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Favorite Fried Rice

Posted on by biglittlebites

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Can you Make Fried Rice with Brown Rice?

Yes! In fact, I love making fried rice with brown rice instead of white. The texture, the hearty, slightly nutty flavor… and if it’s sprouted rice, even better! If you’ve been following Big Little Bites for a while, you probably already know why sprouted grains are SO much healthier and easier to digest than their common counterparts.

How to Make Healthier Fried Rice

Fried rice feels like an indulgent meal, am I right? Fried in plenty of butter with loads of umami flavor thanks to soy sauce and full of calories! What if I told you that you can put those calories to work for you, by making them count? Not literally… but by choosing ingredients that have health benefits, you are choosing to nourish your body instead of bog it down with empty calories.  Choosing sprouted short grain rice over white rice, is just one way I amp up the nutrition of my Favorite Fried Rice.

Some paleo friends may argue that brown rice is unhealthy due to phytates and lectins (they bind to vitamins and minerals, preventing them from being absorbed) – however, the reason white rice doesn’t contain those anti-nutrients, is because it’s been processed to remove the bran and germ from the grain. So here’s the answer to what’s really the healthier option: sprouted brown rice! The sprouting process removes those anti-nutrients, so you don’t even have to worry about them anymore, and improves the overall nutritional content! 

There are two essential ingredients that lend most of the flavor to fried rice: soy sauce and butter. Did you know that soy is one of the most genetically modified (GMO) foods in the US? If you are wondering what the big deal is, click here for facts about GMO’s.

Choosing organic soy sauce is a great way to avoid GMO’s because genetic engineering is prohibited for organic products, meaning the farmer cannot plant genetically modified seeds or feed genetically modified foods to their livestock. Soy sauce is made from fermented soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and molds and lends the much coveted 5th taste: “umami” to foods. Soy sauce lends plenty of salt to Favorite Fried Rice, so be careful not to add any table salt. 

Another favorite, healthier swap is grass-fed butter for regular butter. How do you know you’ve got the good stuff? Butter should be a rich yellow color due to the cows feeding on grass and absorbing so much beta-carotene from plants. Now, butter isn’t exactly a superfood, and it isn’t even in my everyday rotation. However for certain recipes, such as my Favorite Fried Rice, there’s just no getting around the use of butter because it’s such a part of the flavor profile of the dish! That being said, incorporating grass-fed butter into your diet on a here and there basis is healthy! Yes, grass-fed butter contains  saturated fats like coconut oil, but in small amounts this fat works to stabilize your blood sugar. Grass-fed butter is also significantly greater in nutrition benefits, compared to butter from grain-fed cows. According to Dr. Axe, grass-fed butter is better for your heart, an anti-inflammatory, a great source for vitamin A, contains energy-boosting and appetite-suppressing MCT’s, is high in anticancer CLA, rich in vital cholesterol and a good source of arachidonic acid. If you’re allergic to casein like our middle daughter, or lactose-intolerant, you can substitute butter for ghee in this recipe and others. 

big bowl of healthier fried brown rice with mixed vegetables
Print Recipe

Favorite Fried Rice

A healthier fried rice, rich in flavor but better for your body!
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Japanese
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 2 c sprouted short grain rice, cooked ahead
  • 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion, minced
  • 1 large clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 c frozen organic mixed peas, carrots and corn
  • 2 tbsp grass-fed butter or ghee
  • 1 tbsp avocado oil
  • 1/4 c organic soy sauce use shoyu, which is Japanese soy sauce
  • 3 organic eggs
  • 1 tbsp Eden Foods Gomasio seasoning
  • 1 sliced scallion

Instructions

  • Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add toasted sesame oil and the minced yellow onion. Stir occasionally until the onion becomes clear and slightly browned (about 10-15 minutes).
  • Add the minced garlic and stir for another 30 seconds.
  • Stir in the frozen vegetables just until defrosted. Remove to a large serving bowl.
  • Create an open well in the middle of the skillet and crack the eggs into it. Using a wooden spoon, break them up without scrambling, and cook until almost set. Remove them from the pan, placing them atop the bowl of vegetables.
  • Add grass-fed butter and 1 tbsp avocado oil to the now-empty skillet, turn up the heat to medium-high and and give it a swirl.
  • Spread the rice evenly into the skillet, and let fry undisturbed for 2-3 minutes (allowing it to get a little crispy on the bottom).
  • Stir in the sliced scallion and transfer to the bowl of vegetables and eggs.
  • Pour in the soy sauce and mix well. Sprinkle with Gomasio or toasted sesame seeds before serving!

