Do you like 🍍 pineapple fried rice?
If yes, you should try this version: it’s healthy, colourful and really yummy! 😋
The good news is that with just a couple of small changes, this popular dish can actually be really healthy.
First of all, you need to replace white rice with brown, red or black rice.
In fact, whole grains are more nutritious than refined grains as they contain more dietary fibre, minerals, and vitamins. Similar taste, but more nutritious!
You should then make sure you add plenty of vegetables (and why not, fruits!) to your dish.
In our recipe we’ll use purple cabbage because we love purple vegetables, but feel free to add your favourite veggies as well.
The third step is to add a high-protein food to the dish to make it more balanced. In this case we’ll use tofu.
The reason for this choice is that tofu is completely free from cholesterol and low in fat, which is good for us. It also contains a good amount of precious nutrients, such as protein, antioxidants and dietary fibre.
And last but not least, let’s try and keep oil and soy sauce to a minimum… 🧂
Here is our recipe:
Ingredients (serves 3-4):
– 1 onion (or spring onion)
– 2 garlic cloves
– 2 cm of ginger
– 2 tsp. of oil
– 2-3 tbsp. of rice vinegar
– 2 tbsp. of soy sauce
– 1/2 purple cabbage
– ½ bag of hard tofu
– 220 g of brown rice (1 cup )
Directions:
1) Soak the brown rice for 6 hours, rinse it well and cook it for around 30-40 minutes.
2) In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tsp. of oil and cook the tofu and pineapple for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Set aside.
3) Heat 1 tsp. of oil and add the finely chopped ginger, garlic and onion. Stir frequently and cook until the onion becomes translucent.
4) Add the cabbage and cook for a few minutes. Stir frequently.
5) Add the cooked rice, pineapple and tofu and stir well.
6) Add the rice vinegar. Stir frequently until it evaporates.
7) Add the soy sauce, tofu and pineapple and stir well.
Pineapple fried rice is a good source of healthy carbohydrates, protein, dietary fibre, antioxidants, vitamin C and minerals such as calcium and iron.
This recipe is a good option for a healthy lunch as it’s very balanced and contains the right proportions of carbohydrates, vegetables and plant protein.