The new site is still a work-in-progress.  But it’s coming, I promise.

But in the meantime, you know what’s fun?  Besides walking 100 yds. out onto a bridge just to get a crappy photo?

Taking some food that might – in its purest form – have some type of health value, and then adding enough other crap to basically negate that as much as possible.

Rice and veggies, meet oil and sausage.  And a bit of mayo.  But it’s SO worth it.  Trust me – you’ll see.

This is kind of my “fall-back” dinner – the thing I make when I have no idea what else to make.  So we basically have it like once every other week.  I enjoy cooking, but I’m not exactly creative.  The ingredients are easy, the process is easy (plenty of chopping, which I find therapeutic – is that weird?), and this makes enough to keep us rich in work lunches for at least 4 days.

And because it’s loaded with vegetables and grains, I can do my girl-thing and justify my wittle brain into thinking it’s healthy.  And then I add mayo.

So here is where I found the original recipe.  I didn’t change anything this time, but you could get creative – add teriyaki if you don’t like soy sauce, change up the veggies, etc.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 pound ground sausage (I use Jimmy Dean’s Hot sausage.  He’s yummy.)
• 5 eggs, beaten (Get the free range “happy chicken eggs”.  That’s what I call ’em.  You’ll feel better about yourself as a person.)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil  (I suppose you could sub a “healthier” oil.  But I’ve always made it with the veggie oil, and I’m afraid to change because I know I like it this way.  Plus, it’s VEGGIE oil – can’t be that bad, right?  RIGHT?!)
• 1/2 head cabbage, cored and shredded  (Screw the shredding – I just chop it up with a big fat knife)
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 6 cups cooked white rice, cold*
• 1/4 cup soy sauce, or to taste
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can bean sprouts, drained (I actually use fresh sprouts – about half the weight in ounces does the trick)
• 1 (6 ounce) package frozen green peas, thawed (These really don’t even need to be thawed)
• ground black pepper to taste
• 3 green onions, chopped

*The reason the recipe says the rice should be cold is because day-old rice tends to be less sticky than freshly-cooked rice.  The problem?  I NEVER think that far ahead.  I don’t know I’m making this until I’m making it.  The solution?  Stick your cooked rice in the freezer for about an hour or so (while you prep your other ingredients, run to the store for the ingredients you forgot, paint your toenails, etc.) and I don’t usually have a problem.  You  might want to stir halfway through to make sure it doesn’t freeze together in clumps.

1.  Cook your rice according to the package directions.  I use a rice cooker to justify its existence.  I simply add 2 cups of uncooked rice, 4 cups of water, hit the “cook” switch, and end up with 6 whopping cups of cooked rice.  This is a LOT of rice, friends.  Consider yourselves warned.

2.  Get your sausage cooking over medium-high heat.  You don’t need any oil yet – this is greasy enough.

3.  While your sausage is cooking, chop up your carrots, cabbage and green onions.

4.  Meanwhile, your sausage should start to look like this:

Once it’s cooked, set it aside on a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up some of the grease.  Don’t forget to feed a couple pieces to your pups.  They deserve it.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DO NOT drain the grease from the pan!!!

5.  Yep, that’s right.  You’re using that grease.  Crack open 5 eggs into a bowl and beat the heck out of  ’em with a fork.

Am I the only one impressed with myself for taking a photo while cracking an egg?  Okay, so the timing could’ve been slightly better, but I assure you that this is egg-cracking action here – I’m not just holding it next to the bowl.

Then scramble them up (over low heat) in that sausage grease-laden pan.  YUM.

Take the cooked eggs out of the pan and set them aside as well.

6.  Here’s where things really get moving.  Heat 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a VERY LARGE pan (if you’re making the full recipe) over HIGH heat.  When you stir fry, it’s all about the heat, baby.  This should go QUICK.  Add your carrots and cabbage, and cook until the cabbage is wilted.  This should only take a couple of minutes…

7.  Add the cold rice and stir it up until the clumps are gone.  Can’t get rid of the clumps?  No worries.  I think it tastes better that way.

8.  Add the cooked sausage and 1/4 c. soy sauce.

9.  Then stir in your bean sprouts, peas and eggs.

10.  Add a bunch of ground pepper and your chopped green onions just before you remove it from the heat.

*I couldn’t actually grind the pepper and take a photo at the same time, so pretend there’s something happening here.

11.  Sit back and admire your handiwork.

And, if you’re feeling extra frisky, you can add some Japanese white sauce (also known as duck sauce, seafood sauce, etc.) to your bowl.  We tend to use a combination of this recipe and this recipe.  Pick your poison.  Oh, and this is where the mayo comes in – so you see, it’s completely optional.

It’s probably not for everyone, and doesn’t exactly look gourmet, but I love this.  Nay, crave this.  Yes, I said nay.  And I might say “good morrow” later this evening.  It’s a Renaissance kind of day.