Copycat Benihana Veggie Fried Rice

Anybody as obsessed with Benihana’s fried rice as much as I am? I’m always guilty of wanting more than just the tiny bowl they give you at the tepan table. I paid close attention to the chef last time I was there, so I could replicate it at home. Now, I can eat as much as my heart desires! Not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing, but for now I’ll go with good! I decided to add zucchini, corn, and green beans, in addition to the classic veggies, to make it a bit more nutritious and flavorful. If you’d like to add protein, I’m sure it would taste great! I would cook your protein in the pan first, and then set aside to add in once your veggies are cooked and eggs are scrambled. Also, if you wanted to make this even healthier, you could add in more veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, and snow peas.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of white rice

• Soy sauce

• 2 cloves of minced garlic

• Butter (Kerry Gold is my favorite for cooking)

• ¼ OR ½ cup of Diced onion

• 1 bag of frozen veggies (peas, carrots, corn, and green beans)

• 1 zucchini

• 2 eggs

• Sesame oil

• Garlic powder

• *Optional* bean sprouts, scallions, sesame seeds (I’m not a fan, so I didn’t include them!)

Directions:

1. Start by cooking your rice.

2. Chop zucchini. I like to cut it in half long ways, then half again so I have four long sticks of zucchini. Then I chop them into pieces about 1/4 an inch wide.

3. Dice onion.

4. Pour about a teaspoon of olive oil in a large pan and turn to medium heat. Then add the chopped zucchini and top with several shakes of garlic powder. Stir/shake occasionally, so the zucchini evenly cooks.

5. After about 3 minutes, move the zucchini to one side of the pan and add the diced onion to the other. Add the minced garlic to cook with the onions and top with a teaspoon of butter.

6. Once the onion begins to brown, mix with the zucchini and move to one side of the pan.

7. You can either crack your eggs right in the pan and immediately mix up or crack the eggs in a separate bowl, mix, and then scramble in the pan. I like to crack mine right in the pan to save time and cleanup.

8. Once the egg is scrambled, mix together with the veggies.

9. Add the cooked rice to the pan, 1 tablespoon of butter, and mix all together.

10. Stir in 1/3 cup of soy sauce. Enjoy!

PS: This was even better leftover the next day!