Ultimate Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Posted on by biglittlebites

Eating healthy, doesn’t mean you can’t indulge. In fact, I indulge my major addiction to dark chocolate often! Ultimate Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes are the most delicious, indulgent and yet clean ingredient weekend breakfast. The whole family will love this healthy take on pancakes so much, that you’ll have everyone convinced it’s dessert for breakfast. You’ll relish in knowing your loved ones are eating nutritious, healthy and wholesome ingredients! So what sets Ultimate Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes apart from traditional cakes?

Ultimate Guide to Making Healthy Pancakes:

“Healthy” should go hand in hand with nourishing. Let go of the idea of counting calories, choosing low-fat, cutting salt, etc… because if you’re choosing real, nourishing foods and balancing what you eat throughout the day then you are living your best, healthy life! I’m going to show you exactly how I clean up the ingredient list for traditional pancakes while maintaining delicious flavor. Swapping and including certain ingredients boosts the fiber, protein and nutrient content in pancakes, while choosing quality ingredients minimizes exposure to toxins. 

Skip Refined Flour.

Standard pancake ingredients include processed all-purpose flour. Why is that a problem? 

Unfortunately, todays flour is a highly refined substance that goes through a LOT of processing. The end result is a product completely stripped of any nutritional value (barely any vitamins or minerals) and what you’re left with is starchy carbohydrates. This nutritionally void refined flour is treated like sugar by your body and thereby contributes to weight gain. Processed flour raises blood sugar and insulin levels and also causes inflammation in the body. Refined flours can include all-purpose flour, unbleached flour, enriched flour, white flour, multigrain flour and stone ground flour. 

Perhaps this doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, maybe you’re not cooking with flour very often and assume your exposure is limited? Consider how many popular foods in the American diet your family may be consuming regularly, made with refined flour: breads, cereal, pasta, crackers, cookies, cakes and other snack foods.

What Kind of Flour is Healthy?

Flour that has the entire grain left intact, is the best choice for making healthy pancakes. Examples of whole grain flour include sprouted whole wheat flour, whole wheat flour (not to be confused with wheat flour), oat flour, brown rice flour or flour you mill yourself at home. You think I’m kidding, but I recently purchased this highly rated home mill, and feel like a modern day pioneer making fresh milled flour on demand! 

Sprouted flour is my preferred store-bought, nutritious flour substitute for healthy pancakes. As opposed to whole wheat flour, sprouted grain flour has no bitter taste and won’t make your food taste different. Cooking with sprouted grain flour produces a light texture, the same as if you’d used refined flour. The best benefit to making healthy pancakes with sprouted flour is that you’re essentially making pancakes out of vegetables instead of starch. Let me explain why!

First, it’s important to know that sprouted grain flour is made from the whole grain, with bran intact, so you are benefitting from vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals found in the complete whole grain.

Second, sprouting actually transforms the grain through germination into a living plant. When grains are sprouted, the nutrients, vitamins, minerals and amino acids are enhanced, the starchy complex carbs are converted to simple sugars which won’t get stored as body fat and are easily broken down by the body and good bacteria is cultivated. Sprouted grain flour is easy to digest, because your body is essentially digesting vegetables.

I love One Degree Organics Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour or One Degree Organics Sprouted Spelt Flour because they sprout pure, non-hybridized whole grains that are free of harmful pesticides and residues. It’s important to remember that just because a product is advertised as sprouted, doesn’t mean it’s 100% what you’re buying. The product could actually only have a little bit of sprouted grain in it, which is why it’s essential to research brands and choose one you trust. 

When cooking with sprouted grain flour, substitute 1:1 for refined flour. 

Skip Refined Sugar.

The word “pancakes” denotes a sweet breakfast treat. Does it get any sweeter than white sugar and syrup? I promise you, there’s a healthier way to make them, and they’ll be just as sweet! 

Ultimate Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes get a sweet substitute with mashed ripe bananas in the batter versus refined sugar, which also keeps the pancakes moist and aids in replacing the eggs we won’t be using.

I also highly recommend tossing out the table syrup in favor of real maple syrup straight from natures maple trees. If you’ve never tasted the difference, I promise you – it’s worth the extra cost and you’ll never look back. Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth and other table syrups, are highly processed products made from a mixture of corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. Table syrup also contains chemicals, preservatives and fake flavoring while maple syrup just has one ingredient: maple syrup.

