakfast rice, but you can if you want, just omit the salt and use soy sauce instead.... if I'm making true fried rice I would use soy sauce, but since my breakfast rice usually has egg and sausage instead of tofu and veg I skip the soy.

WHOA, I KNOW KUNG FU

Check out Billy's Kung Fu video he made.  He missed PT in his Jrotc class so he made this video to get his PT points for the day... the end has bloopers and a couple of swear words so if you are watching this with kids... you might want to skip the end!

PHO BO

Pronounced FUH... as in the F word without the K and  BO. is a Veitnamese noodle soup full of vegetables that my kids will actually eat. Billy had one of his friends over tonight and they asked what was for dinner I said  Pho... they were like... did you just swear at me? 

 Pho starts with a really deep, rich broth.  Traditional Pho usually has fish sauce, which I find to be a bit strong for kids and sliced rare beef.  I decided to try to make it vegan, just for fun.  I made mine with vegetable stock that I enriched with garlic, ginger, shitake mushrooms and soy sauce. This takes a while to chop and prepare but i like to do a lot ahead of time and keep the rest in the fridge for making stir fry the next night.  It tasted really awesome and I didn't miss the meat!

Broth

1 aseptic package vegetable broth

2 cloves garlic smashed and chopped finely

1 inch pealed ginger grated finely

Garlic chili paste

5-6 dried shitake mushrooms

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs olive oil or toasted sesame oil

Heat oil in a sauce pan and toss in garlic, ginger and chili paste, saute for a minute or so and then add broth and soy sauce and shitake mushrooms, turn heat down to simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes... meanwhile get your veg ready

2 cups each chopped

nappa cabbage

bok choy

2 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms (or whatever your favorite)

1 cup sliced baby sweet peppers

Rice noodles

Condiments

1 cup chopped cilantro

1 cup chopped green onion

2-3 tbs chopped fresh Thai basil

chili garlic paste

sirachia

bean sprouts

sliced baby sweet peppers

lime wedges

1 12 oz container of extra firm silken tofu, cut into tiny bite sized pieces

When broth has steeped for a few minutes, taste to see if it is spicy enough for you, you can always add more chili paste later, remove shitake mushrooms, de-stem and slice into pieces,  add the sliced mushrooms, shitake mushrooms and bok choy to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes add the nappa cabbage and noodles to the pot, let simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and top with condiments of your choice.  In the picture, I have baby sweet peppers, chili sauce, tofu, green onion and cilantro.