I was talking with my older sister the other day, and she mentioned how her and her fiance recently decided to start meal-prepping at the beginning of the week. She was interested in trying recipes that were easy and healthy to make in large quantities.
It got me thinking about sharing recipes on my own blog that could be easy to meal-prep. So, going with the theme of meal-prepping, I brainstormed what I wanted to make a big batch of this week and came up with this veggie no-fried rice!
I call this veggie no-fried rice because while it is inspired by traditional Chinese egg fried rice, it has no oil and also no egg! It’s completely plant-based, healthy, and very satisfying. It uses brown rice; a high fiber, high protein whole grain.
It’s packed full of fresh vegetables, and the bits of yellow you see in the pictures is actually scrambled tofu. But I’ll get to that more later on. Let’s begin the recipe!
Step 1: Roast The Broccoli
I wanted to make my meal-prep for the week as healthy as possible. So naturally, I packed this dish full of fresh vegetables. The only one I roasted was the broccoli though. For those that follow my blog regularly, you’ll know that I’ve posted many times before on how to roast vegetables without oil.
For examples, check out my recent post for a Superfood Pesto Pasta or this post on crispy brussels sprouts.
To summarize though, simply bake the broccoli on a plain baking sheet at 375 F for 30-40 minutes. That’s it, no oil or seasoning necessary.
Step 2: Make Tofu Scramble
While the broccoli is roasting, you can get to some of the other steps in this process. If you haven’t already, you can get the rice going. I use an Instant Pot to cook my rice, but using a stove-top works just as well. Keep in mind, because this is a “meal-prep” recipe, the quantities listed are larger than normal. If you don’t feel like using this recipe as a meal-prep recipe, I recommend halving all the ingredient amounts. If you are meal-prepping, then get 3 cups of rice going!
Tofu scramble is sooooo easy to make, and I do so often for breakfast! It works in this recipe as egg replacement too. Start with a block of extra firm tofu. Cut it into cubes, and add it to a pan with a little bit of water (2-3 TBS). The water simply takes the place of oil here. Using a spatula, press down on the tofu cubes or chop & stir them until the cubes break apart and the texture starts to resemble that of scrambled eggs.
Then I add a few spices, and mostly eye-ball the amounts. But it usually goes something like 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp curry powder or turmeric (for that yellow color), and that’s it. Stir and cook it over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes. There’s nothing to cook here, this process is mostly just to heat it up and mix it with the spices.
I actually recommend using turmeric often in cooking because it has so many health-promoting qualities: it’s a natural anti-inflammatory agent and it’s very high in antioxidants! Because of the health benefits, I usually rely on turmeric for making my tofu-scramble yellow.
Step 3: Saute & Assemble
The final step is to saute your remaining vegetables, and then assemble everything together!
These are the vegetables I sauteed and put in my veggie no-fried rice:
- Green cabbage
- Carrots
- Red & Yellow Onion
- Green Peas
I chopped everything and then water-sauteed them in a pan in stages. First I cooked the green cabbage in the pan, since that takes the longest. After 10 minutes I added the carrot and onion for another 5 minutes. Then I added the green peas.
You’re obviously welcome to use any combination of vegetables you prefer. When I envisioned my finished “Chinese Fried Rice” inspired dish, these were the vegetables that came to mind. Bell peppers, green onion, eggplant, and garlic could be good additions too!
Once the tofu scramble, broccoli, rice, and veggies are all done cooking, simply mix it all together in a big bowl and serve.
Healthy Veggie No-Fried Rice
Pretty easy, right? I should mention, I didn’t end up putting any seasoning in this dish, except for the spices I used for the tofu scramble. When it came time to serve a bowl, I simply drizzled a bit of soy sauce on it and ate it that way. I felt like keeping things really simple for this dish. But if you wanted to get fancy, you could also make a stir-fry sauce like this spicy peanut sauce I made once.
All in all, I’m really pleased with how this came out! It was simple to make, filling, and checked all the “healthy” boxes I wanted it to. Due to the brown rice, peas, and tofu it’s really high protein. It’s high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber because of all the vegetables. It’s oil free, and it satisfied my craving for Asian food this week, which is a plus.
Whether you make this for a meal-prep, or just a regular dinner, I hope you like this easy recipe for veggie no-fried rice! And Kathleen, if you are reading this, I hope it gives you another idea for a meal-prep recipe to try!
Veggie No-Fried Rice Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 3 cups brown rice *
- 3-4 broccoli heads
- 1/2 green cabbage
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1/2 red onion
- 2 large carrots
- 1 bag frozen peas
- 1 block extra firm tofu
Spices
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp curry powder for color
- 1/4 tsp turmeric for color
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 F
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Cut the broccoli into florets and roast on a plain baking tray (no oil) for 30-40 minutes or until crispy
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For the tofu scramble, cut the tofu block into cubes and add to a pan with a tiny amount of water. Use a spatula to press down on the cubes or chop them until they break down and the consistency resembles scrambled eggs. Add all of the spices listed above, mix them in the pan and cook the tofu for 5-7 minutes. Set aside when done.
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Cook the rice according to the package. I used 3 cups of brown rice, 3.5 cups of water, and my Instant Pot at 22 minutes of manual pressure. Cooking the rice by stove-top is fine too
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Dice the rest of the vegetables and water-saute them in a pan in stages *
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First saute the cabbage for 10 minutes. Then add the onion and carrot for another 5 minutes (or until onions are translucent). Then add the peas and cook until they are thawed
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Combine everything in a large bowl, the brown rice, roasted broccoli, tofu scramble, and sauteed vegetables. Mix everything well
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Store in a large container or several small containers all week. Serve with soy sauce on top or your favorite stir-fry sauce
Notes
* Pro tip: Instead of dicing the carrots by hand, I usually just cut it into a few large chunks then add the chunks to my blender and pulse for a few seconds until the carrots become diced. It takes only a few seconds and is way faster than chopping the carrots by hand!
