As a high school student, it can be difficult to find time to cook, and with the loss of home economics classes in school, many students don’t even know where to start. The following recipes, golden fried rice and stir-fry with tofu, are two of my favorite go-tos, featuring simple ingredients and staples that students most likely have. However, both recipes are far from exact. Both call for whatever vegetables you have lying around the fridge, with some suggestions, and amounts of seasonings can easily be adjusted or omitted completely to the cook’s taste. Additionally, both these recipes are naturally vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free, so they can be enjoyed by a wide range of people. 

Golden Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• Leftover rice (any kind of white rice will work)

• 4 egg yolks

• Vegetables: carrots, mushrooms, onions, peppers, or whatever you have in your fridge

• Cooking oil

• Dash of sesame oil

• Dash of soy sauce (or tamari, coconut aminos, etc.)

• Dash of rice vinegar

• Pinch of garlic powder

• Pinch of onion powder

• Salt & black pepper, to taste

• Optional scallions and/or sesame seeds for topping

Directions:

1. Chop up the vegetables into small-ish pieces, or whatever size you want (smaller pieces will cook faster). Set aside.

2. Empty leftover rice into a mixing bowl. Carefully, one at a time, crack egg yolks into rice. (Before adding egg yolks to the rice, I recommend that you take out two smaller bowls, and put yolks into one and whites into the other to make sure no shell gets in the rice). Mix vigorously with a fork after each addition, and only add yolks until each grain is just coated in yolk. Make sure to break up all the clumps of rice. The amount of egg yolk you will need depends on the amount of rice you are using. Salt and pepper the mixture.

3. Heat oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Add the vegetables and stir, cooking until soft but still a little crunchy.

4. With vegetables still in the pan, dump rice mixture over them, stirring the vegetables in with the rice. You may need to add a little extra cooking oil before this step. Cook, continuously stirring, until the rice begins to lose its shine. 

5. Add oils and spices, mixing quickly after each addition.

6. Cook fried rice until the egg coating the rice is cooked all the way through. (It will completely lose its shine.)

7. Serve hot, topping (if you want) with chopped scallions and or/sesame seeds. 

Stir Fry with Tofu

Ingredients:

• Vegetables: carrots, mushrooms, onions, peppers, zucchini, whatever you have in the fridge)

• 1 block of firm tofu

• Cooking oil

• Dash of sesame oil

• Dash of soy sauce (or tamari, coconut aminos, etc.)

• Dash of rice vinegar

• Pinch of garlic powder

• Pinch of onion powder

• White rice, to serve (optional)

Directions:

1. Open package of tofu and drain fluid. Place block of tofu on a kitchen towel, then fold the towel on top of it. Layer the tofu with cookbooks, textbooks, weights, etc. to press it. Leave for 10-15 minutes.

2. While pressing the tofu, chop the vegetables to the desired size. 

3. Take out the tofu and cut it into 1” cubes. 

4. Heat the cooking oil on the pan until very hot. Add the tofu. Cook tofu until it is browned on one side, then flip the cubes to another side. Repeat until all sides are browned. When the tofu is almost done, add the oils and powders. Remove cooked tofu from the pan and put aside.

5. Heat more oil in the pan, if needed. Add the vegetables and continuously stir. When vegetables are almost done, add oils and powders. 

6. Serve stir fry and tofu over white rice, if desired.