Fried Rice

This is my go-to dish when we have some leftover meat such as chicken, steak, or pork. It's especially good when the meat has been grilled, but roasted, smoked, or braised is good too, as long as it's already been cooked. It serves 8-12, so I guess you'll have leftovers of leftovers, but it's more creative than chicken sandwiches for a week!

All of these ingredients except for the oil, soy sauce, and Minute Rice are optional; mix it up and make it your own. I've even put a bag of frozen yellow corn kernels in it - Mike likes it that way, but Mom says it's totally unrealistic and goes against the grain of Chinese fried rice. But I'm not sold on how Chinese English peas are.

1/4 cup olive or salad oil
1 bag frozen yellow, green, and red peppers and onion
1 bunch scallions, chopped
3 cups Minute Rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 can mushrooms
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1/4 to 1/2 cup soy sauce, to taste (Docta Peppa-yum yum!)
16 ounce bag frozen peas
4 eggs, scrambled dry
Leftover meat, roughly chopped in bite-sized pieces.

1. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet or wok and add frozen peppers and onion and scallions. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, until peppers are thawed and soft.
2. Add Minute Rice and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add broth, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and soy sauce.
4. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the liquid cooks down.
5. Add eggs, meat, and frozen peas for the last 4-5 minutes: the peas will cook, but they should stay whole and firm.
6. Add more broth or soy sauce if necessary according to taste to keep dish moist.