Wednesday 25th October

 Cheat's Egg Fried Rice. Serves 2.

I expect Jamie Oliver did something like this on his 30-second meals or whatever...

This is my version.

I use one of those microwave pouches of rice. They aren't expensive, are a handy store cupboard staple and mean I can serve rice within minutes.

Yesterday I used an 'egg-fried rice' pouch, a couple of rather limp spring onions,  half a packet of sliced ham and a handful each of frozen peas and sweetcorn for a speedy meal;

Heat a bit of oil and start cooking the chopped spring onions. Chop up the ham and add to the pan. Follow the instructions on the pouch to heat the rice in the microwave and while that's happening add the peas and sweetcorn to the pan.  When the rice is cooked, add it to the pan with a bit of water if it seems too stiff.

Serve with soy sauce.

Today I  finished off the ham by making a similar meal, using a 'lime, chilli and coriander' pouch. For vegetables I used a little diced onion, the stalks of some chard chopped, with the leaves added right at the end, and half a red pepper cut small. I heated the rice, and beat together two eggs in a mug.

Once I had stirred the rice through the vegetables, I pushed everything to one side of the pan and tipped the eggs into the space. When the eggs were just beginning to set I mixed everything together, breaking up any bigger bits of egg. Finally I mixed in the sliced up chard leaves. 

That was pretty delicious too!

The variations are endless.... I think this is going to become a regular supper dish.