My grandpa would be happy with this one.
When I was in elementary school, my paternal grandpa lived with us for a few years and was our caretaker and cook in the evenings, and also weekends. I remember one weekend day, he cooked fried rice with veggies and chopped ham or sausage, and said to me, “this is a complete meal” — because it had carbs, meat, and vegetables, which are typically separate dishes. I would say that same line in his accent for the rest of my life, but I don’t know why it took me so long to start cooking it for myself, much less a vegan version. Also, when my dad made his version of the rice, he would put almost whole cloves of garlic in and I hated biting into one without knowing. Either garlic crushers weren’t invented then, or he was oblivious to it!
I adapted this recipe from one I found on Pinterest. At first I cooked with Upton’s Naturals’ bbq jackfruit to make it gluten-free, but when I tried it with faux sausage, THAT gave me back the taste of my childhood, and an instant keeper recipe.
2-3 cups cooked jasmine rice, depending on desired amount.
1 tbsp oil
1 c frozen green beans
3 medium carrots, chopped
4 vegan sausages, cooked and sliced (I like Tofurky‘s Italian-style tofu sausage)
1/3 c tamari
1 tsp garlic powder (or fresh, minced)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger (or fresh, grated)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
3 green onion stalks, chopped
Cook the rice and sausages ahead of time. Heat oil on medium and sauté the beans and carrots for four minutes until cooked. Add the cooked rice and sausage. Add the tamari (or fresh garlic & ginger, if using), and stir for 7-8 minutes until browned to preference. I know it’s good when you get some bits of crunchy rice sticking to the pan. Sprinkle the remaining seasoning and stir. Remove from heat and stir in green onions before serving. Serves 5-7.
Tips:
- I prefer brown jasmine rice (requires 30 minutes) which is stickier than white, but you can sub any other type of rice too if you want.
- You can swap 1 tsp turmeric instead of cumin.
- You can increase the heat while cooking the rice, but the longer you cook the sausages, the more dry they get.
For those who need to know the ingredients in this Tofurky sausage:
- Organic tofu
- Wheat gluten
- Canola oil
- Shoyu soy sauce
- Organic soy flour
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Basil
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Spices
- Vitamins & minerals