• 3 cups instant rice
• 3 cups water
• 1 jar Ragu cheese sauce
• 1 bag frozen veggies (your favorite mix)

Heat water on high in large saucepan. Pour frozen veggies in medium saucepan, cover with water, and cook on high heat. When water in large saucepan is boiling stir in rice and remove from heat. Let rice sit for 5 minutes to absorb water, then fluff with fork. Cook veggies until soft, then drain. Mix rice, veggies, and jar of Ragu together and serve.

I’m going to show you how to make both “Chicken Fried Rice” and “Vegetarian Fried Rice” in less than 20 minutes all in the same recipe!

Somedays I make huge intricate meals that take 90 minutes or more to create, and other deals I need something quick (and tasty) because I’m in a hurry. I’ve learned over the years to keep certain things on hand for certain days like this. Our house is nothing special, some days we can have a mexican fiesta, others thai food, and sometimes chicken nuggets in a box with frozen fries and a canned vegetable are perfect! This recipe is inspired, at least in part, by the “Semi-Homemade” show on the Food Network. Why? Because this recipe is definitely “semi-homemade” as well!

When I was a kid, one of the things we always loved was “Rice-A-Roni Fried Rice”. It’s funny becase as a kid we didn’t have Chinese food a lot, but when we did have it we went out to the restaurant. I don’t remember ever getting, or seeing a plate or meal that ever contained “fried rice“. I guess no one in my immediate family ever ate it. I never knew (until I left high school) what “fried rice” was – I just thought that it was the rice a roni stuff from the box. I now love fried rice from Thai, Japenese, and Chinese restaurants and I’ve had it many, many ways with chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, and just plain with vegetables. So – today I was in the mood for some fried rice, but I just happenned to have a couple of boxes of “Rice-A-Roni” fried rice (the San Francisco treat!) on hand. I figured out how to have one of my childhood favorites AND make it more like the fried rice I’ve come to love in the restaurant – all in 20 minutes! This recipe serves at least 4 people very healthy plates of fried rice!

Ingredients you’ll need to make my homemade fried rice:

• 2 Boxes of “Rice-A-Roni” Fried Rice
• 6 tbsp margarine
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/2 Vidalia onion
• 1/2 bag frozen peas (5-6oz, seemed to be a big less than 2 cups)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5-6 frozen skinless boneless ‘chicken tenders’ or 2 chicken breasts

You can easily make this meal in about 20 minutes if you follow right sequence of events. When I make a meal I’m usually doing multiple things at once. First put 4 tbsp margarine in a 2 quart pot on the stove on high. Once the butter starts to melt, turn down to med-high and dump in the rice only from the rice a roni boxes (set the sauce packets aside). Stir the rice and butter mixture for about 2-3 minutes, then add 4 cups hot water to the pan, and then the contents of the sauce packets. Mix everything well in the pan, and then turn burner back up to high until it boils.

I keep a 4 lb bag of boneless skiness chicken “tenders” (about 4 lbs) on hand in the freezer at all times. The “tenders” are about half the size of a regular chicken breast. I put them on “defrost” in a medium bowl in the microwave for about 4 1/2 minutes while I’m waiting for the rice mixture to boil. Next I get out my cutting board and the onion. By now, the rice is boiling – so turn it down to medium and cover tightly. Set the timer on your stove for about 15 minutes, and you don’t need to stir this as often, but be sure to visit it about every 4-5 minutes, and every few minutes towards the end.

Now, put a skillet on the stove and add a few capfuls of canola or olive oil. Get your chicken from the microwave bowl and place directly in the skillet on high. Salt and pepper to taste. Next, take the 1/2 bag of frozen peas and place in a medium bowl with 1″ of water in the bottom in the microwave for 2 minutes on high. Go back to your cutting board and julienne (cut in 1/8″ slices with the grain) about 1/2 of your sweet onion. Go back to the stove, it’s probably time to stir your rice, and also flip your chicken and turn the heat down to medium-high. When you’re done with this your peas should be done in the microwave. Get them out and drain them in a colander, rinse and then put them back in the bowl.

Add 2 tbsp margarine to the peas, put the sliced onions in the bowl, stir and place back in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds. Stir your rice again, and about this time you can flip your chicken again and just chop it up into small pieces with your spatula. As you chop it up you’ll see it’s cooked and done turn that burner off. The rice will start to stick to the bottom of the pan and rise to the top of the mixture as it’s done, it’s the last thing to complete cooking.

When it’s done turn off the burner, and add the peas and onions to the mixture and mix well. It’s at this point I dish up one plate for the “vegetarian” in our house, and that would conclude the “vegetarian fried rice” portion of this recipe. Then I add the chicken and mix well, and now you have “chicken fried rice” that is tasty AND ready in about 20 minutes.

If you’re looking for weight loss recipes, this Black Bean and Rice Salad recipe is a great place to start.  It feeds 4 depending on how many servings you’re going to eat.  A serving is typically listed as a cup, although I don’t know who would just each a cup of food for dinner.

We had 3 cups each for our dinner, and this dinner will produce 9 cups total.  I was skeptical that this recipe would be any good – because personally I hate brown rice (with a passion).  But I do love all the vegetables, and I’ve added corn and black beans to dishes (like Taco Salad) many times in the past to enhance the flavor.  For this recipe the black beans and the (steamed) corn are the highlight in every bite.  The cilantro, lime juice, peppers, and onion are awesome for crunch!  Even if you do not like spice or jalepeno peppers, you should try it once.  This dish was not spicy at all – even with a full chopped jalapeno.  I did not notice how bland brown rice usually is (to me) in this dish, which ended up exploding with flavor.  I did end up adding a teaspoon of fat free ranch and a teaspoon of light Italian dressing for my portion, but the dish was so flavorful it wasn’t really necessary.

Here’s what it looked like at serving time:

Ingredients for Black Bean and Rice Salad Recipe

2 cups brown rice (instant is fine)
1 cup cooked corn kernals (use the frozen “steamers” if you can)
1 diced green pepper
2 stalks celery chopped
2/3 cup of rinsed and drained black beans
1 whole red onion diced
1 med jalapeno pepper chopped
4 tablespoons cilantro chopped
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation is simple for this dish.  Just boil your brown minute rice on the stove, and get a “steamer” bag of corn in the frozen section at the store – microwave that on high for 5 minutes.  While the corn and rice are cooking, chop everything else up and toss into a dish, then add the corn and rice and mix well – and serve.

Total prep and cook time:  about 20 minutes