Nowadays, we hear a lot about what high fructose syrup does to our bodies. If you’re unsure, a quick Google search about why it’s bad for you, will yield plenty of information. The best part is, the more robust and rich flavor that simply can’t be imitated. Yes, maple syrup costs more than its cheaper imitation. It takes up to 50 gallons of sap from the maple tree, to make one gallon of maple syrup – it’s labor intensive and more difficult to produce. The cost is well worth it, my friends! Please remember to store your maple syrup in the fridge as it’s not preserved like fake syrup. I love the rich, caramel taste of pure, real maple syrup, and the bourbon or vanilla infused maple syrups. I have linked my favorites right here for you: 

Ultimate Guide to Making Vegan, Egg-Free and Dairy-Free Pancakes:

Traditionally, pancakes are also made with eggs, milk and butter, making them a no-go for vegans or those with food allergies.

Ultimate Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes can easily be made with animal fats in place of the plant-based fats. I’m not vegan, but Americans typically consume way more animal foods than plant-based foods, and it’s healthy and nutritious to create balance. I love choosing plant-based fats in my pancake recipe because there is no noticeable difference in taste or texture! Your hungry pancake connoisseurs won’t even notice the pancakes are plant-based. These pancakes are healthy, made with clean ingredients and are the very best vegan pancake recipe there is – but I’d also venture to say the very best pancake recipe in general! 

Below, are the plant-based dietary substitutions I make for Ultimate Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes:

Dairy-Free: use unsweetened plant-based yogurt like this, or plant-based milk, in place of animal-milk yogurt. Coconut oil makes a perfect substitution for butter, and don’t make the pancakes taste like coconut. Finally, choose chocolate chips that are not made with milk or milk-fat. 

Egg-Free: sub 2 flax seed eggs for chicken eggs. Making flax eggs is simple! To make 2 flax eggs for Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancakes: combine 2 tbsp of ground flax seed with 6 tbsp water and let sit for 10 min before using in the recipe.

Vegan: make the dairy and egg substitutions. 

1/4 cup of banana chocolate chip pancake batter scoop

I heat the griddle to about 325-350 degrees, and grease it with a little additional coconut oil immediately before adding the batter. I use a 1/4 cup measurement of batter to create evenly sized pancakes. Once I pour the batter onto the hot griddle, I use the bottom of the cup to gently spread the batter out into a circle shape. The batter will be thick, and that ensures a beautiful, fluffy cake!

Let the pancake batter cook on the first side for a few minutes, or until you see bubbles emerge in the top. Bubbles are a great indication that it’s time to flip! The pancakes should be golden brown on the reverse side. 

Banana chocolate chip pancakes drizzled with melted chocolate on a plate

When we are feeling extra fancy, we love to top our cakes with a drizzle of melted chocolate chips! We always choose real maple syrup for our topping, but honestly, these pancakes are so deliciously sweet from the mashed bananas I don’t add any dressing to mine! 

Banana chocolate chip pancakes drizzled with melted chocolate on a plate
Print Recipe

Ultimate Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

The best, decadent, rich, fluffy banana chocolate chip pancakes, without processed sugar and with good-for-you ingredients.
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • Griddle
  • Basting Brush
  • Spatula

Ingredients

  • 1.5 c sprouted grain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 ground flax eggs
  • 1 c unsweetened, plain, non-dairy yogurt dairy or vegan
  • 2 tbsp virgin, expeller-pressed coconut oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 2 large, ripe bananas, mashed (bonus points if they are turning brown on the outside - they'll be extra sweet!)
  • 1 c dark chocolate chips or carob chips

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt.
  • In a separate large bowl, combine the wet ingredients: maple syrup, eggs, yogurt, vanilla and mashed bananas.
  • Add the dry to the wet, and mix well. It will be lumpy, don't worry!
  • Gently stir in your chocolate chips or carob chips.
  • Heat a griddle to 350 degrees. Once hot, slap a dab of coconut oil on the surface and spread around with a basting brush. Using 1/4 cup measurement, spoon the batter one pancake at a time, onto the hot griddle.
  • Flip the cakes when the tops start bubbling or the bottom edges look cooked. If the pancakes are really thick, gently flatten them a bit with the spatula after flipping them. Aim for lightly browned on each side and be careful not to overcook.
  • Drizzle with melted dark chocolate, carob or maple syrup and eat them all up!